100% Completed 660 Card Set

dalew · October 23, 2003 7:56PM

I know that it is a modern set, but I take great pride in completing this 660 card set in high grade.

Thanks to several board members for helping me fill in some cards on it.

1981 Fleer Baseball Set

RayBShotz · October 23, 2003 8:37PM

Dale,

Congratulations! Any set of this size is a major accomplishment. It has been often stated on these boards that we should collect what we like. I have heard you talk endearingly about this set and your effort to complete it in the past. Your passion for it and the hobby is not diminshed one iota because this is a "modern set".
You made it to the mountaintop!

RayB69Topps

Whats next on your agenda?

AISAVDBBALLINPHILLY · October 23, 2003 9:35PM

Dale,

Congratulations on completing what is a very nice set. Pictures are awesome and so are Philly and HOFer comments. Is that Aaron Boone or Bob?

Spittin' image of his paw. I remember that 1980 Championship Phillies team well. One can tell that you really cherish that set and take pride in it. It is refreshing to see that. Good Luck on your next endeavor!

John

FB · October 23, 2003 10:00PM

Great job Dale,

I know you've mentioned that you'd like to try and upgrade it to all 10's. We'll keep watchin you climb!

Your comments are probably the most comprehensive that I've seen in any registered set. Again - nice job and I second Rays's thoughts... Doesn't matter what you collect as long as you enjoy it!

Wayne8348 · October 23, 2003 10:01PM

Very nice Dale - the notes are great also.

Wayne

Robby · October 23, 2003 10:06PM

Dale , Nice set and AWEsome GPA - ROBBIE

qualitycards · October 23, 2003 10:15PM

DALE - That is quite an accomplishment. Especially when you consider that you have slim pickings via PSA dealers and on eBay in comparisons to other sets in the '70's & '60's. Out of the 660 cards, how many did you pick up that you didn't submit? Great Job! ...jay

Stump · October 23, 2003 10:27PM

Dale

Outstanding! Well done !!!

Any set to completion is an accomplishment. Great job as I know there is not alot of inventory and the GPA is great. I have 10 of these sets put up and hope to grade them out in the future.

Dave

achtey · October 23, 2003 10:56PM

Great job!! I'm building a 398 card set in my 1986 topps football and it seems to never really get any closer. You give me a reason to continue,

Congrats on the great feat. I hope I get there someday. How long did it take you? Just curious.

Josh

Vargha · October 23, 2003 11:01PM

Congrats! 660 is an effort, no matter the set.

thegemmintman · October 23, 2003 11:10PM

Dalew - great work! Many of us including myself would never have the patience to put together a set of that size. Way to go!

helionaut · October 23, 2003 11:24PM

I remember being very torn in 1981 over what to collect. I wanted to stay loyal to Topps, and I liked their design best at the time (the little hats were cool, but now I think I like Donruss's block letters), but these other companies had more Phillies cards, and their packs were bigger, which was a consideration at age 10. I ended up collecting them all as best I could.

Certainly, just because a set is only 22 years old doesn't mean it's easy to complete in high grade. You have to do a lot of your own submissions, and there can be stiff competition for what does come into the marketplace. Good luck upgrading, and if you get a #9 Bake McBride in a 10, I'll be happy to take the 9 off your hands.

Basilone · October 23, 2003 11:47PM

Great Job...I remember that sell very well as a 10 year old...it was tough to decide between Topps, Donruss, and Fleer!

John

Dartonxx75 · October 23, 2003 11:48PM

Great set! The 1981 Fleer cards were some of the first cards I ever owned as a little kid. I like to check out sets that have scans and comments included. It really shows the set means something to the collector. I am planning on doing the same with my sets as soon as time allows. Congratulations.

KING KELLOGG · October 23, 2003 11:54PM

GREAT EFFORT DALE!!!

What's next???

Larry

packCollector · October 24, 2003 12:14AM

great job, modern sets don't get as much respect but consider the fact that there are not that many submissions it is a monumental accomplishment. enjoy it!!

mcastaldi · October 24, 2003 12:42AM

Dale> Outstanding job on assembling a very high-end set. I remember my dad bought me an 81F set for my 11th birthday because they were something different to the previous all-Topps monopoly. I had no idea what a set was until then. So the 81F set will always have a place in my heart.

As some others have alluded to, 81F presents a challenge because no dealer is going to cart them to shows. I've found that most dealers will cut off around 1975 or so. Anything more modern is tough to come by at shows - at least if you want high-grade it is. So it's safe to say that Dale went through a LOT of raw. I'm sure there is a significant portion of that set that came from his own submissions. How many people can say their set is predominantly the result of their own submissions?

Truly outstanding.

Mike

Virtualizard · October 24, 2003 1:14AM

<< <i>Congrats! 660 is an effort, no matter the set. >>

You should know that's not always the case, David. Really, how much "effort" did you put into your most recent 660 card set?

Dale,

Congratulations. I still wish more people would add scans of their cards. It is great to see cards that you may have never seen before or to compare your own cards to.

Thanks for the effort.

JEB.

mikeschmidt · October 24, 2003 1:38AM

Dale:

Outstanding effort! Congratulations -- the 1981 Fleer set is often plagued by out of focus cards, so sometimes the high grade examples are very difficult to come by. That is a magnificent effort, and you have my full congratulations.

I would be very interested to hear your long-term goals for the set. Are you looking to upgrade? If so -- to what? (e.g. are you happy with 9s, or do you want more 10s?)

Are you ever thinking about putting a "Master" set together with all of the variations?

Marc

uniship · October 24, 2003 1:54AM

Based on all the posts above - it seems everyone here is 33 years of age - myself included.

Awesome job on the set!

coachh · October 24, 2003 2:09AM

Dale

Congrats on the set. Are you going for upgrades or are you moving on?

GoSoxBoSox · October 24, 2003 2:12AM

Wow. I'll bet that was one hell of a task. Getting an average grade that high is a very impressive accomplishment for a set like that. I was 12 years old when that set came out and I still have many boxes of these cards. I always think about the focus and centering problems that plague this set so I'm very impressed. Especially when I consider the lack of popularity this set has. Really, how many people have garded these cards? Awesome work.

So how long did it take from start to finish?

Vargha · October 24, 2003 2:13AM

You should know that's not always the case, David. Really, how much "effort" did you put into your most recent 660 card set?

More than Steve, that's for sure.

Fabfrank · October 24, 2003 3:12AM

Congrats Dale. That's a great accomplishment. Especially the comments and all the scans. People don't realize how tough this set is. Crappy paper stock, out of focus pictures, miscuts and don't even mention the errors. The irony is 81 donruss is probably worse.

baseballfan · October 24, 2003 3:33AM

baseballfan · October 24, 2003 3:35AM

nice job that's a cool set,i remember it well- i started collecting in 1980

RobE · October 24, 2003 5:41AM

This is the best news I've seen for an early 80s collector.Nice set of cards you got there,I'm jealous.

I hope you hang on and make a monster of a collection with your ability to upgrade.

GATOR5 · October 24, 2003 6:15AM

Dale,

No easy task indeed all by yourself I'm sure. You have gators stamp if that means anything the first 80's set completed I think. Go for the trio that would be the ultimate challenge fleer topps donruss boy that would be somethin.

Go Dale

Gator

Virtualizard · October 24, 2003 8:17AM

<< <i>You should know that's not always the case, David. Really, how much "effort" did you put into your most recent 660 card set?

More than Steve, that's for sure.

>>

David,

You are correct. My post was in jest. I'm sure you got that.

Your purchase of Mike's '75 set was probably the best thing you could have done - finish the set, upgrade your examples with Mike's "cherry" cards, and sell the rest individually.

To set the record straight, I'll give you the data (don't know if you are even aware of this):

Prior to the purchase, you were at 55.76% complete with a GPA of 8.41 on Sept. 6. After adding Mike's set, you jumped to 100% complete (obviously), and had a GPA of 8.26 on Sept. 13. Today, still at 100% complete, you have a GPA of 8.33.

Obviously you have put a lot of effort into this set. Great job as well.

JEB.

Alfiewt · October 24, 2003 8:35AM

Great Job Dale! You will go down in history as the first to complete on of the full sized 80's baseball sets on the Registry. Congratulations!

Vargha · October 24, 2003 8:54AM

JEB -- You are correct. I knew that you were ribbing me. I have always lived by the philosophy that if you can't take it, then don't dish it out.

bengineno9 · October 24, 2003 10:31AM

I'm shocked.
Unbeleivable!
Great job Dale!

Ben

dalew · October 24, 2003 11:45AM

I am humbled by all of the kind words from all of my peers, much thanks.

In answer to some of your questions, I submit the following:

I went through 2 vending cases, about 30 wax pack boxes, did some purchasing on ebay and emailed some of the other members on the PSA Registry and purchased cards to get to this point.

Only about 20 or 30 cards were bought off ebay. One Harold Baines card that I was looking at went for over $300.00. I didn't make the mistake of bidding on it. I submitted about four Harold Baines cards and got a 10 back. I did the same thing with most of the other star cards, since these are really the only cards that I saw that were being graded and being offered for sale on ebay. So I would say a majority (about 98%) of the cards were submitted by me.

There are several very hard cards to obtain in high grade in this set. They would be Charlie Spikes, Brian Kingman and Steve Carlton (#660).

Alot of the cards were submitted in lots of 120 as part of a modern bulk submission. I also did some of the submissions as part of the September and October Specials when I didn't have enough for a modern bulk submission. I only had 12 cards returned because of mis-cuts, undersized cards or other defects.

So the answer to the time that it took to put this set together is about 2 1/2 months.

I would like to upgrade the set to only have 9's and 10's without any type of qualifiers. At present I only have one card that has a modifier.

I also like the idea of having a master set with all of the variations. I have many graded variation cards already and they are listed in the comment line of my set.

I noticed that when I really started to submit cards they must have brought in a grader knowledgeable with the set because they began to catch some of the variation cards that I didn't know about. At that point I went to the Library and took out a book from Beckett and I believe SGC to compare variation cards. At that point I submitted my variation cards and listed them in the variety section.

I'll probably go back through the entire set and see if either I or PSA missed what has been graded and get them labelled correctly. I've noticed two. I have a George Foster as a Slugger and Outfielder, but the label makes no mention of the variation card.

I recently purchased some wax pack boxes from Kruk Cards and it was just full of fine variation cards that I intend on submitting, which is why I like the idea of a master set.

As far as the next set goes, I'm working on a 1981 Fleer Sticker Set. Very tough because of printing flaws and centering, but I've obtained a case of wax pack boxes and have been going through them.

My other goal is to have a comment for every card in the set. I believe that this will put the set in perspective as to what players did throughout their entire career.

Heres looking to get to a higher GPA.

Again, thanks

NickM · October 24, 2003 5:24PM

dale - great job.
fab - Donruss was probably worse? Donruss used paper cutters that O-Pee-Chee threw away. Some of their cards could fit in a Deckle Edge set.

Nick

Tipem · October 28, 2003 10:59AM

Dale,

Congratulations!!! A great feat as many have said regardless of the age.I am not sure that I would have the patience to accomplish your task.I passed this thread up a few times before I read it.I am just glad that I did.Someone asked what your next project is going to be and it seems that you have chosen a task as daunting as the one you just completed.Good Luck!!!

Vic

mcastaldi · October 28, 2003 11:59AM

fabfrank> "The irony is 81 donruss is probably worse."

You don't say. . .remember, 81D was ONLY available through wax boxes. No vending. No factory sets. Wax was it.

For illustration purposes, earlier this year Frank Smith, Downgoesfrazier, and I opened up a box of 81D wax. Out of that box, we found a grand total of three cards that even came close to being called "mint". Can you imagine how long it will take to build a PSA9-quality set pulling only 3 cards per box?

No. . .I would argue that 81D is one of the hardest sets to build in PSA9 - bar none.

Mike

uniship · October 28, 2003 12:04PM

Dale - man, you are a hardcore set builder!!! Props to you - awesome set and interesting how you put it together - congrats!

Fabfrank · October 28, 2003 8:59PM

Tipem and Mcastaldi- I was trying to be sarcastic without be over the top. But you are correct. 81 Donruss is definitely worse. I wouldn't be surprised if the cards were cut from their sheets by 1st graders

downgoesfrazier · October 28, 2003 11:50PM

Mike,

Scoreboard...

Castaldi 2
Smith 1
Apostle 0

I've opened four wax boxes that have delivered 3 or less mint cards from 81 donruss. That's still my "pet set". I will not stop until it's done in dead-centered 9+...anybody got a snickers???

dgf

qualitycards · October 29, 2003 2:28AM

DGF - Looking at your 3 '77 Topps graded by the 3 grading companies gave me an idea. I was thinking what a novel approach it would be to have a smaller type set (say Kelloggs) graded with each card by a different grading company. There must be 40-50 grading companies out there when you add the "big 3" plus the few that Beckett offers, SCD, CSA, AAA, KSA, GEM, PRO, USA etc...
So it would be interesting to see the nuances of grading technigue, card protection and such. Just a thought! ...jay

mikeschmidt · October 29, 2003 2:34AM

<< <i>DGF - Looking at your 3 '77 Topps graded by the 3 grading companies gave me an idea. I was thinking what a novel approach it would be to have a smaller type set (say Kelloggs) graded with each card by a different grading company. There must be 40-50 grading companies out there when you add the "big 3" plus the few that Beckett offers, SCD, CSA, AAA, KSA, GEM, PRO, USA etc...
So it would be interesting to see the nuances of grading technigue, card protection and such. Just a thought! ...jay >>

Is Zaggletooth grading still in business?

GATOR5 · October 29, 2003 2:48AM

Jay,

Sweet idea, how about a team set run of maybe your favorite team from each year

Wayne8348 · October 29, 2003 5:20AM

That would be a neat idea Jay. But if you chose to do the set in straight "8's" (nm/mt) how would you go about finding a pro card to grade that low?

Wayne

NickM · October 29, 2003 6:25AM

Wayne - crease it.

Nick

Wayne8348 · October 29, 2003 7:57AM

Nick,

The crease would only knock it from a 10 to a 9 wouldn't it?

Wayne

NickM · October 29, 2003 10:59AM

You may be right. Crease it again.

Nick

mercurynut · October 30, 2003 2:15AM

Great Job!!!!!!!

DaveRead · October 30, 2003 2:10PM

Dale:

Great job! Back to the '72's!

100% Completed 660 Card Set

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