Hardest prewar sets that have been completed
 

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.

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....

http://luckeycards.com/pt216ve.jpg

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

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

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

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

There are lots of collectors who are close to completing some of these ultra-tough sets, but very few are 100% complete. As we collectors know, those last few cards to find in sets like these are brutally difficult.

I agree with Joe - Jay's N370 Lone Jack set and Jim's (RIP) N167 Old Judge set are incredible.

Sticking with 19th century, there is also a board member who has a complete N321 Hess California League Set of 40.

With caramel cards, there are also a couple of collectors who have complete base sets of E107s. Not sure if they all of the team variations, but I am pretty sure that they at least have one of each player.

In tobacco cards there are also complete sets of T208 Firesides, T211 Red Suns and T227 Series of Champions (HLC/Miners Extra) in advanced collections.

E107 has been completed I believe. That's gotta be up there.

We auctioned 19/23 T227 Miner's extras and while two of them are brutally tough it's gotta be doable.

I personally have the 23/25 T220 (Boxing) Silver Borders and I actually know someone who has the James Corbett (one of three) and the Mike Donovan (one of one) and he's willing to sell them fairly reasonably, I'm just not in that rent district.

Aren't all 24 cards available with the Miners Extra backs?

T208 Firesides are tuff.

Has anyone ever completed an entire 1908 Rose Co. PC set?

Thanks guys! BTW, I would not have been able to finish the Lone Jack set without Joe's help.

Jay, can you post a few pics of the Lone Jacks? I don’t even know what they look like. Oh, and congrats! Sounds like a hell of an accomplishment, especially if they are all pre-1900

No, no one has every completed the set or even come that close. There are 192 cards in the "basic" Major League set - 12 players for each of the 16 teams. There are six cards that we have never even seen images of, but have been checklisted.

The last that I checked, there are 8 cards that have a pop of 0 in the combined SGC and PSA pop reports, another 57 that have a combined pop of 1 and 60 with a pop of 2. I am sure that there are still a lot of raw Rose Co. postcards out there, but that will still give you a perspective on how tough some of the "commons" are to find. It only makes sense that consumers gravitated towards the big stars of the day such as Wagner and Cobb when they picked out their souvenirs as compared to the lesser known players.

There is a 14 card subset of player from the Scranton Miner of the New York State League, including Moonlight Graham. There is one complete set of these known. Several of the cards from this set have only a single known example in the combined SGC and PSA pop reports.

Actually only 23 in ME back. Niether Brown nor Rogers (the two short prints) have been found in ME.

OK, then wouldn't that mean that only 22 are available with the Miners Extra back? There are only 24 in the set, right?

sorry, you are correct

Ryan—Here’s a nice one and the set as a composite. They have the same images as the Old Judge Browns Champ set.

Thanks Jay. Good looking cards. I like how that display has the heads all turning to the manager. Good stuff

Texas tommys🤔🤔

A very good hobby friend has the type 1 and type 2 complete (I believe). There might be another full set or so out there.

I know at least a few people have completed it, so it is a little bit on the easier side, but T222 is deceptively difficult with all the short prints.

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

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

I know that these aren't cards, but the 1913 Cravats are a set of 27 (as of right now) and many in the set only have one known example. I'm guessing there are more unknown examples that will surface at some point.

This set of Tobin trade cards is pretty impossible too. There are 9 known in the set. I know that Frank Keetz was really close to completing this set too. Last I heard, he was at 8 of 9.

Ryan--The fellow at the center of the composite is Chris Von der Ahe, the team owner and a possible future HOFer.

Yes, those Cravats felts are tough. Are you saying that a complete set of known Cravats exists or not?

I have the set of 27. It just wouldn't surprise me if more uncataloged examples emerge.

That is a major accomplishment. Congrats.

I would guess no one has come anywhere close to doing an E270 red border set. But I could be wrong too. :cool:

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.


http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan7...uponChance.jpg.http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan7...onChanceBx.jpg.http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan7...poncobb50x.jpg


http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan7...everschase.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan7...schase25xb.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan7...PONDoolanX.jpg . http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan7...Doolan25xB.jpg


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

I want to update my statement. The Texas Tommy sets are missing one type 2 Mack and the type 1s are complete (as far as is known). I make the last caveat because there have been 2 additions to the type 1s in the last several years, to get to 52. There are 15 known type 2s. My friend (many board members know) has 14 of the type 2s, anyone with a type 2 Mack for sale, please let me know :).

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

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 [emoji6]).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Clarification
 

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.

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

E122
 

Does anyone know of a complete E122 American Caramel set?

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.

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.

Perhaps
 

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! :)

Has anyone completed
t206 broadleaf 350
or hindu brown set

Does the N167 set still exist in its entirety?

I like this question, maybe we should start a whole thread re-T206s

To answer your question: 10-12 Broadleaf 350s are still unconfirmed, therefore No one has completed the BL350 subset

While I have not seen one, I have heard that a few people have completed the Hindu Brown subset, and I believe a few of those subsets are still intact.

But what about the Cycle 350 & American Beauty 350 subsets? All cards in both sets have been confirmed for over 10 years now, but does anyone know anyone that has completed either set of 190 ? Interesting Topic! Looking forward to responses

Many of the same opinions. I’ll throw one in not yet mentioned.
Tango Eggs....aren’t there a few with only a single example known?
It’s been a few years since I checked.

The T216 Mino perhaps?

Both Cobbs, Plank, Evers, Felsch and Oakes are all unique, at least at this time. That makes 20 known, I'd bet there were 48 on the press sheet and who knows if anymore will turn up. We've been averaging about 1 new one every 5 years or so.

Is there a complete Baltimore News set with Ruth?

I do not think so. I think that several are unique and am not sure if they reside in the same collection.

Or T330-2 piedmont art stamps? Any fully complete sets?

https://luckeycards.com/t332.jpg

Just noting that there are at least 4 Donovan's out there, I have scans of at least 3 of them and own 1 (the first that surfaced). Still hunting for Corbett to complete this one

T227 should be doable... must be a few complete out there. I have been searching for a Brown and Rodgers for years since buying a great lot from the Sotheby’s Halper auction. Anyone wants to help out, I am a buyer!!

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.

The numbers have steadily, if slowly, increased. there are multiple of both now.

A good friend of mine has the complete T227 set, higher grade at that. Also at least one other person has completed it, probably more.

How about the E107s? And I really don't know much about variations, errors or team changes. Kevin S. can you help? John