Is set building becoming a thing of the past?
Gemyanks10
Posts: 1,164 ✭✭✭
Haven't started a thread in awhile and figured it would be a good time to start some general discussion around some observations I see these days. Full disclosure: I'm a set builder and mostly collect 1980's baseball sets but see myself gravitating towards the 70's at some point as I just enjoy older cards. I'm currently working on 3 different 1980's sets in a PSA 10 grade because that's the era I grew up in.
With that said, building company sets in a 10 grade takes a lot of work and patience. I've been buying unopened left and right to assist in completing the sets quicker because if I sit back and just wait for cards to come up for sale on eBay, I may never complete the sets. Certain cards don't exist in a 10 yet as well, and I don't like settling on 4SC cards a lot of the time although some of their 10's are very nice.
Do you think the overall consensus in the hobby is that it's not feasible to build big sets? Is the patience factor an issue? I know player sets are a huge thing and I understand space can be an issue especially a 792 card Topps set where 730 of the cards are commons. I enjoy it though and the feeling you get when a project is done no matter how big or small it is.
What say you guys?
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Set guy here. Non graded, in binders
Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007
Al
Completing sets is my main goal...but it's nearly impossible these days as real sets are tossed for yet another $500 for 5 card jersey and autograph delivery system. Even I have shifted my focus lately to my project of getting at least one card of every person to ever get one in the NBA, NASCAR and as of this year, NHL. It's less frustrating than trying to find specific cards that most people don't ever bother to list. I got the NBA missing people down to under 400 this week, with a few more in the COMC package due today.
2017 has been a down year for me on set completion. I think I've only completed 3. Last year I knocked out 25 of them via trades and COMC. A big part of that is that I started collecting NHL this year and most of my new additions have been for that.
im a player set guy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
I am working on completing the Topps Heritage sets. With all of the subsets it would become an expensive proposition to purchase/collect all of the product from a certain year. It's a matter of deciding where to draw the line.
I got my first baseball cards back in 1969 and I remember collecting out of the packs, trading and going to the monthly card meetings to try and get the missing singles I needed. The Internet has made many cards more accessible and quicker to obtain, but more expensive with the shipping. Local dealers prefer to sell only the packs and boxes due to the wholesale cost being so expensive making it difficult to find and purchase singles. I do miss that aspect of collecting as it wasn't just getting the missing cards but it was also the communication with the person who you were dealing with.
I'm a set builder and enjoy the chase and the long pursuit towards completion. Personally, I get a lot of enjoyment out of collecting that way, and work on both raw sets in binders and graded sets from the 1970s. Some sets I've been working on for over 10 years~no rush for me, as I resume when the mood strikes.
I will say that putting together a set in PSA 10 grade is a risky proposition, though, as low pop commons can be extremely volatile in value as pops increase and I have decided that it's wiser to put funds for cards like those towards other purchases and stick with PSA 9s instead.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I don't think set building will ever go out of style.
I try collect the iconic sets, such as 56 Topps Baseball, 57 Topps Baseball, 68 Topps Baseball, 71 Topps Baseball and 75 Topps Baseball, I have graded and raw cards from each those years. That being said, I do not have the funds of course, to go full throttle on these sets, although I'm about 40% complete on the 68 Topps(PSA 8 or better). Set collecting provides the story of that entire year in Baseball, that to me, makes it a great endeavor.
Set builder here but I think that collecting scope is going by the wayside a bit as modern sets w/variations are not feasible. My vintage sets are comprised of raw and graded with upgrades usually turning into new graded additions. I am not one who needs to build quickly - most are built the same year but I still have 92 Bowman set in the works since 1992.
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There's been a gradual shift in the hobby for 20 so years now. There will always be set builders but starting in the 1990s it became possible for someone to collect just one player and have the scope of their collection be as big as a set builder in the 1980s. Now, if you collect someone with any popularity, there's probably a thousand cards of that player every year.
I once was a set builder in 1957-1975 Topps baseball in high PSA grade. It basically became too expensive once you get over 50% complete in a set and also frustrating finding the cards you need. I sold off all my sets except for two through an auction house and have used the $$ to work on my two favorite sets. Progress is slow but yet steady enough to keep me going. The competition for high grade PSA vintage cards can be tough and therefore expensive. When you go very high grade (PSA 10) as the author stated, I would believe it would be very time consuming and expensive.
As for ungraded set building for baseball cards from the 1950s-1970s, I can say that there seems to be a healthy number of collectors who find the chase exciting and worth the effort. I have a friend who is a dealer who sets up at most major card shows and working with set builders is his specialty. At the National he shared that he can't keep his inventory sufficient enough to meet the demand these days.
Sets take up way too much space.
Other than a tiny set - like the 63F BB, I wouldn't do a PSA set - just too darn pricey.
I will do a set raw tho - when I finish my (man cave) room and get more organized, I'll be working on an 83F set - I just like the simple design and color vs Topps - which I haven't finished yet either.
Most fun set I did? 1992 Fleer with my son - the last card we needed to complete the set? Pete Harnisch.
I have a friend who has his sets going back to 1953, except 1955 and 56. He began by collecting the cards in any condition just as long as he had the card. He has continued to upgrade and he sells off the previous version of what he had. He also purchased PSA graded off-cut cards. Overall his sets are vg to vg ex on anything before 1975, but he has fun collecting and upgrading his sets. For a number of collectors, older cards graded 8 and above are prohibitive price wise; thus cards that are raw and lower grade serve as a viable option.
I'm a set builder but more of a vintage guy. I can see the difficulty trying to complete modern sets with all those parallels and inserts. I recently completed Topps sets from 1955 and 1971 and I'm currently working on a '52 Topps set (without the high numbers for now).
Jimmy - You know I am a set builder. I love it. The chase of finding cards that you do not have. I am currently working on complete raw sets from 1953 to 1993 in EX average. Why those dates? Well, I guess you have to draw the line somewhere. I would never be able to finish the 52 set with those lovely high numbers, so I decided 53 was a good place to start. 1993 is more or less when I left the hobby for the first time, before returning a few years ago. I didn't start building vintage sets until I returned a few years ago, so this has been something I have poured my heart and soul into since 2015. Prior to that, I had an extensive collection of wax junk for as far as the eye could see. That was one reason I left in the early to mid 90s.
Now I am sitting at 71.2% complete with my 1953-1993 run. My breakdown per decade is: 1950s (7.68%), 1960s (69.7%), 1970s (50.8%), 1980s (100%), and 1990s (100%). I have 100% completion on my 1961, 1970, and 1980-1993 sets. Next in line are 1960 (96.5%), 1964 (96.1%), 1978 (90.9%), 1965 (88.0%), and 1977 (83.6%). I just completed a trade with Tim and have a good lot of 79s coming, so I imagine that set will be getting up there too.
I do not count graded material in my set runs, only raw. If it can't go in my binder, then it doesn't count! At least for my goal. I have a ton of slabbed material, but it is more for player sets, HOF sets, and a few small company sets that I have put together.
The few sets I am working on are all small (card counts of 11, 15, 96 and 132) and PSA graded. If I ever tackled a large set, I'll likely do commons in binders and key cards PSA graded. Building sets are awesome. I've been trying to figure out what modern set to collect. Some of the Panini basketball autograph sets are pretty sweet.
IG: goatcollectibles23
The biggest lesson I've learned in this hobby, and in life, is that if you have a strong conviction, you owe it to yourself to see it through. Don't sell yourself, or your investments, short. Unless the facts change. Then sell it all.
Set guy here. Non graded, in binders
I'm with Al. I enjoy the hunt and the satisfaction of completion. The binders are too cumbersome for me.
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
For me, collecting sets doesn't have the thrill it used to now that the internet exists. The "ease" is what gets me. I used to like to go to a shop or a show and ask to see their box of "whatever", go through it and pick out what you needed. There was an excitement. But these days, I can sit here on the internet, go to COMC or Beckett Mktplc and take my mouse and check boxes on every card I am missing and have them shipped to my door for a few bucks. Now, if you are just looking for a few cards, its great. But "starting from scratch" or starting a set you have a small number of cards - no thrill for me. Might as well buy someone's set.
I actively collect Kirby Puckett. I have collections of Michael Jordan, Emmitt Smith, Roberto Clemente, Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver, Errict Rhett and Evan Longoria.
There is something about getting that last card to complete the set that makes it all worth while......
As for myself, I am only collecting one set. I am building the pro football HOF RC Set. This allows me to build a set, but still focus on individual cards. It's like getting the best of both worlds.
Thanks for all the responses, and I definitely understand all the view points. When I was a kid, pre grading, I loved putting binder sets together. Would try to hit up card shows every weekend if possible in search of nice raw cards to fill in the holes.
When I came back to the hobby, a lot changed and originally started doing raw sets in binders again, but as some have said, it kind of lost some of its fun for me. A major reason was that shows and shops in my area where few and far between as opposed to the 90's and the thrill of the hunt wasn't there with the advent of eBay etc.
I feel like doing graded sets in a specific grade sort of rejuvenated that fun feeling of searching for cards because they don't pop up as often as just a typical raw card...I am getting tired of buying on eBay all the time and more than miss doing in person transactions but that's a whole different subject.