Baseball cards had been issued since the 1860s but starting in 1909, things sort of went haywire. While there were a number of sets issued in the early 1900s, 1909 is the year when the card collecting craze of the 20th century really took off. Numerous sets were printed that year and those issues still remain popular today. 1909 kicked off a new era in collecting and helped to … [Read more...]
5 Key T206 Southern Leaguers
Among the many challenges of completing the T206 set is the subset of nearly 50 players from the Southern Leagues. The majority of these minor league players are not well known by collectors. Despite that, they are not necessarily cheap by comparison. While other low-grade T206 commons can be purchased starting around $20 or so, finding Southern Leaguer cards under $75 or $100 … [Read more...]
Selling Packs with T206 Cards in 1909 Was Sometimes Hazardous
Eventually they would be sold with more kid-oriented products like caramels and bubble gum but 110 years ago, if you wanted a picture of a professional baseball player (and who wouldn't before color magazines, TV or even radio?), you had to have access to tobacco, or at least someone who used it. When the American Tobacco Company's massive promotion began in 1909, word … [Read more...]
Diving into Population Reports of T206 Hall of Famers
Population reports from grading companies can tell us quite a bit about baseball cards. While they are not perfect, they certainly give us an inside look on things like perceived rarity of certain issues compared to others. T206 is arguably the most famous baseball card set of all time. The set's popularity is such that it is even collected to some degree by those that do … [Read more...]
Bargain Hall of Fame Baseball Cards of the 1900s (Part I of IV)
Many collectors don't realize how affordable some vintage baseball cards truly are. Collectors don't even have to settle for cards of lesser known players, either. While many issues depicting Hall of Famers are pricey, plenty of bargains exist, too. Over a four-part series, I wanted to take a look at some of the more affordable pre-war Hall of Fame cards available to … [Read more...]
The Wayback Collector: Pre-War Collectibles a Sizable Chunk of Sports Memorabilia Market
The Wayback Collector is a weekly look at important news in the hobby as it relates to pre-war and vintage collectibles. This week's topic takes a look at their place in the market with regard to recent news. In case you missed it, a recent study estimated that the sports memorabilia market conservatively consisted of approximately $5.4 billion. That study, performed by Dave … [Read more...]
Shortprints in Pre-War Sets Cause Collector Headaches
Collecting pre-war cards is generally a challenging pursuit. Often, these cards are more than 100 years old and are difficult to track down. And even in the cases where cards are plentiful, it can still mean an expensive activity. Adding to the difficulty in assembling pre-war sets are shortprinted cards. These shortprints are even rarer than the regular cards and can make … [Read more...]
T206 Big Four Stand the Test of Time
The 1909-11 T206 white border set is arguably the most famous baseball card issue of all time. Driven by massive popularity, it's a set that has been widely pursued by collectors for more than a century. Among the 524 known cards, four stand out among the rest. To the hobby, these are known simply as 'The Big Four.' Honus Wagner T206 The biggest of the big is the easily … [Read more...]
Five T206 Cards That Should Have Been Printed
The iconic T206 set was a massive 524-card issue spanning 1909-11. Because of its large size, nearly every notable player under the sun, including several minor leaguers, were featured. In addition, several players had more than one card. Despite being a mostly comprehensive issue, a few more cards would have made this landmark set even better. Here are five of … [Read more...]
A Look at the Six Horizontals in the T206 Set
The T206 set is arguably the most important issue in the history of card collecting. There are numerous ways to collect it and all sorts of things make it unique. One of the cool aspects of the release are the six horizontal cards found in the set that consists of cards with a mostly vertical layout. Here's a brief look at each of the six cards and the players behind them. Joe … [Read more...]