What is the best pre war design?

[gnaz01]

Originally Posted by Scocs

T3 Turkey Reds

+1

[ValKehl]

T204 - The cards exude class and contain real pics of the players.

[PolarBear]

Allen & Ginter N28

[bnorth]

For me it is easily the T210 cards. That beautiful red border with the BW picture are simply awesome.

[JTysver]

1937 Wheaties Series 9

37 wheaties.jpg

and my favorite, although I could only find an incomplete card of it- Carl Hubbell...
hubbell.jpg

[LEHR]

My favorite pre-war sets in no particular order:

N173
N172
T204
T200
T222
1933 Tattoo Orbit
1933 DeLong

[clydepepper]

The 1920's are frequently overlooked as far as design is concerned:


E120 is simple but elegant.

WALTER JOHNSON 1922 E120 American Caramel - PSA-5.jpg

[rhettyeakley]

Not a fan of cartoon looking cards so a lot of the T206, T205, etc cards fall into that category for me but some of the portraits are pretty well done.

I prefer real photos and high detail lithography. N162, some of the T3 cards (there are a few ugly T3's as well... Burns, Gibson, Smith, & the Schmidt pose always kinda bugged me), Old Judge Cabinets (if the pose is a good one), N28, and 1911 Zeenuts are some of my favorites.

[IMAXMAX]

a few favorites::::in no particular order---
D311
M116
N173
N300
T3
T204
T210
T211
T212
W600

[BearBailey]

T3 turkey reds.
Colors, size, backgrounds, beautiful cards.

[nat]

I like cards whose design is evocative of the era in which they were made. The 1935 Diamond Stars get points from me for their sort of art deco aesthetic.

Not pre-war, but 1949 Leaf is probably my favorite set of all. Little bits of pop art on baseball cards (these ones are actually a bit ahead of their time, aesthetically speaking).

Another favorite, albeit for different reasons, are the Exhibits. I like the action photographs that have the background airbrushed out. They are sort of like idealized images of these guys, baseball and nothing else.

[ccre]

N162's are truly a work of art. I also believe the diamond stars are extremely appealing.

[rats60]

N162
T205
T206
1933 Goudey
1941 Play Ball

[GasHouseGang]

It's hard to beat the Turkey Reds or the Cracker Jacks.

[bn2cardz]

t205 are works of art that just can't be correctly emulated by mass producers of cards now. When reprints or emulated sets (such as topps 205) can't match the beauty of the original that is impressive to me.

The Allen and Ginters are a great set. It shows the popularity of the design when modern collectors have been collecting Topps' modern variation for 11 years now.

[Cozumeleno]

Originally Posted by PolarBear

Allen & Ginter N28

+1 - probably between these and N162s for me.