Posted By:
Josh K.David,
There are lots of pre-1950 sets that are able to be completed with a little effort. Depending upon how old you want to go, I would suggest the following:
1933 or 1934 Goudeys - These are very nice looking sets. Cards from these sets are readily obtainable and each set is one that can be completed (I think many consider the 1933 set "complete" without the lajoie, which is extremely rare and will cost you a lot to obtain).
Some of the smaller caramel card sets. My personal favorite is the E93 standard caramel set. It consists of 30 cards, 18 of which (if I counted correctly) are hall of famers and all can be found if you give yourself enough time. There are some cards that will cost you (wagner, cobb, young, mathewson) but none are so expensive such as to make them unobtainable to the majority of collectors (such as, for example, a T206 Wagner).
Other caramel sets to consider - E95 and E96