1933 Tattoo Orbit: The Journey Ends and Some Observations

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Posted By: James Feagin

In October 2007, I decided that it was time to complete a pre-war set. This wasnt done without a lot of research and fact-finding. When it came down to it, I wanted a project that was

1.) Challenging, but not impossible
2.) Very attractive, at least according to my judgement.
3.) A set with immense upside that is a little out of the mainstream.

I found all of those attributes in the 1933 R305 Tattoo Orbit set. In October 2007, I purchased my first card from the setA signed Burleigh Grimes. Today, after much searching, the final piece of the puzzle came with Mule Haas. Im ecstatic with this collection, as each of them are graded by SGC (to protect them from my children). Scans and grades for each card are found in the link below!


http://www.sgccardregistry.com/set.aspx?cat=1&set=30&userset=2583


Some Observations, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong. First the team breakdowns: (15) Chicago Cubs, (6) Boston Red Sox, (6) Chicago White Sox, (6) Cleveland Indians, (6) Philadelphia Athletics, (6) St. Louis Browns, (5) St. Louis Cardinals, (3) Cincinnati Reds, (3) Philadelphia Phillies, (2) Brooklyn Dodgers, (1) Boston Braves and (1) Pittsburgh Pirates. There are no cards in this set from members of the Detroit Tigers, New York Giants, New York Yankees or Washington Senators.

A couple of myths, or old wives tales surrounding this set.

1.) The Andrews, Blaeholder and Hornsby cards are shortprints (only one of those is really a shortprint, with many more difficult).

2.) Despite what many E-Bay sellers purport, the R305 issue apparently was not released in those pirate ship wrappers

From my obersvations, the Top 5 most difficult cards in the set.

1.)Dick Bartell
2.)Mule Haas
3.)James Levey
4.)Rogers Hornsby
5.)Ernie Lombardi

Although my collection has taken quite a hit over the past few months, Im grateful Ive held this together. Next project? 1909-1911 T206 Baltimore team set with tough backs.

Thanks for reading and for all those on this board who helped in this journey!

James