Best set for a new set builder

[dstraate]

Hello All,

I've collected since I was a kid, and never got into the set building thing. Not to be a smug jerk, but I'm a school teacher looking down the barrel of a lot of free time this summer, and thought I might give set-building a try.

Any thoughts on what sets could be worked on within a reasonable budget that would showcase a few of the games greats, provide fodder for a few conversations, etc. I realize this is a pre-war forum, but would entertain all thoughts pre '75

Thanks guys

[HRBAKER]

E95 and E96
Manageable size and outlay and the cards are readily available in most all low to mid-grades

E95 has some top flight HOFers, E96 not so much

[sbfinley]

Not Pre-War but 54 Bowman is a good start. The Mantle and Williams will set you back a couple hundred in low grades, but the rest of the set is affordable. Lots of HOFers too.

[Zach Wheat]

T201 is also a good set to start out with....it is comprised of 50 cards (100 players) with all cards obtainable. It also has reasonably priced cards of Mathewson (whose name is misspelled), Johnson and Cobb along with 17 other HOF'ers.

[terjung]

1933 Goudey - a 240 card set with 64 of the cards representing HOFers (including Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Speaker, Dean, Cochrane, etc.)

The cards are great looking, readily available, and can be budget friendly depending on what grade (appearance level) you choose. Also, they are easily resold if you change your mind midway through. A great and important set that is ranked as one of the big three - along with the T206 and 1952 Topps sets.

Good luck!

[glchen]

Originally Posted by terjung

1933 Goudey - a 240 card set with 64 of the cards representing HOFers (including Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Speaker, Dean, Cochrane, etc.)

The cards are great looking, readily available, and can be budget friendly depending on what grade (appearance level) you choose. Also, they are easily resold if you change your mind midway through. A great and important set that is ranked as one of the big three - along with the T206 and 1952 Topps sets.

Good luck!

I collect 33 Goudey's and just beware, the costs can add up in a hurry even for low grade. Then you run into a dilemma on whether you want a bunch of low grade commons or just a few HOF'ers. If you want them all, like me, you'll end up spending serious cash. If you look at BST, someone is selling ~100 commons for about $700, so that's a good way to get started. Once you start working on the HOF'ers, it'll start to add up.

If you have a limited budget, and it's your first time, I would almost recommend a smaller set like 34 or 35 Goudey. However, part of the joy of the hobby is that you have to love the cards you collect, and if there is some particular set you really like, just go for it. Over time, you can slowly build up your set one card at at time, even if the overall set is expensive.

[ChiefBenderForever]

T205- awesome set without all the competition from all the t206 collectors.

[Griffins]

I'd vote for a smallish set, to make it easier and not get bogged down. Pick and era you like, or players you identify with, and start plugging away. The nice thing about a small set as opposed to a larger one is that you can complete it and jump to the next era, giving yourself a wide range of represented players over time
Pre WW1
T201- 50 cards, Cobb and Matty, overlooked and somewhat undervalued
E95 and E95- small sets, lots of color, good player selection

20's
'21 or '22 Exhibits- reasonable cost, fairly attainable, all the stars of the day- Ruth, Cobb, Johnson, etc

'30's
'34 Goudey -96 cards, good player selection, but not Ruth. The high numbers are not as tough as they are supposed to be, IMO
'34-'36 Diamond Stars - 106 cards, or 96 if you stay away from the high numbers, which are repeats of the lower 96 and tough to find. No Ruth or Gehrig, but a strong selection of players, great design, and the thick cardboard stock makes them more presentable when well worn

'40's
'41 Playball. 72 cards, great design, all the stars of the day. Dimaggio, Williams, Greenberg, etc

'50's

'53 Bowman. Best design of the post war era, IMO. 160 cards flawlessly produced with just good, clean photography. Mantle, Feller, Spahn. Downside is no Ted Williams or Jackie Robinson.

'54 Red Heart - 33 cards, good player selection (Mantle, Musial, Snider) but no Robinson or Williams. Very attainable

'56 Topps- 342 cards (354 if you add the team variations), but the first year there were no conflicts between Topps and Bowman so you've got everyone except Musial. A bunch of variations make it interesting.

'60's

'63 Fleer- 67 cards, most major stars, just two tricky shortprints, Adcock and the checklist, but those aren't as tough as you'd think.

'64 Topps Giants 60 cards, every star of the era, easy to find.

[B O'Brien]

Not to hijack a thread, but what kind of cash do you think it would take to do the E95's in G-VG raw or graded, don't really care.

I know I am a T206 addict, but it would be nice to at least think about something else, even though I am 90% I would ever do it.

Good luck on your summer project, it sounds a lot more fun than any of mine!
Bob

[Robextend]

I agree with the 1934 Goudey set...I think that would be a great start.

[Easy506]

I think the 1941 PlayBall set would be a great set to start with. It has some classic cards but most are very reasonable. The low number of cards is important too as you would be less likely to burn out midway through.

[ChiefBenderForever]

Originally Posted by B O'Brien

Not to hijack a thread, but what kind of cash do you think it would take to do the E95's in G-VG raw or graded, don't really care.

I know I am a T206 addict, but it would be nice to at least think about something else, even though I am 90% I would ever do it.

Good luck on your summer project, it sounds a lot more fun than any of mine!
Bob

21 of the 25 E95 in really decent shape just sold for 4000.00 in rea and it included a nice Cobb and Wagner I think they were really nice 2 grade. I wish I could've got them but then again always fun to build a set card by card over several years, I am slowy working on the E95 and up to six cards, my goal is to finish it over the next 10 years, maybe less or longer. After picking up a couple nice E93 from Brian I might start working on that set as well it is so nice and compliments the E95 so well would be a really fun project.
I agree the 34 set is awesome to build I put one together over 10 years with about a total of a 4 year break inbetween.

[Bicem]

Originally Posted by Griffins

'56 Topps- 342 cards (354 if you add the team variations), but the first year there were no conflicts between Topps and Bowman so you've got everyone except Musial. A bunch of variations make it interesting.

agreed, plus they are gorgeous cards and under appreciated.

[bbcard1]

The 1934 Diamond Stars are interesting, have lots of stars and would be one that would be interesting and does not seem too bad on costs. Very pretty cards.

[canjond]

I did an E95 set in all 2/3's (Cobb a 30, Wagner a strong 20, and Plank a 40) for about $4000-4500.

[smtjoy]

Super list Anthony, I think all of those are all right on.

I am a big exhibit guy so you cant go wrong with the 1921 exhibit set and if on a lower budget the 1922 set.

[B O'Brien]

Thanks for the replies on the E95.

I might also say the 1933 Delong set would be at the top of my list, but that is just because I love the look of the cards, super cool! I have never owned one, but really like looking at them. I like the write ups and info on the backs too.

Bob

[yoyot1]

Goudey 4-in-1's - only 36 cards to worry about (unless you care about the backs...), lots of HOFers, only one card that is "expensive" (Ruth). Fun little set.

[canjond]

Bob - I also finished a lower grade Delong set earlier this year. Took me about 5 weeks to do and the total investment was a little over $2500.

[collectbaseball]

Definitely go for N172 Old Judges....

Just kidding. I don't know what kind of budget you have, but I'm currently working on the T205 set -- poorer cards can be had for $15 and very nice looking SGC 40s/50s for around ~$40 so it's easy to chip away at a little bit at a time. It's also much smaller than the T206 set but big enough to be really impressive when you have a couple hundred of them laid out on a table. I think they're also probably the most beautiful tobacco cards, T3s aside (I've started on that set also, but it's slow going).

[nolemmings]

1922 Eastern Exhibits-- 20 card set features Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Tris Speaker, Eddie Collins, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander and five other HOFers. Relatively affordable.

If you prefer more colorful cards, try Delong: 24 includes Gehrig, Grove, Foxx and 12 other HOFers. Also doable.

[fkw]

Best Budget Set of All Time!
1931 W517
2/3rds of the cards are Hall of Famers! (including variations, 40)
A set of 60 can be built for about $2-$3K in VG fairly easy.

A few number/team variations, and many color variations too.



It was my first vintage set I worked on when I was a kid. Still like em

[JP]

1956 Topps. Great looking cards, lots of variety, VERY accessible. Probably my favorite post-war set....

[dstraate]

Wow guys, great stuff with all this info I may be a bit more overwhelmed than yesterday.

I printed the thread and will keep these in mind moving forward

Thanks a ton

[Griffins]

you might consider buying a low grade example of any set you're considering going after. Nothing worse than starting a set and then realizing you just don't have any sort of connection to it.

[tbob]

E93, E94, E95, E96, E97, E98s are all small sets and doable although E94s are becoming tougher to find and E98s in nice condition seem to be drying up.

[Bicem]

Originally Posted by Griffins

you might consider buying a low grade example of any set you're considering going after. Nothing worse than starting a set and then realizing you just don't have any sort of connection to it.

good point... a lot of times I don't know how much I like or don't care for a set until I have a few cards actually in hand.

[T2069bk]

Originally Posted by dstraate

Hello All,

I've collected since I was a kid, and never got into the set building thing. Not to be a smug jerk, but I'm a school teacher looking down the barrel of a lot of free time this summer, and thought I might give set-building a try.

Any thoughts on what sets could be worked on within a reasonable budget that would showcase a few of the games greats, provide fodder for a few conversations, etc. I realize this is a pre-war forum, but would entertain all thoughts pre '75

Thanks guys

You said you've collected since you were a kid- take a look at what you have, and start from there. About a month ago I noticed that I had quite a few Hall of Famers from the 1934-1936 Batter-up set...so the next logical step was to pick up a few commons and I'm on my way. I already know I have a connection to them because I owned them already.

Another thought might be to go the Team Set route... If you're a big fan of a certain team, start building team sets from all the different years- a great way to learn about your teams past.

[dstraate]

Huge problem with the team set thing...

I'm a Cubs fan. (belch)

[T2069bk]

But if you collect the T206 and 1920's-1930's times were good - now ....Not so good!

[ethicsprof]

Anthony and Jeff say it best for me.
See what you truly connect with and then you will truly know what you WANT
to collect.

best,
barry