From the confident slogan of “Is Now, Always Has Been, Always Will Be,” to the dark blue color and overall back design, the T206 Polar Bear variation is to me the most visually stunning of the 16 different back variations. Secondarily, Polar Bear tobacco was the only loose tobacco product that included cards in them. All other brands that are advertised were rolled tobacco products. That leads to more condition issues with these cards but lets be honest, the more beat up and creased they are, the better they are.

While the entire T206 set is 524 cards (520 for the every day collector), the Polar Bear back run set is only 250 cards! So while these might be a little more expensive than your common back card (Piedmont & Sweet Caporal), only having to put together a 250 card set is a lot better than 520. So the impact to your wallet might be a little lighter if you just go after Polar Bear backs.

I have also recently completed my Polar Bear arm sleeve tattoo as well. On the arm is full images of Frank Chance, Ray Demmitt, Bill O’Hara, Christy Mathewson, Del Howard, Solly Hofman, Harry Hinchman along with the Polar Bear from the original tobacco tin and a full card back. Then there are parts of Hal Chase Holding Trophy, Ty Cobb Red Port, Howie Camnitz, and Bill Clancy mixed in on this mosaic. There are also a few easter eggs in the overall design as well, which makes it a truly 1/1 piece of art from Stephanie!

Interested to learn more about the artist behind this amazing work, check out Stephanie’s work here, https://www.naturenox.com/.

Below are all of my current Polar Bear backs along with where my set currently stands and as of July‘23.

Thanks for looking and following my Polar Bear journey and if you ever want to connect and talk about Polar Bear’s my email address is chris@crtsportscards.com or you can find me on social media by the handle of CRT_Sportscards. -Chris