"best" set from the 20's and 40's

[Exhibitman]

1920s: I am partial to Exhibits. The 1927 and 1928 sets have lots of HOFers without any budget-busters (Ruth, Gehrig and Cobb are in there but all are achievable well under $1,000 each). If you want to get fancy, the 1928s have a postcard back variation and the 1927s are found on rare occasions with coupon backs. I am less a fan of the 1921 set simply because there is no Gehrig, so if breadth of player selection is key, that set is not the best one. The 1925 set has the Gehrig rookie and a few others, but that card will price you out of range unless you are ready to spend several thousand. Forget the 1926's--they are extremely hard to put together. The PC Back Exhibit set also has a ton of HOFers and lots of variations, which will either drive you nuts or pose a fun challenge to collect.

1940s: Leaf is a good one but there are ridiculously expensive short print HOFers like Paige, which puts the endeavor out of range for me. I think the best coverage in the era is the Salutations Exhibit set.

[glchen]

I think the E121 is probably the most popular 20s set with the greatest supply. There are 4 Ruth's though, which can add up. You can also take a look at the 1923 Willard Chocolate which has a nice supply of HOFers, but scarcer. The 1929 Kashin R316 is also relatively affordable although oversized.

[smtjoy]

Another vote for the 1921 exhibit set, one of my favorites, I just love the Ruth pose too-

[judsonhamlin]

If you're looking for larger sets, I would vote for the E120 and either 1940 Play Ball or 1949 Bowman.
As far as smaller sets, the E126 set has some good HOF'ers not in the '33 Goudey set. '41 Play Ball or '48 Bowman are good small sets.

[Chesbro41]

I do like the E121's... but consider the 1928 F50 series (Harrington, Yuengling, Sweetman, Tharps). Kind of pricey but full of HOF players.

For the 40's I'd vote 1940 Playball... has all of the then current era players plus some neat ones from the past with unique photos (Jackson, Keeler, Johnson etc)

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

1920s: I am partial to Exhibits. The 1927 and 1928 sets have lots of HOFers without any budget-busters (Ruth, Gehrig and Cobb are in there but all are achievable well under $1,000 each). If you want to get fancy, the 1928s have a postcard back variation and the 1927s are found on rare occasions with coupon backs. I am less a fan of the 1921 set simply because there is no Gehrig, so if breadth of player selection is key, that set is not the best one. The 1925 set has the Gehrig rookie and a few others, but that card will price you out of range unless you are ready to spend several thousand. Forget the 1926's--they are extremely hard to put together. The PC Back Exhibit set also has a ton of HOFers and lots of variations, which will either drive you nuts or pose a fun challenge to collect.

1940s: Leaf is a good one but there are ridiculously expensive short print HOFers like Paige, which puts the endeavor out of range for me. I think the best coverage in the era is the Salutations Exhibit set.

Great input on the exhibits.
I looked at the gallery of these sets on oldcardboard.com I really like the photos of the 1921 set. Lack of Gehrig probably wouldn't bother me since I have one in the 33 goudey set. Really most all of the exhibits have cool fronts. I was looking for a post card back on ebay and I ran across a 1921 exhibits Ruth for $50,000. Made my heart skip a beat......
For comparison sake, what is the best price I can hope to see on a recognizable 21 Ruth?

[Matt]

They can be had in lower grade (P/F/G) for under $1k.

[ctownboy]

How about the 1928 York Caramels or the 1928 W502's? Each set only has a total of 60 cards in it and about half are Hall Of Famers. They may be harder to find than the 121's or the Exhibits but then again, because of that, there might not be as many people trying to collect the set.

David

[HRBAKER]

A '21 Ruth Exhibit for $50,000? Now that's a deal.

[smtjoy]

You can get a nice low end 1921 Ruth 1-3's for 1k or less and thats the most expensive card in the set, the Cobb runs about half that and less for the other HOfers with most under $100.

[drdduet]

'49 Bowman--great set with Jackie Robinson, Satchell Paige, Duke Snider, Larry Doby, Richie Ashburn, "rookie" cards in it; or 1941 Playball (beautiful cards!)

For the 1920's-W551, F50, or R316.

Good luck!

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by smtjoy

You can get a nice low end 1921 Ruth 1-3's for 1k or less and thats the most expensive card in the set, the Cobb runs about half that and less for the other HOfers with most under $100.

That sounds do-able for me with the Ruth being a bit of a stretch.


I appreciate all of the responses everyone. I picked up my Lipsett Encyclopedia to read more about the E-cards and have been browsing oldcardboard.com and ebay to learn more about the sets.

The 20's are tough...just in this thread there are 15 different sets suggested!

I'll keep looking and reading............