I am new to figs, the types and varieties are mind boogling. I'm 67 yrs and just want one or two fig trees for container growing and want the best bang for my buck for zone5b Syracuse (Liverpool) NY for taste,longevity and maintenance. Everyone has their own taste and opinion, but the list of varieties on sites like eBay are just impossible for a newbie to navigate. But saw a fig tree for the first time last winter in Florida and now are hooked. Thank you in advance for my straight forwardness and frustration. Mike

Use the search function for cold hardy varieties and that should point you in the right direction. MBVS, Malta Black, hardy chicago are just a few that should be fine in your area.

Mike forget eBay!! Find I fig guy near you and you should be able to get a couple decent size trees at a good price and no shipping. Anything from eBay will most likely be small and you will be waiting a wile for figs, I'm 72 years old and I know time is important, good luck!!

Mike, the Chicago Hardy is extremely cold hardy and a vigorous producer of dark purple sweet figs. I beleive there is a fig farm that sells both cuttings and trees in Rome NY called CNY Figgary. You can search on the forum for trusted sellers and I belive they are recommended. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

If you want to leave the figs outdoors but with protection, then IMO the best-tasting early, cold-tolerant variety would be Ronde de Bordeaux.  Improved Celeste is a very early, cold-tolerant workhorse.  And any good "Mt Etna" variety (I like Marseilles Black better than Hardy Chicago) would be tasty and reliable but slightly (~2 weeks) later.  

But you said "container growing" so I assume that you will be able to put the containers inside a garage or similar during the winter.   If the winter temperatures within this structure would get no lower than ~25 F, you could grow almost any variety with a short / medium season.     If you want early and tasty, then I'd still say Ronde de Bordeaux.  If you want a little later but maybe even tastier, then you could try Smith or JH Adriatic (which seem a bit too tender for outside in Z5).