Toughest Sets of the 19th and 20th century

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Posted By: <b>Zach</b><p>I've been pondering this for a while...what do you guys think are the toughest set from the 19th century and the 20th century ? I'm still only a novice ,but not including Leons t231 I think the t208s would be among the toughest of the 20th century. And for the 19th century either Four Base Hits or Just So Tobacco.

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Posted By: <b>Jay Miller</b><p>The toughest 19th century set is Hancock Clothing. Only three cards exist and each is unique.

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Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>My vote for the 19th Century is New York Baseball Club Sanders Advertising Cigar card..........regards<br /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1120522536.JPG"> <br /><br />for the 20th century it would be Derby Cigars as an uncat one and T208 (if we dismiss T231) as the categorized one.....good question <br /><br /><img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1120527061.JPG">

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Posted By: <b>bruce dorskind</b><p><br /><br />Whilst the Hancock Clothing ads appeared on an obscure E Bay<br />ad five years ago- few collectors are even aware and if I am correct<br />Jay owns all three cards.<br /><br />The Pacific Coast League Old Judges are incredibly tough- I have only<br />owned one in 30 years in the hobby<br /><br />Of sets that are bit more mainstream, I venture to say that I know<br />of no one who owns more than 3 Four Base Hits( 12 different known)<br />or 5 Just So's (about 10 or 11 known)<br /><br />For the 20th century my vote would be for the 1912 Boston Garters-<br />no one has more than 7 of the cards and at least two have never<br />been seen except in an ad.<br /><br />Also would like to see some one with a complete set of Fireside, Baltimore<br />News or Plows Candy<br /><br />If you really want to go crazy-there are about 4 1956 Bowman test cards<br />that survived- that would be a real coup as a complete set.<br /><br />Bruce

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Posted By: <b>Paul</b><p>If you consider them to be legitimate sets, there are some very tough Topps test issues from the 60s and 70s that never saw the inside of a wax pack. The 1970 cloth stickers are particularly tough, with only about 1-3 of each known, as far as I'm aware. 1961 Topps Dice Game cards are also quite tough. And Topps almost sponsored a Pepsi set in 1980. One or two of the test sets survived, and Topps has been auctioning off unfinished cards and proofs from this set in recent weeks.

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Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>T229 Kopec sports personalities. From the makers of Obaks, very rarely seen.

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Posted By: <b>lee</b><p>hi all<br /><br />1907/09 W555 handcut strip cards.<br /><br />to date, no one is quite sure where they come from, a candy box is the hobby guess ?<br /><br />and therefore, there is no checklist that can be considered complete.<br /><br />if found, they are handcut ( about the size of a .50 cent piece.)<br /><br />see ya, lee<br /><br /><img src="http://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1120526272.JPG">

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Posted By: <b>Zach</b><p>I remember seeing one of these in Mastro and went for over 10k I think. Jay- do you own all known ? Also Leon how many of the New York Baseball Club Sanders Advertising Cigar cards are known...i've never seen one in any auction.

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Posted By: <b>Tom L.</b><p>Hard to get much rarer than one-of-a-kind sets. Here are two examples:<br /><br />1894 Alpha Photo Engraving Cards of Baltimore Orioles (14 known)<br /><br />1903 (or thereabouts) Allegheny (sp?) Cards<br /><br />The Alphas are all in the hands of a single collector. I believe the Alleghenys were all purchased by a single dealer, and have since been dispersed throughout the hobby.<br /><br />Tom

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Posted By: <b>jay behrens</b><p>How about the White Sox team set that is one of a kind<br /><br />One of kind stuff is great, but think for a discussion like this, it needs remain focused on sets that more than one person has a shot at completing.<br /><br />e104-3s would be on that short list as there are a number of cards with only one known example and new players being found on an almost yearly basis the past few years.<br /><br />Jay<br><br>My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: <b>david</b><p>for sets the collector has a realistic chance to actually complete scrapps, and mayos are both very tough to complete but certainly possible and present a good challenge to the collector

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Posted By: <b>J Levine</b><p>I do not consider one of a kind sets to be completeable (if that is a word).<br /><br />Kalamazoo Bats are tough to complete if I recall but there is a small chance. <br /><br />Fatima Large Team Premiums (the large version of the T-200s) are very tough. Only seen a handful over the years and never a Phillie one.<br /><br />For those Phillies collectors, try Lummis Peanut Butter...I was a fool and did not buy the small lot Lipset had about 6 or 7 years ago. These are near impossible and the checklist is still incomplete.<br /><br />Joshua<br /><br />Just some of my opinions.

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Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>N172-173-174-175, Zeenuts, Pinkerton scorecard/postcards, some Exhibit sets; no one knows for certain whether these sets are complete or whether there are more out there.

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Posted By: <b>Julie</b><p>It only took me about 15 years, and several times I was offered complete sets, but couldn't afford them.

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Posted By: <b>Bruce Babcock</b><p><img src="http://homepage.mac.com/thurber51/.Pictures/More%20Favorites/Darby.JPG"><br /><br />A famous (or infamous) dealer once claimed that two complete sets of Darby Chocolates exist. VCBC offered a cash award, $1000 I think, to anyone who could produce a complete set. That money remains unclaimed.