color sets to recommend?

Those T3s are 2 of my favorite lovable beaters, definately budget cards.

I would woould take the Cobb over the 52 Mantle anyday in my collection.

Lee

The red in the 1932 U.S. Caramel set seem to be darker shade of red, and grabs the eye much less so than the Cracker Jacks. While I am trying to collect the 1932 U.S. Caramel set, I agree with others that the CJs are more attractive, but I like them anyway

Here are a couple scans. Note, this is not an enticement to the original poster. Even in mid-grade, they are out of his price-range. On the other hand, Goudeys and Diamond Stars in VG to VG-EX range are in his price range even for some HOFers (but not Ruth/Gehrig or the toughees in the Diamond Stars set). One thing that happens with all sets it seems, is that even if most of the cards are within one's budget (say $50 in the OP's case), there are always some cards that are way above in price. I can't think of a set where the top guys (Ruth, Cobb, Wagner, et al) are $50 or less...and still be colorful attractive cards.

Yeah I have to keep within $50-$60 because I'm a student and I probably spend too much on cards already lol.

I would like to get some t205's. I have been looking at some of them on ebay this weekend. What do you guys think of these ones. It's ebay # 110243487651. There's a bender in there, do they look ok?

Thanks.

Aron V wrote:I have been looking at some of them on ebay this weekend. What do you guys think of these ones. It's ebay # 110243487651. There's a bender in there, do they look ok?

Hi Aron. Those t205's look good (authentic). Here is a live link to the auction incase anyone else wanted to check em out. Good luck with your collection and feel free to ask any more questions you have along the way

Going by sheer color, a few of my favorite sets would be the n162s for 19th century, d311s for PCL and "D" cards, perhaps t205s for "t" cards, e103s for "e" cards (love the red-backs), and the m116 blues (love the blue backgrounds. Also, I think the Goudey, Diamond Star and Delong sets from the 30s are all terrific for this reason as well. Not everything I listed will fall into your price range but I guess you have to take a look at a few different things you like, figure out what sort of cards you can afford to go after and go from there.

Vintagecardprices.com and searching for completed auction items on Ebay are both solid methods for researching current market values on cards so that you can determine what set best fits your budget.

Good luck!

Wow Brian. Cool post. I think I agree with all of your choices except one. I'd love to be able to pick the N28's as the 19C best color set because I really love the elegant, watercolor look to them. But the N162's are simply art.

Don't know enough about the D's to comment, and most M's are BW so the 116 blue background is a good choice. I agree with T205's, but in some way I think that if that set wins for T's, it is maybe because the other tobacco sets just don't pop with color. A clear winner in it's category, but would def not take the grand prize if compared with other categories.

For E sets I differ - I put E90-1's head and shoulders above the rest for color. They are like N162's that way. But I def think your pick of E103's has a lot of merit. I probably put them with the N28's - a close second that could probably win in another category. I think with E103's whoever decided to go with gradient scarlet instead of straight red was a genius. That might be the coolest looking compiled set.

So for cards that generally lack color (not necessarily BW)? Ramly's or N300 Mayos. I'd put both above the M116 pastels. Just my opinion.

Aron, I apologize if you already know this, and I don't want to appear condescending if you do. A great place to get an overall feel for color is www.oldcardboard.com. Under the top banners are links to T-cards, E-cards, N-cards, etc etc etc. Click on one of those, and then click on the link for any given set. Many many sets have galleries. If the set you clicked on has a link that says "card gallery" or something like that, click there. Some sets are too big to get the entire gallery on a page, but it is absolutely the best place to see a lot of the sets compiled in one place, get a feel for the sets' looks and color, and go through them fairly quickly.

I wish I had more time to hunt around for some scans of cards I don't own. Maybe tomorrow. I think it would be cool cool cool to post a scan of a great example of a card that represents why you think it's the best color set in that category. I'll be looking for scans of cards I have never owned - an N162 baseball player, an E90-1 Jordan, and from cards I do or did own, some GREAT T205 NL'er portraits, M116 blue background, and maybe a few from my runner-up N28 and E103 sets.

(Aron - I know some of these sets are out of your stated price range. They are out of mine too. But even so, you can really enjoy checking some of them out and appreciating how unbelieveably cool they are. Sometimes that even helps feed the decisions you make for the cards you can afford and do collect.)

Joann