What is your favorite Pre-War Set and Why?
 

For me it is the T205. Really good art on every card. One of the oldest sets to have both statistics and and a bio on the back. Gold borders to stand out from the rest of the pack and really reward spending more for a higher grade. The only thing missing in my mind is a few big names (Wager, Lajoie, Plank).

T3 Turkey Red, the aesthetic value cannot be topped in my eyes.

T206 and it's cousin brothers T213, T214 and T215. It's fun to search for all the advertising backs.

T202

Everything said about the wonderful T205, except stats and gold borders, is included in a T202 card, plus you get 2 of them. And the bonus is, you also get a 110+ year old action photograph depicting the players of the day, with extensive, interesting accounts of the action and players pictured on the reverse.

Plus, the cards are relatively inexpensive. Looking for a pre- WW 1 Lajoie card for less than $300? There's one on ebay now (not mine) for $275 delivered, and it's graded SGC 6! How can you beat that? You get Lajoie batting in an actual period photograph, plus the (almost) equivalent of 2 T205 cards, on the back you have 3 different accounts of the depicted players, and it's slabbed and graded 6.

Best vintage set, best value, most informative card backs, best use of color mixed with vintage photography.

T206, the greatest baseball and perhaps tobacco set ever produced.

R300, 1933 George C. Miller.

I love it because artistically it is so beautiful with its pastel hues, well representing depression-era baseball cards. It was distributed regionally in the Boston area, making it very difficult to find in any condition. I am aware of less than a handful of complete sets in generally excellent condition. One of the cards, Ivy Andrews, was short-printed, likely to limit the number of prizes the manufacturer would need to award to those collectors who returned to the company a complete set of 32 cards. Those cards that were returned were canceled, either by cutting off a portion of the card's bottom or by inserting holes in the card. Obtaining an Ivy Andrews card in any condition is a feat, and I am aware of only two copies where the bottom was not cut off, one in very poor condition.

1933 DeLong

Sure, no Ruth (or Hornsby/Speaker/Dean/Ott for that matter), but this tiny set is still loaded.

And the color! Wow. Just a gorgeous design top to bottom. It will never get a fraction of the love Goudey commands, but this one gets my vote for sure.

https://www.psacard.com/articles/art...by-trailblazer

That is really great and tough collection.

For me it is a toss up between the

1914 CJ series the colors and images are great and a ton of great players

And

1916 m101-4/5 Cards. Loaded with Great Players, loaded with photo action poses, and for me the best part is all the different and interesting Adv backs.

In the end I would probably choose the 1916 set because of the Ad backs

1888 GOODWIN CHAMPIONS (N162) set and Album


https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...tarsN162bb.jpg------https://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan...36%20cover.jpg

Why ? ......It is 19th Century Lithography at it's best.



TED Z

T206 Reference
.

+1 on Ted Z's post.

I can't even imagine a set any more gorgeous or historically significant than that. And the album, too, just adds to it.

My second favorite pre-war cards after the stunning Goodwin Champions and the album to keep them in would be the t205 set. The artwork is beautiful, and you still get the advertisements but, more importantly to me, you now also get facts and figures about the players. This is from a little album I have of various pre-war tobacco cards, ball players (mainly t205s, but some others too, Buchner, n28, OJ, and t207) and railway steam locomotives.

E-92 Croft's Cocoa
 

Just love the advertisements on the back and the fact that they were produced locally (to me).

The Old Judge set. It was the first major baseball card set, the largest baseball card set ever, the most complex baseball card set ever, and the greatest baseball card set ever.

T206. Reasons are self-evident:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ollins%20E.jpghttps://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...20portrait.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...elty%20hor.jpg

Honorable mention, 1933 Goudey. It has a lot of cards I think are too cartoon-y but also a lot of beautiful cards:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...%20Collage.jpg

Honorable mention, Exhibit PC Backs:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...er%20green.jpghttps://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ornsby%202.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/Foxx_1.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/Ruth_2.jpghttps://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...20portrait.jpg