The usual "what's on your wishlist" but with a twist (absoulte must-haves vs. optional but

Estil

Now before you all start groaning at me and saying "oh great, here we go again", I added a little twist this time. We're going to make two (or in my case three) seperate lists with one being what you absoultely MUST get versus those things that you kinda-sorta wouldn't mind getting someday but are much further down on the priority list. Optionally, you could include a "fantasy" list of stuff that you'd get if you won the lottery, but otherwise have no chance of ever affording, thus for the other lists, only include stuff you can realistically afford.


ABSOULTE MUST HAVES
=================
These are on this list because I need them to finish my on-going projects, and you know it is just plain wrong to start something and not see it through to the end if you can at all help it right?

1. Finish 1986-95 Fleer/Ultra insert set run:
All I need now to finish the 1986-95 Fleer inserts is 1990 Soaring Stars, 1991 factory set Pro-Visions, 1990 and 1991 World Series, and ALL 1993 Fleer insert sets. On Ultra, 1991-93 are complete. For 1994 I need the Ultra Home Run Kings, On-Base Leaders, RBI Kings and Rising Stars (the insert sets that were seeded one per box and all four were exclusive) and I also need the Kruk/Daulton mail-in cards #1 and #2. As for 1995 Ultra I'm still several insert sets away from this one. While I have the regular set as GM, I don't think it's realistically possible to find GM insert sets, so I'll probably have to stick with the regular insert sets.

2. Extend my Donruss/Score/Fleer set runs to 1998:
Well, I thought I'd be happy with them being up to 1995, but since I'm only three cheap sets away from finishing a whole run of Donruss as well as Score, why not? Fleer I want to get up to 1999.

3. 1974 and 1975 Topps in NRMT/MT raw condition and upgrade 1976-79 sets:
I originally had 1976-79 sets five years ago but sold them (for $600 along with the SSPC set) to pay off 5% of my student loan. Well, I missed those sets and got this run (not the same one of course) back. Now, the 1978 set (just like before) is by far my strongest set; I think only about five commons at most or so need upgrading (the corners are RAZOR sharp on this bad boy). 1979 is a bit weaker at the corners (and I had to rub off some wax stains) but otherwise okay; I could possibly upgrade this one by buying another NRMT/MT set w/o Ozzie/Ryan for maybe $30-$40 at most and cherry pick from the two. Ozzie could use an upgrade (bottom two corners are a bit weak), which I could probably buy a PSA 7 NQ ($30?) and bust it open and put in a mini-tite with the rest. I paid $325 for this pair of sets.

As for the 1976/1977, these sets (especially 1976; 1977 is actually considerably better than the first 1977 set I had) need even more work (several have one corner that's REALLY bad) but the good thing about these and the 1978/1979's is that I'm starting out with much, much better centering. Compared to most 1970s sets, the overall centering on all four is awesome. Again, I paid another $325 for this pair of sets, so as long as it costs no more than $75 to fully upgrade, I'm in good shape.

4. Finish my Topps/Fleer Update runs:
I only need the 1992 Fleer Update Mike Piazza (I have a set coming that omited it) along with 1982, 1993-95 Topps Traded. For 1982 TT, I'd like to omit Hall of Fame-Elect Cal Ripken's RC for now and then later get a bargain basement PSA 7 (and then bust open and put in a mini-tite) AFTER he drops the "Elect" part of his title this July and AFTER all the hoopla dies down. As for 1984 Fleer Update, I'd omit the Clemens/Puckett RC's and if PSA 7's of those two ever become affordable (PSA graded is a MUST as these have counterfeiting issues), I'll again get those, bust them open and put in mini-tites. Because at BBCE, the 1984 Fleer Update set (with Clemens/Puckett) is $75 more than the 1974 Topps set, and if given the choice, I'd much rather have the 1974 Topps set.

5. 2005 and 2006 Topps:
These two sets cost $100 together and while they are "must haves", they are quite easy to find compared to the stuff above this list, so I'm in no hurry for these. The whole 2007 set is not out yet so that's why it's not included for now.

6. Complete Flair master set run of 1993-95:
So far I only got the regular 1993 Flair set. It's a start I guess.

7. Complete my 1981-90 Topps Baseball Stickers run:
So far I'm missing one sticker from my 1984 album and I need a 1981 album with all the stickers neatly inside. Other than that, the entire 1981-90 run is complete.

8. All Topps Send-In, All-Stars, Rookie glossy sets (1983-91):
I'm now just the 1983-86, 1990 Send-in sets away.

9. 1993-95 Donruss Diamond Kings: I automatically got the 1982-91 DK's from the regular sets, and I'm stopping at 1995 because 1996 onward is too expensive (due to them beginning to be numbered to 10,000)

10. 1996 and 1997 Finest Silver:
And if the Gold sets are affordable, I'll want those too.

11. 1996-onward Ultra Gold Medallion:
I already got the 1995 GM set, and while the 1997 GM set is nothing to get worked up over, the 1996 and 1998 onward sets are very interesting with the bright gold backgrounds and feel. But what to do about those SP's that come later...

12. Topps football run (1980-99 minimum):
Now, I had always believed I'd be a baseball only collector for life. But after checking out the Topps football sets, they look pretty interesting! Steve at BBCE has a "starter run" of 1980-93 (except 1991) for sale, so hopefully this will still be here come Christmas time.

13. Beckett Baseball Card Monthly run:
I'm so far only about five or so issues away from finishing a complete run of baseball Becketts from 1988-96.


ONLY IF I WIN THE LOTTERY
======================
Very simple. I want to go back to at least 1970 Topps so I'll have three (soon to be four) full decades worth. From there I'll go "backwards" to 1969, then 1968, and so on. While at the moment I could realistically get as far back as 1974 in solid NRMT shape, anything before that I'll have to settle for a EX condition set (but still with reasonable centering) since even those are worth at least four figures.

I guess I got my work cut out for me, huh? Especially considering at the moment my wife (except at Christmas time) usually only lets me spend $100/month on cards.

TheCARDKid

That's a great list.

For me, I don't know...I keep going back and forth, back and forth. There's so much out there...it's hard to know where to start.

Absolute must haves -

-Garbage Pail Kids series 1-12, raw mint sets. I opened a series 4 box two days ago for the first time in years, I traded all my garbage pail kids away in the 5th grade!! I think I had all the sets from series 3 up to about 11 or 12.

These will be alot of fun to get and go through. I won't get them graded though, they are more fun to look through in card savers.

-Misc packs and boxes from the 80's and early 90's. '92 Upper Deck basketball, 86 Topps football. 90 OPC Premier hockey I haven't cracked in years and years. It'd be fun to get those again.

Maybe, 10-15 boxes in total.

-Build high grade 80's OPC hockey sets. I've gone back and forth whether I want them graded or not (at least the stars). 81/82, 85/86, 86/87-88/89. These sets are just too tempting. Even the lesser sets, 82/83 and 83/84. It'd be really cool to have a complete run from 80/81 through 88/89.

These are absolute must owns.

And I've got probably another dozen "must owns".

Very likely to start -

Getting serious about pre war.

I've been looking at them closely for the past 6-9 months. I think there is a big window right now to start accumulating cards from the under rated and second tier sets (20's strip cards, almost any black and white set from the 20's and 30's). And there are so many sets pre 1920 that weren't on the radar on 10-15 years ago.

I think the big sets will still be very popular (T206, CJ, Goudeys), but it seems like the gap will narrow between those and some of the sets that have been underrated for so long.

So far, '39 Playball is at the top of my list. Solid player selection, nice size set, owning a DiMaggio and Ted Williams rookie would be a thrill.

Diamond Stars get more beautiful everytime I look at them. Delongs are gorgeous. I'll have plenty to keep me busy just in the 30's.

Estil

Interesting wishlist, though I couldn't stand just getting "random wax boxes"; if I go say, a run of 1986-92 Topps wax boxes, I'd feel compeled to get 'em all (along with Donruss and Fleer) and that would just be much too expensive to be practical at the moment. As for pre-war, no chance of that unless I win the lottery (or otherwise become a millionare) someday and even then I'd want all the Topps sets first.

tennesseebanker

tennesseebanker

Excue me while I, ahhhhh, Go Take a shower.

tennesseebanker

I cant believe my boy Jeremy Shockey used to Hit that.

XanaduNow

TJMAC

Here is my list of must haves:

- I primarily collect PSA superstars and hofers from 1959 to 1985, so here are my current must haves:

1) 1959 Topps Hoyt Wihelm, Enos Slaughter and Roy Campenella in PSA 6 or above. I would settle for a nice 5 on the Campy. These are the remaining cards I want from this set.

2) 1967 Topps Seaver, Carew, Brooks Robby, Palmer and Perez in PSA 6. I will settle for a 5 on the Seaver. These are the last 5 I need.

3) A 1968 Topps Ryan, Frank Robinson and Willie Mays in PSA 6 or better. The last 3 I need.

4) A 1977 Rollie Fingers PSA 8 and 1979 Willie Stargell PSA 7 or 8. The Stargell is tough, so I would settle for a nice 7. After these, I would have all the top cards from the 1970's except for the 1971 Baylor/Baker, which the price guides consider a top card, but I don't.

5) Finish buying the last 12 PSA cards to finish my 1980-1985 Topps top 30 cards in 8 or higher. The money is not an issue with these they are tough to find due to the low prices. I need 3 for 81, 7 for 82 and 2 for 85.

6) Continue working on my 1960's top 300 PSA graded stars and hofers in PSA 6 or better (with few exceptions). I have 148. Other than the above mentioned, I am focusing on 1961, 1964 and 1966. I already finished 1969 (I have the complete set with 32 PSA graded cards).

Not a priority:

- Finishing my 1959 Topps complete set - I need about 90 cards (mostly high numbers). I am not really focused too much on it right now. It seems to go in spurts.

- Building my run of Topps sets - I would at some point like to get the 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1975 Topps sets to complete my 1969-2006 run. However, I don't know when I will get to it.

- After I finish my 1959-1985 Topps PSA run of stars and Hofers. I plan on finishing up Donruss from 1981-1985 and select years of Fleer. I just can't collect some years like 1981. They are ugly to me. Also, I want to start going from 1958 on down in Topps and Bowman, which will probably consume the rest of my life or at least my collecting one.

perkdog

Priority's.... 1953 Topps Whitey Ford
1954 Topps Duke Snider
1955 Topps Jackie Robinson All these in PSA 7


Optional Years but must have...Ted Williams '54 or '55
Willie Mays '55 or '57


Prolly not but maybe '52 or '53 Mays

prscott933

Musy have:
1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold and Mirror Blue Ozzie Smith

Want:
2006 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor Chris Carpenter

nascar20

wishlist
1.finish these raw sets
baseball-59,71-77
basketball-03/04,05/06 topps black /500
football-72-76
2.finish baseball 74 psa 9 set
3.finish payton,butkus,sayers,santo,williams,and banks player sets

later jeff

Estil

<< <i>wishlist
1.finish these raw sets
baseball-59,71-77
basketball-03/04,05/06 topps black /500
football-72-76
2.finish baseball 74 psa 9 set
3.finish payton,butkus,sayers,santo,williams,and banks player sets

later jeff >>



No NASCAR stuff? It's in your ID so I'm quite surprised there's no NASCAR items on your list (unless they didn't make many NASCAR trading cards).

jackstraw

<< <i>8. Complete Flair master set run of 1993-95: >>



Good luck with the 93 Flair Nolan Ryan Promo?

BTW do you ever go to Beckett Market place for these cards you need? I am sure you can find all of them over there?

originalisbest

Fun list Estil! It's great to make plans and see them through. Also, PM sent.

Estil

<< <i>Fun list Estil! It's great to make plans and see them through. Also, PM sent. >>



I just wish I had more than $100 a month to work with though... Boy I miss my college days when I could spend $300 or so at a time every other week from my part time job back then. But I'll get there, one step at a time.