Dear James,
For me, it's an easy choice---the Delong set. Early in the hobby, I purchased both sets in reprint form from TCMA. They did a terrific job on both and capture 90% of the eye candy.
Perhaps it was due to reading (and re-reading AND re-reading) the wonderful, nostalgic article that Lionel Carter had done on the Delongs in that 1971 The Sport Hobbyist, and which I emailed you a copy, if you recall. They were his first set. Within a year, The Sporting News carried a tiny ad for the reprint set of those very 1933 Delongs. I mailed the 3 bucks, and when I got them, I loved 'em! The design was simple, yet very unique. The full-length pose photo of the player towering over the packed stands of fans was brilliant. A nice variety of colors were used, even though the colorizing of the black and white player photos was only partly done. The player choice was very, very good, even if the Babe was sadly missing.
The use of the two well-chosen horizontal shots made for a nice contrast. If you recall, Lionel Carter's favorite card in the set was that of Pepper Martin, seen sliding into a base, his heroics in the 1931 World Series, when he stole a lot of bases off of Mickey Cochrane, obviously were o
n the mind of the one who chose the photos.
While the Tattoo-Orbits are decent cards, with a nice player selection (but no Ruth as well), they look a little bland compared to the Delong. For whatever it's worth, having owned both sets in reprint form, I probably looked at the Delongs close to ten times as much as the Tattoo-Orbits. To each his own, of course, but think it through carefully, James.
---Brian Powell