Within the first half-dozen entries of Joe Orlando's book, The Top 200 Sporstcards in the Hobby, we find the 1909-11 T206 White Border Ty Cobb, which, as most enthusiasts know, comes in four distinct variations: Bat off Shoulder, Bat on Shoulder, the Red Portrait, and, finally, the notorious and ever-elusive Green Portrait. As Orlando writes, "Often found with terrible centering, the green Cobb is very rarely seen in unqualified top grades, if at all." A quick consultation of PSA's T206 population databases confirms Mr. Orlando's observations. From the Piedmont-specific database, the highest reported Green Cobb is a single PSA 7 NM specimen from 72 submissions. From the Sweet Caporal-specific database, the highest reported is another single PSA 7 NM example from 36 submissions. Finally, from the vast "Unknown Back" database, PSA reports just 16 PSA 7's, surpassed by a mere 6 PSA 8's, with none higher. Compare these numbers to the combined data for the second most coveted T206 Cobb, the Red Portrait, which has witnessed the discovery of at least 40 PSA 7's, 20 PSA 8's, and a single PSA 8.5, and it becomes immediately clear why the Green Cobb is at the top of every pre-war collector's want list. Unfortunately, with just two dozen minimally PSA 7 NM specimens on record, there just aren't enough to go around, and so anyone interested in the status and general health of the hobby should perk up whenever an example does make it to market. Imagine, for comparison's sake, if there were this few '52 Topps Mantles in existence. Prices would reach multiple times the amount of the current $30,000 to $40,000 price tag for a PSA 7 and the hefty $80,000 to $100,000+ for a PSA 8. And yet, PSA reports a respective population of 66 and 29 examples for each. Like the T206 Cobb variations, the Mantle is an iconic card as well, sure--perhaps even its post-war equivalent--but is it scarcer than the infamous Green Back? Absolutely not. Not even in the same ballpark, they're hardly even comparable. Proudly offered to the collecting public for the first time in well over 1-1/2 years, this is an incredibly well-centered PSA 7 NM example of the iconic and hobby-defining T206 Ty Cobb Green Background that boasts an impeccable image against a sensationally immaculate green backdrop. As Joe Orlando reminds us, keep in mind that the centering is of primary importance on this particular Cobb variation, so why wait another 18 months for another specimen, one that will most likely exhibit less perfect centering, to surface? And with the continually record-setting prices for high-grade Cobb material over the last two years, why risk paying twice as much tomorrow as it will cost you today? Highly recommended, we encourage interested bidders to do their homework and not to underestimate the significance of this perennial favorite.