1934 Goudey Baseball Set (R320)

‘It’s In The Details’

Title R320 Goudey
Year 1934
Size 2 3/8″ x 2 7/8″
Images Color
Type Candy/Gum
Number in Set
96

1934 Goudey Overview

34G 90 Cuyler1934-goudey-bengeAfter its popular 1933 Goudey set, the company returned to produce a 1934 issue.

Like the 1933 release, the focus was on producing colorful, vibrant cards. But unlike that first set, Goudey utilized a much smaller checklist. Instead of the 240 cards from the 1933 issue, the 1934 set had only 96. This is among Goudey’s most plentiful issues with a good number still existing today.

The cards were similar in look to the 1933 set with fronts and backs having a nearly identical design. Most pictures were reused from the 1933 set and since the 1935 Goudey set again used many of these pictures, collectors saw a lot of the same images for three years in a row. Jimmie Foxx’s card was particularly repetitive since he actually had the same picture used twice in the 1933 set alone before it was reused in 1934 and 1935.

As is the case with many sets, the higher numbers in this set are more scarce and more valuable. The high numbers in the set are considered to be No. 73 through No. 96.

The 1934 set didn’t include Babe Ruth or many of the stars from the 1933 release. But it did still have plenty of Hall of Famers, such as Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Paul Waner, Lefty Grove, and many others. Also noteworthy are two Hall of Famers that were not in the 1933 set in Hank Greenberg and Ernie Lombardi.

Greenberg’s card, in particular, is very notable since it is his rookie issue and one of the more expensive cards in the entire set. But the real keys are the two cards of Lou Gehrig, which top $500 each, even in bad shape. Here’s a closer look at each of those two cards.

Lou Gehrig and Chuck Klein Cards

With four cards in the 1933 set, there was little question that Babe Ruth was the headliner of that issue. In 1934, Goudey turned to a couple of new stars in Gehrig and Chuck Klein. Gehrig, in particular, was a focal point and he had two cards in the issue.

While the 1934 cards are similar to the 1933 set, the biggest difference is that the 1934 cards had some generic baseball artwork in the background and a banner along the bottom that read either “Lou Gehrig says” or “Chuck Klein says.” The idea was that the biography on the back was a quote from one of those two players about the player on the front.

Gehrig’s picture and replica signature are found on most of the cards (most are low numbers) while Klein’s picture/signature are on 13 cards (mostly high numbers). The Gehrig cards had a blue banner while Klein’s had a red banner.

While the Klein high number cards are desirable, values for them are kept somewhat lower because the players featured on them are mostly not that prominent. Ki-Ki Cuyler is the only Hall of Famer pictured on the Klein cards.

The Disappearance of Babe Ruth

Ruth Pathe FreresOver the years, much has been made of the lack of Babe Ruth cards in this set. And unfortunately, decades later, we’re still left with a pretty incomplete picture of why Ruth does not exist in the set.

Ruth not appearing in the set would have been notable with any issue. After all, he did not appear in some other similar sets, like the 1933 DeLong release. It is possible that Ruth could have commanded too much to be included in some sets.

But his lack of presence is particularly notable here just because he was such a focal point of the 1933 Goudey set where he appeared four times. Some have suggested that a reason he may not have been in this set is because he was at odds with teammate Lou Gehrig and having Ruth cards with a Gehrig commentary would have been abundantly weird. That may have been the answer but until more conclusive evidence is brought forth, collectors are mostly left to guess why Ruth was not included.

It is interesting to note that Ruth did re-appear in Goudey’s 1935 set and that coincided with Gehrig disappearing from Goudey sets.

Reprints

Collectors seeking original 1934 Goudey cards should be aware the set has been since reprinted.

These reprint cards are typically easily identified with a different ‘feel’ of the card that is more modern. Backs of the reprint cards also indicate they are reprints.

Beware of cards that have been artificially aged. Many of these examples have been made to look ‘old’ and, most importantly, usually have some sort of wear in the area where the word ‘reprint’ exists on the back, which is the bottom center of the card. In many cases, these cards will have paper loss or some sort of wear there to hide/remove the word ‘reprint.’

1934 Goudey Checklist

  1. Jimmie Foxx
  2. Mickey Cochrane
  3. Charlie Grimm
  4. Woody English
  5. Ed Brandt
  6. Dizzy Dean
  7. Leo Durocher
  8. Tony Piet
  9. Ben Chapman
  10. Chuck Klein
  11. Paul Waner
  12. Carl Hubbell
  13. Frankie Frisch
  14. Willie Kamm
  15. Alvin Crowder
  16. Joe Kuhel
  17. Hugh Critz
  18. Heinie Manush
  19. Lefty Grove
  20. Frank Hogan
  21. Bill Terry
  22. Arky Vaughan
  23. Charlie Gehringer
  24. Ray Benge
  25. Roger Cramer
  26. Gerald Walker
  27. Luke Appling
  28. Ed Coleman
  29. Larry French
  30. Julius Solters
  31. Baxter Jordan
  32. John Ryan
  33. Frank Hurst
  34. Chick Hafey
  35. Ernie Lombardi
  36. Walter Betts
  37. Lou Gehrig
  38. Oral Hildebrand
  39. Fred Walker
  40. John Stone
  41. George Earnshaw
  42. John Allen
  43. Dick Porter
  44. Tom Bridges
  45. Oscar Melillo
  46. Joe Stripp
  47. John Frederick
  48. Tex Carleton
  49. Sam Leslie
  50. Walter Beck
  51. Rip Collins
  52. Herman Bell
  53. George Watkins
  54. Wes Schulmerich
  55. Ed Holley
  56. Mark Koenig
  57. Bill Swift
  58. Earl Grace
  59. Joe Mowry
  60. Lynn Nelson
  61. Lou Gehrig
  62. Hank Greenberg
  63. Minter Hayes
  64. Frank Grube
  65. Cliff Bolton
  66. Mel Harder
  67. Bob Weiland
  68. Lloyd Johnson
  69. John Marcum
  70. Pete Fox
  71. Lyle Tinning
  72. Arndt Jorgens
  73. Ed Wells
  74. Bob Boken
  75. Bill Werber
  76. Hal Trosky
  77. Joe Vosmik
  78. Pinky Higgins
  79. Eddie Durham
  80. Marty McManus (beginning of ‘Chuck Klein says’ cards)
  81. Bob Brown
  82. Bill Hallahan
  83. Jim Mooney
  84. Paul Derringer
  85. Adam Comorosky
  86. Lloyd Johnson
  87. George Darrow
  88. Homer Peel
  89. Linus Frey
  90. Kiki Cuyler
  91. Dolph Camilli (end of ‘Chuck Klein says’ cards))
  92. Steve Larkin
  93. Fred Ostermueller
  94. Red Rolfe
  95. Myril Hoag
  96. Jim DeShong

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