Hardest prewar sets that have been completed

[x2drich2000]

One of the common things I've seen suggested in the wake of the Moser cards is a move to truly rare cards rather than condition rarities. So what are some of the rarest/most difficult prewar sets that have actually been completed? I know Jim Blumenthal completed the N167 set. What are some other that have been completed?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by x2drich2000

One of the common things I've seen suggested in the wake of the Moser cards is a move to truly rare cards rather than condition rarities. So what are some of the rarest/most difficult prewar sets that have actually been completed? I know Jim Blumenthal completed the N167 set. What are some other that have been completed?

I have no idea if or how many times but I would consider T210s more than a little hard.

[Leon]

Has a W572 set been completed? I doubt there are many Lone Jack sets around, as Jay has shown. And of course there are a whole lot of super rare sets that will probably never be completed, such as these.. I think this could be an 8 with those borders (or just a little less). LOL....

[Rhotchkiss]

T215 pirate- I don’t think a completed one exists; only a very almost one and then a few one offs.

[philliesphan]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

T215 pirate- I don’t think a completed one exists; only a very almost one and then a few one offs.

Rhys - when Legendary sold off the near set in 2007, there was one card missing (it was listed as being 96 of 97 cards). Do you recall what the missing example was? And has that example actually been confirmed to exist?

m

[Al C.risafulli]

My favorite collecting stories are Dan McKee reassembling the Alpha Engraving set, and my friend Jim Blumenthal finishing the N167 baseball set. In the case of the Alphas, the cards were all one of a kind. Some day I want to own one of them, only because the story is so great.

-Al

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

T215 pirate- I don’t think a completed one exists; only a very almost one and then a few one offs.

Ryan

A complete PIRATE set (96-cards) exists. The 97th card is missing....Byrne variation (either Pittsburgh or St. Louis).


No doubt about which sets are the toughest.... the aforementioned 19th Century sets which have been mentioned in this thread.


I will include the 1910 COUPON (T213-1) set, which has been completed by a Net 54 member.


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TED Z

T206 Reference
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[CobbSpikedMe]

Originally Posted by Leon

Has a W572 set been completed?

Not yet. Although one of our members, Patrick, has the most complete set out there missing just three cards I believe.

[the-illini]

M101-6 Felix Mendelsohn although one collector is very close.

[Joe_G.]

I'd like to nominate Jay's N370 (Lone Jack) set that he recently posted in the 19th century thread.

[SMPEP]

Originally Posted by CobbSpikedMe

Not yet. Although one of our members, Patrick, has the most complete set out there missing just three cards I believe.

I believe it to be true that I have more W572s than anyone else has ever assembled - but I honestly don't know if I need 3 cards!

No picture of the Walt Barbare card has ever been seen. Does it exist? Bob Lemke said it did when he added it to the Standard Catalogue. When I asked him about it years later though, he admitted he didn't remember why he added it, and thought it was because someone sent him a faxed photo. Could a faxed photo fool him?

If Lemke was right and there are 121 different cards, and the cards were produced in strips of 10 cards, then does that mean there are 9 undiscovered cards waiting to be found? Recall Lemke only added Barbare in 2006.

My best guess (at the moment) is that I still need 2 cards - Wambganns which is known to exist (Hi Brian!) and Duncan (which I've never seen a photo of - but which was graded by SGC). I'm not sure what to think on the Walt Barbare card, but it wouldn't shock me if it was a misidentification by Lemke because 120 cards make more sense than 121 cards.

Cheers,
Patrick

[kmac32]

Originally Posted by Leon

Has a W572 set been completed? I doubt there are many Lone Jack sets around, as Jay has shown. And of course there are a whole lot of super rare sets that will probably never be completed, such as these.. I think this could be an 8 with those borders (or just a little less). LOL....

I had 116 out of 121 of the W572 set before I sold mine in Heritage. The T205 front/ reverse set took priority and it is now 148 out of 151 possible cards all graded SGC. On W572 sets, I believe Patrick Prickett is maybe 2 cards off from completion. Definitely was a fun set to collect.

[sando69]

we should not forget, nor underestimate the t206 set.
as far as we know, publicly, i believe there is only ONE complete set of 524 separate examples, that include some very expensive, scarce and rare cards!

[MR RAREBACK]

Has anyone completed
t206 broadleaf 350
or hindu brown set

[Cooper1927]

Not to hijack the thread, but I think it’s in line...

What’s the toughest affordable set to complete pre-war. Many of the ultra rare are not really possible for a regular budget (and continued marriage ).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[familytoad]

The way I read the OP, the question was which ones *have*been completed, not which tough ones have NOT.

The first one I thought of was JimB’ s N167 accomplishment.
That certainly is an incredible set to complete.

[CobbSpikedMe]

Originally Posted by familytoad

The way I read the OP, the question was which ones *have*been completed, not which tough ones have NOT.

The first one I thought of was JimB’ s N167 accomplishment.
That certainly is an incredible set to complete.

Hey Brian. I forgot that JimB completed the N167 set. Was it is set that was featured in Old Carboard magazine years ago. I believe he wrote the article and it stated it was the first time all 12 cards were shown together.

[brianp-beme]

Not to hijack the thread, but I think it’s in line...

What’s the toughest affordable set to complete pre-war. Many of the ultra rare are not really possible for a regular budget (and continued marriage ).


Hijack duly noted...1936 Goudey. Relatively plentiful, fewer collectors collecting black and white photo cards, small-size (25), no mega-stars in set (Greenberg the biggest star), and backs that could be used in playing a game, making it seem like a game card set that a substantial number of collectors frown upon.

All of this adds up to an affordable, easy to complete prewar set.

Brian

[BuzzD]

Does anyone know of a complete E122 American Caramel set?

[Spike]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

Not to hijack the thread, but I think it’s in line...

What’s the toughest affordable set to complete pre-war. Many of the ultra rare are not really possible for a regular budget (and continued marriage ).


Hijack duly noted...1936 Goudey. Relatively plentiful, fewer collectors collecting black and white photo cards, small-size (25), no mega-stars in set (Greenberg the biggest star), and backs that could be used in playing a game, making it seem like a game card set that a substantial number of collectors frown upon.

All of this adds up to an affordable, easy to complete prewar set.

Brian

True, 1936 Goudey R322's an easy enough one to put together. On the flip side for that particular set (pun intended), I leveraged Dave Winer's efforts (via Net54) to identify the entire master set of front/back combos, which totals 176. After a couple years of hunting, I need nine more.

So far, I've paid $5-15 for commons and up to $80 for HOFers, which puts it in affordable territory for many prewar collectors. No clear scarcity differences between R322 front/back combos, so demand's driven by the HOFers and semi-stars like Pepper Martin.