Fun/Expert Advice needed

[Maelman]

Hi I am new to the forums and I have to say this looks like a great community. I collected baseball cards from 10-16 and now at 26 I am looking to get back into collecting in the PreWWII era. If anyone would like to reply I am looking for recommendations on a set that I can focus on. I am looking for a set that I will be able to piece together over a 5-10 year period with most cards being on the affordable side (commonly graded examples at around the $50 mark) and a handful of the HOF cards that I will have to shell out up to a few thousand for. So far looking around I have enjoyed looking at your examples of all different sets and I am not really determined to get specific players just a fun challenge of a set to complete that isnt in the unattainable range. I look forward to hearing anyones advice!

[Leon]

Let me start to try to narrow it down a bit for you. From what you have seen do you like color or black and white cards, or does it matter? Do you have a specific era you might enjoy other than generically before WWII? Any teams or players you really like...or is it just the hunt of a good set, regardless of much else, that will do it for you? Welcome aboard our forum too!!

[Maelman]

#1 is definitely the hunt of a good set. I initially was interested in the w514 set, the cards seem to be reasonably priced and I like the black sox 7/8 players but I am not sure that I am that interested in handcut cards. Most of the players and cards that I have enjoyed looking at fall in the 1909-1929 range. Black and white or color is of no preference to me. A set that knowledgeable collectors feel is underrated compared to the other sets that have a bigger following would be interesting to me.

[Leon]

A couple neat little sets are the R305 Tattoo Orbit set and the Delong set. They can be had for not a whole lot of money and are really art deco looking, though they are a few years (1933) beyond what you stated. There should be plenty of other suggestions to help...

[barrysloate]

You might want to go on a website such as Old Cardboard, which is linked to this one, and study the designs of the various vintage sets. Often collectors go after ones that have a certain appealing look to them. You also want to go through the checklist and see if there are enough interesting players. Finally, I would check a price guide just to make sure the set is affordable and can be completed. You may find E107 attractive, but you can't realistically work on a set.

[btcarfagno]

I have always thought that the M116 set would be an attainable challenge. Nice looking cards, huge player selection, lots of Hall of Famers, a few scarcities (the blue backgrounds) but at fairly affordable prices.

Tom C