Vintage sets - buying complete vs building from scratch

BaltimoreYankee

I'm currently within 40 cards of completing a 1971 Topps baseball set. I started with a few hundred card lots and have been building it basically card by card since. I also just purchased a complete 1973T baseball set. Here are my observations of build vs buy:

Build: You can select each card individually to your specifications. One drawback to building is you need to make sure your standard stays the same during the process. For some expensive sets, building a little at a time may be the only way to go. A major drawback of building a set is the shipping costs: by the time my 71 set is complete, I will have paid $200 for shipping.

Buy complete: You can't select each card to your specification. Buying complete, you may have to upgrade several cards in the set. You also lose the thrill of the chase. Landing that last high number you need can be quite a thrill. A major advantage to buying a complete set is that shipping is much lower. I paid $12.95 shipping for my '73 Topps set.

Verdict: While the thrill of the chase makes set building really fun, buying a complete set is much more economical and I'll probably go this route for my next set. I'll never get back the $200 shipping that's built into my '71 set.

What are your thoughts on these 2 methods of acquiring vintage sets?

Arsenal83

I feel like if your building high dollar sets like a 71, $200 is probably a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things when you have the cards you want. I prefer a mix of both your situations...I look for high grade starter lots of commons with at least 75% of the set and then hand pick the rest.

natetrook

Important to consider shipping costs in calculating the cost you have into a set.

I also bid accordingly at auction for the last few remaining cards to reduce that complete cost.

It is a blast to finish a set, especially within budget, but it's important to control your purchase prices and be patient for the right card at the right price.

SidePocket

I build them one card at a time - well, I should say one sale at a time. I try to buy as many as I can from a set break to minimize shipping costs. I'm really a centering fanatic so buying lots or complete sets doesn't work for me.

flatfoot816

I do not have the patience to build them 1 card at a time. Not on the mainstream 500+ sets. I have built complete sets of the '64 Stand Ups, '69 4 in 1, '71 Greatest Moments, '57 , '61 and '69 basketball. But I will not go over say 150 cards. I have bought complete sets of '60, '65, '67, '69 and '70. Most stars are graded. I have been sending in about 200 cards at a time to get the complete sets graded. Only set I am working on is the '68 BB in PSA-8--I am 71% done. But bought maybe 350 cards from a board member at 1 shot.



BTW--all the sets were bought many years ago pre-4SCs. All were NrMt/Mt sets and the grading as been even better.

bishop

I have been collecting since 1957. I have full Topps, Bowman and Fleer runs. When younger I used to piece them together...through 1971. After 1971 I would buy sets and upgrade if need be. All sets are in binders through 1994. Truth is, with the exception of a separate run of the Topps Heritage sets, which are also in binders, my post 1992 sets are still in boxes and some have never seen the light of day. Maybe someday, likely not

lahmejoon

I'm in sort of the same boat as you - I'm 62 cards off from a 1970 set, 55 cards short of a 1971 set, 5 cards shy of 1972, and hundreds short of a 1973 set. I've been contemplating buying a complete 1973 set and then upgrading what doesn't meet my condition requirement (which is NM/NMMT). I've even contemplated doing the same on the 1970 and 1971 sets - the cards I'm missing are some of the bigger ones, which will run me a decent chunk of change if I stick to buying card by card from the greg morris' of the world. If I can find a really nice set and have half of the cards I'm missing in acceptable condition for me, I may come out ahead, depending on what I can recoup from the duplicates.

Dodgerfanjohn

If centering is your thing, buying complete sets can be a disaster.

When I was putting together my 1960 set, even trying to keep everything just 70/30 or better, in ExMt condition, I never saw a reasonably priced set that met those specs. Every complete set I saw had some of the main stars at around 90/10. Its harder to sell those cards once you find a replacement. So in that case it was actually cheaper to buy by the card rather than a complete set and replacements.

mbz430e

I love the thrill of the hunt but it does get expensive. I am currently 35 cards from a NMMT+ 72 set and centering is a major factor in my decision to purchase. I, much like Daniel am in to the hundreds in shipping cost that I will never get back but it's not an issue because I have no short term plans on selling the set. What really gets me is how a publication like Beckett can put unrealistic values on these vintage sets, for there is no way you can build a set for what they claim the high retail is. Building a set is an expression of who you are, I find it difficult not to purchase the best overall conditioned card I can find for any set I have built. I am a sucker for the Greg Morris and Zorbaca auctions and probably paid way too much for many of my examples, but wow what eye candy. I agree with Dodgerfan, purchasing completed sets opens you up to immediate disappointment because NM means many things to many people.

ugaskidawg

My build set right now is the 1948-49 Leaf set. I personally enjoy building it card by card. I have bought a few card lots of 4-5 cards, but many of my purchases have been single cards. I hear you about the S&H costs. However, with all that said, I am enjoying the process. I may never complete the set, but I'm going to try! I have around 40 of the 98. I am buying all raw cards (except one) and getting them graded myself. Its fun. It is my fan set, so I have been known to buy a few of the cards for a little more than they are worth, just because I want them in my set. I don't care so much about condition, because the more worn they are, the more I imagine they were loved by whoever owned them!

SidePocket

I should amend my comment to say that if I was building sets from 1970 on I'd probably go the route of buying a set and upgrading the off centered cards simply because the sets have gotten so large and the cost is so much lower than 1956-1967 sets that I work on.

bobsbbcards

my post 1992 sets are still in boxes and some have never seen the light of day. Maybe someday, likely not

Since I'm planning on busting them open to see who's in there, I'm going to go with a "most definitely will see the light of day."

sportscardstop

In the past I have bought a bunch of "lots" on eBay, picked out the ones I wanted for my set, and resold the lots. Usually you get back pretty close to what you paid.

BaltimoreYankee

Another thing I thought of is the size of the set can have a large impact.

At 752 cards, the 1971 Topps set is huge. When I put together my 1955 Topps set, I built it basically card by card. At 206 cards in the set, it's a much simpler build (albeit with more cash involved). For that set, my twist was buying all the HOFers graded by PSA and all the other cards ungraded.

Mires

I'm not a set builder, but if I was using a site like COMC could help keep shipping cost down. I just looked up 71 Topps Baseball and they have almost 6,000 cards in stock. Plus they charge a $3 flat shipping rate. You could literally build an entire set over time and ship the whole set at once. The only downside is I see is the price of the cards themselves are usually higher than eBay, but at least you can submit offers.

lahmejoon

I shy away from COMC for vintage. It's great that you get to see what the card looks like, but more often than not, there are unrealistic asking prices for those cards, even in lower grade. I've used COMC for the little modern that I do and think it's great for modern.

baseballfan

I have gotten a couple cards for my 52 topps low number set from COMC and they were nice. I did wait for the prices to come down on special of through negotiations. I also picked up some 72 hi numbers and 70 topps as well. you just need to keep looking.

the ones I received were real nice. but yes for vintage you need to look hard and work the prices down, but it can happen. I am sure modern is much easier on there.


I like to put the sets together but for my next ones I start I'm thinking buy a set and upgrade where needed. it just takes me so long to finish a set and I get distracted easy that maybe that is the way to go. I'll try it and see I guess.