Toughest Sets of the 19th and 20th century

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Posted By: Zach

I've been pondering this for a while...what do you guys think are the toughest set from the 19th century and the 20th century ? I'm still only a novice ,but not including Leons t231 I think the t208s would be among the toughest of the 20th century. And for the 19th century either Four Base Hits or Just So Tobacco.

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Posted By: Jay Miller

The toughest 19th century set is Hancock Clothing. Only three cards exist and each is unique.

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Posted By: leon

My vote for the 19th Century is New York Baseball Club Sanders Advertising Cigar card..........regards




for the 20th century it would be Derby Cigars as an uncat one and T208 (if we dismiss T231) as the categorized one.....good question

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Posted By: bruce dorskind

Whilst the Hancock Clothing ads appeared on an obscure E Bay
ad five years ago- few collectors are even aware and if I am correct
Jay owns all three cards.

The Pacific Coast League Old Judges are incredibly tough- I have only
owned one in 30 years in the hobby

Of sets that are bit more mainstream, I venture to say that I know
of no one who owns more than 3 Four Base Hits( 12 different known)
or 5 Just So's (about 10 or 11 known)

For the 20th century my vote would be for the 1912 Boston Garters-
no one has more than 7 of the cards and at least two have never
been seen except in an ad.

Also would like to see some one with a complete set of Fireside, Baltimore
News or Plows Candy

If you really want to go crazy-there are about 4 1956 Bowman test cards
that survived- that would be a real coup as a complete set.

Bruce

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Posted By: Paul

If you consider them to be legitimate sets, there are some very tough Topps test issues from the 60s and 70s that never saw the inside of a wax pack. The 1970 cloth stickers are particularly tough, with only about 1-3 of each known, as far as I'm aware. 1961 Topps Dice Game cards are also quite tough. And Topps almost sponsored a Pepsi set in 1980. One or two of the test sets survived, and Topps has been auctioning off unfinished cards and proofs from this set in recent weeks.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

T229 Kopec sports personalities. From the makers of Obaks, very rarely seen.

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Posted By: lee

hi all

1907/09 W555 handcut strip cards.

to date, no one is quite sure where they come from, a candy box is the hobby guess ?

and therefore, there is no checklist that can be considered complete.

if found, they are handcut ( about the size of a .50 cent piece.)

see ya, lee

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Posted By: Zach

I remember seeing one of these in Mastro and went for over 10k I think. Jay- do you own all known ? Also Leon how many of the New York Baseball Club Sanders Advertising Cigar cards are known...i've never seen one in any auction.

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Posted By: Tom L.

Hard to get much rarer than one-of-a-kind sets. Here are two examples:

1894 Alpha Photo Engraving Cards of Baltimore Orioles (14 known)

1903 (or thereabouts) Allegheny (sp?) Cards

The Alphas are all in the hands of a single collector. I believe the Alleghenys were all purchased by a single dealer, and have since been dispersed throughout the hobby.

Tom

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Posted By: jay behrens

How about the White Sox team set that is one of a kind

One of kind stuff is great, but think for a discussion like this, it needs remain focused on sets that more than one person has a shot at completing.

e104-3s would be on that short list as there are a number of cards with only one known example and new players being found on an almost yearly basis the past few years.

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: david

for sets the collector has a realistic chance to actually complete scrapps, and mayos are both very tough to complete but certainly possible and present a good challenge to the collector

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Posted By: J Levine

I do not consider one of a kind sets to be completeable (if that is a word).

Kalamazoo Bats are tough to complete if I recall but there is a small chance.

Fatima Large Team Premiums (the large version of the T-200s) are very tough. Only seen a handful over the years and never a Phillie one.

For those Phillies collectors, try Lummis Peanut Butter...I was a fool and did not buy the small lot Lipset had about 6 or 7 years ago. These are near impossible and the checklist is still incomplete.

Joshua

Just some of my opinions.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

N172-173-174-175, Zeenuts, Pinkerton scorecard/postcards, some Exhibit sets; no one knows for certain whether these sets are complete or whether there are more out there.

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Posted By: Julie

It only took me about 15 years, and several times I was offered complete sets, but couldn't afford them.

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Posted By: Bruce Babcock

A famous (or infamous) dealer once claimed that two complete sets of Darby Chocolates exist. VCBC offered a cash award, $1000 I think, to anyone who could produce a complete set. That money remains unclaimed.