I'm insane and I need help

Love of the Game

Hi all:

I think I have FINALLY decided how I am going to limit the cards I collect. And stick to it. Really. I have a strategy now, and I'm pleased:

For the near future, I am only going to collect issues released in years that the Yankees won the World Series. My goal is to complete at least one set from each of these 26 years. I figure this gives me a host of classic vintage sets (Playball issues, Goudeys, Double Play, bread issues, Wheaties sets, hand-cut strip cards, early 50s Topps), lets me collect the two main sets I had as a kid (1977 and 1978 Topps), and gives me enough different sets to collect that I won't get bored. It also works because the Yankees just happened to win the World Series in three of the main years I'm currently collecting (1938, 1953, and 1961).

I figure it will take me 5 or 6 years to accomplish this (bear in mind that many of the sets of the earlier years consist of only 50-60 cards).

Here's my problem: modern cards. I know absolutely NOTHING about modern cards. I couldn't tell a Fleer from an Upper Deck if it was released after 1993 or so, and I don't know anything about what the cool sets are.

I am currently within 25 cards of completing the 1953 Topps and 1938 Goudey sets. Once they're done, I want to immediately start on one vintage and one modern set. For the vintage set, I'm leaning towards 1952 Berk Ross. For the modern set, I have no idea.

So I'm looking for suggestions. Things I'd look for in one of these sets:

* Attractive design
* Availability of unopened material (if I'm collecting a modern set, I'd rather rip the packs myself)
* Challenging but reasonable to complete
* No $2000 cards of guys who are going to be out of baseball in two years
* Nothing ridiculously overpriced
* Should have a reasonable chance of having some value in the future, even when hand-collated
* I really don't like shiny cards very much

Anyone care to suggest a cool set for me to collect, with some comments on why the set is cool? The years are 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Thanks!
-Al

Stone193

Hi Al
The years you have picked unfortunately eliminate my favorite set which is the Topps Heritage brand which started in 2001.
So I'm going to have to defer to the others for that since I'm not sure. I have collected Topps sets in those years and had fun ripping packs. Would I be correct in thinking that you want to purchase the wax and not buy a collated set or factory set if available?

your friend
Mike

Love of the Game

Mike:

Yes, I'd rather rip packs than buy a factory set, as I like the idea of building the sets myself.

The years are based on the years the Yanks won the WS.

I bought some 2001 Heritage once and thought they were cool, but struggled with paying $10 a pack for new cards. I see the 2005 Heritage, and they also look awesome. I've just focused on vintage since as long as I can remember - once in a while I bought some packs, and I had a thing for 1990 and 91 Upper Deck, but that's the last time I bought modern with any sort of regularity. I know enough people who have stacks of Kevin Seitzer rookie cards from the 80s; I've just always preferred the older stuff.

-Al

fsjeter

I don't collect a lot of modern cards either but it seems to me that it may be wise to go with Bowman or Bowman Chrome. SP's and numbered rookies aregoing to make complete sets of these years near impossible in some of the higher brand issues. Bowman always has a good crop of reasonably priced rookies and completing a set is not too terribly difficult. Best of luck to you!!

Scott

Edited to add: You could also do regular issue Topps or Upper Deck. Not as many rookies as Bowman & Bowman Chrome but nice as well.

Xena6969

I think the 2000 Topps Finest is a decent set with some challenge to it. also 2000 Fleer Ultra is nice with some challenge not quite as challenging as the Finest set.

softparade

Hey, stay away from my 78 Topps

I have some raw if you want. I am collecting 78 Topps in graded fashion (dummy that I am), the raw is what I did not want to submit in hopes of PSA 9's ......

WinPitcher

Title: I'm insane and I need help


welcome to the club

Love of the Game

Softparade:

You've got to see my 78 set. It's the one I collected as a kid - rounded corners, big 'ol creases, writing on the backs, it's AWESOME. PSA doesn't have a grade high enough for how much those cards are worth to me.

I just bought two '77 vending boxes so I'm going to finish that one first. I'm not sure if I'll have 77 and 78 graded or not. I saw the Roy White you posted yesterday - very cool.

-Al

minibeers

congrats on finding focus. It took me a year to find mine. When I was a kid, my focus was simple. I had to have EVERYTHING. Before 1981, that was something I could have actually accomplished. Alas, with fleer and donruss on the scene, my little 15 year old mind exploded and I quit.

About a year and a half ago, I started to regret that I had sold off my childhood collection (mind you, I made $15K on the deal). I didn't want to tell my kids what my dad told me that all the cards were long gone. And my dad collected in 1952!

Anyway, I have a similar approach with collecting Dodger cards. I'm going for 1963 since they won the world series that year (against your yankees. get out the broom. he he). I collect them in general and I'm building a sampler set. I'm trying to focus on prewar stuff at this point.

Take care and have fun!

mb

Cubfan

"And stick to it. Really."

If you find a way to make that work, please let me know .

softparade

Novocent, I have childhood raw too

Love of the Game

AWESOME! That White is DOPE.

Were you a Yankee fan growing up? I'll have to dig out some of my old ones. I used to bring 'em out in the backyard and play wiffle ball, and put 'em in the order of the Yankee lineup:

Rivers
Randolph
Munson
Jackson
Nettles
Chambliss
Pinella
White
Dent

Then I'd hit imaginary pitches to imaginary fielders and shuffle through the cards. I'd bring in Jim Spencer or Gary Thomasson to pinch hit. Ken Clay to relieve. I still remember hitting imaginary base hits inbetween an imaginary George Brett and Freddie Patek to win the imaginary pennant.

-Al

softparade

I'm a die hard Yankee fan, since 1975. We used to play wiffle ball so much that a small diamond was worn into our backyard.

NickM

Topps will likely have a larger base set than anyone else from those years, which means your set will have more of the Yankees players. It's readily available from unopened boxes and packs still, or in sizable lots cheaply.

Nick

Stone193

<< <i>Topps will likely have a larger base set than anyone else from those years, which means your set will have more of the Yankees players. It's readily available from unopened boxes and packs still, or in sizable lots cheaply.

Nick >>


And I have plenty of dups from some of the years to help fill the set in.

For the die hards - let me bring out this pic again - I have the complete auto starting lineup except the manager.



These were obtained for free before the auto price explosion. Of course the Munson is my favorite!

your friend
Mike

DataDriven05

Novocent - I will take a stab at some suggestions

1996 - Topps Chrome. It's a 163 card set, the regular issue cards are amongst the most valuable for that year. Not a lot of insert fluff; refractors, wrecking crew and masters of the game. Dave and Adam's has them for $34 a box.

1998 - If you want a small set SP Authentic is nice (198 cards), but there are 2 insert sets that keep the price of the box up ($75-125) - SP Authentic Trade Cards and Chirography.
Bowman Chrome (440 cards total) is also nice, decent rookie selection for the year, but it comes in two series, in which each box goes for ($40-60)

1999 - By the time you get to 1999 everything is about short prints and inserts, so boxes can get expensive. With that said I think the Topps Gallery (150 cards, 1 SP per pack) is a neat set, the design is simple compared to most modern cards yet attractive. Not that you care much about inserts, but there is a chance to pull a Topps Gallery Heritage and/or proof subset patterned after 1953 Topps.

2000 - Since you are a Yankee fan how about something like the 2000 Upper Deck Yankee Legends. It's 90 cards, all Yankees... that may be all you need to hear. The boxes may not be that cheap due to the type of inserts it possess, however, it may not take that many boxes to complete the set. EBay has hobby boxes for $130 - 24 packs in a box with 5 cards per.

In the end, to make it simple, you could just do topps set for those years. I figured you might want to mix it up.

Good Luck

Chris

helionaut

Are you talking about getting them slabbed? I have started several times on modern sets but given up because you can buy most sets for the price of slabbing just a handful of cards. The economics don't balance out the joy you'd get from having a slabbed set. Anyways, here are my picks:

1996- kind of an off-year all around. I built only one or 2 sets that year. I can't think of any base sets I'd want to get slabbed. There are many inserts that are interesting, though. There's Leaf Signature, which is mostly shmoes but also Sosa, Jeter, Thomas, Maddux, etc., but no Griffey. There's UD SP, which is a decent enough looking base set with a couple decent rookies. I like the UD SP Holoview cards that year, though, which are die-cut in the shape of the player's home park. Not too easy to find, and challenging for condition. This year also saw the start of the peak in outrageous card design. There's Topps Laser, which I liked, though the intricate laser cutting makes storage over the years tough. The inserts are neat, though, if you like a lot of foil. I liked Pinnacle Aficianado, which had all the cards printed on a really stiff board, like wood. Underrated and hard to find. I like tough parallels so there's also the Select Certified range of parallels, limited to as few as 30 copies per card, real hard to find these days and very condition sensitive. Literally hundreds of insert sets were made, and you'll find a few you'll like. I like Leaf Limited Pennant Craze, a die-cut set with felt attached to the card in the shape of a pennant, and Lumberjacks, a set printed on wood.

1998- Donruss Crusade is a cross-brand insert set of 130 cards with lots of rookies and all the major stars. It's shiny, but beautiful and the cards are actually pretty robust. Leaf Rookies & Stars is the big rookie set this year. It was delayed in production and they took advantage by adding about 38 cards to the set with a lot of key RCs like Glaus and Drew, and several other hot prospects at the time. Another underrated set is UD Retro, which was packaged in actual lunchboxes. It is a plain cardboard set, a forerunner of sets like UD Vintage. It's affordable, has auto's about 1 per 2 boxes (good ones), and a Glaus rookie. Donruss has an improved Signature set. I liked Fleer's EX-2001 set which was basically plastic but a sweet design. Topps Gold Label's first year is one of the prettiest "clean" designs with a mirror finish. But Ultra might be the best basic set, a classic design, top-notch photos, and awesome reproduction. This was a peak year for experimentation in different materials for cards with various inserts being produced on different kinds of stock with unique finishes, wood, plastic, and metal, etc.

1999- I like Flair's Row 1 variations. Flair was basically 3 sets. One checklist, but 3 different designs called "Row 1, 2, and 3" with decreasing scarcity. The Row 1s are plastic finish, all serial numbered, and I like the Row 2, also. UD Century Legends was my favorite of those sets, great design, Sporting News all-time checklist, autographs every other box. SP Signature was nice, both the basic set and the autograph parallel. Topps Gallery is a very nice design. UD started the 500 Homer bat cards that year, and they've been evergreen, especially the aotgraphed ones. Bowman is, of course, king of the rookies this year, and the Chrome version is catching on on the registry, so you'll have help there.

2000- Fleer Greats of the Game autographs were the hot set that year, and still have a lot of devotees. SP Authentic has one of it's best designs, and the cardstock lends to consistent high grades. Fleer Tradition was a hit, too, with a design echoing 1954 Topps. UD Legends again was solid, with the beginning of the influx of plentiful game jerseys, as it had first GU cards of many stars and HOFers. UD also began a 3000 Hit Gu insert set like the 500 Homers the previous year. That's all I can think of right now, 2000 was a kind of off-year for new product.

If you were to stretch to 2001, there are loads of good products of all kinds.

Love of the Game

Wow, this is GREAT info. Keep it coming. Thank you all so much.

Just to clarify, I am NOT planning on getting the 96-00 stuff slabbed. I just can't justify slabbing Luis Sojo. I may not even slab the 77s and 78s (although I've got some 77s slabbed already).

I am actually getting kinda enthusiastic about all this feedback, to the point where I am WAY overspending for slabbed 53s that are all over Ebay this weekend. I want to get that set done!

Thank you again, everyone - I look forward to reading more!

-Al

Love of the Game

I looked into the 1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars set, and it seems like a tough set to collect that should retain its value due to the amount of SPs and star cards. Some of the rookies may fade in value, but it's an old enough set at this point that I think it will retain at least some of its popularity into the future.

So I think I'll choose that one from 1998.

Does anyone have experience with Dave & Adam's card world? I bought some cheap unopened boxes from them once and had no problem, but this is not a cheap box. BBCExchange and BBCKid don't have any of this set, but D&A's do. Thoughts?

-Al