Set collectors - what cards give you the most hassle?

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Posted By: Brian McQueen

It seems that when working on sets in general, at some point you hit a "wall" towards the end where acquiring cards suddenly becomes very difficult, even if you had been breezing your way through the set up until that point. So what have been some cards that you all have found yourself stuck on?

There are a few reasons for getting stuck when working on a set. Maybe the final card you need is too popular and expensive (ie...e90-2 Wagner). Maybe the card is of a known "set toughie" or obscure variation such as that dratted e102 Miller fielding card. Or perhaps, it's a card of a player who's just plain difficult to find in general, such as Frank Miller or Fred Tenney. Personally speaking, I seem to have a world of trouble finding cards of Tenney when I'm attempting to finish off a set.

So, I suppose my question is simply what cards have you all been having problems with when attempting to complete your sets?

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Posted By: Lee

In general, I have trouble obtaining decent T206 Red Hindu and Drum Backs. Its not that they don't come up for sale, I just always get outbid on them at the last minute or they somehow elude me in higher grades.

Lee

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Posted By: Steve Murray

The 1906 W601 Sporting Life Detroit postcard that has eluded me for over ten years.

I sure would like to complete this set of 16 during my lifetime.

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Posted By: Anthony

'15 Cracker Jack- Jackson due to cost, Jack Barry and Johnny Evers due to being tough to find in nice shape
T200 Boston NL, hands down
'35 Goudey- Dean, Orsatti, et al.
'36 Goudey- Cuyler
'41 Playball - Trotsky. No idea why
'49 Leaf- Doby and Goodman, both sp's. Peterson Redcap as well.

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Posted By: Scot York

.

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Posted By: Bob

The E90-1 Jackson, a set completer, because the mystique of Joe Jax has skyrocketed the price of this card. The R305 Tattoo Orbit Alexander because of its scarcity.

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Posted By: David

I'm trying to finish my N28 set. I haven't seen a decent graded example of Joe Lannon (Pugilist) in about a year of looking.

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Posted By: Dave Stambaugh

1915 Cracker Jack--For me, was unquestionably Alexander of the big boys, Suggs and Lavender of the commons

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Posted By: boxingcardman

I guess it depends on what grade you need. This might take a while:



In terms of toughest cards, I usually find it is a "common" card. I know that in Exhibit cards, the 1922 umpires can be rough to locate--I can guess what a kid did with one of those...

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Posted By: Andrew

If "type" sets are including in the definition, then a 1915 Zeenut Portland player and E221 Portland team card come to mind.

"Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame." -- Erica Jong

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Posted By: Joe D.

is the T200s.

and the Boston Nationals is the card that you have to just close your eyes and buy when you have the opportunity.

Its a really tough card.

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Posted By: Richard Masson

T222 John Henry.........still looking
e98 Bridwell............still looking
T213 II Demmitt NY......still looking
e103 Chance.....thanks, Alan

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Posted By: Andy Cook

In E93, I had a terrible time finding Brown and Coveleskie. I finished the rest of the set in about a year and those two took an additional year to even find.

Andy

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Posted By: David

I was just trying to answer the thread asked by Brian. The Lannon N28 has been my hardest card to find. As a newbie on the board it gets old fast posting an opinion that someone has asked only to be responded to by another member about their high-grade example. Some members have been very helpful while others come across as elitist. I only came to the site to learn and express my limited knowledge. There is a reason this site has 1000+ lurkers but a few posters. People don't want to feel belittled.

David Bowden

edited to add that I'm not signaling out boxingcardman. It is just a general feeling I've got.

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Posted By: Bruce MacPherson

e98- Tenney took me a few years to find a decent example
e90-2 - Leach - I dont think its a tough card, just took me a while to obtain
e93 - Pastorious - I finally got this card last year after about two years of searching. After I got it, I must have seen about five copies on ebay in the last year.

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Posted By: Chris Mc

Without going into a massive list of cards , I find that the commons are sometimes harder to find than the stars and H.o.f'ers.

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Posted By: Zach Rice

Since I still have 25 left for my T210-2 set, I haven't really came across any that were more difficult than others. However, I have heard that Zimmerman, Lloyd, Mcfarland and Eddowes will be tough to locate. I know Zimmerman was the last card that one collector on the board needed for his set. I'm guessing he will be one of the last I am looking for with my set.

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Posted By: Andy Cook

Zimmerman was the last card I needed to complete my t210 series 2 set. However, it wasn't very rare. I was outbid on it probably 4-5 times before I obtained one. There were other cards that took me years to find an example of in any condition - I remember Levy as one, I can't recall the others. I only saw 1-2 Levys in around 7 years.

Andy

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

David: Some participants here have far greater disposable income than others. And it has been my experience that these individuals are typically the least elitist of the contributors. Many collectors have no plans to hold on to individual cards for any length of time, others continuously cycle cards into and out of their inventory. For a time these collectors can and do hold some seriously desireable cards.

I think though that most collectors choose what suits them best. For me, and many others, cards individually priced below $1000 is the rule; often less than 20% of that value. I reserve greater value purchases for a non-card collectible alternate hobby of mine. To some, this view may be elitist. But I do not intend it as such. To others, this view may be pitiful, but I am happy with what I collect.

Similarly, I do not feel that the slabheads are pretentious at all. They simply opt to obtain very fine examples of cards, and often engage in the "who has the best" competition offered by the services. It is not my game, but it is a game. The same applys to every other area of specialization here. It is all for fun! And most rejoice when a beginner gets his first beater t206 and every other collecting milestone he achieves, because we all were there more or less.

I am sorry if the general attitude here seems belittling. It is not intended as such, is my belief. Welcome and have fun!


Edited to add: None of the above was written in reference to Boxingcardman. Actually, any resemblence to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

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Posted By: Rich Klein

That card was an absolute beast to obtain in those days when I acutally put together a 1979 set card by card.

Regards
Rich

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Posted By: quan

this was a couple years back but probably still relevant today concerning the last card(s) i needed...

e93-wiltse, chance (not that tough in the grand scheme of things)
e94-overall tough in general...needed bates and young and a couple more commons.
e95- all pretty much easy
e96-i found adams to be tough
e97-yucky set so frustrating...the nicholls, rossman, bradley not to mention the other rarities and the young i still don't have
e98-coombs, tenney i found early (guess i was lucky)...never had a vaughn.
e102-the usual rarities, i've seen the doyle batting the least compared with miller/wagner throwing. magee not that tough in my experience.
e103-wood/chance? only got about half the set so i will defer to alan and peter etc.

edited to add the most frustrating sets were the e94s, e97s, and e102s for me. the first 80-90% were relatively smooth, then I sat on those for around 2 years waiting for cards...then getting outbidded before I gave up.

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Posted By: Brian McQueen

Thanks for the input so far guys. I've noticed that a few of you have even responded so far about the same card. Kind of an interesting discussion.

I'll add in a few observations I have -

1. I feel that e98 commons are far less plentiful than the HOFers however I didn't have too many problems with these when working on my set, except for maybe Tenny. Where I ran into trouble was when I was basically down to Cobb, Wagner and Matty, so I was forced to either cough up 7k to finish the set off or scrap the project.

2. I don't think any e90-2 is tougher to get than any other. It's just a matter of being patient for the first 10 and willing to cough up at least $3k for the Wagner.

3. My biggest issue so far has been finding cards of Fred Tenny. I'm STILL trying to get his e103 and have had difficulties finding cards of him for e98, d304 and e107 as well.

4. I've never collected e101s or e92s however it seems that I really haven't seen too many of the Bender Striped hat variation with the blue background. I would imagine this is one of the more difficult cards in each of these sets? Anyone have any idea what the story is behind this card and why Bender has multiple cards in e101, e92, etc... an occurance that usually you only see with Wagner and maybe Cobb?

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Posted By: Andy Cook

One note on E92 Dockman - when I put this set together in the late 90s, I had no trouble with any card except Cy Young. I couldn't find a Young anywhere. I eventually gave up my search after a year or two of searching for it as the last card, traded off my near set -- two months later I came across a table at Ft Washington where the dealer had 3-4 Dockman Youngs. Go figure

Andy

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Posted By: Dylan

I've been putting together an E95 set and while its not the toughest set certainly, i havent come across a nice looking Bender while ive seen everything else ive needed.

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Posted By: peter chao

Almost always it's the cards people throw away. Try finding a decent checklist or a contest card. It use to be insert cards were tough to find. Nowadays, people throw away the commons and keep the inserts.

Peter

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Posted By: JimB

E93 Chance
T206 Johnson pitching was tougher than I thought to replace when I sold my highgrade copy. In the scheme of things it is not tough, but I found probably 3x as many portraits available than pitching poses.
JimB

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Posted By: Craig H

I haven't come close to finishing off pre-war sets so it's hard to say. The last card I needed for the 1938 Goudey was the high numbered Jimmie Foxx that I put together card-by-card. The last month I was searching through eBay, I saw many Foxx's but it was the low numbered one. I know none of the cards are especially scarce, but because I literally needed that "Beast" to finish the set, it became hard to find.

Craig

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Posted By: JimB

With E98s I have concentrated on HOFs, but Mack was particularly difficult.
JimB

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Posted By: peter chao

Which is the most difficult No. 1 card to obtain.

Peter

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Posted By: mr. moses

the last card I need for a set.

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Posted By: Steve Murray

For condition (and I think this has already been discussed):

33 Goudey Bengough

33 Sports Kings Cobb

34 Goudey Foxx

Any Babe Adams card

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Posted By: robert a

Good thread Brian.

I think it's important to consider which cards are tough and which cards are really tough because they're popular.

If any of you guys/gals are starting e90-3 I do believe there are cards that are tougher than others. Hahn is just plain harder to find than every other card. Payne is a pain. Not sure if Gandil falls into more of the toughie due to popularity category, but he's tough to find with this set. What a nice card too!

With e98, coombs is the toughest in the set with tenny, vaughn, and dahlen there too. Mack and Matty are all dried up due to popularity. Everyone loves Mack on the toilet.

e97 has some very difficult cards. I gave up never to return to that set.

Don't have complete experience with e94, but I haven't seen lobert all that much. I think maybe old cy young is tough due to popularity.

How about easy cards from certain sets?

For some reason, I see a more examples (relatively speaking) of particular cards like e107 hartsel and tango bescher.

Rob

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Posted By: leon

Giving me fits are:

D355 Niagara (E101 with back overprint = D355)
N338-1 SF Hess minor league California sepia


As for common cards in difficult sets I see a lot of Knight and Bescher....quite a few Cy Young as in E92 orange pose....may be because there are several sets with this pose....

When I had a group of E90-3's I could have sold Hahn and Payne 3x over...but alas I only had 1 of each....and kept the Gandil....I also agree the Gandil doesn't seem more rare but he is definitely less available due to folks like me

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Posted By: ockday

t207 Irving Lewis/ no emblem...been looking for years with no luck
t207 Donlin..this has been the hardest card for me to find in decent shape

e103 Tenney..very tough to find in any shape
e98 Tenney..here he is again...another tough card

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Posted By: Anonymous

Leon those two are very tough! I've seen a niagra but never for sale, and I've never even seen the sepia N338-1.

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Posted By: Seth B.

I gave up on Dockmans earlier this year, but I was collecting the set for awhile and by far the hardest common to find was the Doyle (Throwing). The other Doyle was no problem, but that one gave me fits until I overpaid for one on e-bay.

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Posted By: Richard Masson

Doyle throwing was the last e92 I needed also...

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

I just read this thread and got to Craig's post about the 1938 Goudey high number Jimmy Foxx and almost snarfed the soda I was drinking.

Craig, when I completed the '38 Goudey set, it was the LOW number Jimmy Foxx that was the last card I needed. There were three or four of the high number examples floating around, but NO low number cards. Finally, I picked up a real beater - and then almost immediately upgraded it, twice, as four or five nice ones came from out of the woodwork right after I completed the set.

Once I got the set done and started upgrading, I found that the LOW number versions are extremely difficult to find in higher grades, and the high number versions are much more common.

But the white whales of that set, for me, have been the low number Bobby Doerr, Hank Greenberg and Ducky Medwick. I finally got my hands on a nice Doerr, but the other two continue to elude me.

It's also nearly impossible to find a high number Joe Vosmik card without an extreme tilt.

-Al

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Posted By: Craig H

Al,

Hehe, I guess what one card a collector finds difficult to acquire is easy for another--provided it isn't a SP. I will agree that I don't recall seeing too many Medwicks and the Doerr low number was one of my last acquisitions.

I've visited your website and your findings on the Vosmik card is interesting. Here's my copy:

Craig

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Posted By: Trevor Hocking

I would love to even see a scan of it!

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Wow, Craig - no tilt on that Vosmik. Mind if I "borrow" your scan for my website? I'm have a whole page about the Joe Vosmik card.

Actually, in terms of the tilt, yours is one of the nicest ones I've ever seen.

Sorry for the hijack, but I get excited about stuff like that.

BTW, I'm also noticing a similar propensity for tilts in the #274 DiMaggio, although not as often as the Vosmik.

-Al

EDIT: BTW, thanks for visiting the site!

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Posted By: Craig H

Al,

Sure, do you you want me to e-mail you the file? I'm all for contributing for the knowledge and preservation of our hobby. Too bad the card is in the shape that it's in.

Craig

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Posted By: Pennsylvania Ted

These cards have been tough for me....others may disagree.

Allen & Ginters (N28)........Annie Oakley

Goodwin Champs (N162)....Henry Beecher

E90-1......Duffy, MMitchell, Speaker, Bill Sweeney

T205.......Hoblitzell (no stats)

T206 (518 card set)....Elberfeld (p-Wash), Lundgren (Cubs)

T207.......Lowdermilk

1933 Goudey........Moe Berg

1934 Goudey........Jim DeShong

1941 Goudey........Joe Sullivan

1935 Dia. Star......Hank Greenb(u)rg

1940 Play Ball.......Joe Jackson

1941 Play Ball.......Pee Wee Reese

1949 Leaf BB........Satchell Paige

1949 Bowman.......Preacher Roe, Bob Lemon

1954 Bowman.......Ted Williams

1952 Topps..........Smokey Burgess, Eddie Matthews

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Posted By: Peter Thomas

Tenny was the last card that I needed to complete my first set. When I gave up on a second set, I needed Chance, Leach & again Tenny. At one time I did have 5 Bresnahan's. I think that there are only 4 Tenny's graded 1 PSA and 3 SGC.