1935 Goudey Set (R321)

‘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

35G 11 Blaeholder.jpg

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

Ruth 1935 GoudeyAlso 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

1935 Goudey Puzzle PiecesWhile 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:

  1. Detroit Tigers (team)
  2. Chuck Klein
  3. Frankie Frisch
  4. Mickey Cochrane
  5. Joe Cronin
  6. Jimmy Foxx
  7. Al Simmons
  8. Cleveland Indians
  9. Washington Senators

R321 1935 Goudey 4-in-1 Checklist

Cards are listed in order of they way they appear, left to right on a card, starting in the upper left corner.

Card Fronts

  1. Berry / Burke / Kress / Vance
  2. Burns / Hemsley / Grube / Weiland
  3. Campbell / Meyers (Myers) / Goodman / Kampouris
  4. Cochrane / Gehringer / Bridges / Rogell
  5. Critz / Bartell / Ott / Mancuso
  6. Cronin / Reynolds / Bishop / Cissell
  7. Deshong / Allen / Rolfe / Walker
  8. Earnshaw / Dykes / L. Sewell / Appling
  9. Fox / Greenberg / Walker / Rowe
  10. Frisch / Dean / Orsatti / Carleton
  11. Grimes / Klein / Cuyler / English
  12. Hayes / Lyons / Haas / Bonura
  13. Herman / Suhr / Padden / Blanton
  14. Hudlin / Myatt / Comorosky / Bottomley
  15. Johnson / Coleman / Marcum / Cramer
  16. Kamm / Hildebrand / Averill / Trosky
  17. Koenig / Fitzsimmons / Benge / Zachary
  18. Kuhel / Whitehill / Meyer / Stone
  19. Leslie / Frey / Stripp / Clark
  20. Mahaffey / Foxx / Williams / Higgins
  21. Manush / Lary / Weaver / Hadley
  22. Martin / O’Farrell / Byrd / McFayden
  23. Moore / Hogan / Frankhouse / Brandt
  24. Piet / Comorsky / Bottomley / Adams
  25. Ruel / Simmons / Kamm / Cochrane
  26. Ruffing / Malone / Lazzeri / Dickey
  27. Ruth / MacManus / Brandt / Maranville
  28. Schuble / Marberry / Goslin / Crowder
  29. Spohrer / Rhem / Cantwell / Benton
  30. Terry / Schumacher / Mancuso / Jackson
  31. Traynor / Lucas / Thevenow / Wright
  32. Vosmik / Knickerbocker / Harder / Stewart
  33. P. Waner / Bush / Hoyt / L. Waner
  34. Werber / R. Ferrell / W. Ferrell / Ostermueller
  35. West / Melillo / Blaeholder / Coffman
  36. Wilson / Allen / Jonnard / Brickell

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