1934-36 Diamond Stars or 1941 Play Ball?

CW

Sometime in the next few months I plan to finish up the set I'm
currently working on. This creates a dilemma -- which set to collect
next?! Two sets that I really like and are fairly similar in age,
design, & size are the '34-'36 Diamond Stars and the 1941 Play Ball sets.

I like the "art deco" design of both, although I prefer the color schemes
a little more on the Play Ball set. The Diamond Stars set is a little
bigger at 108 cards vs. 72 in the Play Ball set, but the number of Hall
of Fame players in the Diamond Stars set is amazing (36 Hall of Famers
vs. only 15 in the Play Ball set). The Play Ball set, on the other hand,
has two of the finest cards in the hobby with the Williams & DiMaggio
cards. If only the Diamond Stars had Ruth and/or Gehrig -- it would be
no contest. I'm curious to see which set you guys would choose and why.
Also, which set would be more difficult to complete in PSA 6 or 7?

Thanks,
Chuck

marty

Chuck
The Diamond Star set has some short print cards that are not only pricey, but very difficuld to find. There are several cards that have a total pop of less than 10 for all grades. I like this set and have found that cards can and do sell well over book.

Diamond Stars PSA 6 - 800
PSA 7 - 1100

Play Ball PSA 6 - 986
PSA 7 - 1296

For the Diamond Stars, the average is 17 of each card in your grade and some have very few.
For the Play Ball the average is about 30 of each card in your grade.
BTW, which set are you completing?

Griffins

Chuck-
My vote goes to the Diamond Stars. I think it is one of the most underrated sets out there, and the design and player selection are without peer.
Marty is right, the high numbers are tough, but it didn't take me that long to find them and I'm sure you'll encounter little difficulty, unless you only want them in PSA 8. They are a bit pricier, but there isn't a card in the set that will cost as much as the Williams and DiMaggio in the '41 set. The big drawback of the Diamond Star set is that there is no Gehrig or Ruth, and if you are going after every back variation it becomes about a 200 card set.
As the stock on these is pretty heavy I think it is much easier to find cards without creases. Wrappers are plentiful if you include those in your set as well.
There was another short series of these planned, and to my knowledge those cards exist in the form of an uncut sheet only. I believe Sports Cards Plus auctioned one off a few years ago (it may be unique, although I'm not sure) and I haven't seen one since. I settled for the Fritsch reprint set for those few cards.
The '41 set is prone to yellowing on the card stock, and I've found it even on the 8's I own. If that bugs you keep that in mind.
What set did you finish- the T200? My snipe program failed on the Detroit card you won, it looked like a nice one.

helionaut

I'd go with Diamond Stars. I've been slowly accumulating a raw 41 PB set for about 10 years, and as much as I like it, it is lacking sometimes in the detail of the art (several cards just have blurred shadows for faces, and solid colors for backgrounds). But it does have the two major stars of the era in Joe D. and Ted Williams that would be a major strike against it if they weren't included. If you aren't bothered too much by missing out on the big Yankees, then I think the DS checklist is better overall. And the comic-book deco art style is timelessly cool.

Both sets seem to have similar patterns on ebay, where large runs often appear as opposed to just one or two or a handful at a time. Lately, Diamond Stars have been a little more common and in higher grade overall. Play Balls seem to be most common in 4-5 or 8+ than 6-7. Either way, I think the commonality versus set size will balance out in the course of building your set.

Not to muddy the discussion, but I'd also suggest 34 Goudey. It's 96 cards, you get an 2 awesome Gehrig cards including one of my all-time favorites (actually you get him on 80% of the set), and it also has a classic nostalgic design with fine portraits. It's more expensive and tougher to find in 6-7 than the other two, but I think it's worth it.

CW

Thanks for the info & suggestions, guys. The set I'm almost done with
is the '55 All-American football set. I have only 7 cards to go...

I'm leaning towards the Diamond Stars. I followed a couple auctions
that ended the other night, and all the cards closed over SMR which
is a good thing (PSA 6's of Greenberg, Ott, and Hubbell). All the cards
had me drooling, but I had to lay off the "place bid" button to stay
within my card budget. I also have a small start on the DS set, as I
bought a nice PSA 6 Hornsby card over the summer. And regarding the
tough high numbers -- it's nice to have *some* challenge in a set.

Griffins said:
> The '41 set is prone to yellowing on the card stock, and I've found it
> even on the 8's I own. If that bugs you keep that in mind.

Definitely something I'll try to avoid. From what I've seen on ebay and
in auction catalogs, it seems like the Diamond Stars can also have a lot
of toning. I've seen some Foxx cards that almost looked chocolate in
color.

> What set did you finish- the T200? My snipe program failed on the
> Detroit card you won, it looked like a nice one.

It is a nice card, thanks. And thanks to your failed snipe program!
I don't collect the set. It was just one of those cards that looked
very nice in a PSA 3 holder -- there were a couple more creases on the
card that didn't show up in the scan, but I have no complaints (as you
know, since you have the top T200 set on the Registry, these cards can
crease if you look at them the wrong way). I grew up in Detroit, and
I'm a big fan of Cobb cards, too. Good luck with your Fatima set!

helionaut suggested:
> Not to muddy the discussion, but I'd also suggest 34 Goudey.

Another awesome set, and one that I've given consideration. I also
have great admiration for the Gehrig cards -- both the images on the
fronts and the write-ups on the backs are true classics in the hobby!

wishing this holiday vacation would never end,
Chuck

SKINSFAN

CHUCK 1st congrats on your aa set.I plan on breaking mine up maybe in sping by fall at the latest if by chance you still need a couple i will keep you in mind. As for your next quest go with the diamond stars.After all diamonds are for every and of course a girls best friend cant go wrong there gl on whatever you choose. ART