I thought I'd come back to this thread after just over a year and summarize my journey with the Callahan HoF set since I started in Sep 2021.
A huge thanks to sealmark for the guide that he mailed me that gave all sorts of valuable info about the Callahan set.
SCD also has a good article about the set here:
https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...in-popularity/
In summary, there are 82 different cards in the Callahan set + 9 variations. I decided to stick to the 82 cards (and not the variations). I'm trying to find the cards raw. I like the idea of storing them in their original box as they were 72 years ago.
The set as originally released in in 1950 with 58 cards and expanded with each set of new inductees until they ceased production in 1956. Those inducted in 1955 (e.g. Dimaggio, Lyons, Hartnett, Schalk and Vance) are the hardest to find. The first release of the set also included Happy Chandler, the Commissioner of Baseball in 1950. He was voted out of office in 1951 so his card was pulled making it and the Dimaggio the key cards in the set. Ironically, Chandler wasn't in the HoF until 1982. As the man that approved Jackie Robinson's contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, I like the man.
My journey started in Sep 2021 when I picked up an original box from the Callahan set in a job lot. That piqued my interest. Research and feedback in this thread, convinced me that it was a cool and quirky set that was right up my street.
So here's my journey...month by month. I hope you enjoy it.
In
Dec 2021, I picked up my first Callahan card. An EXMT Mel Ott for the princely sum of $15. That's 1 down and 81 to go.
Then in
Jan 2022, I found a lot of 27 Callahan's in EXMT/NM condition for $150. This lot got me the following cards:
- Cap Anson
- Mordecai Brown
- Morgan Bulkeley
- Jesse Burkett
- Alexander Cartwright
- Henry Chadwick
- Fred Clarke
- Eddie Collins
- Jimmy Collins
- Candy Cummings
- Ed Delahanty
- Hugh Duffy
- Johnny Evers
- Buck Ewing
- Frankie Frisch
- Clark Griffith
- Hughie Jennings
- Ban Johnson
- Willie Keeler
- Nap Lajoie
- Kenesaw Landis
- George Sisler
- Ed Walsh
- Baseball Hall of Fame
I also picked a lot of 8 in NM condition on ebay in Jan for just over $17. There were a few dupes with the lot of 27, but I added these new cards an average price of $2.23 each:
- Dan Brouthers
- Charlie Gehringer
- Harry Heilmann
- Tom McCarthy
- Joe McGinnity
- Wilbert Robinson
- Rube Waddell
- George Wright
33 down. 49 cards to go.
Feb: I picked up 3 more off ebay for just over $11:
- Jack Chesbro
- Herb Pennock
- Hoss Radbourne
46 cards to go.
Mar: I added another 8. I paid up for some of these because Gehrig, Dean and Klem are more expensive. Bill Klem is a difficult card to find (fairly short print). Dean is a little bit scarce and Gehrig costs more because...well because he's Gehrig.
- Charles Comiskey (paid $6)
- Dizzy Dean (paid $25)
- Lou Gehrig (paid $50)
- Lefty Grove (paid $15)
- Rogers Hornsby (paid $5)
- Bill Klem (paid $27)
- Rabbit Maranville (paid $14)
- Christy Mathewson (paid $6)
53% Complete. 38 cards to go.
May: I added 6 Callahans for $22.
- Connie Mack
- Roger Bresnahan
- John McGraw
- Eddie Plank
- Al Simmons
- Pie Traynor
32 cards to go.
June: I picked up 16 Callahans from a Net54 member for $86 including a couple of which are a little harder to find:
- Jim O'Rourke
- A.G. Spalding
- Tris Speaker
- Bill Terry
- Joe Tinker
- Paul Waner
- Cy Young
16 cards to go. I'm into the final 1/4.
Aug: Now we're getting in to the meat. By this point, I've acquired most of the "commons" in the set. What's left are a lot of the heavy hitters. In Aug, I picked up nice EXMT Ruth for $40.
15 cards to go.
Sep: A quiet month as I was doing a lot of travelling. But I manged to pick up 1 card - Bobby Wallace for all of 50 cents. :-)
14 cards to go.
Oct: An expensive month. I found 3 of the hard to find cards at a big auction house many of use frequent for $420+bp.
- Happy Chandler
- Ted Lyons
- Museum Interior
11 cards to go.
So at this point, I'm approaching the finish line but the cards I'm missing are hard to find and very short prints.
Nov: It was lucky that I spotted a number of Callahan's in a set break at a big Ebay consignor. I picked up 4 of the big guns of the set for just over $750.
- Home Run Baker
- Chief Bender
- Joe DiMaggio
- Ray Schalk
Phew. I was really happy to get the Dimaggio. According to the guide that sealmark shared, it might just be the hardest Post War card to find. I believe it.
That leaves me just the 7 cards below to complete the extended set.
- Tommy Connolly
- Gabby Hartnett
- Walter Johnson
- Kid Nichols
- Dazzy Vance
- Honus Wagner
- Harry Wright
Of these, Connolly, Hartnett and Vance will be the hardest.
So 1 year on, the set is 91% complete. After selling dupes that I picked up along the way, my average cost per card is ~$20.
I could have focused on just the 58 cards from 1950 and saved some money but where's the fun in that.
I'm still waiting for my Oct and Nov purchases to arrive. 2 of them are graded
and I'll probably leave them like that. The rest of them will sit nicely in the box.
Here's the other 68 cards at home in their original box as Callahan originally intended. :-)