What is your favorite set ... and

What is your favorite set ... and what is your current challenge?

Members of the Full Count community, I apologize for asking a question that has been probably asked a million times.

I just asked myself that question, and I found myself stymied by the first part of it.
I love the T206 monster, and the Gold bordered T205 set is beautiful, but I found myself selecting a set that wasn't even in the picture when I first started collecting pre World War One cards.

Although I'm going to be 78, close but not old enough to be around to get the actual cards out of the slide out cigarette box ... here's my choice.

The T209 type II Contentnea photo set.
You're not going to believe my reason.
I love the player photos of that time period, but most of all, it's what's goin on in the local team background:
Old ball parks, photo studios, players watching a player being photographed, outdoor bridges, the portraits, the Richmond fans, and who can forget B. E. Thompson.

As for my on going lunacy, this geezer has just got into the T210 ... a set I shuda started back in 1910.

OK my fellow Creedmore inmates ... What's your story?
The Geez

T204 Ramly set especially the Square frames....wish i could have started collecting these 10 years ago.


Mark

My favorite is the monster. I have been working on it for some time and almost complete with 10 examples each of 30/32 different backs and a total of 37 different backs. Don't think I will ever be complete but I have about 700 total and most every player with a rare back.
I must say I don't count those error Old Mills as backs so I am complete as far as backs go. But none of the big four are in my collection. Maybe I will get lucky some day.

I don't flip or sell too many cards so it has kinda been slow, trying to get the last few I need with a rare back. I know prices have come down but not so with rare backs.

I will probably always work on the 206 set but have started working on picking up an example or two of the other issues from the same era. Also the Baltimore players from the era-love those 216s.

I don't have many anymore but I like T3's. Some Collectors don't like cabinet size cards but I do. Just a beautiful set.

Although the sets I am working on (Delongs, t205 and Diamond Stars) are not my choice for favorite set, they are sets I love and want back in my collection again. If I ever complete these, then I will chase what I consider the greatest set of all-time:

N162 Goodwin Champions

and I mean the WHOLE set, not just the baseball players. The artwork, lithography and athlete selection cannot be matched. I love this set, and the similar sets like n28/9 and Kimballs, because I like more sports than just baseball. These sets also provide a great window into what America was like back then, which I think is really cool.

Jay

I share Jeff's admiration of the E107 set, yet I am dumb enough to try to collect all the HOFers in that set. A distant second is the 1933 Goudey set. I like those two since a great number of HOFers are represented by the combination of those two. These two sets are the only two that I am actively pursuing. I simply cannot afford to chase anything else currently.

Eventually, I would like to collect the T204 Ramly set and the Delong set. Again, I would most likely only focus on the HOFers in those sets as well unless I can find commons in good condition at a price I cannot refuse.

Brian

The Duke Cabinets (N142) might be some of the nicest "cards" out there. I also like the S81 Silks. As for card sized cards, I really like the Crackjacks with the red backgrounds. Unfortunately there's too many cards in that set, and too many expensive HOFers, for me to seriously consider collecting it. However, I don't mind picking up a few here and there when the price is right...

I'm with you, Joe, there aren't too many sets that can rival them black and white Contentneas. I'm nearly half way finished with the type 2 set (I haven't started the first series) and am loving the hunt for them.

The period images, like you mentioned, ooze vintage baseball. The crowded stands behind the players or even the studio shots, they're all great cards.

How is your set coming along, Joe? I seem to remember you down to only a handful, any luck on those since we last talked?

Zach

When I was working on my player set I always liked the t209-2s for the reasons started. The ones taken in the stadiums are the best, by far.

Jay

The N162 set ranks up near the top for me as well. From an aesthetic point of view, the cards are just so distinctive and well designed. And in some cases quite dramatic looking (Kelly). To me, the color/lithography in the N162 set is unmatched by any other 19th century set (N321 comes close). The one thing they lack is a biography on the back - if they had that, N162 would be my hands down choice. I came close once to completing the baseball portion of N162, had everyone except for Glasscock. I wish I knew where those cards were now.

I couldn't leave N172 Old Judge set out of this post simply because of the incredible depth and variety it offers. Like T206, there are so many ways to collect this set, and so many "sets within the set". N172 truly is the ultimate challenge to any collector who chooses to tackle it. If T206 is "the Monster", then N172 is "the Behemoth".The N172 set in its entirety is truly impossible to complete, no question about it. But the beauty of the set is that one can choose their path within it, whether they decide to collect HOFers only, or a particular team, or spotted ties, or two player cards, or script series cards, or portraits, or "mini's" (good luck), or managers/umpires, etc etc. If I had endless funds, I'd probably make a more serious run at a portion of N172 but for now, I'm happy admiring it from afar while picking up the odd example from time to time.

Honorable mentions: '12 Boston Garter, E104 (all 3 types), E107, T204 Ramly, N321 SF Hess Cali.

E107 is far and away my favorite prewar set. Obviously the set is very rare and contains early cards of several very significant Hall of Fame players but I also like clean portraits in the set. Some of the lithography images on the turn of the century candy and tobacco cards were poor quality, and the E107 photos are head and shoulders above those. Unfortunately, the E107s are so expensive that very few can even consider trying to build a set or subset from the E107s.

My other favorite is the M101-4/5. Like the E107, these are also photos of players rather than lithography. Unlike the E107, almost all of the images are action poses. Key rookies include Ruth, Sisler and Bancroft, but the set contains all the important players of the era. What I like the most about this series is the different variations; if you count each different advertiser as a separate set, then there can be 18 to 20 different sets, with some of these being extremely rare.

My favorite prewar set is the N172 Old Judge. I'm only going after the Omaha team, but I'm foolish enough to go after all the distinct poses which number 93. I'm up to 10 after only a year of collecting them. I know it's impossible to finish the Omahas because of the Doran and Flynn, but like most who collect the Monster minus the big four, I will consider my set complete without the big two.

My favorite set is the t205's. They have the geatest designs in my opinion. Those gold borders are the best. Right now I'm collecting short prints and HOF players from the set. One of my goals for this year is to create a set of minor leauger's.

-Randy

(My 250th post! )

My favorite sets are the Colgan's Chips E254 Stars of the Diamond and the E270 Tin Tops (Honorable mention to the E270 Red Borders--the centering issues with this set detract a little for me personally). I love these cards because of the real photos and the comprehensive nature of the set. Other than the N172 there isn't a set featuring photographs that matches the scope of the Colgan's Chips. Most of the players are pictured in their Horner studio poses and there is a great mix of Major and Minor Leaguers. Also, I love the difference in rarity of the players within (makes it fun)--there are certain players you tend to see every month on ebay, while there are a few that are essentially never seen -- as an example, I have only ever seen one example of Hulswitt (Chattanooga) and I own it.

There are a few reasons the cards aren't that popular... they are small, thin, round (collectors tend to like corners), and some people think they are boring -- but these reasons are exactly why I like them.

I like the Tin Tops because while many are merely reproductions of the earlier E254 cards,many feature brand new pictures, most of which are not found anywhere else.

-Rhett

Rhett, does Unglaub/Lincoln appear in the Tin Tops set?