Dustin --
Here are a couple of articles from the 1970s that I posted here, written by people who collected baseball cards as a kid in the 1930s. The first one is specifically about 1933 Goudey, but the second one does mention R327 (Diamond Stars), and both of them will give you an idea of what collecting was like back then. The cards were all sold in penny packs of gum and aimed at kids.
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=219310
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=219683