1935 Goudey Set (R321)

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	R321 Goudey 4-in-1
Year	1935
Size	2 3/8″ x 2 7/8″
Images	Color
Type	Candy/Gum
Number in Set	36

R321 1935 Goudey 4-in-1 Puzzle Back Overview

After two landmark sets in 1933 and 1934, Goudey tried something different in 1935. Its 1935 Goudey set included four players on a single card and backs had a piece to a puzzle. Only 36 total cards were included, which was the second straight year the company shrunk its checklist of its baseball set.

The issue is certainly unique but it just doesn’t hold the same prestige as Goudey’s 1933 or even 1934 sets – both of which remain more popular by most collectors.

And while the fronts of the cards continued to feature the trademark colorful Goudey player images, the puzzles on the backs were only in black and white. Most player images used in the 1935 set were recycled from Goudey’s 1933 and 1934 baseball card sets. While many of the pictures of the players didn’t change, however, some of the background colors did. Borders for the cards are primarily red but six of the 36 cards have blue borders.

A new distinctive feature of the 1935 Goudey cards is that they included thin red borders around the edges. That helped separate the four different players on each card.

Some interesting cards include those featuring brothers. Paul Waner and brother Lloyd were featured on the same card as were the Ferrell brothers, Rick and Wes.

Babe Ruth Returns … in Boston

Also worth noting is that the 1935 set included a heavy hitter missing from 1934 – Babe Ruth. Ruth had a whopping four cards in the 1933 issue but was interestingly left out in 1934 as the company pursued a close relationship with teammate Lou Gehrig. While there has been all sorts of speculation as to why Ruth was not included in the 1934 Goudey set, nothing’s ever really been confirmed.

Because the 1935 set used images from the 1933 and 1934 releases, Ruth’s card uses one of the images with him while he was still with the Yankees. That was despite the fact that he played with the Boston Braves in 1935.

As a result, Ruth is in a Yankees uniform but his card has new team name in the Braves. Ruth’s card, coincidentally, is one of his better bargains and is significantly less than his 1933 issues. It is also one of the few cards he has as a member of the Braves.

Ruth’s card is easily the most valuable one in the entire set. In low-grade condition, the card starts around $500.

Puzzles

While 36 cards made up the set, that didn’t mean collectors had acquired all of the different puzzle pieces.

Many more cards were needed if a collector wanted to complete all nine of the different puzzles available. In all, a total of 114 cards are needed for the master set. That often means collectors work on the easier 36-card basic set and call it a day.

A total of nine puzzles were included in the issue and some were smaller than others. Some puzzles required only six cards/pieces while others required 12.

There were puzzles of teams and individuals – teams had 12 cards for each one while individual players had only six. A checklist of the puzzles available is below.

Goudey made sure to use star players for the individual puzzles as all six became Hall of Famers. But the puzzles could have drawn even more attention if the omitted Babe Ruth had been included.

Shown here are three cards featuring the puzzle for the Detroit Tigers. Puzzles in the set include: