Somewhat new here and seeking advice

[ChrisH]

Hi all. I'm Chris, I'm 32 from Kansas City area. I joined a while back, but got overwhelmed trying to find my way in the pre-WW2 card world. I'm deciding to take another stab at it and am now going to ask all you fine fellows for some advice. I don't know a whole lot about this era, as far as players or cards goes, but would like to start collecting cards from this era. My questions to you all are could you give some recommendations as far as sets go for someone who would be on a limited budget? I'd like to spend no more than $50 each for stars/HOF players cards. I've chatted with two members who suggested the T206 Kansas City set as KC is where I'm from and am exploring my options on that right now. All the different backs is overwhelming to me. How do you know when you have a complete set? Do you get all the backs or just a specific kind or what? Right now, I have 3 T206 (Players are Bridwell, Rucker, and Mitchell) and one T205 (Frederick Olmstead). They also suggested making a post here to get advisement from others. The set doesn't have to be a Tobacco set specifically. It can be from any year from the early 1900's to the 1940's. Just something that would be fun with nice eye appeal that isn't to expensive to put together where I can learn about the history of this game that we all love. I thank you all in advance for all of your help that you offer me.

[x2drich2000]

Hello Chris,

First off, welcome to the board! You'll get plenty of help from everyone here. The best advice I can give you is if possible get out to a show with some vintage and actually look at what cards you find most attractive and appeal to you. I know it can be difficult to find a decent show to do this, so I would also recommend spending some time going through both the monthly pickup threads here and visiting oldcardboard.com (link at the top of the page). Old Cardboard has a ton of different sets listed and most have galleries so you can get an idea of what each card looks like.

With the limited budget you have, I would look at things like Goudey Wide Pens (R314), Exhibits (w461 for example), 35 Goudey's (R321), etc. You'll probably still need to spend more for top tier HOFer's (Cobb, Ruth, Dimaggio, etc) but many other HOFer's can still be found in your general price range. If I can help you in any other way, let me know.

Best of Luck,
DJ
x2drich2000

[E93]

Regarding T206s, when it is complete is subjective to a degree. If you were to do a Kansas City subset, you could just collect one example of each front regardless of the backs. On your budget that would probably mean mostly Sweet Caparol and Piedmont backs. The tougher backs can get quite expensive even for low grade commons. To find out what backs are available with each front check here:

http://www.t206resource.com/Checklist.html

JimB

[EvilKing00]

Welcome

You should deff spend some time doing some reasearch. Get a few sets in mind and check out whats available on ebay, to get the idea of what the set looks like and what some prices are.

t205 is a very attainable set to begin collecting. theres only 208 or so cards, they are beautiful, and have alot of history.

You can easily pay 40-60 per card. with the exception of the top ones and even those are reasonable IMO

good luck what ever u deside

[novakjr]

Welcome to the board Chris. You'd be surprised at what can be had for under $50. Hell, you'll find yourself surprised at what can be had for under $10 if you're patient enough...Don't get discouraged by the possibility of anything. Especially if condition isn't that important to you.

[milkit1]

I.suggest reading glory of their ttimes, more then merkle, the book on the t206 players and any of the countless bios. I've plowed through about 100 and it makes it so much more interesting to know whom your collecting.

[AMBST95]

If you're trying to learn about past players, I think the KC T206 set is a nice start. The cards are easily attainable and are a great way to feel out the set as a whole. You may end up deciding to go for the whole Monster. Even if just doing the team set, I'd invest the 20-30 dollars into The T206 Collection: The Players & Their Stories. I started a lower grade T206 collection and this book has helped me learn a lot about the players themselves. Every time I get a new card, I reference the book to associate a story to each card. It makes mail day even more enjoyable, plus now I can impress my friends with random facts about dead minor leaguers. They must think I'm a genious.

[drc]

The 1933 Goudeys are good looking, nice player selection, and inexpensive in lower grade, ungraded form. The 1934 and 1935 Goudey are nice companion issues.

[Leon]

The mid 1930s National Chicle sets and others from that era can be had very, very inexpensively. Many times you can get small groups and they can equal $5-$10 each, for HOF'ers. This Traynor card was probably $5-$10 and if you are patient you can still pick them up for that much or close to it.

[Gecklund311]

1940 Play Ball might be a great choice for you - the set includes contemporary players such as Foxx, Ott, and Greenberg, but also has a nice selection of recently retired players and old timers. Overall it gives you as close to a full picture of the pre-WW2 era as you can get in one set.

The design is simple and inoffensive to most people, and the backs have an often interesting write-up on the player. Prices are quite reasonable even for Hall of Famers, and you can get mid to low grade commons for a couple bucks each if you buy in groups to start with. The roadblocks will be Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and Joe Jackson, but you could find a decent copy of those for $500 or less if you shop carefully. I would bet you can put the rest of the set together (240 cards) without paying more than $50 for any card.

[iwantitiwinit]

Take a look at 1948 Bowman Baseball, good player content (spahn, feller, berra, musial, etc), only 48 cards in the set, prices not sky high and lots available on ebay. Once you complete it you can try for something a bit more ambitious.

[T206Collector]

I would definitely consider T206, as well as T201 and T202. Don't worry about the backs -- I've collected T206 feverishly for about 15 years, and I like to use the rare backs I get for good value to trade/sell to buy more T206s with common backs.

Good luck and you've come to the right place!

[mrvster]

Welcome aboard!!

T206 hands down.....so many different ways to collect the set it's not funny

it will fit any budget....

try the kc team, will be fun.....the tackle the monster!!it will be extremely rewarding

[bbcard1]

Sean beat me to the Glory of their Times...CD program is great because you hear the players talking.

I also suggest the book Crazy '08 about the 1908 pennant race. Very good read.

[ChrisH]

Thank you all for the help. I'm going to at least do the KC subset of T206 and I'm thinking about possibly going for either the whole set or the minor league set to start after I finish. I'm looking at the other sets that you all have suggested and I like a lot of them. I may end up going after a few sets instead of just one. Do any of you player collect or just set collect? I've always player collected since I've been in this hobby. I didn't know if that was possible really in this era of cards? Thanks again y'all!