The "Raw" Appeal of T206 Cards

I have started to amass a somewhat substantial lot of raw T206 cards in varying degrees of low-grade-ness. And I have to say, I really enjoy flipping through them as a stack. Having been relegated in my prior T206 set to thumbing through columns of SGC slabs -- some of which I still, happily, own -- I had started to miss the feel of quickly flipping through a stack of 30 or 40 T206 cards, piled on top of each other in thin sleeved holders.

Every couple of weeks, I pick up a few more and and to the pile. It's been really enjoyable and especially affordable. I don't like thinking how long it would take to reconstitute an entire run of 520 of them, but if I could average 10 or so a month for 5 years, well, then I'd be there, I suppose. But a lot can happen in that time!

Monogamously T206

I am basically a monogamous T206 collectors. Sure, sometimes I will read general pre-war card discussion because it broadens my perspective on T206. And, I have occasionally moved outside of T206, but it is always a brief sojourn. I keep getting pulled back, so to speak. Though, full disclaimer, I do have a few non-T206 autographed pre-war cards. I guess that means I have two different collecting interests -- T206 and signed pre-WWI cards.

I have often thought of why I am so faithfully devoted to just T206. To be honest I am not sure I can put it into words. Though I have noticed that one of the reasons I collect that way is because the Monster is so huge that any attempts to collect other cards are really only distracting from the ultimate goal -- which is completeness (however possible) of the set.

Still, I do love my signed T201s. I can't ever really imagine parting with them unless a trade for another signed T206 card I don't have was on the table.

T206 Injustice -- Fiene Gets Two; Mack Gets None?

Born on December 22, 1862 in East Brookfield, MA, Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy, a.k.a. Connie Mack, would have been 145 years old if he were alive today. One of the greatest managers of all time, it is hard to understand why so many of Mack's contemporary managers were featured on T206 -- e.g., John McGraw (3 cards), Hughie Jennings (3 cards) and Hugh Duffy (1 card), to name a few -- but Mack got no T206 card. Some have suggested that the reason for this is similar to the reason that Plank has such a short lifespan in T206, i.e., that there was a Philadelphia Athletics licensing issue of some sort. For whatever reason, Mack fans need to look beyond T206 (to E96 or Cracker Jack, for example) to find a baseball card rendition of the "The Tall Tactician."

On this same date in 1964, Lou Fiene passed away. Known as “Big Finn,” Fiene had a very short career as a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, from 1906-1909. Having recorded just 26 games and 138.0 innings pitched over his brief Major League career, Fiene was out of Major League Baseball before his 25th birthday. He played his final game on August 15, 1909. Given the brevity of his career, it is surprising that the manufacturers of T206 cards decided to include two poses of Fiene.

That Lou Fiene gets two T206 cards and Connie Mack gets none may be one of the greatest injustices done by the manufacturers of T206 cards. (Obviously, if the T206 publishers were facing lawsuits from Philadelphia then the injustice is certainly justified.) Coincidentally, Fiene died on Mack's birthday -- December 22 -- just three days prior to Christmas.

Okay, I have now linked...

....my website to www.blogger.com to hopefully create a more comfortable blogging atmosphere. Stay tuned....

I am going to try to bring my blog into the 21st Century, with the ability to "comment" on my blogs. Hopefully this will create a nice dialogue about all things T206, and prompt me to post to my T206 blog a little bit more frequently. Let me know what you think!