Criteria for building a post-war set...

[mintacular]

Been struggling deciding which direction I want to go with my vintage baseball collection, mostly in the set building area. What criteria do you use when determining whether or not to build an entire set vs. just picking up a couple key cards in said set? Thanks for your thoughts.

[jb217676]

Hi Pat, are you thinking about doing a raw set or graded set?

[mintacular]

I tend to build mid-grade/midgrade+ raw sets then buy a couple of the key cards PSA or SGC Near-Mint...But still kinda new at this...I definately don't ever see myself buying PSA grade commons, etc.

[jb217676]

If you're buying raw, look for large lots of cards and buy the stars individually. Best to look for lots if you're collecting a 700+ card set. Personally, I'm working on a 1963-64 Parkhurst set all PSA graded. I find baseball sets too huge with too many commons. Older hockey sets are usually around 100 cards or less and filled with stars. If you wanted to do a smaller set, I personally like team sets. That way, you could do a graded set since you wouldn't need so many cards. I'm thinking about doing some team sets where I already have the best card and then fill in the rest.

Lastly, don't overbid or overpay. If you find yourself in a battle over a card, let it go (unless it's super rare or the last card for your set). I've done this and I usually get the card cheaper at a later date (not a Sunday night!)

[Doug]

I've always been for just picking up the key cards myself. You get all of the important players without sinking a lot of money into commons, but it depends on personal preference. If you are actually wanting the project of building a set I'd take the above approach of buying commons in lots and get the star cards separately.