What are the rare, nearly impossible or impossible sets to complete

[markf31]

In the past month or so we’ve had some pretty exciting news regarding some very difficult and rare sets. The E98 discovery with the Black Swamp find and Chris Sullivan’s E107 collection coming up for private sale. As I’m still pretty new to the vintage scene, this got me wondering, what are some of the most difficult, impossible or nearly impossible sets to complete.

Obviously we can start with:
E98
E107

[Bicem]

e98?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Bicem

e98?

Sure. If you had the money it would take well over a week or two.


I will start with a master set (all variations) of N172.

[bobbyw8469]

N172

Is that the old Goudey Indian set Leon?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by bobbyw8469

Is that the old Goudey Indian set Leon?

I think that is R72 (not positive), N172 is Old Judge.

I will throw in another since I am not sure it got mentioned last time, E221. To the best of my knowledge there is only 1 known of one of the cards. And the person with 5 different doesn't own it.

[Al C.risafulli]

There are so many - N172, like Leon said, is the obvious one.

I've been working on the E121 (sorry Leon) Henry Johnson Confectioners set for a few years now. It's a silly set, nobody cares about it, but I also think that nobody even realized what cards were in it - and I don't think anyone truly knows. Nobody knows how many there really are. I think there are between 80 and 90, and I have fewer than 60. They're really tough to find. I'm sure there are people out there that have more than me, but I can't imagine there are that many.

-Al

[tiger8mush]

E98 - Getting one example of each player is relatively easy, but if you are going for a master set with all four color variations then yes its a little tougher & expensive. A few members on the board have been trying to put the master set together for the past year or two. A master set is a great accomplishment, but certainly not impossible.

1914 CJ is similar. One board member recently finished it (he had relatively deep pockets and it still took him some time) and I know btkpath is nearing his complete set that he's been working on for a while. Again, not impossible but there are some toughies (like peckinpaugh) that could take you a couple years to even come across an example let alone being able to afford it.

IMPOSSIBLE or nearly impossible sets were discussed here:
http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=149534

And I know we had a thread where we ranked popular sets according to difficulty but I couldn't find that thread, maybe someone else can help? I went back 6 months but must've overlooked it.

Rob

[markf31]

Thanks for the link to the previous thread Rob. I did a search before starting this thread and nothing came up, else I would not have started this one!

[bobbyw8469]

Oh ok....well, now that I mentioned it, I will say the Goudey Indian Master Set. While the set is indeed obtainable and not unaffordable like a complete T206 set, it is still a bear to complete. Alot of variations - different numbered series, different colored backs, different colored borders, etc.

[Brian Van Horn]

1911 Sporting News.
1932 US Caramel simply because of the Lindstrom, otherwise the set is not too difficult.

[Bicem]

complete master w600 set would be impressive.

a bunch of postcard sets if we are counting those.

[Runscott]

For the average collector, it's probably any set other than E95, E96 (or similar), or N162, unless you're talking about a fair- T206 set that doesn't include Wagner or Doyle. Finishing off a rare collection doesn't impress me nearly so much as when a passionate collector on a $20-30K/year income completes a T202 or T206 set after toiling for 10+ years. It's doable, but it's gotta be tough to drop a month's pay on a Demmitt or O'Hara St.L.