Prewar complete sets for under $1,000.00

[Northviewcats]

Hello Everyone,

I picked up this complete set of 1936 Goudeys for a cheap price on eBay. I realize that there are numerous back variations available, but if you are only counting the players there are 25 cards and 8 HOFers in the set including Greenberg. It got me thinking how many other prewar sets can be had for less than a grand?

Set collectors on a budget may be interested in any suggestions.

Best regards,

Joe

[bbcard1]

You can't easily do it for a grand, but a low/mid-grade 1941 Double Play is fairly economical. I finished mine a few years back and I think I got both Williams and the DiMaggio for under $200 each. The set is larger (75 cards) and the checklist pretty comprehensive for the era.

To do it, you would have to get the bulk of the commons at a quantity discount.

[ALBB]

The 1935 Goudey 4 in 1 is kind of cheap ( outside of Ruth )

[packs]

It's a little hard to find but the 1941 Double Play set is pretty affordable too. Only big card is the Williams.

[Cozumeleno]

In addition to the 1935-36 Goudeys mentioned, my guess is T201 could be done with only a little more than that and some patience. BINs are usually high but I've gotten them as low as $10-$15 and there's only 50 in the set. Cobb is the most expensive and low-grade ones have gone for as little as $250-$300.

[BobC]

It kind of depends on your definition of a "set", in which case there may be more sets to be had for under $1K, in pretty good condition to boot, than you would initially think.

There are many different listed "sets" that don't really have a lot of cards in them, like W565 cards with only 4 baseball players comprising the set. Then there are the 1927 Rinky Dink Stamps, which only number 10 different players, and also kind of bend the definition of a card. Another good example would be the 1936 S&S Game cards which number 52 in the set, but are very reasonable priced. All three of these sets include some major star players and HOFers, yet are very reasonably valued to where you should be able to complete each set, in rather good condition, for no more than $1K.

There are going to be other obscure and/or small sized pre-war sets that are under the $1K limit as well. Just grab a copy of an SCD catalog and thumb through it.

[ronniehatesjazz]

Maybe one of the strip card sets could be put together for around that figure.

[riggs336]

I paid about $550 for my low-grade Rice-Stix set (2 cards).

[swarmee]

T51 Murad College Series is 150 cards in the standard set (225 for Master), with 8 baseball player subjects: Fordham, Penn State, Kentucky, Ohio State, Haverford, Antioch, Bethany, and Kentucky Wesleyan. I paid $900 for a mid to high grade set of 150 from Kit Young just a couple years ago; a few of the cards graded PSA 8, with a number of 7s and a bunch of 6s and 6.5s.
Now it doesn't specify any specific player names, but college collectors love them for the lithography and gold foil border.
Still my favorite Pre-War set. Aside from the 8 baseball cards, there are a handful of basketball scenes, a handful of football scenes/players, plenty of track/field athletes, and cards from hockey, tennis, swimming, even biathlon.

Cards in Fair condition can be bought for a couple of bucks, but high grade cards can fetch hundreds. Not sure any card has topped $1,000 by itself yet.

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by riggs336

I paid about $550 for my low-grade Rice-Stix set (2 cards).

..These three are a smallish but complete part of the larger 1937-39 Orcajo Reds Postcards set ; most have a "Val Decker" logo and many are blank/plain/re-touched (attempted cover-up of the pre-printed said Val Decker)--- could be an interesting pursuit and done for under your ballpark thousand dollar limit...

..

[Griffins]

'36 S & S set should be under $1k. So should be Gold Medal Flour set and most if not all of the Diamond Match sets.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by swarmee

T51 Murad College Series is 150 cards in the standard set (225 for Master), with 8 baseball player subjects: Fordham, Penn State, Kentucky, Ohio State, Haverford, Antioch, Bethany, and Kentucky Wesleyan. I paid $900 for a mid to high grade set of 150 from Kit Young just a couple years ago; a few of the cards graded PSA 8, with a number of 7s and a bunch of 6s and 6.5s.
Now it doesn't specify any specific player names, but college collectors love them for the lithography and gold foil border.
Still my favorite Pre-War set. Aside from the 8 baseball cards, there are a handful of basketball scenes, a handful of football scenes/players, plenty of track/field athletes, and cards from hockey, tennis, swimming, even biathlon.

Cards in Fair condition can be bought for a couple of bucks, but high grade cards can fetch hundreds. Not sure any card has topped $1,000 by itself yet.

Those are some very cool looking cards. The Ohio State University is probably my favorite baseball one. Been looking for a Huron College one already in a SGC holder for quite a while.

[Bill77]

If you don't mind wandering away from baseball the T218 set is budget friendly as long as you get the Jack Johnson cards before the prices get any further out of hand. I just finished my set for $850, which includes about 19 doubles, including 2 Jack Johnson side view cards. It took me a little over 2 years to finish.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by swarmee

T51 Murad College Series is 150 cards in the standard set (225 for Master), with 8 baseball player subjects: Fordham, Penn State, Kentucky, Ohio State, Haverford, Antioch, Bethany, and Kentucky Wesleyan. I paid $900 for a mid to high grade set of 150 from Kit Young just a couple years ago; a few of the cards graded PSA 8, with a number of 7s and a bunch of 6s and 6.5s.
Now it doesn't specify any specific player names, but college collectors love them for the lithography and gold foil border.
Still my favorite Pre-War set. Aside from the 8 baseball cards, there are a handful of basketball scenes, a handful of football scenes/players, plenty of track/field athletes, and cards from hockey, tennis, swimming, even biathlon.

Cards in Fair condition can be bought for a couple of bucks, but high grade cards can fetch hundreds. Not sure any card has topped $1,000 by itself yet.

Agreed. I understand the generic college players aren't everyone's cup of tea, but if you're looking for gorgeous examples of turn off the century sports themed lithography, look no further. The related T6 premiums are especially beautiful as well...I just wish they had the gold borders like their mini counterparts.

[kmac32]

Ifyou up the $$$ a little, you can do a W572 set. 121 possible cards and you can do it for under $3000 including the Ruth card and other HOF cards. Condition can be an issue but fun to collect. Sold my set of 108 cards for a little over $2000 in aiction. Set is not widely collected so not a crazy competition for cards like T206 or T205. Good long term project in my opinion.

Kmac