What's a good "first" vintage set to collect?

[ValKehl]

Denny, one big negative to your "crown jewel" recommendation is there's no Babe Ruth in the T200 set!

[yanksfan09]

I'm a big fan of black and white sets too and love e121's.

Another option that bridges the gap of Cobb-Ruth era would be 1921 exhibits (First year for exhibits too!). Not too big at 64 cards. Some nice images!

[Jerry G]

It's a little later than Ruth, Cobb and Mathewson, but it still is pre-war. There are 72 brightly colored cars in art deco style. Compared to the T and E cards, they can be found pretty reasonably.

It has early Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams and quite a few Hall of Famers. Off the top of my head there's Dickey, Reese, Cronin, Klein, Foxx, Gehringer, Greenberg,... Then, there's interesting players like Dominic and Vince DiMaggio and Johnny "Double No Hit" Vander Meer.

I recently put a VG set together in about a year. So, the supply is good.

[kailes2872]

When I get through all of this post-war topps & bowman stuff, I am heading straight for the '33 Delong. 24 cards, lots of HOFers, Gehrig is the prize.

[bbcard1]

Delongs are doable with lots of hall of famers. The T206 is a bit of a cliche, but though to beat in many ways. The "set" is difficult but you can find meaningful qualities at a reasonable price if you are forgiving of grade. T205s are similar in that regard, but I'm glad In knocked both of those out, albeit in low grades around 2012-13.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Jerry G

It's a little later than Ruth, Cobb and Mathewson, but it still is pre-war. There are 72 brightly colored cars in art deco style. Compared to the T and E cards, they can be found pretty reasonably.

It has early Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams and quite a few Hall of Famers. Off the top of my head there's Dickey, Reese, Cronin, Klein, Foxx, Gehringer, Greenberg,... Then, there's interesting players like Dominic and Vince DiMaggio and Johnny "Double No Hit" Vander Meer.

I recently put a VG set together in about a year. So, the supply is good.

I was going to say the same thing until I noticed all replies were focused on earlier sets. Probably the perfect set for a first time set builder. It has it all. Great looking cards. Loaded with HOFers. And easy to complete with only 72 cards.

Edit: not to mention 1941 was such a historic season. Dimaggios streak and Williams hitting over .400. I sure wish I had been around to see that.

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by yanksfan09

I'm a big fan of black and white sets too and love e121's.

Another option that bridges the gap of Cobb-Ruth era would be 1921 exhibits (First year for exhibits too!). Not too big at 64 cards. Some nice images!

Those Exhibits are beautiful. I never really understood how those worked/what they were. They are oversized correct? Are they technically cards? Are they all the same size?

Thanks

[yanksfan09]

Originally Posted by Topnotchsy

Those Exhibits are beautiful. I never really understood how those worked/what they were. They are oversized correct? Are they technically cards? Are they all the same size?

Thanks

Yes oversize, same size as Postcards. I, and most consider them to be cards. They are thick postcard size card stock but blank backed. Although in later years there were ones issued with Post card backs as well as blank but not 1921. They are all machine cut, same uniform size. From my understanding, they were the first set/issue to ever be issued as just cards by themselves. They weren't used to promote other products, they were the product! They were issued in arcade exhibit machines. Where you would insert (I think a penny on early sets) into machine and receive card(s). There are other exhibit experts on the board who maybe will chime in. I'm not sure if you'd possibly get more than 1 card at once out of the machine for a penny in the early days or not. Exhibits were produced on and off up until around 1980 I believe!

The exhibit arcade card dispensing machines are fairly collectible in their own right.

[btcarfagno]

I have always been partial to the Neilson's Chocolates from 1922. The Type 1's are a 120 card set, so may be a bit big for your taste at the moment, but commons can be had in low/mid grade for $20-25 each easily. The set has great borders and action shots as you can see below, and the Type 1 checklist includes major HOFers such as:

Babe Ruth
Walter Johnson
Ty Cobb
Grover Alexander
Eddie Collins
Rogers Hornsby

and about 10 other HOFers as well.







Tom C

[irishdenny]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Denny, one big negative to your "crown jewel" recommendation is there's no Babe Ruth in the T200 set!

Hey there Val...

"Who's Babe Ruth!?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyFa...VpVm0gXVmJiwjb

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by irishdenny

"Who's Babe Ruth!?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyFa...VpVm0gXVmJiwjb

Denny, I think he's the guy who developed a popular candy bar that he named after himself.