Posted By:
Rhett YeakleyI have handled a lot of these cards in the past, and I pretty much agree with Wesley's take on the sets, with a few minor changes. Obviously, the York caramel set is not an Ice Cream set, but due to the similarity to the others they are included. It is important to note that there are 2 different York caramel sets, Type 1's being on dull stock, type 2's being very glossy, when you see a type 2 you will know it. As a whole the rarity would be as follows...
RAREST
1. York Type II
2. Sweetman
3. Tharps
4. York Type I
5. Harringtons
6. W502
7. Yeunglings
The rarity of #3 and #4 are close, also the rarity of #5-#7 are also pretty close. Keep in mind that there are actually 2 different W502 sets, with the later (1931) one being tougher to find. Also, nobody has ever found any evidence that the Sweetmans cards were actually produced with Ice Cream, I (opinion) believe Sweetmans was likely a candy company as opposed to ice cream. York type II's are extremely tough, many people think they have type 2's but they aren't. Sweetmans are really tough to find, and actually are a good value at the present (I don't know that many people realize they are far tougher than the other sets in the list-most of those in the hobby came from a few finds of small groups.) In my experience Yeunglings are the most prevalent, and actually by a fair amount, although I have seen more and more Harringtons as of late.
-Rhett