What's a good "first" vintage set to collect?

[Sean]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Jeff, if you put much emphasis on your first criteria, especially the "major criteria for me on this are images that really look like the player" part of it, then IMHO, your two best choices by far are the E121 and M101 sets. Another choice is the E120 set. I do confess that I very much prefer the B&W, real-photo sets over the colorful, artists'-rendition sets.
Val

Here's an e121 for example:

scan0049.jpg

[effe]

I'd go with t202s. Great looking and nothing that will break the bank.

[irishdenny]

OKay...
So, I'v Read Thru This Thread
& I'v Been Patient WaitiN fir Sumone ta Mention
What I Believe ta be, the "Crown Jewel"
of the OP's Question...

imho... The T200 Set Answers ALL Of His Questions & Desire's!

http://www.oldcardboard.com/t/t200/t...?cardsetID=693

http://www.psacard.com/cardfacts/bas...-team-t200/128

Every Hall of Famer's is Present, EVeN the Managers,
Mr. Thorpe & the Team Mascot's ...

iN 2011 I presented the Same Question to myself!?
I Came uP Wit the T200 & E90-1 Set!?
I WeNT Wit the E90-1 Set!
And Although I'm much more of a Player, Type Card Collector,
I am a Gluten fir punishment...

When I Finish my E90-1 Set(wit strict guide lines!)
The T200 Set is Next!!!

JuST my T200 "Food fir Thought" fir the OP

[ValKehl]

Denny, one big negative to your "crown jewel" recommendation is there's no Babe Ruth in the T200 set!

[yanksfan09]

I'm a big fan of black and white sets too and love e121's.

Another option that bridges the gap of Cobb-Ruth era would be 1921 exhibits (First year for exhibits too!). Not too big at 64 cards. Some nice images!

[Jerry G]

It's a little later than Ruth, Cobb and Mathewson, but it still is pre-war. There are 72 brightly colored cars in art deco style. Compared to the T and E cards, they can be found pretty reasonably.

It has early Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams and quite a few Hall of Famers. Off the top of my head there's Dickey, Reese, Cronin, Klein, Foxx, Gehringer, Greenberg,... Then, there's interesting players like Dominic and Vince DiMaggio and Johnny "Double No Hit" Vander Meer.

I recently put a VG set together in about a year. So, the supply is good.

[kailes2872]

When I get through all of this post-war topps & bowman stuff, I am heading straight for the '33 Delong. 24 cards, lots of HOFers, Gehrig is the prize.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Jerry G

It's a little later than Ruth, Cobb and Mathewson, but it still is pre-war. There are 72 brightly colored cars in art deco style. Compared to the T and E cards, they can be found pretty reasonably.

It has early Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams and quite a few Hall of Famers. Off the top of my head there's Dickey, Reese, Cronin, Klein, Foxx, Gehringer, Greenberg,... Then, there's interesting players like Dominic and Vince DiMaggio and Johnny "Double No Hit" Vander Meer.

I recently put a VG set together in about a year. So, the supply is good.

I was going to say the same thing until I noticed all replies were focused on earlier sets. Probably the perfect set for a first time set builder. It has it all. Great looking cards. Loaded with HOFers. And easy to complete with only 72 cards.

Edit: not to mention 1941 was such a historic season. Dimaggios streak and Williams hitting over .400. I sure wish I had been around to see that.

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by yanksfan09

I'm a big fan of black and white sets too and love e121's.

Another option that bridges the gap of Cobb-Ruth era would be 1921 exhibits (First year for exhibits too!). Not too big at 64 cards. Some nice images!

Those Exhibits are beautiful. I never really understood how those worked/what they were. They are oversized correct? Are they technically cards? Are they all the same size?

Thanks

[yanksfan09]

Originally Posted by Topnotchsy

Those Exhibits are beautiful. I never really understood how those worked/what they were. They are oversized correct? Are they technically cards? Are they all the same size?

Thanks

Yes oversize, same size as Postcards. I, and most consider them to be cards. They are thick postcard size card stock but blank backed. Although in later years there were ones issued with Post card backs as well as blank but not 1921. They are all machine cut, same uniform size. From my understanding, they were the first set/issue to ever be issued as just cards by themselves. They weren't used to promote other products, they were the product! They were issued in arcade exhibit machines. Where you would insert (I think a penny on early sets) into machine and receive card(s). There are other exhibit experts on the board who maybe will chime in. I'm not sure if you'd possibly get more than 1 card at once out of the machine for a penny in the early days or not. Exhibits were produced on and off up until around 1980 I believe!

The exhibit arcade card dispensing machines are fairly collectible in their own right.

[irishdenny]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Denny, one big negative to your "crown jewel" recommendation is there's no Babe Ruth in the T200 set!

Hey there Val...

"Who's Babe Ruth!?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyFa...VpVm0gXVmJiwjb

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by irishdenny

"Who's Babe Ruth!?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyFa...VpVm0gXVmJiwjb

Denny, I think he's the guy who developed a popular candy bar that he named after himself.