Five Most Aesthetically Pleasing Prewar Sets

 So a recent thread on the Net54baseball.com message board asked what the five most aesthetically pleasing prewar sets were.

I Spent a little time thinking about it and posted my five choices.  Now, there are a lot of really nice prewar sets out there and nobody's list is going the same as someone else's list.  (Well, maybe two people would agree on all five, but you get my point.)  

Many nice choices were made, and of course I agreed with some of them with my list.  Many folks chose the N162 Goodwin Champions which is a wonderful choice.  Beautiful cards.  Several T206 entries made lists as well as T205.  

Here are my five choices:

1. 1912 Boston Garters

These are absolutely beautiful cards in my opinion.  I love the colors and the images.  And the fact that the Mathewson card pictured above even has a player whacking another player over the head with a baseball bat.  What?!  Also, the oversize cards present wonderfully in a nice black SGC holder.

2. T3 - Turkey Reds

T3s are absolutely gorgeous cards.  They all have wonderful colors, many have the red and orange sunset skies in the background like this Ty Cobb example.  Many also have stadiums and some have cityscapes or other buildings.  The soft green fields contrasted by the burning sunsets work very well.  As does the purple showcased in many skies.  Then the nice mat style borders and nameplates at the bottoms present the images in a concise framed composition.  A great choice in my mind.

3. T212 Obaks (All three years)

T212 Obaks were distributed from 1909 through 1911 and they are distinguished as three separate sets known as type 1, type 2 or type 3.  The 1909 set is easily identified by the fronts as they have a different look to them than the other two years.  The 1910 and 1911 set are not as easily identifiable by the fronts (although some of the 1911's have a certain brushed out paint-like background that is associated only with that year).  But the backs are the easiest way to tell what year you have.

The 1909 set has blue text in Old English font.  The 1910 set is also blue backed but has block letters and one of thirty five different slogans, and the 1911 set has red text on the back.

They are all beautiful cards though.  So I picked them in general instead of choosing one of the years.

4. N321 S.F. Hess California League

Again, I like the background colors in these cards as well as the uniforms of the 19th century and the splashes of color on them.  There are 40 cards in the set and they are quite rare and expensive so I highly doubt I will ever have one in my own collection (when I am able to afford one there are many other cards I would buy before picking up one of these)but they do make my list all the same.

5. T205 Gold Borders

For the T205s I put them in a specific order of which types I like best.  First is the minor leaguers (shown above) with their ornate gold borders and action poses.  There are only twelve minor leaguers in the set but they each have a unique border and nice image.  They also have the team logo on shields in the upper right and left corners.

After the minor leaguers I like the American League design.  These cards have a nice diamond made of base paths or bats with the team logo, gold border, and period equipment at the bottom of the card.  The player's name and team are printed in a scroll under the players portrait image.  The National Leaguers are my least favorite of the three.  These are portraits with the players name printed as an autograph below the image with team and league printed under the signature.  

So what are your five favorite prewar sets?  What do you think of my choices?  I'd love to hear from some of you.  

Enjoy the hobby all...it's an aesthetically pleasing one.