1930s Baseball Cards - Colors and Artwork

[Leon]

For those of us that collect any cards from the 1930s, isn't there some great colors and artwork on a lot of them? Soon I will want to get a Diamond Stars for my new collection due to their art-deco look but haven't found the right one yet. I mentioned to a friend today, I thought this R319 Ruth is one of the great poses of any pre-war card. And also told of how my first one one came with a facial wrinkle, not seen from a Xerox, so it wasn't kept long term. (had to get my feet wet somehow)..

[Econteachert205]

I've got about 15 diamond stars. You could make the argument that the 1930s has the best overall card designs and the most unique with experimental cards like the batter-ups de longs, millers and big head 38 goudeys. Big fan of the era card wise. Lots of hints of the new deal wpa era social realism.

[pokerplyr80]

That Ruth is, in my opinion, one of the best looking cards in our hobby, and is in my personal top 3 along with the 53 Reese and N162 Anson. As much a work of art as it is a baseball card. I don't own many cards from the 30s, but that was one of the first I picked up.

[Al C.risafulli]

They're among my favorites, Leon. The Diamond Stars artwork is fantastic, and I especially love that the design is pretty consistent through the National Chicle football issue, and the Sky Birds issue as well.

I love the '33 Goudey Gehringer (with the purple background), the '34 Goudey Gehrig portrait, and the entire '38 Goudey set.

I also think that the 1930s black and white photo premiums are amazing, and incredibly undervalued.

And of course the R312 pastels are also fantastic.

And it's easy to forget the Sport Kings set, which is gorgeous!

An amazingly creative period in the hobby's history, for sure.

-Al

[tiger8mush]

I like Bottomley's cocked hat, and Manush's raised eyebrow ...

[DeanH3]

Love me some 30's era cards. #144 Ruth is at the top of my list of favorites as well. '33 Goudey Foxx, '34 Goudey Greenberg and '33 Sport Kings Cobb are fantastic as well. Gerhrig's '33 Goudey is special too when it's found with nice registration. And awesome Ruth there Leon. Doesn't get much better than that in any grade.

[brianp-beme]

There are so many great, artistic 1930's issues. One of my favorites is the Diamond Star set. It seems to get overlooked, being that it is missing Ruth and Gehrig, but what a beauty they are. I picked a random card from the set to showcase all of its art deco background glory (card not mine).

Brian

[jcc6252]

How about the Tattoo Orbits? I just want to know what's going on in the background of Dizzy's card?

[keating3620]

I have my dad's Diamond Stars that he collected as a kid. great looking cards. I collected a set in PSA 5.

Even without Ruth and Gehrig it has 30 HOF's out of the set of 96. lots of stars.

[Yoda]

If you are into art deco with a touch of Gothic thrown in, I think you could do worse than the George Millers. Dean has long been on my want list.

[mechanicalman]

About time the 30s got some love! I personally have been bitten by the T206 bug lately, but my first vintage love was '33 Goudeys for the reasons already mentioned.

[mrmantlecollector]

[CW]

These 2 among the first pre-WWII cards I ever purchased. I remember actually being turned on to the Gehringer by this very forum, back when it was on the old hosting site (I was a lurker). Someone posted it as one of their favorite cards, and after seeing the pose and the purple background I was like, "Damn! I gotta get one of those!" So, yes, I blame Net54 for that one.

[Leon]

Al- I couldn't agree with you more about the R312s. They get no respect or love but are some pretty dang cool cards for not a lot of money, relatively speaking.

Sam- I see a #144 in there that looks pretty darned nice.

And thanks to everyone else who chimed in so far and/or posted a card. I actually got a smile looking at them and reading the comments..And I want to add, looking at these cards as art they really are striking.

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

They're among my favorites, Leon. The Diamond Stars artwork is fantastic, and I especially love that the design is pretty consistent through the National Chicle football issue, and the Sky Birds issue as well.

I love the '33 Goudey Gehringer (with the purple background), the '34 Goudey Gehrig portrait, and the entire '38 Goudey set.

I also think that the 1930s black and white photo premiums are amazing, and incredibly undervalued.

And of course the R312 pastels are also fantastic.

And it's easy to forget the Sport Kings set, which is gorgeous!

An amazingly creative period in the hobby's history, for sure.

-Al

[jason.1969]

My 6 Diamond Stars HOFers are among my six favorite cards in my whole collection. The NYG Big Three are all beautiful, but Terry is my very favorite.


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[Jerry G]

Also, my favorite era for cards. The first Goudey I saw was in the 4th grade. A classmate had a small stack. On top was '33 Charlie Gehringer staring me down. When I slid him off the top of the stack, there was Ted Lyons followed by Diamond Stars Joe Medwick. I thought I was going to bust. Hooked for life on the 1930's baseball cards. A great period for Cardinal fans.

[ecRich]

Always loved 1930's issues, really like 1933 Geo. C. Millers.

[itjclarke]

I also love the '30's and was definitely hooked by Goudeys (in my teens) before any other, earlier T or E sets. Most of my Goudeys were picked up raw, and still live that way (sorry for crappy iphone pic)
4 ruths.jpg1933 Goudeys- Foxx, Grove, Gehrig.jpg

Love DS too, especially when decorated with old, well formed sigs.
1935 Diamond Stars Bill Dickey signed.jpg1935 Diamond Stars Ted Lyons signed.jpg1935 Diamond Stars Luke Appling signed.jpg
1935 Diamond Stars Charlie Gehringer signed.jpg

[brianp-beme]

Once again not mine, just thought I would showcase a cool Diamond Stars design featuring a common player.

Brian

[shernan30]

I only have two cards from that era. Great cards everyone. I would love to have a signed Coombs Goudey. Maybe in the future I'll track one down.

[SAllen2556]

With the Diamond Stars, doesn't it seem like the 1934 cards from 1 to 24 are very undervalued? Prices run pretty much the same as the 1935 versions, yet if you look at card target or other "sold" prices, the ratio of '35 versions to '34 versions are at least 5 to 1. I looked up Maranville and the ratio was even greater, yet the prices don't reflect the rarity at all, especially in comparable condition. I wonder how popular they were when they first came out in '34? It seems like either the print run was shorter or they just didn't sell well that first year.

My raw Diamond Star set. I'd love to somehow frame the entire set like this on a wall.

[Beatles Guy]

Outside of my Cardinals/Browns collection, I am almost exclusively collecting 30s cards. The artwork is second to none.

[jason.1969]

Originally Posted by SAllen2556

With the Diamond Stars, doesn't it seem like the 1934 cards from 1 to 24 are very undervalued? Prices run pretty much the same as the 1935 versions, yet if you look at card target or other "sold" prices, the ratio of '35 versions to '34 versions are at least 5 to 1. I looked up Maranville and the ratio was even greater, yet the prices don't reflect the rarity at all, especially in comparable condition. I wonder how popular they were when they first came out in '34? It seems like either the print run was shorter or they just didn't sell well that first year.

My raw Diamond Star set. I'd love to somehow frame the entire set like this on a wall.

Gorgeous set!! Well done.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

I agree with all of the praise for the 1930s issues. My frustration continues that no one is producing 9 pocket pages for the majority of these cards.

I would even put my raw HOFers in pages to enjoy the sets!

[TanksAndSpartans]

I wasn’t going to post at first because its a baseball card topic, but in the end I couldn't resist. I really love the cards from this era too and Al opened the door a little bit by mentioning football. Aesthetically, I think these are my two favorite cards. Caddel looks like he’s running right off the card at you with the white uniformed official about to enthusiastically signal for a TD. And Grange wearing the classic vertical striped jersey with the facial expression I’ve seen in several other photos perfectly captured.

And speaking of artwork, here's a link to an auction write up for an example of a piece of original Chicle artwork which mentions: "When the original National Chicle find surfaced in the 1970s directly from the family of a National Chicle employee...":

http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/...2005/1268.html

[jason.1969]

Not mine, but I wanted to post a pic of one of my favorite 1930s cards...

[Leon]

A bit of football cards, 1930s style, is very cool too. Thanks for sharing...

Originally Posted by DezHood

I wasn’t going to post at first because its a baseball card topic, but in the end I couldn't resist. I really love the cards from this era too and Al opened the door a little bit by mentioning football. Aesthetically, I think these are my two favorite cards. Caddel looks like he’s running right off the card at you with the white uniformed official about to enthusiastically signal for a TD. And Grange wearing the classic vertical striped jersey with the facial expression I’ve seen in several other photos perfectly captured.

And speaking of artwork, here's a link to an auction write up for an example of a piece of original Chicle artwork which mentions: "When the original National Chicle find surfaced in the 1970s directly from the family of a National Chicle employee...":

http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/...2005/1268.html

[Louieman]

Love the 30s cards