Outside of the T206 set, the 1933 Goudey baseball card set is arguably the most iconic pre-war set in the hobby.
The 240-card checklist (if you count the #106 Nap Lajoie, with more on that later) boasts beautiful, colorful artwork and a large batch of Hall-of-Famers.
Measuring 2-3/8" x 2-7/8", the cards looked much different than the tobacco and confectionary cards that preceded them.
Most notable of all the icons in the set are four different cards of Babe Ruth, while big names like Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Rogers Hornsby, and others appear multiple times as well.
From the artwork to the checklist and more, there is just so much to love about this set.
And in this guide, we'll take a look at the 25 most valuable.
Let's jump right in!
1933 Goudey #53 Babe Ruth
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $41,000
What are you doing if you're not winning World Series titles in New York?
A year after winning the fourth World Series championship in franchise history, the 1933 Yankees didn't have the same juice to get back over the top.
The Washington Senators slowly but surely left New York in their dust.
They took the Yankees' gate receipts along with them.
In an attempt to recoup some cold hard cash, Yankees management came up with the ultimate publicity move for the season's final game, advertising Babe Ruth's first pitching appearance in three years and second since 1921.
Ruth's bat remained deadly (.301 average, 34 home runs, 104 RBIs), but was anything left in the 38-year-old's arm?
The answer?
Not too much.
Ruth gave the packed Yankee Stadium house a thrill, spinning a complete game to cap the campaign.
The downside was that he gave up five runs and was left with a dead left arm for a week or so.
1933 Goudey #144 Babe Ruth
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $38,000
Since Goudey chose to omit the #106 Napoleon Lajoie during the production process, it had to double-print another card to make up for it.
The Babe Ruth #144 is the card they chose.
That's right, Goudey printed twice as many examples of this card as any other in the same series.
Yet, despite being relatively more plentiful, it still ranks near the top of the list of most valuable '33 Goudeys.
Obviously, Babe Ruth has a lot to do with the value.
But he appears four times in this set, so why is this one usually more desirable than some of his others?
The imagery has a lot to do with it.
Many collectors gravitate towards this Ruth card simply because it's the only one in the set featuring a full-body pose of the Sultan of Swat.
Whether or not you are among those who consider this to be his best-looking Goudey card, you have to admit the image of Ruth swinging in full Yankee attire is quite a sight.
1933 Goudey #106 Napoleon Lajoie
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $28,000
Baseball card collectors wax poetic about the T206 Honus Wagner, the most sought-after and talked-about rarity in the hobby's history.
While the Wagner may be the holy grail for card enthusiasts, the 1933 Nap Lajoie Goudey isn't far off.
Originally placed on the checklist for the 1933 Goudey set, Nap Lajoie's #106 was curiously excluded during the set's initial run.
Collectors sent countless complaint letters, and eventually, the Lajoie card was sent to those who queried the company via post.
Lajoie cards were reportedly left off the uncut sheets for the set and were eventually included in the 1934 run.
Regardless, the former Triple Crown winner's '33 special remains one of the most coveted cards from its era, with one of the most recent mints auctioned off going for $264,000.
Lajoie racked up 3,242 hits in parts of 21 Hall-of-Fame seasons, good for 14th on the all-time list.
1933 Goudey #149 Babe Ruth
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $25,000
The #149 Ruth is nearly identical to the #53 except for having a red background.
It's debatable which is the better-looking of the two, but if I had to choose, I guess I would side with the yellow background #53.
But, it's not an easy choice.
In addition to having the same imagery on the front, both contain the same text on the back: "Home run king of big leagues. Hit 60 homers in 1927. Led American League in batting in 1924, hitting .378. 6 ft. 2 in. tall, weights 210 pounds, bats and throws left-handed. Was great left-hand pitcher before he started hitting homers. Born in Baltimore in 1894. Joined Red Sox in 1914 from Baltimore club. Led league in pitching in 1916. Started hitting home runs in earnest in 1918, when he hit 11, made 29 in 1919, 54 in 1920, and 59 in 1921. Sold to Yankees in 1920. Last year batted .341 and hit 41 home runs."
The text on the reverse of Ruth's #144 and #181 contain similar text but the verbiage is summarized differently overall.
Of the four Ruth cards in this set, this is the only one that has never received a PSA 9 Mint grade.
1933 Goudey #181 Babe Ruth
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $24,000
1933 Goudey #92 Lou Gehrig
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $12,000
Cal Ripken's record-breaking 2,131st consecutive game was an event.
It was a moment of celebration that brought baseball back from the brink following the 1994 strike.
The man whose record he broke, Lou Gehrig, would have recoiled in horror from such fanfare.
In 1933, Gehrig passed former Red Sox/Yankees shortstop Everett Scott's eight-year-old record of 1,307 consecutive games played.
The Bronx Bombers legend didn't see it as an accomplishment and wanted no attention for it.
Instead, he saw it as an inconsequential blip on the baseball radar.
"I think it is a real stunt," Gehrig said dismissively, "but I don't think anybody else will try it again."
This was all in character for one of the game's most humble men.
Even after he tripled Jimmie Foxx with the most fan votes for the inaugural All-Star Game that same year, Gehrig deflected any and all praise to focus on the task at hand.
1933 Goudey #160 Lou Gehrig
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $10,000
You are not seeing double.
Lou Gehrig appears twice in this set, and his cards look nearly identical.
The only way to distinguish between them is by their respective numbers in the set sequence listed on the reverse side.
Other than that, everything else is the same.
Even the reverse side write-ups contain the same verbiage: "One of the biggest siege guns of the New York Yankees. Hasn't led the American League in batting up to this year, but five times finished in the first five. Twice voted most valuable player in the American League. What a hitter! Last year swatted .349 in 155 games and smacked out 34 home runs. Used to do some pitching while playing for Columbia, but now confines his fielding to first base. Born in New York City in 1903. Is a left-hander, six feet, one inch tall and moves the weights at 200 pounds."
1933 Goudey #154 Jimmie Foxx
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $4,500
In 1933, the Philadelphia Athletics' descent into irrelevance gained speed.
Two years removed from a third consecutive pennant and three from the second of back-to-back World Series titles, all was not well with the A's.
Owner Connie Mack suffered massive losses during the Great Depression and was forced to sell most of his highest-paid players.
Those returns were rarely, if ever, fed back into the team.
It all came to a head in the 1933 campaign.
After six consecutive 90-win seasons, the A's fell to 79-72-1, the franchise's worst record since 1924.
It would have been much worse if not for the all-world exploits of Jimmie Foxx.
In the second of back-to-back MVP campaigns, Fox functioned as a one-man offensive wrecking crew.
The 25-year-old first baseman won the third Triple Crown in American League history with a .356 average and MLB bests in home runs (48) and RBIs (163).
The A's may have been a lost cause, but not for a lack of effort on Foxx's part.
1933 Goudey #29 Jimmie Foxx
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $4,500
Like Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx appears twice in this set, and both of his cards are nearly identical.
And like Lou Gehrig, the only way to tell the difference between Foxx's two cards is their respective numbers on the back.
Sometimes, it can be easy to forget just how close Foxx came to some of Ruth's home run totals.
Thankfully, the write-ups on the backs of these cards will always remind us: "The player who's giving Babe Ruth a battle for the title of Home Run King. He clubbed 58 homers in 1932 and finished only three points behind Dale Alexander as leading batter of the league. A farmer boy in Sudlersville, Md., playing on the high school team before he got a chance to play professional ball. Played only one year in the minor league before he was bought by the Athletics in 1925. Was only 18 years old then. He used to be a catcher, but now plays first base. He bats and throws right-handed. Batted .364 in 154 games and fielded .994."
1933 Goudey #220 Lefty Grove
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $2,800
What did Lefty Grove have to do to earn some respect?
Grove was the workhorse ace of the back-to-back-to-back pennant-winning A's teams of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
He led the AL in ERA and strikeouts in all three of those campaigns from 1929 to 1931 and won the league's pitching Triple Crown in the team's two title years of '30 and '31.
Grove also won the league MVP in 1931 with a baffling 31-4 record and 2.06 ERA.
You'd think people would put a little reverence on Grove's name after all that, but you'd be wrong.
Two years after his MVP year, Grove was written off by A's owner, Connie Mack, as a one-pitch pony with little in the way of pitching acumen.
When Grove's fastball lost zip in '33, and his strikeout total went down, Mack unceremoniously offloaded the Hall-of-Famer to Boston after the campaign.
Grove went on to make five more All-Star appearances with Boston, showcasing a deft pitching arsenal that would make even the stodgy Mack blush.
1933 Goudey #119 Rogers Hornsby
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $2,500
Rogers Hornsby washed out of Chicago at the end of the 1932 season, and many of his players and teammates were glad to see him gone.
Hornsby was named player/manager of the Cubs in 1931 and immediately rubbed nearly everyone in the organization the wrong way.
He confronted many of the team's top stars and lobbied nearly everyone to help him pay for his sizeable IRS and gambling debts.
So when Hornsby was fired in August 1932, it was no great surprise.
And it was honestly no surprise when the Cardinals picked him for a go the very next season.
In need of a pinch-hitter and third-base stopgap, St. Louis plugged Hornsby in and got strong results, a .325 average and .893 OPS in 97 plate appearances.
However, Hornsby could not play full-time and was dumped onto waivers at midseason.
He resurfaced with the bottom-feeding St. Louis Browns shortly after on a three-year player/manager contract.
1933 Goudey #223 Dizzy Dean
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $2,400
There are only five nine-inning, 20-strikeout games on the MLB record books.
One came in the mid-1980s, and the rest occurred from the 1990s on.
Nowadays, double-digit K's are a regular thing.
Back in the days of Dizzy Dean, they were a real feat.
The St. Louis Cardinals righty averaged over 300 innings from 1932 to 1935, leading the Majors in strikeouts in each of those four seasons.
Remarkably, he didn't touch 200 Ks in any of those campaigns.
It was a different game back in the 1930s, a hitter's paradise full of junk throwers.
Dean was the exception to the rule, as evidenced by his historic outing on July 30th, 1933.
The 23-year-old righty broke the Cubs down all day with high-octane fastballs and snapping curves.
He ended the game with 17 strikeouts, surpassing four pitchers for the modern-day single-game record.
It may not compare to a 20-K game now, but it was just as earth-shaking for its time.
1933 Goudey #1 Benny Bengough
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $2,200
1933 Goudey #127 Mel Ott
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $2,200
After dropping from the ranks of NL contenders in 1932, the New York Giants looked like an organization on the outs.
Heading into the 1933 campaign, many picked the Giants to finish near the bottom of the NL standings.
Even a flurry of trades wasn't enough to change public opinion.
New York put the doubters to shame with a World Series run, relying on a star-studded pitching staff to outlast the Senior Circuit and capture the organization's first championship since 1922.
It was the right era for these Giants to dominate.
Hitting was down due to a newly deadened ball, and New York pitchers like Carl Hubbell benefited greatly.
On the other hand, Giants hitters like Mel Ott took it on the chin.
A year after leading the NL in multiple offensive categories, including home runs (38) and on-base percentage (.424), the 25-year-old outfielder saw his homers cut nearly in half (23) and his OPS decrease by nearly 200 points (.834).
1933 Goudey #2 Dazzy Vance
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $1,800
Dazzy Vance was one of the most beloved Brooklyn Dodgers of his era.
His blazing fastball won him seven consecutive strikeout titles from 1922 to 1928.
Come 1932, Vance was a different pitcher.
Now in his forties, the Hall-of-Famer couldn't overpower hitters in the same way.
Still, Dodgers fans adored Vance.
Even knowing his career was waning, Brooklyn fans got up in arms when the 42-year-old was shipped to the St. Louis Cardinals before the '33 season.
In reality, it was a smart business move by the Dodgers.
Vance was no more than a replacement-level pitcher, and his best days were clearly behind him.
He pitched to a solid 3.55 ERA in 28 appearances (11 starts) for the Cards in '33, yet his 98 ERA+ and reduced innings load were telltale signs of his decline.
1933 Goudey #158 Moe Berg
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $1,600
1933 Goudey #207 Mel Ott
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $1,600
1933 Goudey #31 Tony Lazzeri
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $1,500
1933 Goudey #49 Frank Frisch
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $1,400
1933 Goudey #22 Pie Traynor
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $1,200
The Cincinnati Reds tried to poach Pie Traynor away from the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1933.
It didn't work for multiple reasons.
For one, the 34-year-old third baseman was loyal to the team he'd made his name with.
He won two World Series championships with the organization (1925 and 1927) and was heralded by many as one of the best third basemen of the early 20th Century.
Pittsburgh loved Traynor, and he loved Pittsburgh.
Even if Cincinnati had come to him offering him the moon, he'd likely have turned it down.
The Pirates weren't about to let him go, either.
Traynor remained a vital part of their plans for contention, having picked up MVP votes in every season from 1925 on.
1933 was no different.
Traynor played in all 154 games for the second-place Pirates and was named to the inaugural All-Star Game.
He finished eighth for NL MVP with a .304 average.
1933 Goudey #89 Tris Speaker
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $1,200
When Goudey released its 1933 Big League Chewing Gum card set, Tris Speaker was one of its most anticipated cards.
And for good reason.
One of the most popular players in Boston baseball history, Speaker won MVP honors in 1912 with a .383 average, an MLB-best .464 on-base percentage, an MLB-best 53 doubles, and an AL-topping 10 home runs.
The Red Sox center fielder led the Sox to the franchise's second World Series title and first of four in seven years.
Speaker was no less loved in Cleveland.
The man known as "Spoke" won the AL batting title in his first year with the club (1916) and eclipsed .300 in all but one of his eleven seasons with the club.
The Hall-of-Famer won three World Series titles in his 22-year career (two with Boston, one with Cleveland) and sits fifth on the all-time hits list with 3,514).
Speaker also remains the all-time doubles leader with 792.
1933 Goudey #211 Hack Wilson
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $1,200
In 1933, Hack Wilson's life continued to spiral out of control, and his career was one of the many casualties.
Wilson was in a bad state three years after winning the 1930 NL MVP with the Chicago Cubs.
His on-field exploits offset the Hall-of-Famer's fiery demeanor, aggressive nature, and hard-partying ways for a long time.
It just wasn't the same in 1933.
Drinking more than ever, the 33-year-old Brooklyn Dodgers left fielder fell woefully out of game shape.
He hit north of 230 pounds and lost much of his trademark power stroke.
The man who had led the National League in home runs four times fell into single digits for the first time in any full season he played.
Once the most feared slugger in the league, Wilson was now a just above-average hitter, playing only part of the time.
He was also a dreadful fielder and a constant distraction, ultimately leading to his departure from the Dodgers (and the game) one year later.
1933 Goudey #234 Carl Hubbell
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $1,100
1933 Goudey #19 Bill Dickey
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $900
1933 Goudey #230 Carl Hubbell
Estimated PSA 5 EX Value: $800
