1930s PR3-10 Big League Leaders Pins Set and Checklist

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

It’s In The Details’

Title	PR3-10 Big League Leaders Pins
Year	1930s
Size	3/4″
Images	Color
Type	Pins
Number in Set	16

1930s PR3-10 Big League Leaders Pins Overview

32BL Fonseca The PR3-10 Big League Leaders pin set is a rare issue not known to many collectors.

First, there is the classification issue. It should not be confused as being part of what is known today as the PR3 Orbit Gum pin set. That set was actually initially classified as PR3-3 by Jefferson Burdick in the American Card Catalog but has since been known as PR3 to most collectors. Essentially, the PR3-10 set is a subset of PR3 just as the PR3-3 set was. Make sense?

Here’s an easier way of saying it. Burdick classified several baseball pin sets as all being PR3 issues … PR3-1, PR3-2, etc. While PR3-10 still uses the same classification that Burdick originally assigned to it, the PR3-3 set has been come to be known as PR3 today.

But back to the set at hand. The PR3-10 set is a collection of pins that featured statistical leaders in a variety of categories such as most home runs, etc. It is a different set in the sense that it does not feature pictures of players – only their names along with a key stat.

Because there are no pictures of players, they are a little less desirable than other more common pin sets. Still, they do have some collector interest, largely in part due to their age.

The set is also popular, though, because it features star players. While their pictures are not included, the checklist includes many Hall of Famers because the pins are for statistical leaders. In the set is the likes of Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, and plenty of other Hall of Famers.

As far as dating goes, the set is believed to have been produced at some point in the 1930s. PSA lists it as a 1933 set. That is a common assumption since 1932 statistics are the last ones featured. Obviously, that means that 1932 is the earliest it could have been printed. The hobby consensus is not entirely clear, though — for that reason, many are willing to date the set only to the 1930s without affixing a specific year to it.