Gonna try a couple lower grade sets.... 1955 Topps & 1934 Goudey

Rudedawg

I've gotten bit by the "set bug" the last few months and enjoy it. Been mostly doing 80s Baseball, Basketball and Football from my generation. I've always loved vintage and tobacco cards and have always wanted to start a set, just never pulled the trigger. There have been some other threads about collecting raw, low-grade sets and that appeals to me. I think it fits well with older sets and I don't care if my sets would have creases or dog-ears. I just want to complete the set.

I spent a good amount of time looking for vintage set designs that I really like and came down to 1955 Topps Baseball and 1934 Goudey Baseball. I don't want too many sets to chase after and I need to budget. The 1955 Topps is probably my favorite vintage, Post-War set. It's also a smaller set without too many huge cards. I will likely go for PSA examples of Koufax and Clemente to avoid a fake. Update: Just won a lot of 38 cards for $40, so it's officially started!!!

I have always wanted to do a t205 set, but just can't justify the cost based on my income and I don't want to spend years and years searching. So, I looked for a happy-medium and found that I really like the 1934 Goudey set. Nice design and colors. I also like the Lou Gehrig connection on most every card. As with the 1955 Topps, the set is fairly small and attainable for me. The two Gehrig cards are obviously the highest cost. Not 100% sure how I will attack this one. Will likely start with raw commons and get accustomed to them. The Foxx and Gehrigs will have to be professionally graded.

If anyone has some advice or insight on either of these sets, feel free to post.

Jakt

The 1955 set is a good choice. It has a little bit of everything. A great design, some nice key cards (Koufax is my favorite), historical value, it can be reasonably assembled, and it is something that can be flipped if the need arose.

Good luck!

PowderedH2O

I have been doing the same thing. I bought a big lot of 54 Topps off the board from smittys and have filled in the rest with PSA 3's and 4's. I'm down to six cards, and the cards look great. I had been building the set in PSA 6 and it was costing me $10-18 per common. In VG-Vg-Ex I got my commons for $2-$3 a piece. I just bought a lot of 76 Vg-Ex/Ex 1955 Bowmans for $125. Yep, I am certainly content with less than mint at those prices.

1954

I actually have about 1/3 of the set in vg to ex condition if you are interested in buying them. I paid around $1.50 a card for 300 in total. If you want to buy the lot from me, please PM me.

Shane

Dodgerfanjohn

You picked good sets to do this with. Both are colorful cards with lots going on...lots of character to them and they present well even if they are a bit beat up. I'm envious if you finish that Goudey set...thats really something to own IMO.

I also recently decided to tackle a vintage set for the first time. I chose 1960 Topps for many of the same reasons you did...its my favorite looking set from the 1960's, the cards are attractive due to the layout and color, and its relatively inexpensive. Even the high numbers aren't pricey for that year. I targeted mostly ExMt, with some NrMt where the cost is low, and some Ex. I specifically am focusing on centering(I've yet to see a set sell in this grade range with all cards 70/30 or better).

I thought it would take 2-3 years to complete, but I'm already 40% done after only 4 months or so, mostly due to Greg Morris on ebay as well as already possessing most of the 2nd tier HOF'ers in the series. I'd be further along but for some reason theres ebay buyers who think its appropriate to pay PSA 7 sold prices for some ungraded ExMt cards in the high number series.

Rudedawg

Glad to hear the feedback guys. It's nice to see other vintage sets being tackled with a lower out-of-pocket cost. It seems most of the post-1954 cards have lower grade commons and semi-stars in decent quantities. It makes the task much more enjoyable when you only have to pay $1.00 or $2.00 for a common. I couldn't handle trying to do PSA Registry sets for any of the 50's or 60's sets. Raw is just fine with me.

vintageinvestments

I have 1955 topps 82 singles no dupes in G-VG for $225 shipped. #1 Rhodes and Herman is also in the bunch. Mostly commons.

Jason

MrVintage

1934 Goudey is an awesome set. I love the design and it is small enough that it is very attainable. The high #s are a bit tougher to find, but not too bad. Good luck!!!