PSA Offers Free Copies of New T206 Book

The newly-released book chronicling the players in the T206 baseball set is part of a new promotional offer from PSA.

The T206 Collection: The Players & Their Stories, written by Tom Zappala and Ellen Zappala with Lou Blasi, retails for $38.

PSA is giving free copies of the full-color hardcover book to those who join or renew their Gold or Platinum level membership in the PSA Collector’s Club.

“It’s the stories behind the players that drive people to collect their sports cards. The T206 already is one of the most popular sets in the hobby, but this book takes it to another level,” said Joe Orlando, PSA President and Editor of the Sports Market Report monthly price guide magazine.  Orlando wrote the book’s foreword as well as a chapter with useful tips about collecting these historic cards.

The T206 set depicts 393 different major and minor league players in the 504-card set.  The cards were issued as premiums with tobacco products distributed by 16 different companies between 1909 and 1911.  Unlike modern cards that are usually printed with information about the players, the back of each T206 card has an advertisement for a tobacco product.

This book is the first reference work to provide biographies and professional statistics for all the players depicted in the T206 set and who contributed a century ago to the evolution of major league baseball.

“These stories are interesting, even if the player didn’t get into the Hall of Fame,” Orlando said.  “The hobby needs positive information like this, and that’s why PSA is so supportive of this book.  It helps people understand the history of the game and inspires them to collect.”

The T206 Collection: The Players & Their Stories is published by Peter E. Randall Publisher.  It was recently voted among the best new sports books at the 2010 Independent Publisher Book Awards.

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About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for more than 30 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected]