E107 Breisch Williams - As Complete a Set as exists

[sulldux]

Chris Sullivan here. Congratulations Ryan on a tremendous acquisition. It's one of the truly historic sets in our hobby and I hope you'll enjoy it for a long time. If I'm correct the prior owner won the (core) set in July/96 in a Mastro auction. If so I was the underbidder. At the time I was living with my family in Switzerland on business and I had about 30-50 cards at the time and I made a run for this set. At some point I was leading in the bidding because at about 4 AM I received a couple of phone calls from Bill Mastro asking who I was and who did I know in the hobby and on and on, but all through the calls implying that I damn well better pay for the set if I won it!! Haha. I wished then and I wish now that I had won it. I think it went in the mid 30's. After I lost I continued to accumulate them through the years. I got to a complete player set missing about 6 team variations before I sold them in 2012-13. Once again congrats and enjoy. They are the Faberge Eggs of our hobby

[chaddurbin]

beautiful stuff! what dreams are made of.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by sulldux

Chris Sullivan here. Congratulations Ryan on a tremendous acquisition. It's one of the truly historic sets in our hobby and I hope you'll enjoy it for a long time. If I'm correct the prior owner won the (core) set in July/96 in a Mastro auction. If so I was the underbidder. At the time I was living with my family in Switzerland on business and I had about 30-50 cards at the time and I made a run for this set. At some point I was leading in the bidding because at about 4 AM I received a couple of phone calls from Bill Mastro asking who I was and who did I know in the hobby and on and on, but all through the calls implying that I damn well better pay for the set if I won it!! Haha. I wished then and I wish now that I had won it. I think it went in the mid 30's. After I lost I continued to accumulate them through the years. I got to a complete player set missing about 6 team variations before I sold them in 2012-13. Once again congrats and enjoy. They are the Faberge Eggs of our hobby

Hi Chris! Very nice to meet you and thanks for posting. I have read all about your amazing E107 collection -- the completeness and quality. I am not sure, but I expect this is the same set you are referring to in your post. I am super psyched to own this set (I agree its special) and to know that it will remain complete. Thanks again for the post and saying hi.

EDITED -- I reviewed a note from the previous owner that states the set was purchased from the estate of the late Bill Haber, who was an employee of Topps for many years and an early card-collecting pioneer. Among other things, Here is what I was able to find on Bill online:

"Bill Haber was a Topps employee for quite some time and wrote a lot of what appeared on the backs of baseball cards. He was responsible for bringing many Topps test and proof issues into the market as he was an early dealer; he spun some tall tales about the origins of these sets in certain cases, thereby obfuscating the real story but giving us raison d'etre here at the ol' Topps Archives."

[spec]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

EDITED -- I reviewed a note from the previous owner that states the set was purchased from the estate of the late Bill Haber, who was an employee of Topps for many years and an early card-collecting pioneer. Among other things, Here is what I was able to find on Bill online:

"Bill Haber was a Topps employee for quite some time and wrote a lot of what appeared on the backs of baseball cards. He was responsible for bringing many Topps test and proof issues into the market as he was an early dealer; he spun some tall tales about the origins of these sets in certain cases, thereby obfuscating the real story but giving us raison d'etre here at the ol' Topps Archives."

Congratulations, Ryan! Your E107 acquisition admits you to a rather exclusive fraternity, one that includes some of the most dedicated collectors in the hobby's history (Chris Sullivan, Lew Lipset, Scott Brockelman, the late Don McPherson among others, plus at least three people currently working on the set).
If, indeed, Bill Haber's E107s form the nucleus, your set has an incredible pedigree. As I recall, Bill told me he acquired the bulk of his E107s from a pioneer collector whose name I can no longer remember. And, it was my understanding that another hobby legend purchased the set after Haber's premature passing.
Bill Haber was much more than a Topps employee and baseball card collector. He was a founding member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and a peerless biographical researcher. Without Ancestry or the Internet he tracked down birth and death data for dozens of early ballplayers, filling blanks in the MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia (an earlier generation's Baseball Reference). He focused his card collection on E107, Colgan's Chips (E254 and E270), T210 and T209 because many of the players he "found" or was pursuing were included in those sets.
So, know that your E107 set has long been treasured. Please treat it accordingly.
B0b Rich@rds0n

[Sean]

Originally Posted by spec

Congratulations, Ryan! Your E107 acquisition admits you to a rather exclusive fraternity, one that includes some of the most dedicated collectors in the hobby's history (Chris Sullivan, Lew Lipset, Scott Brockelman, the late Don McPherson among others, plus at least three people currently working on the set).
If, indeed, Bill Haber's E107s form the nucleus, your set has an incredible pedigree. As I recall, Bill told me he acquired the bulk of his E107s from a pioneer collector whose name I can no longer remember. And, it was my understanding that another hobby legend purchased the set after Haber's premature passing.
Bill Haber was much more than a Topps employee and baseball card collector. He was a founding member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and a peerless biographical researcher. Without Ancestry or the Internet he tracked down birth and death data for dozens of early ballplayers, filling blanks in the MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia (an earlier generation's Baseball Reference). He focused his card collection on E107, Colgan's Chips (E254 and E270), T210 and T209 because many of the players he "found" or was pursuing were included in those sets.
So, know that your E107 set has long been treasured. Please treat it accordingly.
B0b Rich@rds0n

Great background on the set.

[alaskapaul3]

Jaw-dropping collection! Congratulations!

Paul

[ElCabron]

Really love these. Thanks for posting, and congrats! Did these come from Richard? If not, is this more complete than his? The thing I love about these is that they are so rare, only a handful of people can even attempt to complete a set. I'm sure some people on this board like me realize what an accomplishment it is to amass a grouping like you have. But the majority of the hobby has no idea how impressive this is. Thanks for sharing with us!

[Rhotchkiss]

It did not come from Richard. Sincere thanks or the kind words

Meanwhile, I have decided to upgrade the Young, Plank, Keeler, Waddell and Lajoie Type II with better-looking examples that I already own. Other than the Young, these, together with my E107 Wagner (which is now an extra) have been consigned to Heritage.

The E107 Wagner will be in Heritage's Platinum Auction and the balance will be in the March Auction

Thanks for all the positive feedback!!! I am really overwhelmed by the reception the set is getting. I think its deserved, but its great to see the Board feels that way too.

[soxinseven]

Amazing set Ryan! Incredible to actually see them all together. I enjoyed reading the comments from Scott and Chris as I remember when they were both putting the set together. Congrats!

[atx840]

What a set, amazing Ryan.

[oldjudge]

Congratulations Ryan! Now that you have knocked off T206 and E107 you should start on their grandpappy--N172. That might prove a little tougher.

[Rhotchkiss]

Thanks Chris and Jay.

Jay, I am not that nuts! N172, T210, and W600 are three sets I won’t even ever attempt. Plus, truth be told, aside from smaller sets like D304, I don’t have the patience to assemble anything. Rather, I cheat and try get a complete set or near complete set and fill in the blanks. Back runs are about the limit if the pains I will go to in assemblage

[oldjudge]

I did T210 once, but I started off with a big group from Scott. I almost got T211 but ended up one card short and got to within a few cards on T209. You could probably buy a big group of Old Judges (450+) but you could never fill in the missing cards unless there is a big find.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Thanks Chris and Jay.

Jay, I am not that nuts! N172, T210, and W600 are three sets I won’t even ever attempt. Plus, truth be told, aside from smaller sets like D304, I don’t have the patience to assemble anything. Rather, I cheat and try get a complete set or near complete set and fill in the blanks. Back runs are about the limit if the pains I will go to in assemblage

You always liked a challenge Ryan. Select 1 of those three and go for it and share your adventure with us