Easiest Prewar set to complete

[bbcard1]

The thread on the hardest to complete prewar sets got me thinking about what the easiest one might be. For the sake of argument, let's say it has to have at least 24 cards and be a reasonable representative of contemporary times (not a team issued minor league set). I always assume the sets I have are the easiest...my prewar complete are Delong, T205 (unique fronts only), T206 (520). I am thinking it's maybe the W517s or R316.

[x2drich2000]

I would throw E93, E95, E96, and E92 Dockman in there before I would put T206 or T205. While the cards are easy to find, the obvious problem with T206 and to a less degree T205 is just the size of the sets. How many people do you know who started a T206 set, got 150-200 cards in and burned out?

[Chris Counts]

1936 Goudey.

[bbsports]

How about T201 set as the easiest. Only a 50 card set with very little demand.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

T201 & T202, 1939 Play Ball the high numbers can take a little while but far from difficult, actually all the Play Balls are doable, though I see 1940 sets the least of the three.

[Cozumeleno]

1936 Goudey for sure, IMO. I put a set together in a weekend buying cards from COMC and eBay. And even though I overpaid for a few, none were more than $50 (a low-grade Greenberg). 25 cards, only a few bigger names, and pretty cheap cards.

Easiest American tobacco baseball set is probably T201, IMO. 50 cards and the most expensive one, Cobb/Crawford, is only a few hundred dollars.

[rats60]

The thread on the hardest to complete prewar sets got me thinking about what the easiest one might be. For the sake of argument, let's say it has to have at least 24 cards and be a reasonable representative of contemporary times (not a team issued minor league set). I always assume the sets I have are the easiest...my prewar complete are Delong, T205 (unique fronts only), T206 (520). I am thinking it's maybe the W517s or R316.

I would list t205 and t206 as 2 of the harder sets to put together. I have done Play Balls and Goudeys and they are all much easier as well as t200, t201, t202, e93, e94, e95, e96, 1915 Cracker Jacks, Diamond Stars, Batter Ups and Delongs.

The short prints and size of t205 make it its own monster. t206 Doyle has ~10 copies so that limits the number of complete sets. Even if you don't count it, you still have Wagner with ~57 copies. If you are only doing the partial set at 518 or 520, there are more people chasing the set than there are of some of the tougher cards. Demmitt and O'Hara St.L are going to be tougher than the above.

I would go with 1936 Goudey and t201 as the two easiest sets due to size and availability of the cards.

[brianp-beme]

I would go with 1936 Goudey and t201 as the two easiest sets due to size and availability of the cards.

I would have to agree on these two sets. If I were to list them by PreWW2 decades, here is what it would look like:

1900's - E95 Philadelphia Caramels
1910's - T201
1920's - W516-1 (probably the most difficult of these five sets to assemble)
1930's - 1936 Goudey
1940's (through 1941) - 1941 Play Ball

Brian

[glynparson]

It’s only two cards. I didn’t read the rules. Lol so having read them I’ll
Say t201

[conor912]

1936 Goudey.

Yeah, at 25 cards this is about as small as it gets for "major releases", though it's boring as hell. With 36 cards I'd go with '35 Goudey (for the base set anyway). Way more visually appealing....and it's got Ruth (for better or worse depending on budget).

[BobC]

The 1936 S&S Game cards are relatively easy, and quite inexpensive to complete versus a lot of these other issues mentioned. Only question may be if someone feels the "game" cards are not true cards, but that is a matter of personal opinion. Only 50 cards in the entire set and something like 38% of them are HOFers.

[Bugsy]

How about T201 set as the easiest. Only a 50 card set with very little demand.

You're right about that one. That was the first pre-war set I put together. I remember the Cole/Kling card being really tough, but that was back in the SCD days. There are always a few examples sitting on eBay.

[oldjudge]

In 19th century: Goodwin Champs, Allen and Ginters, Mayos