Absolutely nothing wrong with being just a player collector. All good, and some really nice cards in your collection as well.

Super nice collection Bob. Figured we'd hear from one of you OBC guys eventually. And that Exhibit dispensing machine with the Ruth card is out of this world. I have a 1950's Victor gumball and baseball card dispensing machine myself, so I can relate to how cool having an Exhibit machine from that far back actually is. And having a Ruth card with it is simply icing on the cake. Wow!!!

Steve,

I'm not really a focused collector either, but if you saw my set list you can see what trouble it has gotten me into. LOL Great collection, keep it up.

1. I bought my 2nd pre-war card on eBay 08/21/09 1933 Goudey Travis Jackson. That's when I really began collecting pre-war. Actively collected till a couple of years ago. I actually owned a t206 Downey Fielding before the Jackson , but honestly I can't even remember where it came from. I was an avid collector 72 (2nd grade) thru about mid 90's. I'm sure I picked it up at a show "just to say I had one" but didn't catch the pre-war bug back then.

2. Probably owned max 1200 or 1300 pre-war cards at the pinnacle of my pre-war collecting days (mostly t206, 33 goudey, t205, t207, e90 and it's brethern - the "easy" cards to get)

3. Right now I own 530 pre-war cards

4. Most significant are 3 cobb t206's and 4 33 Goudey Ruths. Nothing even remotely rare.

5. Although I'm a set collector at heart, I no longer own any complete or near complete pre-war sets.

Rich,

Great cards and collection. Noticed we have the W551 set in common. I think a sorely underappreciated set, and not that hard to complete at only 10 cards in the set. And a lot of bang for the buck with 8 of those 10 players being HOFers, including the likes of Ruth, Cobb, and WaJo. Very nice.

Good stuff Tony, and sounds like a great collection. Goudey Ruths and T206 Cobbs are always significant. And who knows, maybe the set collecting bug will bite you one day.

Thanks Bob! I probably should have listed my E95 Wagner and 41PB Williams and DiMaggio as well. And I'm drooling over your collection! Absolutely amazing.

Ricky,

Thanks, but don't start drooling too hard. I'm definitely a lower end collector, and have to be when you start looking at all the Cobb, Ruth, Wagner and other superstar cards out there. So I have a preponderance of 1's and 2's (and even a fews A's) amongst my many HOFer and pre-war star cards. Occasionally I mess up and somehow end up with a nicer condition card, but I try to not let that happen too often. LOL

Truth be told, I'm not really into grading cards and would prefer buying them raw, if possible. But when dealing with pre-war cards, especially the HOFers and stars, you generally only find already graded ones for sale. Most sellers get them graded to maximize the potential sales price, and also calm buyer fears of possibly buying fake or reprint cards, especially when being sold online. I've been collecting and handled enough different pre-war cards over the years that I have no real concerns looking at cards in person at a show and determining if they are real or not. Online purchases, unless from a known and trusted seller like a DavidB or Howard, are a completely different story. Another potential benefit of buying lower condition graded cards, besides being able to afford them, is that they are less likely to have been doctored or tampered with. Already enough threads about those concerns and issues out there so no need to comment further on that topic.

Bob, I’m an old school collector and agree with you. Most of my pre-war cards are raw and I also will collect 1 s and 2s if I really want the card. I try for cards that present well but if it’s a card I need from a tough set that’s normally fairly expensive, like D311s, I’ll buy an affordable examples with creases. Navigating this great hobby on a modest budget can be a challenge but it can be done.

Great reading through this thread! I'm mostly a football guy but have dabbled in baseball through the years if I see something that strikes my fancy. If I was going to pick two sets I don't currently have a card from that I'd really like to have they would be: Turkey Red and Rose Postcards.

Also have a project to collect baseball cards of pre-war professional football players (Thorpe, Neale, Nevers, Abbaticchio, Charlie Berry, Walter French, Paddy Driscoll, Pat Flaherty, etc.) which is a lot of fun.

Here are the answers to your questions

1. How long have you been collecting pre-war cards?

I picked up my first pre-war baseball card as a kid in 1978 (t206 common and a 1927 strip card). Didn't collect between 1983 - 2008 before getting back into the hobby in 2009. Been active ever since.

2. What is the approximate largest number of pre-war cards/items you've
ever owned at any one time?

I'm at around 400 pre-war baseball items at this point. Over half are t206 cards as I'm at 214 of the monster but haven't actively worked on this set for a few years now. The rest are type cards or cards of pro football players who have baseball cards.

I have cards from these sets: N172 Old Judge, N284 Buchner Gold Coin, 1889 ER Williams, 1895 Mayo, t206, t205, E92 Dockman, E90-1 American Caramel, T201 Mecca, 1914 Cracker Jacks, 1915 Cracker Jacks, 1916 M101-5, 1917 Boston Store, 1919-1930 Zeenuts, W514 strip, 1923 Willard's Chocolates, 1933 Sport Kings, 1933 Goudey, Diamond Stars, 1936 National Chicle Fine Pens, 1939 Play Ball.

Also have some RPPCs as well. Also a few Pittsburgh Pirates memorabilia items from their pre-war World Series wins. Go Bucs!

3. Approximately how many pre-war cards/items do you currently still own?

See above. I'm a hoarder, not a collector so don't sell anything ;-)

4. What is/are the most significant card(s)/item(s) you currently own?
(Not what you may have owned at one time.)

Probably one of my Thorpe cards ... but I don't track prices so don't know which one is currently the highest.

5. What complete sets or near complete sets (say 75% or more) do you
currently own? (Again, not counting sets you used to own, and only
counting the baseball cards in multi-subject sets in determining the
percentage complete. And not including as sets any issue with only 1 or
2 listed baseball cards/items in it.)

None.

jeff

1. How long have you been collecting pre-war cards?

I started off in the early 90s trying to get one of every Hall of Famer during their active playing days and got most of the way there except for some pre-1900 Hall guys and Negro Leaguers. Stopped for a while and restarted with everything Hall of Fame

2. What is the approximate largest number of pre-war cards/items you've
ever owned at any one time?

I am somewhere over 1,000.

3. Approximately how many pre-war cards/items do you currently still own?

Still over 1,000, though I did consign cards for the first time ever to LOTG and do have some plans to down size generally.

4. What is/are the most significant card(s)/item(s) you currently own?
(Not what you may have owned at one time.)

I have all the Hall of Fame Cracker Jack poses except the vertical Mathewson, so the Wagner and Cobb would be included. Also all the 33 and 34 Goudey except Lajoie, so the Ruths and Gehrigs. But I have other Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, Wagner, Johnson and Mathewson cards.

5. What complete sets or near complete sets (say 75% or more) do you
currently own? (Again, not counting sets you used to own, and only
counting the baseball cards in multi-subject sets in determining the
percentage complete. And not including as sets any issue with only 1 or
2 listed baseball cards/items in it.)

No prewar sets. Some post-war sets. With the way I collect, I consider a set complete if I have all the Hall of Famers. So I would be 75% complete, for example, by my count on T 206 (needing the Plank and Wagner that I will never own) and completed T-205, T207 and some of the E series (E93,95 and 96). As noted, I am beginning to sell, but still collecting some sets like Uncle Jack's and Worch, where I have quite a ways to go.

+1,000,000

Great collection Jeff. And even though you may not think of it in the same way of what is normally thought of as a set, I think your collection of baseball cards of football players is actually a very specialized, and unique set. Heck, I even just put a bid in on an Earle Neale card I saw online just a couple days ago myself, talk about coincidences. LOL I imagine you have a complete list of everyone in that set somewhere? Might be cool to share it with everyone if you ever feel so inclined. I'll bet you'd see more interest in it from some other collectors than you might expect. And does that unique set go all the through up to today? And if so, did Tebow ever get a baseball card of himself issued? If he did, I imagine he must be the most recent addition to your list.

And just think, you might have now passed on the idea to someone else to maybe start collecting baseball cards of basketball players. Doesn't go as far back in time as it does for football players, but right off the top of my head I can immediately think of Dave DeBusschere, Danny Ainge, and of course, Jordan. And I'm sure there are others I can't even think of.

And as for what significant cards you have, it isn't necessarily all just about the money. We've discussed that already in earlier posts of this thread.

Quite a collection Ken, just wow!!!! And clearly you are working on sets, just as you define them though. Can only imagine some of the HOFer cards you have. The CJs you described are mind blowing all by themselves.

You said the goal was to have a HOFer's card from their active playing days, which obviously makes some of the 19th century guys super tough (and real expensive). Anyway, that gave me a few questions I wanted to ask about your HOFer collection then, and what you accept as an apprpriate part of it. Okay, here goes.

1. Just out of curiosity, what 19th century HOFers have you not been able to get a card from their playing days for yet?

2. As a follow-up to Question#1 then, would/do you go ahead and maybe use a card from a later set, after they were done playing, as a placeholder till you can eventually find a contemporary card from their playing days?

3. And what do consider as "cards" for your set? Does it have to be true cards, or can it be an Exhibit card, Post Card, pins, buttons, team cards or pictures, how about some type of premium or insert, or anything else for that matter?

4. And what about someone who got into the HOF not for when they actually played, but for their managerial or other baseball work after they were done playing? Do you still have to have a card from their playing days, or wouldn't it be more appropriate to have a contempary card while they were actually involved in what really got them into the HOF? (Connie Mack immediately comes to mind for this question.)

5. Are you also including HOF managers, umpires, and baseball exutives who may have never actually played in the majors, but did have cards (or other items) issued with them on it?

6. And when you say HOFer, does it specifically have to be Cooperstown? What about Canton? Jim Thorpe, Earle'Greasy' Neale, and George Halas iimediately come to mind from the pre-war days.

Always wanted to ask a HOF collector questions like this. Hope you don't mind. (This would probably be a good separate thread itself, but guessing it may have already been done before.)

Bob, I believe the W711-1 and W711-2 sets have long been listed in the Standard Catalog. I have several old editions of the SC, and I just pulled my 2011 and 2003 editions at random and checked. These 2 sets are listed in both of these editions under "1939 Cincinnati Reds Team Issue" and "1940 Cincinnati Reds Team Issue," respectively.

Thanks Val,

In a later post from that one you quoted, I had already realized and acknowledged that they were listed in the SCD catalogs after all (See post #49). I was initially stumped because they weren't listed under W711 in the SCD catalog. I had heard and was aware of the W711 sets, just not where SCD was showing them. Live and learn. LOL

Also, check out the #49 post regarding the additional info Tim supplied about how those may not have been team issued after after all, and were instead delivered through a local Cincinnati dairy. Interested to hear your thought on that subject.

Also can't wait to see your response to the survey, if I can twist your arm to do it. LOL

Bob, sorry that I missed your acknowledgement in post #49 that the W711 sets are listed in the Standard Catalog. I have no thoughts to add re how these cards might have been issued, as I never had any of these cards nor really had any interest in them.

No problem Val. And I was actually more interested in your take on the fact that we no longer have a comprehensive source like SCD being revised and updated every year. Tim's comments on where the W711 set supposedly truly came from got me thinking it.

Tim, interesting stuff. I have not heard about the dairy distribution before. Any more that you can elaborate about the W711-1 set, and/or can you share the ad image or provide a link?

Brian

1. Sometime in the early 1970s when I found the hobby through an ad in The Sporting News. Found a newsletter and remember an ad for t206 commons for something like 35 cents. Send for one

2. Probably 200-250

3. Same. Really haven’t sold any

4. I would say my t206 Cy Young portrait. Bought it in the early 80’s from a Frank Nagy auction. Believe I paid around $20. Sent it to PSA a few years ago and it came back as a 1. Have a couple of T206 Nap Lajoie and Addie Joss - pretty sure all from Nagy auctions. I’m a Cleveland fan so most of my pre war lands there

Attachment 464141

5. None really. Even Cleveland team sets are hard due to Young, Lajoie and Joss I’m maybe 20% of the way on 1941 Play Ball but other than Pee Wee Reese I don’t have the big cards

Bob, I also lament the demise of the Standard Catalog. I think the current best hope for a comprehensive source of info re pre-War cards is the Old Cardboard website: https://oldcardboard.com/

Val , Does make sense, but how many know about and actually use their site? And then, how hard and diligent are the OBC guys in tracking down info and leads in order to make necessary changes? That is not their jobs to keep up on the things like it was for the SCD staff. And I remember when Bob Lemke was a member on here and always checking up on things that were posted and being found out, like this comment earlier in this thread about how W711 cards may not have been team issued after all. Or people would just contact Bob Lemke from here directly and let him know about new discoveries, and possible changes. Do the OBC guys have a dedicated contact line or person for anything like that? And anyway, OBC doesn't keep track of and report on and provide checklists for anywhere near the number of sets included in the old SCD catalogs.

I just did a quick look at the OBC site and there is no mention of W711 cards in the checklist section, nor any description of the set, card dimensions, illustrative picture of what a W711 card looks like, or anything. So if this revelation about the W711 cards actually being a dairy issue and not a team issue turns out to be true, where can that now be updated and reported so that collectors going forward can have a reliable source to easily look up and access this corrected information on the set......nowhere that I know of anymore now that the SCD catalog is gone.

And if I remember hearing correctly, didn't the grading companies even sometimes refer to and rely on the SCD catalog for information and verification of existing cards and sets? So what do they all do now if something previously unknown is discovered? Who is the single, new, and universally recognized authority in the hobby now that virtually every collector, dealer, and TPG will let make the call on what that newly discovered item is and go along with that authority's decision? I believe it used to be SCD, any more, I don't think there is one.

And this is no knock against the OBC guys and their site, they and their site are fantastic!!!!!! It's just that nobody before or ever since has turned out a single baseball card refererence source anywhere even approaching the sheer volume, size and overall inclusiveness of what was being reported in the annual SCD catalogs relative to baseball cards, going all the way back to their deemed beginning in 1869.

Member Bumpus Jones (Chris Gamble) is the person who shared this picture of the description with me. He shared it on our Facebook group. I'm not sure what book he has that he dug it out of.

Hi Bob,

Answers to your questions below. Sorry for the late response. I got caught up watching TV.

You said the goal was to have a HOFer's card from their active playing days, which obviously makes some of the 19th century guys super tough (and real expensive). Anyway, that gave me a few questions I wanted to ask about your HOFer collection then, and what you accept as an apprpriate part of it. Okay, here goes.

1. Just out of curiosity, what 19th century HOFers have you not been able to get a card from their playing days for yet?

There are a bunch of these and mostly because they are so expensive and not because I could not find them. I have generally paid less than $1,000 for my cards (I remember being guilt stricken when I spent $600 on a Honus Wagner CJ in the 90s). So folks like Ed Delehanty have always been too expensive.

2. As a follow-up to Question#1 then, would/do you go ahead and maybe use a card from a later set, after they were done playing, as a placeholder till you can eventually find a contemporary card from their playing days?

No, but if a Hall guy was a coach or manager and had a card in a set I considered that I needed that (so for example, Bill Dickey in the 1952 Topps set).

3. And what do consider as "cards" for your set? Does it have to be true cards, or can it be an Exhibit card, Post Card, pins, buttons, team cards or pictures, how about some type of premium or insert, or anything else for that matter?

I used to be quite fussy about this, but some of my favorite cards are post cards, like Novelty Cutlery and PC796. I also have quite a few exhibits. I don't count pins, buttons or team cards.

4. And what about someone who got into the HOF not for when they actually played, but for their managerial or other baseball work after they were done playing? Do you still have to have a card from their playing days, or wouldn't it be more appropriate to have a contempary card while they were actually involved in what really got them into the HOF? (Connie Mack immediately comes to mind for this question.)

I collect managers, umpires and executives. One of the hardest cards, for some reason, was Joe McCarthy. I had him with Dimaggio, but was not satisfied until I got him on the 1936 Canadian Goudey. There are plenty of cards of commissioners and managers. Not so many of Hall of Fame executives, particularly when they were active. I have the Branch Rickey CJ and a St Louis Cardinals issue. I have Comiskey as a player. There is a Barney Dreyfus 1910 Tip Top I always get outbid on. But there are others that I don't think have a card. The majority of umpires do have a card and I collect them.

I agree with your observation about Connie Mack and the same goes for John McGraw, Leo Durocher, Billy Southwroth, Joe Torre and others.

5. Are you also including HOF managers, umpires, and baseball exutives who may have never actually played in the majors, but did have cards (or other items) issued with them on it?

Yep, see the answer to 4.

6. And when you say HOFer, does it specifically have to be Cooperstown? What about Canton? Jim Thorpe, Earle'Greasy' Neale, and George Halas iimediately come to mind from the pre-war days.

I have cards of Greasy Neale for that reason. I would buy a Thorpe if it was affordable. I also collect hall of fame football autographs and have a Halas Grand Slam card and a Thorpe photo signed.

Always wanted to ask a HOF collector questions like this. Hope you don't mind. (This would probably be a good separate thread itself, but guessing it may have already been done before.)

Happy to answer the questions. The whole thread has been fun to read.

Ken,

Thanks for answering and letting us know how you do what you do. Great collection and good luck adding to it in the future.

Chris says he was told this comes from the 1982 Reds Yearbook magazine.

Dave,

Great story about you T206 Young card. Hard to believe they could be purchased for those kind of prices not really that long ago. Good luck going forward on some Cleveland sets. Am a Cleveland fan myself.

Well, I'll be that guy.

I don't collect prewar cards. :D

It's not that I don't like them or find them interesting, it's just that there are other things I would rather do with with the vintage hobby in terms of my postwar interests given a limited budget, and limited time here on the ol' merry-go-round to do it.

I'm 44. I started collecting with Topps packs at the grocery store and 7-11 at age 9 in 1986. Within 2 years or so, I had quickly come to know what "vintage" (then just called old) cards were, but anything prewar was a rare sight indeed. At the shops back then it was mainly current wax, and then overpriced 50's and 60's cards in lower grade. It was more common to see T206's and other tobacco cards at shows - but for me as a kid those were few and far between - and way out of my price range anyway. So I didn't get the bug as a kid with prewar in the same way I did with 50's - 70's Topps cards. I had other opportunities, but it never clicked. I passed up a PSA 1 Goudey Ruth at a show maybe 20 years ago for $800? I think I bought a Mantle or Aaron instead.

I have dabbled in the past. I've owned T206 portraits of Walter Johnson, Cy Young, and Nap Lajoie. But I was always miffed at the tradeoffs I had to make with selling a lot of other cards in order to be able to afford just a few prewar cards like that - and in much worse condition to boot.

Please don't misunderstand - I'm not knocking the prewar side of the hobby at all - it's just a choice I've made for myself given where I am with my collection right now. I have a decent sized 50's and 60's single HOF'ers collection, and I'm working on a couple of 60's and 70's sets. I do own one token T206 - Danny Hoffman? and somewhere an absolutely destroyed '34 Goudey Hugh Critz. But they aren't cornerstones of my collection or anything. I'm not ruling out a limited type set or anything prewar in the future - it could happen - but the last serious evaluation I made in this department - and there is still far more postwar stuff I'm interested in collecting first for the foreseeable future.

Well, I'll be that guy.

I don't collect prewar cards.

Its okay John we still love you, and you have quite an outstanding post war collection from what I've seen you post on the pick-up thread.

Thanks Phil!

Tim,

Great info, but have a follow-up question though. The W711 cards appear to have been issued as three distinct, separate sets with the first issued in 1938, second in 1939, and third in 1940, at least according to the old SCD catalogs. So were the W711 cards supposedly being distributed by the French Bauer dairy for all three years/types, or possibly only for one (or two) of those years/types? And if not for all three, can we tell for which year(s)/type(s) they were?

We know the French Bauer Dairy had some advertising interaction with the Reds team, or at least some of the Red's players, when they put some Red's players on their milk bottle caps, but that wasn't till 1963. If the dairy was actually responsible for producing and distributing any of these W711 cards, wouldn't it make sense for them to also have the French Bauer name at least somewhere on the cards to enhance their advertising worth? If French Bauer went to the trouble and expense to have the cards produced, adding their name would be a nominal cost, at worst. That said, is it possible that the Cincinnati team was the primary producer and issuer of these W711 cards after all, and that maybe the team then also made them available to local companies like the French Bauer Dairy to use and help distribute them? Maybe French Bauer was an advertiser with the Reds team back then, and so got permission to use these cards as an incentive to get people to sign up for their delivery service. And if true, there may have been other local Cincinnati businesses distributing these W711 cards also. Just speculating.

Oh! - I would be remiss in not mentioning - the greatest prewar thing I ever (briefly) owned was an E92 Dockman Cy Young. It was raw, and I had no clue what I had. I forget what I paid for it, but it was probably around $500. This was also 20 some years ago. I kept it for awhile, and later sold it in the early days of me having an eBay account. I made maybe a couple hundred bucks on it.

A few months later I was browsing random things - and come across the exact Dockman Young I had - I could tell by the centering and an identifying mark on the back - in a PSA 5 slab. Whoops. I think it sold for more than 2 grand - and again this was forever ago. :eek:

Thanks for the info and posting the image of the article, and thanks to Mr. Bumpus for originally sharing it as well. Because of the scarcity of some players, it makes one think that these could have been issued on a weekly basis. All the previous info I remember indicated it was a box set available at the ballpark. But perhaps these could have also been distributed as mentioned through the dairy, and perhaps even individually or in a group as a giveaway at the park.

I have always liked the critters, no matter how they were distributed...they have great images of the players, and are just a cool group of cards.

Brian

No problem John, all collectors are welcome. Like you, I first started collecting what I initially thought of as "vintage" beginning with the '56 Topps set, for the year I was born. That was about 30 years ago. All the cards, comic books, and other things I had aquired back mostly in the 60's were set aside and forgotten about as I got older, discovered girls, and eventually went to colllege. Then in the late 70's my parents moved, and my Mom lived up to the old cliche' and threw my collections out. Today, in addition to my pre-war collection, I also have quite a few 50's, 60's, and 70's sets, and many near complete partial sets from then as well. Both main sets and many of the oddballs like stand-ups, rub-offs, stamps, coins, and.....well, you get the picture.

I even have some newer, what I call specialty sets I've collected and work on, like the '97 Donruss Signature Series autographed red base set. Got them all except for a short printed Edgar Martinez auto card, which I've been looking for since the set came out in '97. Or a throwback to vintage with my 2002 Topps 206 collection of just all the autographed and game used cards. Have every single one of those as well, except for one short printed Honus Wagner bat relic card. Been looking for it since 2002, and have only seen one for sale in all these years. The guy wanted about what a really nice condition (PSA 6 or 7) T206 red Cobb would sell for today. I said "No thanks!", and am still looking.

So I am also into a lot of the post-war cards just as are you. And my mention of the 2002 Topps 206 set was to also bring up how even with modern card issues there are still references and throw-backs to pre-war. In fact, I think that 2002 Topps set was the first time anyone had ever done buybacks and inserted and distributed real T206 cards in a modern card issue. The way Topps inserted the cards into a modern size card or card holder, whatever you want to call it, I thought was ingenious and turned out very well. (Often wondered why no one ever came out with such a holder anyone could use to store their tobacco cards in so they'd display nicely in the standard 9 pocket pages.) So question for T206 (and T205) collectors, do you like collecting these Topps issued T206 buybacks, and do you leave them in the Topps issued card holders or break them out raw? And never seen one done, but would a TPG allow you to have a T206 buyback card graded and encapsulated by them while remaining in the Topps issued card holder? I've seen where SGC has graded some of the game used relic cards from the Topps 206 set with and without the standard sized holders being encapsulated along with the T206 sized relic cards.

I was also wondering if there were any niche collectors that specifically go after these prewar Topps buyback cards. Seems like any time I've seen one go up for auction on Ebay, it ends up selling for a lot more than what I would have thought the actual T206/205 card would have sold for raw.

And just for the record, I also am against having card companies cut up old jerseys and bats to just put little pieces of them in modern cards, especially for players like Ruth, Cobb, and Wagner. So please don't start admonishing me for collecting something like that. The card companies figured they can promote their products and make a lot of money by doing it, which they have been doing since the first game used cards started coming out back in the 90's. That horse left the barn a long time ago and has long since died, so no reason to keep beating it now. And like was said in the recent thread about the member who destroyed a Hal Chase T206 card after finding out what a not so nice person Chase was, he paid for it and can do what he wants with it. And if the card companies pay and own these bats and jerseys, they can unfortunately do what the want with those items as well.

Hi Bob,

Just wanted to point out that OldCardboard.com does have a page for W711 issues. See below...


.

Thank you for pointing that out, my bad. I just went to the checklist section looking for the set, and didn't see it. I'm going to have check out their site a lot more one of these days. It is a great site and reference source.

I've been at it for 45 years or so. Retired 10 years ago so have slowed down and sold most of my collection.

I currently own about 130 pre-war cards made up mostly with my 1911 Zeenut set (-2).

Over the years:

Built a T206 set (-4)
At one time had over 2,000 duplicate T206 cards
Built a C46 set
Built a 33G set
Built a 53B Color set
Built a 53B B/W sel
Built a 1911 Zeenut set (-2)
Built a Zeenut w/coupon complete run
Built a 59T set (still have it)
Built a Sporting Life Composite postcard set (-1 Detroit)


Many other cards have passed through my hands over the years. Hard to remember them all. It's been fun.

Survey says ...
 

I love reading all the posts here. I learn so much more than I can contribute, but I hope the knowledge (and wisdom!) I gain from all of you I can pay forward to someone else down the line....

My answers:

1. Bought my first pre-war cards in 1971 when I was 10 years old. Responded to an ad in the back of the Sporting News placed by Gar Miller. I bought a T206 Cobb red portrait (for 5 bucks!) as well as a 39 Play Ball Red Ruffing and 40 Play Ball Bill Dickey (even as a kid, I recognized the names of Yankees greats). That got me hooked. I kept collecting contemporary Topps cards but proceeded to gather as many low-grade T206 cards as my lawn-mowing and birthday money allowed. Took a break in the late 70s for college/marriage/kids, back in heavily (for me) a few years ago. Wishing I'd never left, even though I always kept close tabs on things in the hobby.

2. and 3. go together for me: I have 170ish pre-war cards right now. About 130 are T206. I just buy whatever strikes my fancy where they are concerned. I'm a Billy Southworth fan, so I will always be on the lookout for his cards (thank you, Mac, for the Zeenuts Southworth rookie!). And although I only recently bought my first Cracker Jack, I could see myself going full headlong that way.

4. For me, a "significant" card is one I cherish and never would part with. That includes my Cobb portrait, if only for sentimental reasons, my really nice 48 Bowman Musial (whom I remember fondly every time I look at that youthful face), 33 Goudey Dizzy Dean (also really nice), my five 1934 Butterfingers (particularly the Dean and Bottomley) and my dozen W512 strip cards. I know they are kinda unattractive to many, but they strike me like the kitschy art of that era -- and my Babe Ruth, from the peak of his heyday, was one of my first pre-war purchases as well.

I'm not gonna lie when I say collecting cards literally saved my sanity during the last 15 months. All of the Net54 folks have been a part of that. Thank you!
Mike Eisenbath

Nice post Mike, this is far and away the best place to talk baseball cards.

Steve,

That was an unbelievable collection, congrats. Now out of curiosity, of all the sets you did have, why hold on to the 1911 Zeenut set? Interesting choice.

Mike,

Great collection and stories, especially concerning the red Cobb for $5. Can understand why that card would be significant, and virtually priceless to you. And so glad to hear how collecting has helped you make it through the pandemic. Hang in there!

Good question Bob. Guess it's the love of the chase looking to someday complete it.

+1,000

Great Thread!

1. I have been a collector for 50 years, since I was 10 years old. Like many, I was inactive during my young adult years, and picked the hobby back up about 12 years ago. I started collecting pre-war about 6 years ago. I started with the Play Balls, then the Goudeys. I have not started on the cigarette cards yet - they seem like too much of a challenge for me.
2. Like others, I collect but don't really sell, so my peak number of pre-war cards is the same as my current number. Its right at about 1000 (including about 200 non-sports cards - I really like the 1938 Horrors of War set).
3. See #2
4. I am proudest of the Goudey Ruths and Gehrigs (I own all the Ruths and all but one of the Gehrigs). I also have a T206 Green Cobb portrait that I paid $5 for in about 1975 (ungraded but is probably a 1-1.5)
5. I am a set collector, so most everything is complete or nearly:
- 1933 Goudey (complete except for 192 Gehrig and Lajoie)
- 1934 Goudey (complete except for Greenberg)
- 1939 Play Ball (complete except for Williams)
- 1940 Play Ball (complete except for Dimaggio and Jackson)
- 1941 Play Ball (complete)

1. First prewar cards were four T206 commons (Alperman, Gilbert, Rhodes, Schreck). Bought them for $3 each from The Baseball Card Shoppe in Claremont, California around 1982.
2. Maxed out at over 500 prewar about seven years ago: Almost 450 different T206s, about 50 different HOFers from a variety of other sets and 20 or so different OJ Denver poses (I live about 30 miles from Denver so it’s a local history thing).
3. Have about 150 prewar right now. Kept all of the T206 HOFers (have added a few since) and about 50 of the tougher commons; also kept the OJ Denvers and a handful of the HOFers from other sets that I liked the best.
4. Have the T206 Cobby quartet, 2 Cys, 2 Mattys, 3 Naps, the WaJo portrait, a Goudey Ruth and Gehrig, and an E93 Wagner. Also have a really nice E120 Traynor that it took a while to find. Almost everything is EX or slightly better (except the OJs) which is my collecting wheelhouse.
5. No near complete sets, unless you count the T206 HOF subset where I am about 90% complete. Also have at least one pose of every OJ Denver player.

Nice collection Ed. Looks like you may be getting ready to start on your next set as well. If not tobacco cards, maybe the '41 Double Play set, or possibly the '34-'36 Diamond Stars set? Happy collecting.

Great collection Scot. You appear to be my opposite and go more for quality over quantity. There is no wrong way to collect!

Hi Bob, Thanks for the kind words. It seems to me like you have quantity AND quality! Scot

LOL Depends on how you define "quality" I guess Scot. To one person, having say an F-50 Yuenling's, an E103 Williams Caramel, and an E253 Oxford Confectionery card of Ty Cobb would maybe be considered as having quality cards. But to another person, having them all in a PSA or SGC 1 condition may not. I guess I've always equated "quality" more with the condition and shape the cards are in rather than who it is that is actually on the cards. Appreciate your kind words as well, and thanks to you, I may have to start rethinking about how I define "quality" from now on.

1. Since before the Flood.

2. Over 1,000 - Full Count days.

3. Now about 300.

4. Multi current examples from pre-war set: OJ to '41 Playball.

5. Best current cards are T3 Cobb, Turkey Red Cobb, '33 Goudy Ruth #53 &149, '33 and '34 Gehrig !60 and 37, respectively, and a '36 WWG Gehrig.

6. No complete sets at present.