t206 Ty Cobb Green Portrait

The 1909 to 1911 T206 baseball card set has long been considered one of the most, if not the most, important issues in the entire hobby. The visual appeal of the cards, the immense size of the set, and the incredible player selection make this treasure a collector favorite. Along with the 1933 Goudey and 1952 Topps sets, the classic T206 set is one of “The Big Three” in the world of baseball cards.

You can easily make the argument that “The Monster,” as it is commonly referred to, is truly the pinnacle of all trading cards sets. It is much larger than the 1933 Goudey set, requiring more than twice the amount of cards to complete. It is also arguably more visually appealing than the 1952 Topps set due to the superb artwork used in the design.

Furthermore, the 524-card T206 set is home to the most valuable trading card in the world, the card that has become the symbol of the hobby itself. Of course, I am referring to the Mona Lisa of trading cards . . . the T206 Honus Wagner. The Wagner card shares the limelight with 75 other cards featuring members of baseball’s Hall of Fame, but it is worth more than the other 523 cards combined, assuming they are in the same condition. At the time of this writing (2009), the highest price ever paid for any trading card was $2.8 million, a Wagner example that was graded NM-MT 8 by Professional Sports Authenticator, the leading third-party authentication and grading service.

The T206 set, arguably the hobby’s ultimate issue, features beautiful stone lithography. The cards, which measure approximately 17/16” by 25/8” in size with some slight size variations, exhibit simply terrific artwork throughout. The four Ty Cobb cards all differ in popularity, scarcity and appearance. The majority of collectors find the portraits the most desirable poses in the set. With Cobb, there are two different portraits to choose from. The Green Portrait is by far the toughest of the elite group, followed by the Bat on Shoulder, Bat off Shoulder and Red Portrait in order of scarcity. On the Red Portrait, there are wide variations in color, with some showing a deep red while others have an orange background. In addition, keep in mind there are a variety of backs that can be collected with Sweet Caporal and Piedmont being the two most common.

As one of the most popular subjects, these particular cards were handled roughly… and if they weren’t… they were cherished by taping or gluing them to larger displays or photo albums. It’s a wonder so many survived these years.  This particular example is graded a 1.5 with a “mis cut” qualifier.  In it’s original condition, Cobb’s name would have been cut of at the bottom with a portion of his name showing at the top.  Because this was handled roughly, the edges and corners have worn down significantly.  The corners display some paper loss as well.  Despite these issues and the addition of a white stain at the top and ink mark to the right… this card has significant eye appeal, great left-to-right centering, strong/fresh ink, and great focus.  Without a doubt, this is my prize possession as far as baseball cards go.