A Third Joe

 So after my first international eBay purchase I immediately dived back in.

That Joe Lake T206 is a card I had waiting on standby after I knew the international shipping program works.

There's a big reason for that.

Mostly I just wanted to address this hole in my T206 New York Highlanders collection that's been there for 12 years.

Back in 2014 I had another copy that I sent off to The Lost Collector (shout-out to TLC, hope you're doing well out there).

Scan/Pic used without permission (hey, I sent him the darn thing!)

As luck would have it the name Joe would be very close to TLC's son's name. On top of potentially being exactly a century older than TLC's son. It's also a T206. Of a Yankee/Highlander.

In other words it was the perfect card to send to one of my first and longest collecting buds.

But I figure I'd get another one before TLC ever had any inklings of sending it back to me (this is why I always kept my address hidden from him, obviously).

Scan/Pic used without permission (hey, I sent him the darn thing!)

Funnily enough I did get a St. Louis Browns version of Joe Lake that was also sent off to someone else (shout-out to Tony, hope you're doing well out there).

Which means that the newest Joe Lake is the third ever T206 Joe Lake in my possession.

In some ways that feels insane to say.

But I was also once insane enough to redistribute a lot of these to other collectors back when these were easier to find and a lot more affordable. I did that 15 times. Possibly 16 but I can't remember if I ever sent Mark Hoyle one (shout out Mark Hoyle, I hope you're doing well out there).

I still even remember how I got a Kaiser Wilhelm T206 from COMC for free. They were doing the game/cataloging promotion where you got free credits for typing card names or something like that. I got roughly $25 worth of credits and after this card arrived I promptly sent it off to God. Imagine saying that with a straight face here in 2026.

Nearly $200 combined for this foursome

Although I don't want to harp on the way prices for T206 commons got inflated way too much, it's something I do notice because I can't lose sight of the fact that T206es are notorious for having forgeries or trimmed copies.

Even if it's not the big Honus Wagner or the likes of Ty Cobb or Cy Young, $10-$20 for a T206 that you're not 100% sure is legit was a reasonable chunk of change to take a shot on.

Now prices for commons and no-names are triple that and you might as well go after a graded (or rather an authenticated) copy to get some peace of mind.

I won't though because I already own two graded T206es and I feel like I'm in this awkward zone where I feel like they own me, not the other way around. It's like these cards know I'm only their owner now before they eventually hit the market again either because I give them or up my estate does after I kick the bucket.

POSSIBLE TTM?!

Still, progress is progress. 13/20.

Dare to dream.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.