Set building strategies
 

I'm new to the board her and I'm pretty new to vintage pre-war collecting but it has become the main focus of my collection now, until recently my focus had always been on the late 50's through the 60's. Collecting and completing sets for the 50's and 60's was pretty easy comparatively speaking and I think the inherent difficulty in trying to complete pre-war sets is part of the appeal to me.

I was just curious as to what some of your thoughts and theories are on trying to complete these difficult sets. I've set my sights on the 1934 Goudey and much tougher T205 set. I have very strict budget that I limit myself to. I could set out after the commons first then go after the higher profile cards, or save my budget for a couple months to pursue the higher profile cards first.

In the end maybe it doesn't matter much, just curios if anyone has theories on this.

The three sets of some note I have completed have followed a pretty similar template:

1) get a bargain on a decent chunk of the set
2) Pick off the easy ones
3) Keep a bit of dry powder for when you get a great buy on something
4) Sell duplicates you get along the way to fund other purchases
5) Grind out the last few cards

You are at a wonderful place to help you. I have in all likelihood the worst T205 set in existence, but couldn't have done it without the help I got on this board, particularly Mac and Marc.

Welcome aboard,

I would say don't over-extend yourself early. It may be easier to complete a set with big cards out of the way but you don't want to invest too heavily into something you're just starting either. I'd start with commons and see if, after a while, you still have strong interest to keep pursuing the set. Sometimes people lose interest as they acquire cards in a set, then you at least won't have too much $ invested if you decide to get out and pursue a different project.

I started going after the Diamond Star set a couple years ago and sort of lost interest. Maybe not lost interest, but became interested in other stuff more. I didn't buy any of the expensive high # cards yet, so I'm happy with that. I've since put that project on hold and still have the cards but am more happy acquiring other cards at the present time....

I found that with my subsets it is better to begin with the rarest and/or highest valued cards first. Because once you start on a set often times you may want to keep rolling to complete it. And when you complete the whole set accept those really frustrating ones, then it can be a pain waiting on getting those not so common or expensive ones. Soon I will be embarking upon 33 and 34 Goudey, 41 Playball, and Diamond stars HOF subsets, and my plans are to get 41 playball Dimaggio and Ted Williams out of the way first. Luckily I already have Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth now it should be a lot easier. And like bbcard1 said try to buy in bulk.

I might add that my strategy for upgrading is buy lots, keep the better of the two for myself, list the other on ebay...if you get a reasonable discount for buying in bulk and pass without remorse when you don't, you have a puncher's chance of upgrading your set without much out of pocket.

BUY BUY BUY. Run a sprint instead of the normal stroll. On a serious note the T205 set in low grade A-2 can be had very fast and for reasonably cheap as long as you go for common backs. GL with the set:cool:

Welcome aboard
 

As Andrew mentioned, go at a slow pace. I've seen several collectors dive in and run at full speed only to have their collecting interests change. If it is the T205s that interest you and you aren't trying to collect the back variations (Wilhelm & Mathewson), it can be accomplished without breaking the bank as your most expensive would be the Cobb or Addie Joss. Although I'm biased, I think it is one of the most fascinating prewar sets out there. You will find quite a few T205 experts on this board if you ever have questions about something.

I have been working on my low grade set since 2007 and just went over the 75% threshold. Like you, I was on a limited budget and I was never in a position to acquire a large lot since I was going after the variations as some rarely come up and I wanted to make sure I had the funds saved when they did. At first, I would buy 1 or 2 commons a month, while I saved for one of the higher priced or variation cards. I would have been done earlier with the set, but like many other collectors, I would see something not related that would catch my eye. I'm down to needing 53 commons to be complete and I hope to have it done by July of 2013.

r/
Frank

I'd have to say starting slow is the best advice until you are 100% convinced this is definitely the set for you. The next best piece would be buy large lots whenever possible and make it possible. You get to upgrade your dups, get some more for the set and take your time selling what you dont need to recoup funds. This has always worked out financially for me. If you push too hard it can make you feel "trapped" though so enjoy whatever pace you choose.

My fool proof strategy:

1. Open a bank account that wife doesn't know about
2.. Put a bunch of money in it approx. 150% more than what you think the set will cost.
3. Open a paypal account that draws on that account.
4. Rent a p.o. box
5. Buy cards from ebay, net54, cardshows, auction, etc and have them sent to the p.o. box.
6. Pick up shirts from the laundry, make sure shirts are folded not on hangers
7. Insert bought cards into the folded laundry
8. Walk into house with cards hidden in laundry box.
9. Extract cards and co-mingle with previously purchased cards so wife can't discern that there have been any new acquistions.

Brilliant strategy, btw, iwantitiwinit. :)

For the OP, since your budget is limited, I would recommend purchasing the most valuable cards and the HOFers initially. That way, if you decide the set is becoming too expensive for you, you can sell off what you have easily or switch to a HOFer only set instead of having a bunch of commons on your hands. Once you decide the set if for you, and that you should have the means to complete it, I would look into buying lots. You will save money over time buying lots since you can re-sell (or trade) the duplicates that you have. You can cherry pick the lot for the cards that you want, so if you want to build a mid range set, you can pick out the better cards or if you just want a lower grade set, you can get rid of the higher grade ones. After you get a substantial part of the set done, you would look to buy individual cards. Buying cards one by one will typically be more expensive. However, you can set snipes on ebay to slowly buy the cards that you want at the prices you want in the condition you want. Do your research so that you don't overspend for cards in a particular condition, and have fun! Good luck!

I guess I'm doing it differently from the rest of you, but...

Go for the 'big' cards as soon as you see them at a good price. If expense is a concern, start off with examples at the low end of your 'condition' requirements, and upgrade as you can afford to. These can be murder as you near set completion. I waited on the 'big' cards in the past, and not doing it this time around.

For the commons, don't settle on fillers - when you see one at a fair price that meets your condition requirements, and you have the cash, grab it.

Welcome to the forum Mark. Seems like everyone has some sort of strategy and heres what works for me. When starting a new set, I usually purchase the commons thats are cheapest at first. If i'm collecting a certain grade, such as PSA 4/SGC 50, I would go on ebay and search that grade and list the cards low to high. While waiting for your first purchases to come in, make a check list with a spread sheet like Microsoft Excel and start entering Buy It Now prices into the spreadsheet and then go to ebay finished auctions and enter auction ended prices in another column. As time goes by and more cards are for sale or auctioned, update your list, eventually having a high and low column for buy it nows and a high and low for auctions ended. Now you can see when a card is a good deal. This is why I say buy a few of the cheapest cards first since you can't go wrong with the price. Since your on a budget, you don't want to over pay for any of your cards. Good luck with your new set.

I definitely appreciate all the feedback and opinions I have received so far on this topic, I look forward to all the new suggestions as well.

Ron, I do like your idea of tracking the history of sold prices to get a good handle on the high and low end of what a card auctions for. Does anyone use, or heard any feedback regarding www.vintagecardprices.com It seems that they already do that leg work for you and provide you with a table broken down by grading company, grade and what the average price that a particular card sold for on Ebay. Granted they charge you $15 monthly fee.

Again, I appreciate all the feedback I’ve received on this topic!

--Mark

I buy a one day VCP pass once a quarter and pull off the average prices for the cards in the set. This beats manually entering Ebay information but keep in mind VCP doesn't catch everything. I did the Ebay-thing at first and found VCP easier - it is whatever your preference is.

I agree with going after the big cards first. And settling on a condition, I am doing A - 2 but just got a good deal on a 3 so I bit and now have a duplicate that I can sell.

Also, use "special days" to your advantage. For my 35th birthday last October, my fiance purchased a card I needed. We got married in November, so I got another card (along with something else) as a wedding gift and for Christmas, yet another card. Knocked out 3 cards by doing nothing (well, the wedding was something).

But don't let the set consume you. Don't be afraid to buy something else that you like and can afford. This will ensure you won't get bored waiting for other cards to show up for sale.

I like to manually do the price tracking over using VCP only because you get a better idea of what cards come around more often and then figure out what commons are actually more difficult. Also, the more time you spend researching your set, the more enjoyable it is. If you had unlimited funds, you could just spend your time purchasing all the cards but if you buy one or two cards a week, your gonna need a way to enjoy the set without spending money till its time for the next purchase so research and learning helps pass the time. I personally don't have a preference on wether commons or key cards are bought first. My purchases are done in order of whatever good deals come first. By doing it this way, you get a good mix of commons, stars, and HOFers all at prices you can be happy with.

Collecting sets
 

Collecting T206 helped me get comfortable with the idea of collecting a set that will never be complete, since I don't plan to ever buy a Wagner, Plank, or Doyle variation. The same is true of many sets. 2 or 3 rare cards can cost as much as the rest of the set! I'm comfortable with having a group of cards from a set, but I'm not obsessed with it being 100% complete. With that in mind, I start with cards I like that I can get for a reasonable price. Sometimes a group of 10-20 commons is a good way to start.