Trying to decide a Set Build! Help :)

[Mark17]

T3

I collected them back in the mid-1980s through 1991. Then when I built my house and was on a tight budget, I had a choice: Keep my collection or have really nice fireplaces on two levels in the house. Since I live where it gets quite cold in winter, I decided the fireplaces were needed more than the cardboard. But, I loved those cards.

I had about 70 of them, ungraded but I suppose they were mostly in the 2-3 range. No pinholes but rounding on the corners. It's an absolutely beautiful set - images you see online don't give them justice.

Here's what I recommend:

1. Read "The Glory of Their Times" by Larry Ritter. Best book on baseball ever written. There are posts here about Larry and this book.

2. When you see a T3 become available, go to http://www.retrosheet.org and check out the player. In many cases, retrosheet provides an interesting biography on these guys. It's fascinating, and will give you greater appreciation for your cards, the players depicted on them, and that time in baseball's history.

3. When you see a Rhoads available, buy it. From my collecting days I can assure you, it is tough.

If you go the 1965 route, much of your investment will be in grading service fees (598 of them.) If you go with T3s, that overhead will be much less, and you'll have the pleasure of holding cards that are over 100 years old.

By the way, Brown was my favorite T3 card. Arguments can be made for lots of other cards (Speaker is very colorful for example, and Bridwell is classic) but I love the look of Three Finger Brown, standing on grass with that bright orange background (most Cubs in the set have orange background I noticed.)

Good luck, let us know what you decide and how your collection progresses.