Beckett sent me a press release for some reason

I'm glad because it's a cool press release. Apparently someone came out of nowhere and submitted a previously unknown T206 collection to be graded by Beckett. It's a collection with all Sweet Caporal backs. Guess which card is only found with a Sweet Caporal back. Read more about it on Beckett Behind the Scenes, which also has a brilliantly unhinged rant against all Beckett products in the comments section. I'm not a huge fan of grading myself, but it's neat to see a collection like this pop out of nowhere into the light. Hopefully somebody scans the whole collection for posterity before it gets broken up into a bunch of people's collections. Since Elon sent the press release to me, I'm guessing he wouldn't mind if I posted it here, so I will.

-For Immediate Release-

Famed Wagner Card Highlights Massive T206 Collection

-Beckett Media Plans Historic Multi-day Auction-

DALLAS (January 16, 2008) --- For the past month Beckett Grading experts have been verifying and grading over 550 T206 Sweet Caporal tobacco cards including a rare Honus Wagner card, from a single collection previously unknown to the hobby. This collection, submitted by a private collector, is thought to be one of the most extensive T206 private collections of raw, ungraded, turn of the century tobacco cards uncovered in the past 30 years. There are believed to be only 55-60 T206 Honus Wagner cards in circulation.



“The story behind this find, and the fact that the entire group is from the Sweet Caporal brand, suggests it is likely an original collection from an early 20th century collector who smoked Sweet Caporal cigarettes. There is no doubt that unearthing a T206 collection of this breadth, headlined by a Wagner, is one of the most significant trading card finds in recent memory. Beckett Grading Services is very pleased to have been selected to grade not just our first Wagner but also over 550 of exceptionally well-preserved tobacco cards from that era,” said Mark Anderson, Director of Beckett Grading Services. “Having been hidden away for decades, the color on these cards is extraordinary, and a very large percentage of these cards should grade Excellent or better.”



The entire collection will be auctioned off through multiple auctions overseen by the Beckett Select Auctions division of Beckett Media beginning in March of this year. The single card and lot auctions will culminate with the multi-day auction of the T206 Honus Wagner ending on April 10th.



“The history and lore that surround the previous Honus Wagner cards makes this one of the most exciting announcements Beckett Media has ever made. We expect this card alone to sell for well over $100,000 at auction and based on the exceptional appearance and condition of many of the other cards in the collection we feel that many collectors will be able to enhance their T206 collections dramatically in the coming months,” said Grant Sandground, Beckett Media’s Technical Director of Hobby Development.



“The T206 set has and remains to this day, by far, the most important pre-war set of trading cards ever issued. In fact, you could make a viable argument that it’s the most important set of trading cards ever issued. Period. The set represents every element that comes to define a collecting masterpiece,” added Sandground.” The Wagner is, of course, the centerpiece of the set. It’s gotten to the point where it’s virtually an iconic image when discussing American pop culture. The set is loaded with multiple cards for benchmark Hall of Famers like Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Cy Young. The artwork and images, to this day, remain universally compelling. The cards have a perfect balance of scarcity and commonality. Low grade copies are affordable for options almost any collector and high-grade cards and scarce short prints continue to grow in popularity with aficionados.”



For information about this collection or the upcoming auctions please contact Dave Sliepka, Beckett Select Auctions, 972-448-9182 or dsliepka@beckett.com.

UPDATE!!! ~ Here's a quote from the comments of the Beckett blog from the main man himself:

We will be launching a complete photo gallery of all 550 cards shortly. We will also be listing all the specific cards and grades. It is a lot of information and rather than dump it on the world all at once we are going to spread out the happiness.

Elon

Awwwwww YEAH!!!!!!!! A five hundred fifty card gallary of the T206 set! That is freakin' SWEET! I will be linking like mad to that, rest assured. Beckett has a new friend today, although I'm still calling them The Propaganda. (remind me to tell you the story behind that one day)