I’ve done it. I fought the Monster and won. 518/518 (my goal) has been accomplished!
I bought my first two t206 cards 17-18 years ago when I was a kid, but stopped collecting as important things like the teenage years, college, career and marriage became the priority. Less than 2 years ago, I started collecting t206s again and now the journey has been completed.
Many have asked me during my recent attendance at The National in Baltimore, how’d you do it so quickly? Besides patient, cash and the willingness to buy beaters, it took a lot of searching – scanning eBay, auction houses, and attending shows. I also owe a lot of gratitude to Net54Baseball.com, an online baseball card forum of which I’m a member. There are numerous collectors on Net54 that helped me out a long the way. There are way too many folks to name, but I will give a special thanks to Erick Summers. Not only did he sell me several cards along the way, he was the one who sold me the final card I needed to reach 518 – a Cobb green portrait (SGC 10).
Thanks to everyone who’s helped me along the way and a special thanks to my wife, who has put up with the dwindling bank accounts and piles of tobacco cards – I couldn’t have done it without your support.
Even though I’ve finished my master set, I only have about 1/2 of the cards scanned and posted to this site. I’ll continue to scan and post until I get them all uploaded, but it will take me some time.
Will I stop collecting cards now that I’ve mastered the Monster? Nope. Exactly what I’ll collect is yet to be determined. What I do know is that I’m putting together a subset of Hindu southern leaguers, of which I’m at 11/34. I’m also starting to put together a Hall of Fame collection. Stay tuned for more updates.