Question for the board on Caramel sets

[Scott L.]

As I approach completing my version of the T206 set (hopefully) I am thinking about the next set I am going to start on. I thought I'd like to try my hand at a caramel set. I know nothing about them so my first question would be is this realistic for any of the sets based on the following?

1) Must be color, I'm just not in to b & w cards.
2) There are no cards that cost over say $2,000 (I know that probably rules out any with Wagner and Jackson).

Are all of the "E" sets considered caramel? I'd really be interested in any color sets from the early 1900's.

I'm fine with collecting SGC 10's thru 50's.

I welcome all thoughts and suggestions.

Best,

Scott

[timn1]

Both are do-able, but different. E96 you might be able to do the whole set for $2000 if you're not too picky about condition. If you are into HOFers, then go for E95, which has Wagner, Cobb, Matty, etc. Even then none of them will cost you $2000 per card unless you want high-grade.

Tim

[FrankWakefield]

E102's...

[Bicem]

e98 all in the same color for a nice challenge.

[DavidW]

I thought E102 set collecting was difficult due to the Wagner pitching pose which is hard to find. I'd suggest checking out the oldcardboard site and viewing the card images. Determine what sets look most appealing then figure out the costs of Wagners, Cobb and Matthewson.

[Matt]

Hey Scott - So many to choose from!
E93, E95, E96, E98 are all great options, but for my money I give the edge to the colorful artwork on the E92/E101/E102 issues (the E106 issue has the same artwork, but the printing is not nearly as clear as with the other 3 and E105s are going to price you out).

Of those 3 issues, you can decide how big a set you want to chase - on one side you've got E102 with only 29 cards (25 different players) and at the opposite end you've got E92 Crofts Candy/Cocoa and E101 with 50 cards (45 different players). Per card, the Crofts (both Candy and Cocoa) are the toughest, followed by the E101s and the E102s are the most numerous, per player. Between those, I think the E101s and the Crofts Candy are both undervalued considering their scarcity compared to the Cocoas and the E102s. There are about as many Croft's Candy cards of each player as there are Cocoa, but the Cocoa sell for quite a bit more. There are quite a few more E102s of each player then E101s, but they sell for about the same.

Of course, now that you've tamed the monster, if you want to go for an even greater challenge, you can try and tackle the M116 Sporting Life issue, although the artwork isn't nearly as nice as those mentioned above.

[Wesley]

Originally Posted by DavidW

I thought E107 set collecting was difficult due to the Wagner pitching pose which is hard to find. I'd suggest checking out the oldcardboard site and viewing the card images. Determine what sets look most appealing then figure out the costs of Wagners, Cobb and Matthewson.

David,

I think you meant to type E102, in response to Frank's suggestion to collect E102s. You are correct though in that there are three rarities in the E102 (Wagner throwing, Miller fielding, and Doyle batting) that make completing this set difficult. The e102 is a great set, but both the Wagner fielding and Cobb cards will both exceed $2000.

Wes

[Leon]

E96 might be a good one for a cost conscious budget. They are scarce, have some unique poses and can be completed in collector grade for less than most others. It also has a smattering of nice HOF'ers too....without Cobby, Honus or Wags to inflate the price....good luck- the quest is a lot of the fun!!

[FrankWakefield]

E102's. (Echo.)

On the back it says there's 25 of them. Collect 25. Get Wagner batting and you're done with Wagner. Same strategy for Doyle and Miller, one of each is enough.

With a Wagner, a Mathewson, a Cobb and a Lajoie in a set of 25, along with other nice HOFers, you'll have nothing of which to be ashamed. I doubt that more that a dozen folks here have a simple set of 25 E102's. I'd doubt that more than 5 of us have what some consider a 'complete' set.

Ratz. I wanted my 500th post to be a bit more cyber-sonic than that...

[E93]

The least expensive color E set is the E96 due to the lack of any of the big name HOFs like Wagner, Cobb, Matty, and Young (no Johnson in any E set from E91-E107). E95 is probably easiest set to complete and can be done without paying 2k for any card, but you would probably be confining yourself to lower grades, at least for Cobb, Wagner and Matty - though even they may be gettable in vg for under 2k. I may be biased, but I think the E93 set is perhaps the nicest looking of the E sets across the board. Again, to stay under 2k for the top-tier HOFs it would probably mean gd/vg or less. But it is a 30 card set with 18 HOF and a ton of eye appeal. Here are some examples. Please forgive my indulgence.
JimB

[edhans]

I couldn't let this thread pass without a plug for my favorite set-E90-1. It doesn't meet your under $2k criteria since any authentic Jackson will cost multiples of that, but all of the others, including the rarities and HOFers would be obtainable, albeit in lower grades, within that threshold. The set features spectacular colors and artwork, numerous unique poses, and, best of all, many different levels of scarcity. At 120 cards, it's challenging, yet manageable. Best of luck in whatever you choose.

[tbob]

The E98 set can not be completed by purchasing cards under $2000 unless you are willing to buy cards of Cobb and Wagner which are pretty beaten up. Maybe the economy has dragged the Cobb price down some but the Wagner has been climbing for a long time. If you are willing to go with an SGC 10 Wagner, you might be able to find a Honus with back almost completely gone but nice eye appeal on the front, that is if SGC will grade it a 10, I've seen them go with authentic on some cards with major back damage.
There is no way in today's market to complete the E94 set with a 2k ceiling so I'd try to go with the E95 or E96. Joe Jax in any condition will rule out the E90-1.

[Wesley]

There are many good suggestions above; E95, E96, E93, E98 and E102 are all great.

You picked a very good time to begin working on a caramel set. I think some of the enthusiasm for these cards have died down, and overall, low grade and mid-grade E cards are a lot less expensive than they have been in recent years.

[Scott L.]

I wanted to thank everyone for their responses. I think I am going to take a run at an E96 set. Seems reasonably priced with not a lot of expensive cards which will allow me to give my wallet a break for awhile after finishing up my version of the monster.

Question for the experts. I'm heading to the Valley Forge show this weekend and may look to pick up a card to kick the set off. What is a fair price for a Sgc 20-40 common? How about a HOFer. There are no completed auctions on ebay at this time and the only cards currently listed are all BIN's which I assume are inflated by some amount.

Thanks.

Scott

[Fred]

Don't work on an E91 set. The cards may seem reasonably priced but there's a good reason for that.

[ScottFandango]

nobody mention E90-1....an amazing set to collect....about 120 cards, differing degrees of rarity, some very affordable, some thousands of $$...and just a great looking colorful set...

looks nicer than a lot of other caramels because they have multi colored backgrounds, not monochromatic...

not to mention it has Joe Jackson's rookie .....a set you cant go wrong with...

[Matt]

Originally Posted by ScottFandango

nobody mention E90-1....

It wasn't mentioned because one of his two requirements was "2) There are no cards that cost over say $2,000"