Posted By:
Griffin'sIMO the toughest ones are Boston NL, then NY AL and St. Louis AL, then St Louis NL. After that there are 2 groups- one a bit tougher (either due to popularity or scarcity, tough to say definitively) and one that is easier. I've got my notes at home on the specifics. This is slightly different than Lipset's opinion, and he's certainly the expert, but it reflects my experiences over the last 5 years.
If you can live with a bit of cracking it's not a tough set to put together until you get to the last 2 or 3, and those can be found. If you're looking for really pristine examples it's a lot tougher. I won't go into the specs of that, but suffice to say the high grade slabbed only collectors won't ever bother with this set- it can't be completed in high grade, at least until some more submissions are taken in.
I think they look a lot better in SGC holders, although mine are in PSA's. I had some problems with the SGC holdered ones slipping under the gasket and the cards are so fragile it worried me. And the 2 companies seem to have different grading criteria on this set. It's the only set I've submitted to dropped significantly (2-3 grades) when being graded by PSA. Other sets tend to stay the same or even move up a bit.
I think it's a great set in any condition. I believe it pictures more different players than any other set up until '52 Topps, and includes the top players of the era, including the most affordable T-issue Wagner.
The premiums are even more spectacular. While I don't own any of those, I know there are a few members here than have extensive collections of them. I don't know if the scarcity on those mirrors the regular set.