Delong vs. U.S. Caramel

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Posted By: shane

I have been very interested in starting a new set. The Delong and the Caramel both are very appealing to me. Which set would you prefer? I don't like the fact that the Caramel has other players from different sports, but I like the player selection better than the Delong set.
The Delong set has some very difficult cards to find in nrmt shape which would be very costly.
I would love to hear your opinions.

Shane

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Posted By: fessgreg

i personally like the delong set better. even though the delong has higher priced cards there is less of them when completing a set. i think market wise the delong is a much more desirable/high profile set and is more marketable in auction,ebay selling,etc. signed greg

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Posted By: Josh Adams

Shane,

Are you trying to put either set you chose together in high grade? If so, I'd go for the U.S. Caramel. I think it's a tougher set to find and complete. Plus the rich red color and player images are nice in the US Caramel set.

This is not to say the DeLong set is not any good either! I like that set, and it looks like you can put it together in a rather simple fasion if you are not condition sensitive.


So, I say go for U.S. Caramel!

Go Go White Sox
2005 World Series Champions!

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Posted By: Jeff Sherman

The U.S. Caramels are interesting, and multi-sport, but the imagery is virtually the same, card-to-card. Simple portrait against red background. The Delongs are action poses against interesting backdrops, and are visually far more appealing (unless you like the clean, simple look of the U.S. Caramels). I've collected both, and kept the Delongs... but you can't go wrong with either set (HOWEVER: remember, the Lindstrom will likely keep you from a complete U.S. Caramel set)....

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Posted By: Anthony

Jeff- I agree, as a set collector it would drive me up the wall working on US Caramel, due to the Lindstrom. I just wish the Delong set had Ruth or Dean.

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Posted By: Scott

I wouldn't consider either of those sets until I completed a 1948-49 Leaf set.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

DeLong has Gehrig.

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Posted By: Scot

.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I really like the design of the Delong's. IMO it's the best looking set of the 1930s.

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Posted By: barrysloate

The DeLong has an innovative design unlike any other set, while the Caramels are more uniform. Both are equally challenging, and with the U.S. Caramel you have to accept that #16 is unattainable (although I can proudly say I am one of the few who had one, admittedly as a consignment. It was exciting to say the least).

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Posted By: Anthony

was thinking about Diamond Stars on the Gehrig.

Barry, can you share where the Lindstrom came from? I thought I'd read that Fritsch had 2 of them. I know one came from SCP about '01, Fritsch put it back up on ebay and it didn't hit 80K and didn't sell.

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Posted By: barrysloate

In 1998, I got a call from a man in New Mexico who said while cleaning the garage he found his childhood collection of baseball cards (he grew up in New York). The collection consisted of a pile of Goudeys that had the little ads at the bottom clipped off, and two U.S. Caramel cards. One was of Lou Gehrig, his boyhood hero; he could not remember why he kept the other one, but it was Charles Lindstrom (I theorized that he kept it because he was the only kid on the block who had one).

Before we spoke, he bought a catalog and looked up the cards, and saw what he thought was a price tag of $2500 for the Lindy. The print was small, and it was only when he showed the cards to friend that he noticed the listing actually said $25,000! Now he knew he had something valuable. He made a few calls and I was one of them. We hit it off pretty well and he agreed to let me auction it.

One memory I had is he said he did not want to take less than 15K for it, and I told him he had nothing to worry about. But I had no idea what it was worth and felt I made a really bad mistake telling him that. As it turned out it sold for $92,000, and we all had a laugh over it. It has changed hands a couple of times, and you are correct that Fritsch at least at one time owned both. I don't know their current status.

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Posted By: shane

All of you have good points and I really like the cardboard stock of the caramel vs. the Delong. I have a couple mid-grade Delongs right now, so I may try to start this set this year. I tried winning the two sets in REA last week, but was the underbidder on one of them.

Shane