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Building My First Set - 2001 Topps XFL

Merry Christmas!

After reading, and seeing the glorious pictures, of you guys out there building sets, especially slum22's 1961 Fleer Basketball, I was envious. I had been bit by the set building bug. With the new year right around the corner I figured now was a good time to start. Over the last couple of weeks while mulling over what sport, year & brand to collect I set some guidelines to follow.

1.) It needs to be cheap. As I want to build the set from raw, the majority of my money will be spent on grading.
2.) Start small(ish). I don't want to start out with something over my head huge.
3.) Must be readily available.
4.) Should be something different, something not everyone collects.

Staying within these criteria I found the perfect set.

Behold: 2001 Topps XFL!

It's not the sexiest, flashiest or most valuable set, but it's something I was a fan of when it was around and still a fan of today (thanks YouTube). It also met all of my guidelines.

1.) Cheap, check. Unopened boxes in the $15-$25 range. Base singles between $.10 & $.40 at COMC, SportLots & the Beckett Marketplace.
2.) Small(ish), check. 160 cards total (100 base cards, 18 autographs, 16 relics, 10 stickers, 8 promos and an 8 card QB subset).
3.) Available, check. At the point in time that I decided this was the one there were 6 unopened boxes on ebay and more singles than I could count.
4.) Different, check. Football is not really a sport I collect or follow faithfully anymore. Also, with only 30ish PSA graded cards from this set around it's definitely something not everyone collects.

As an added bonus, I already own a mint example of my favorite XFLer, Rod "He Hate Me" Smart, and it just so happens to be his rookie card to boot.
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I enjoy following along and seeing everyone else's sets coming together, so I plan on posting updates from time to time on this set. Hopefully you'll enjoy mine as well.

Wish me luck!

-Jason

Comments

  • HE HATE ME! Love that jersey! He did well as a KR man with the Panthers.
  • lawnmowermanlawnmowerman Posts: 19,477 ✭✭✭✭
    Good stuff! I look forward to seeing your progress.
  • Nice. Have fun. Here's the issue though, you complete a few cheap sets and get the bug. The next thing you know, you're doing expensive sets, selling your valuables for a common fix on your way to being homeless and wandering up to random people at the mall asking for a dollar to get that last Joe Klecko card you need for your set.
  • slum22slum22 Posts: 2,594 ✭✭✭✭
    Good luck! Can't wait to see the updates. I remember "He Hate Me"image
    Steve
  • totallyraddtotallyradd Posts: 941 ✭✭✭✭
    Anyone who ever saw the XFL knew Rod "He Hate Me" Smart. I remember watching the first XFL game with some friends and laughing about the jerseys of some of those guys, and then seeing Smart's postgame interview and just loving his enthusiasm and charisma. I think you'll have a lot of fun with this, and hope you'll enjoy it.

    The best thing to come out of the XFL is they revolutionized some camera work that the NFL currently uses today, the most notable example is the overhead shots.

    Good luck on your quest, sir!
  • blee1blee1 Posts: 713 ✭✭✭
    Awesome!

    Small coincidence.... I just sent my first XFL card from set to have graded.
    Skips PSA Exchange
    Successful transactions with: yankeeno7, raiderguy10, Beck6, CDsNuts, DaveP01, Dboneesq, Elemenopeo, gameusedhoop, georgebailey2, Goldlabels, gstarling, justmichael, etc

    Working on.........
    Tony Dorsett Master Set
    1977 Topps Mexican FB (raw)
    1957 Topps FB Set (raw or graded)
  • elsnortoelsnorto Posts: 2,012 ✭✭
    And here I thought I was the only loser collecting this set! image

    One of my collecting areas is defunct football league memorabilia, so I put this master set together some time ago... the base set, promos, stickers (retail), QB foil cards, autographs, game jerseys (multi-colored), and game balls (multi-colored).

    All the cards are cheap and easy to find, with the exception of the game balls. Since I completed my set, I don't follow the market as closely as I did, but the game balls can go as high as ~$50. Not a huge amount of money, but way more than I would have expected 13 years after the one-and-done XFL died.

    Good luck with your set! image

    Snorto~
  • eagles33eagles33 Posts: 2,683 ✭✭✭
    I always found defunct football leagues I teresting too. The only set I got was the 84 USFL set. Are there any hard to find world league cards? I know pro set had a few different sets but don't remember any errors or hard to find cards
    Scans of most of my Misc rookies can be found <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://forums.collectors.com/m...y&keyword1=Non%20major">here
  • This one is going down today. Absolute zero knowledge of what is in this, outside of I think some hot chick cards.

    I recall watching the first game on TV. The owner guy (wrestling guy) touted off 'THIS...... IS THE X F L !!!!!!!!!!!!!' Then half naked 'cheerleader' ladies ran around the stands while people watched some high school football.

    image
    image
  • DanBessetteDanBessette Posts: 6,421 ✭✭✭
    I'm hoping for many Tommy Maddox and "He Hate Me" cards in your future. Please post them if you hit them.
  • Nice call there ! Only opened one pack just now and got your Maddux image

    image
    image
  • DanBessetteDanBessette Posts: 6,421 ✭✭✭
    Nice. stepfret played a few years in the NFL.
  • PMKAYPMKAY Posts: 1,372 ✭✭
    I opened a few boxes of these recently. Cards were stuck together and I ended up putting three boxes in the freezer. That was three weeks ago and I only remembered because of this thread.
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