by Rich Klein
Resurrecting the famous T206 brand has given Topps another outlet in its ongoing efforts to honor the long history of baseball cards. It’s generally been a well-received product.
The 2010 Topps T206 boxes hit the streets in late August, offering a mix of respect for the original tobacco cards and some of the bells and whistles that are needed to push today’s brands.
Topps includes original T206-themed “mini” cards in every pack. They’re designed much like the original T206 cards in terms of look and size. There are back variations, which mirror the scarcity of the various tobacco brands that issued original T206 cards from 1909-1911.
To me, the most striking card in the box I opened was the Johnny Bench which utilized the same photo or a very similar photo to the one used on his 1969 Topps card.
T206 boxes contain 20 packs with nine cards per pack with the promise of two autographs and/or relics in each box.
Like its Allen & Ginter product, T206 includes some historic or non-sports related cards.
The market value of these boxes as of now is $70-90. My local card store (Triple Cards in Plano,TX) reported selling about 40 boxes at $80-90. The reports from customers provided similar results to the box we opened and at least one of the 40 boxes provided a Strasburg autograph redemption.
There are single print cards in the product and here’s another quirk: Topps used images of players without their caps for this set. However, the company recently announced a list of cards that were printed with caps on, which adds a unique element but tends to drive master set collectors crazy.
There are a lot of inserts in each box, which is nice but also makes putting together even a base set somewhat of a challenge.
Here’s what we pulled in our 2010 Topps T206 box:
Base Set: 135/300 with no duplicates
SP’s: Wade Davis, Jason Heyward, Tim Lincecum, Evan Longoria, Carlos Zambrano
Bronze (One per pack): Bobby Abreu, Rick Ankiel, Erick Aybar, Robinson Cano, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Kosuke Fukudome, Yovani Gallardo, Josh Hamilton, Luke Hochevar, Orlando Hudson, Conor Jackson, Derek Jeter, Hiroki Kuroda, Kazuo Matsui, Joel Pineiro, Adam Wainright, Kevin Youkilis
Mini American Caramel: Vladimir Guerrero, Felix Hernandez, Derek Jeter, Martin Prado, Carlos Zambrano
Mini Cycle Back: (#d to 55) Mark Teixeira
Mini Old Mill Back: Erick Aybar
Mini Piedmont Back: Chone Figgins, Dustin Pedroia, Brian Roberts, Frank Robinson, Cy Young, Ryan Zimmerman
Mini Polar Bear Back: Brad Hawpe, Jair Jurrjens
Historical Events (Mini Sized): 1st Subway Car, William H Taft, Joan of Arc honored, British Miners Strike, 1st Movie Stunt
American Caramel Autograph: Kurt Suzuki
Mini Framed Autographs: Everth Cabrera
We did get what was promised in the box and the mix of nostalgia and today’s technology was well done. Now, the only question will be will the 2010 T206 product be popular enough keep this brand going?
Rich Klein can be reached at [email protected]
There are over 8,000 2010 Topps T206 listings on eBay
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