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Old 09-05-2011, 06:05 PM
Misunderestimated Misunderestimated is offline
Brian
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Chicago
Posts: 361
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I've been building & upgrading T202s and T205s for quite some time. The T205 have several very very scarce cards (or at least commonly accepted variations) that make the set much more difficult to complete. Both my experience and the "pop reports" of the T202s lead me to believe that there really aren't too many cards that are significantly harder to find than the rest (there are some condition rarities, I guess). Specifically the Mathewson/Devlin (Giants or Rustlers) combos are more difficult and I have had some trouble with "Carrigan Blocks His Man" with Carrigan/[not Honus] Wagner on the flanks and "Hartzel Strikes Out" over the years.

. Before the advent of the internet and then the grading cards companies the "Birmingham Home Run" T202 card was considered more difficult -- in the classic Lipset book for instance.
The far more popular T205 set has several much more difficult cards that can be very difficult to locate (and pay for) and that doesn't even include the variations based on the back of the cards (Hoblitzel[l], Moran, Wilhelm and now Mathewson).
Of course a set collector can determine how much he or she wants to "master the set" if you will pardon the pun.
My vote is with the T202s if that wasn't clear.....
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