Card Investing

Most collectors eyeing an investment in the pre-war tobacco baseball cards shoot for the big time hall of famers like Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Christy Mathewson as a few examples.

And most without a strong familiarity of tobacco card options, head straight for the premier sets from the early 1900's such as the ever popular T206 White Borders set.

However, what if I were to tell you there's a much cheaper (and rarer) option than the T206 set, with the ability to get cards featuring multiple hall of famers on one card?

That set is the 1913 T200 Fatima Team Card set, and although there are only sixteen cards in the set, it is one that all vintage card investors need to be familiar with. 

If you've followed some of my past writings, you might know that I often opine on the investment side of the sports card business.

And even pure collectors need to keep an eye on market activity!

Since one might be foolhardy to not at least take advantage of some of the immense market gains (or at least think about it).

Last January, I suggested that the vintage sports card market might indeed be in a bubble.  And in March, I said we definitely might be there. 

While, the card market definitely deflated in 2022, the most damage was done in the modern card market and newer vintage cards (think Jordan rookie card) with more overall supply.

Before the days of TV's and iPads and iPhones, US consumers were forced to keep themselves occupied without screens (can you imagine!?).

In the late 1800's and early 1900's board games were quite popular in the states. 

Between 1904 and 1906 a company named Fan Craze out of Cincinnati, Ohio offered its own spin on the table game movement.

The less popular 1904 Fan Craze game featured a set of cards without player images. Each card included a baseball play (such as 'Bunt' or 'Homerun') and players would take turns selecting a card to advance their batter on a playing board (shown below).

(side note, PSA has erroneously labeled the 1906 Fan Craze AL set as 1904 Fan Craze and still does to this day even though both the AL and the NL sets were released in 1906).

The most popular pre-war tobacco card set is the 1909-1911 T206 'White Borders' set.  

Known as 'The Monster' for its large size (a complete set is 524 cards), collectors remain drawn to the beauty and mystique of the set. 

The popularity has never wavered, even in times of stress in the sports card market, as we are experiencing at the moment.

The low existing supplies and the high demand from collectors have kept prices on a steady upswing over the years. 

Those with existing investments in T206 cards are more than happy to see prices rise.

Yet, for those looking to enter the T206 game, the high costs of many of the key HOF cards can leave many budget-minded collectors out of the loop.

Today, we estimate the cost to build a near complete 520 card T206 White Borders set to be $65K.

Note that these estimates are for a T206 set consisting of 520 cards. This leaves out the big four (Wagner, Plank, 'Magie', and Doyle NY), which are scarce and cost prohibitive.

Most vintage collectors, at one time or another, have had their eye on the T206 White Borders set.

For set builders, the complete 524 card set is nearly impossible, unless your pockets are lined with gold. 

The reason?

The elusive holy grail card of Honus Wagner will cost at a minimum in the many millions.

Not to mention a very cost-prohibitive and rare Eddie Plank card.

And two very, very hard-to-find (and expensive) error cards of Sherry "Magie" and Joe Doyle (N.Y. Nat'l variation).  

Thus, some collectors land at a target of 520 for the T206 set, skipping the impossible four of Wagner, Plank, Magie, and Doyle.

Known through the hobby as the 'Brown Background' set, the T207 issue took a step back in terms of the beautiful colors offered in the previous two issues. 

Instead, ATC produced a rather dark and somber 200 card set that left out some of baseball biggest stars of the time.

Cards are prone to cracking due to a glossed card front and backs offer different advertising variations, some (Red Cross) are nearly impossible to find. 

Still, collectors of prewar tobacco cards view the 1912 T207 cards as an exciting challenge due to some of the tougher to find cards and back variations.