Great thread. I'm not sure I can rank them, but the top five in no particular order are:
R14 American Historical Characters - Wow. I got started on this set this year and they've quickly become one of my very favorites.
R73 Indian Gum - The white background chiefs, in particular.
National Chicle art deco cards - I think of three sets - Sky Birds, Diamond Stars, and Football Stars - as a kind of a super-set sharing the same fantastic art deco style.
Allen & Ginter pirates
R156 Gumakers of America True Spy Stories - These are just nuts!
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#1 R73 Goudey Indian Gum
#2 T73 Indian Life in the 60s
#3 N3 A&G Arms of All Nations
#4 1959 Fleer Indian Trading Cards
#5 N188 Kimball Goddesses of the Greeks and Romans
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1.Buchner Police and Fire Chiefs
2.Buchner New York City Scenes
3.Buchner American Scenes
4.Sea Captains
5.Tie amongst Horrors of War, 1940 Superman, and Red Menace
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wow jerry you are my hero buying 1962 topps mars attacks 5 cent wax packs at 10, at 10 the bubble gum cards i purchased at 711 were .25 cent packs of 1985 topps garbage pail kids, not something i can really brag about though haha
i remember asking my mom as a child if the tv was broken cuz gilligan's island was in black and white and not in color like dukes of hazzard was haha
This message has been edited by popculture401k on Sep 22, 2009 9:10 AM
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grandpa slacker, wow slow down there, i'm going to become uncle slacker in november, not quite ready to be grandpa slacker yet...though grandpa slacker will show the grandkidz his first published humor book called, you know you're a slacker if... and my mars attack by then better be over psa gpa 8.0 to show them the beauty of cardboard. haha
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Any set jerry is not collecting,that way I have a chance to complete them.
Really though
mars attacks
freedoms war
chix soldiers of the world
flag midgees
horrors of war
in no particular order.
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If you consider value, it effects the list a lot. But if you remove money from the list, and just go off your favorites, I think mine would be:
Mars Attacks
Dinosaurs Attack
Jets, Rockets, Spacemen
Battle
Wild Man
Horrors of War would be #6. The reason that comes 6th is because as much as I like the set, I don't sit down and read it as often as I do the other sets, which are smaller and more inviting. There are still some cards in that set I haven't read (although I have read most).
Outer Limits (1960s) was also a close #7, the cool shots, fun color (added) and original stories on the back.
Civil War News #8. Great stories (most untrue) but the images are spotty. Norms are great but the other 60 or so pail in comparison, even though he touched them up.
Red Menace #9 because of the stories and hard core patriotism, although the images are pretty tame in comparison to other war sets.
Odd Rods. I hate the blank backs, but these have a lot of nostalgic appeal to me as I collected them as a kid. I love Frankenstein Stickers too, but those blank backs subtract from the depth of the enjoyment.
I also love Strange True Stories and the 1930s Don't Let It Happen Over Here, but the quality of the art work isn't up to snuff with the others listed above, although the backs are terrific.
This list has changed a lot over time, and like I said, one can't help but be influenced by the scarcity of the item and it's "value" but if you don't think about that, sets like Dinosaurs Attacks shoot way up the list, while more expensive and "respectable" sets fall further down the list (like HOW).
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I would agree with N15 generals being one of them as they are fantastic colors and lithography. Still need a lot to finish the set.
I really like the Battleship Gum battleship cards. I'm only 4-5 away from the set there.
I like the Jungle Gum and First Column Defenders because of artwork and size of sets. A couple that I've finished that I'm grouping together as one.
I love any of the Ghirardelli E160-E164 issues........the actors/actresses, Pan Pacific Intl Expo postcards, California Missions or Animals cards. Can't really pick one of them but they are really tough and still some that I haven't checklisted, so the thrill of MAYBE finding one of those is great.
Finally.........
One I really like is the Samoset Indians E card issue. Only have a couple because they're so doggone tough. Would love to have the whole set. 8 more to go!
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1. T-90 Nature Cards
2. N-19 Pirates
3. N-36 Indians
4. N-188 Goddesses
5. N-268 Circus Scenes
6. N-303 Costumes of Warriors
7. N-375 Breeds of Dogs
8. R-124 Sea Raiders - My first R set to collect. I was inspired by this site and its members to expand my cardboard habit to include some gum cards to. So Thanks!
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First, there are a couple 1960s sets which are just plain SPECIAL to me for nostalgic reasons, even though when I now look at them now, they are clearly nothing too amazing, nor especially fun to collect: Spook Stories, Foney Ads and Civil War News. A big part of my youth and the re-collecting of these 20 years ago is what started me into non-sports cards . . .
This is indeed like trying to pick your favorite children, but as far as my Top 5 for collecting, this moment's version might be:
1. R73 Goudey Indian Gum
2. R136 Nat Chicle Skybirds
3. R60 G-Men and Heroes of the Law
4. R124 Sea Raiders
5. TIE: R100 Noah's Ark / R152 Tootsie / R68 Shelby Hollywood Pic Stars (including variation backs and Canadian version)
Honorable mention: That whole slew of Heinz aviation-related sets, F277-(1,2,3,4,5), with the richness of the aviator pics, airplanes, variation cards, different artwork versions, premiums, albums, you-name-it!
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Today's favorite 5 then...
1. I really like the Sky Birds even if I don't own any
2. N162, love the graphics
3. BatMan (black bat)
4. American Beauties
5. Mutoscope Girls
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You know, I can't get everything too straight. I am in the middle of an article about Wild West and one of my brilliant points was that although most collectors agree that it would be one of the most wonderful sets ever composed, nobody would list it (including me and I have it) as one of their favorites. Now in this latest poll, Bill Bengen and Marty Q have named Wild West in their top whatever list of sets. Now I have to reword my notions.
Here is me:
1. Jets Rockets and Spacemen (#1 by many meters)
2. Pirates Picture Bubble Gum
3. Tarzan & the Crystal Vault of Isis (still need 2 cards)
4. Wild Man
5. Tip Top Space (need 3)
HOW out by a nose (I only have 2/3 of that set)
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It is so hard to pick just five (or ten). The top four are solid but the other six spots probably change from month to month.
1. R54 Foreign Legion
2. R173 Word In Arms (I'm surprised this isn't more popular.)
3. Pirates Bold
4. Rails & Sails
5. Round Up
6. R108 Pulver Pictures
7. Uncle Sam
8. R31 Commando-Ranger and R11 Allies In Action
9. R135 Beautiful Ships
10. U.S. Navy Victories
There are four other sets I really like but have not started collecting yet: Tootsie Circus, Jets Rockets Spacemen, War Gum, and Sea Raiders.
Alan
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Alan, from your list of "sets to start soon", the one I'd give a high recommendation to move to the front of the queue would be War Gum. Just for fun, I've built a few sets of these over the past few years and can tell you that they are regularly available on eBay and from Wrapper dealers, and in satisfactorily higher grades. And the more patient you are, the better condition set you'll be able to build -- gradable, included. High marks to this most under-respected of sets, as a collector's objective!
Also, re The World in Arms set, you're right -- this one's lack of popularity is quite interesting. If nothing else, I think it should be much more popular with collectors of graded cards because raw cards from this set seem to commonly be available, in extremely high condition.
This message has been edited by 30s_non-sport_gum on Sep 26, 2009 8:18 PM
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