Top 3 prewar sets

[Casey2296]

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E94
E98
14CJ

2 cards to complete my E94.
Built an E98 Master, sold it, and building a single set.
Not building a Cracker Jack set, just HOFers and cards that appeal to me.
1 player run (need one card), 1 back run (need four cards), and one color run (color run complete).
That’s enough to keep me busy and broke.
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[Rhotchkiss]

I think the top 3 pre war sets are:

T206 (completed and sold)
1933 Goudey (started but ditched the effort)
1914 Cracker Jack (completed and sold)

I also think N172 (never owned a single one) and E107 (completed and sold) are pretty major.

All of the above are larger endeavors- over (to well over) 150 cards to complete. There are some great “bite sized” sets - 50 or less- and I would rank the top 3 as:

D304 (completed and sold)
E94
E103.

Then, you have some amazing sets that aren’t cards. My top 3 are:

T3 (completed and sold)
W600 (owned many but never tried the set)
1908 Rose Co Postcards (owned many but never tried the set)

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

Well, since you are asking what MY top prewar sets are, my answer is:

1935 Goudey (85% complete)
1931 W 517 (15% complete with one of the two Ruth cards)
1941 Play Ball (5% complete. Just started.)


They are MY top because thy are smaller and are some of the only sets that have top name HOFers that could be potentially be completed within my limited budget range (and therefore the only ones I’m actively collecting).

If your question was what I think the overall top are, then certainly those that are mentioned above including t205, t206, 1933 Goudey, etc, etc.

[Brent G.]

I only have 1, but I think N172 Old Judge has to be the greatest set ever made. Actual photos in 1886-90? 4,500 poses/varieties? It’s incredible.

[jsfriedm]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

1933 Goudey (started but ditched the effort)

Curious as to why, if I may ask?

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by jsfriedm

Curious as to why, if I may ask?

I decided to sell a big chunk of my collection and reinvest the proceeds in a farm in Virginia and a coffee farm in Panama. Spending money on any set, not just 33 Goudey, was counterproductive to converting cardboard to real estate!

Nothing personal on the 33 Goudey set. It’s a beast and some day I would like to own/assemble one.

[oldjudge]

For me the top two are Old Judge and T206. I don't know what the third set would be--probably Goudey, but an argument can be made for E107, W600, M101-4/5, E135 too.
In my mind, Old Judge is the best because of the scope of the set as well as the fact that it was the first major baseball card set. Interestingly, it has 523 different subjects which puts it close in numbers to T206. However, when you start comparing apples to apples (total different poses) it is much bigger. The only argument against Old Judge in my mind is that it is not really a set, or even really a baseball card set. It is composed of multiple sets, many of which involved cards other than baseball players. Calling Old Judgea set is like calling Topps a set without differentiatiing by year.

[MVSNYC]

T206
Cracker Jack
1933 Goudey

Every thread needs an image...

[kmac32]

T205, T207, and E121 Yankees and giants