Smaller 1930s sets and the HOFers within

[Rob D.]

A recent Net54 post asking readers' opinions on the DeLong and R305 Tatoo Orbit sets got me to thinking. My initial reaction after reading the question about which set people like more was that I prefer the DeLongs. My assumption was that it has more "star power" regarding the number of Hall of Famers in the set (Gehrig came to mind right away) than the Tattoo Orbit. That led me to wondering about the other high-profile, smaller sets from the same time frame and what percentage of Hall of Famers make up each set.

I chose six sets -- 1932 U.S. Caramel, 1933 Butter Cream, 1933 DeLong, 1933 George C. Miller, 1933 R305 Tattoo Orbit and 1936 S&S Game -- and took a look at the number of Hall of Famers in each, along with the 2-3 "headliners" in each set. My definition of a headliner didn't allow for rare or short-print cards (the George Miller Andrews, the U.S. Caramel Lindstrom, etc.) but rather just the top-tier HOFers. I debated about including S&S Game because it just doesn't seem to "fit in" with the other five, but I ended up going with it because it is a cheaper alternative for someone trying to build a set.

I also debated about including the 1935 Goudey 4-in-1 set but didn't because it seemed like it would be comparing apples to oranges with the other six sets that have only one player per card. I left out larger sets like the 1933 Goudeys, again, because I felt the comparisons wouldn't be fair.

Listed below are the sets I looked at, with the number of cards in ( ), the number of HOFers and the "headliners." There are footnotes to the numbers. The U.S. Caramel set includes high-demand cards of non-baseball players (golf's Bobby Jones and boxing's Jack Dempsey, to name two). The Butter Cream Ruth, in addition to picturing arguably the most desirable Hall of Famer of all time, also is an incredibly rare short print. But even with those types of asterisks, I still found the numbers below interesting.

I'm curious to know whether a high percentage of Hall of Famers is appealing or a turnoff to those contemplating collecting a set. If a 1930s set doesn't include Ruth or Gehrig, does it lack appeal to you? Do the aesthetics of a set trump the players pictured?

(Apologies in advance for any errors that might be included below)

1932 U.S. Caramel (32): 22 HOFers (69 percent) -- Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig

1933 Butter Cream (30): 16 HOFers (53 percent) -- Ruth, Foxx,

1933 DeLong (24): 14 HOFers (58 percent) -- Gehrig, Foxx

1933 George C. Miller (32): 21 HOFers (66 percent) -- Dizzy Dean, Foxx

1933 R305 Tatoo Orbit (60): 16 HOFers (27 percent) -- Hornsby, Foxx, Dizzy Dean

1936 S&S Game (54): 18 HOFers (33 percent) -- Foxx, Hubbell