Favorite sets of the 1920's?

[PolarBear]

I have a pretty good understanding of the tobacco and candy issues up to the 1915 CJ's, and a pretty good understanding of the gum era, 1933 Goudey to modern cards.

But the issues in between are pretty much just a big dull black and white cloud of odd candy and ice cream issues to me.

So, what are your favorite sets of the period? Is there anything exciting at all to collect from that era or is it, as I perceive it, the no-mans-land of card collecting?

[Kawika]

"The no-mans-land of card collecting." Good way to put it, compared to what came before and after. Some nice Exhibits in the '20's and some nifty Cuban issues if you're into the esoteric.

[Zach Wheat]

Interesting you say that. Although I mainly collect T sets & other sets before & after this period, some of my favorite cards come from this era. In particular the Exhibits. The photos depict an incredible array of action shots. And those facial expressions......

The following is one of my favorite shots.

M Wheat

[rhettyeakley]

The 1920's are one of my absolute favorite's to collect for exact reason everyone else hates them. Relatively difficult cards to find with with real photo images which I prefer over some artists rendition that both came before and after them. I must live in a B & W world because I don't mind the lack of color at all.

I personally prefer the E121 & related issues the most from this era...

[fkw]

1926-29 "PC back" Exhibits

[Jacklitsch]

1928 Star Player Candy

[glchen]

I think the 1921-22 E121's are underrated. Here's my beater Ruth from that set.

[ctownboy]

Personally, I think a lot of sets from the 1920's are for true collectors. Here is what I mean by that.

If you have the money, putting together a T205, T206, Cracker Jack, Goudey or Diamond Stars set can be done fairly quickly and your set/s can be in fairly nice condition. That can not be said for some of the sets from the 1920's.

With only a few cards known for some of the Curtis Ireland and Star Player Candy players, even if you have a lot of money it would still take years to complete a set. Unless, of course, you beat the bushes and flushed out cards that old time or off line collectors have in their possession.

That is why I LOVE to hear people say that sets from the 1920's are uninteresting or are from "no man's land". Because when I get the money, I can start collecting those issues again and not have as much competition for them.

David

Curtis Ireland E. H. Sheely

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by glchen

I think the 1921-22 E121's are underrated. Here's my beater Ruth from that set.

I didn't know Ruth played for New Orleans.

[Mollys Dad]

Always admired this set from the 20's...

[yanksfan09]

Originally Posted by Mollys Dad

Always admired this set from the 20's...

Isn't that set a "D" issue?

[Exhibitman]

[Brian Van Horn]

There are so many and this is not all inclusive:

[calvindog]

[Kenny Cole]

Cubans

[old-baseball]

Don't forget these....

[HTBB]

I like the interesting sets of the 20s with the black and white photos.

20s.jpg

[Brian Van Horn]

.

[Leon]

I think the late teens to twenties was a great era for cards.....it just skipped the T206 and Goudeys.

[Marckus99]

Billikens
V89 Wm. Paterson
W503
Holland's Creameries

- Mark

[teetwoohsix]

They are all very nice.......but I love that Willard's Chocolates Cobb !!! Awesome !!!

[Batter67up]

Like alot of you, I really like the exhibit cards of the 20's.

[DixieBaseball]

2 Thumb's Up for the 20's ! Quite an array of options, that while collectible are not "too easy" which is right in my wheel house. Here's a few :

[Brian Van Horn]

.

[TheBig6]

some 20's Injuns

[ethicsprof]

I prize my Holsum Bread and '21 Herpolsheimers.
And i still love the W515-1 when i can get a strip intact---my best is the strip of 8 which has 5 HOFs including sisler,heilman,baker.
The 20's really have grown on me quite positively the last few years.
best,
barry

[ls7plus]

Nice cards all. Is that the only '21 Tip Top Lefler, Leon?

My preference, however, is the Exhibit camp. I always considered them high-end '20's cards due to the better quality photo reproduction, and never considered their larger size a negative.

I don't think the stars and hall-of-famers from the '20's cards are likely to stay undervalued for too long. A lot of opportunity is presented there for cards of some of the best ever in the heart of their prime, or rookies. They're all scarce to rare, meaning at most several hundred of any given card at the outside exist, IMO, though I would be most appreciative of Adam and Leon's take on this guesstimate.

Larry

[yanksfan09]

I love the black and white issues of the teens-twenties. My Fleischmann cards definitely got me hooked on issues like this. I love how they're more obscure and a bit more rare, on average, than many of the popular colorful issues. I love having cards with actual photos. Don't get me wrong, there is certainly many sets with great art in them, but I love having some real photo cards in my collection as well. The 1915 Cracker Jack set is my second favorite set.

I hope people continue to ignore these cards. The Ruth American Caramel photo montage card is now probably next on my want list, other than any D381's I need. That card is just awsome...

[Qcards]

A great 1920's issue....

[Brian Van Horn]

Qcards,

Wow! I have only owned one from that series.

[DaveH]

Love that bat.

dh

[smtjoy]

Love the 20's cards, a few of my favorites-

[PolarBear]

Great cards everyone!

Looking through them, the exhibits do seem to stand out.

[ls7plus]

You've made me salivate with the '23-'24 Exhibit Ruth, Scott. That one's been on my want list for quite awhile--how many do you suppose are out there?

Great cards!

Larry

PS: Why did the '26-'29 Gehrig draw only a "poor?" Eye appeal is quite nice.

[HRBAKER]

[Brian Van Horn]

.

[Robextend]

[smtjoy]

Thanks Larry, its one of my favorite cards also. Not many out there for sure, the PSA and SGC pop reports each only have 1 total graded, I have seen 3 in about 7 years. My guess would be 10-15 out there. I was lucky a Net54 member surprised me and decided to sell it and I got the deal done.

The Gehrig has back damage (paper loss), I love finding them that way as the fronts are whats important to me!

[Exhibitman]

In addition to being a helluva card, Scott's 1923-24 Ruth illustrates an urban myth about the 1921-24 issues, which is that you can always tell the American League cards from the two years apart based on the use of "Am.L." instead of "A.L." The 1922s used "A.L." as did new cards in 1923:



But recycled images like the Ruth did not.



Images that went through background changes were re-lettered with A.L., so you can tell them apart with that technique:



Which makes total sense since they were redoing the underlying artwork rather than recycling it with a border on it as they did with the Ruth.

I suspect that the urban myth got its start about 30 years ago when Beckett grouped all three sets into a single listing in its book.

Sorry to pontificate a bit, I just find the issue fascinating. Exhibits are just not susceptible to a uniform set of rules. They are what they are, except when they aren't.

[ls7plus]

The book, Adam, the book! You're the guy with probably the only credentials and experience to write it, and I just love Exhibits. It should be apparent to all that the image reproduction was significantly ahead of its competitors, and as both you and Scott have pointed out, there are some very significant rarities in the series.

As I'm sure you intend to, Scott, hang on to the Ruth--my bet is that it will do very, very nicely in the future. Unless of course you want to find it a good new home, where I can assure you I will take the very best care of it till death do us part! To me, it's not only rare, but just oozes significance, since '23 was the first year the Yankees won the World Championship, and the first year of Yankee Stadium, with you know who hitting the first HR there. Plus the fat fellow hit a career high .393, 41 HR's and had a .545 on base %, going purely by memory! If you do ever want to sell it, please let me know. I also agree with you re back damage--I was delighted to obtain a '56 Kahn's Frank Robinson with an EX+ front and back damage from apparently being improperly removed from a scrapbook. After many years of searching for a nice one, that one fits the bill for me, even though SGC graded it only fair.

Thanks, guys, for sharing your knowledge.

Larry