Chasing the wind..
 

So, as I was browsing the 'bay to find some cards to finish a set I'm working on, I saw several for-sale ads, specifically 'set break' ones, that got me to thinking - always a dangerous endeavor.

It seems like there is a constant turnover of cards going in and out of sets. Guys like me are accumulating cards to build sets and other folks, mainly dealers, are busting those sets up to make some scratch. Because like cars, the cost of the individual cards (parts) are almost always more expensive than the cost of the set (car) as a whole. A constant turnover with seemingly no trend toward chaos (only individual cards, no sets) or order (all cards belonging to someone's set).

So I ask myself, 'Hey you chucklehead, why don't you just buy the whole set at once instead of working for years and spending more that it's worth when it is finally complete?' And I came up with two answers:

1. I'd much rather spend, for example, $2 five times than $10 at once. Spreading out the cost of the set over time.

or

2. I enjoy the thrill of the chase - the means more than the end. I enjoy looking through ads, boxes, the 'bay, going to card shows, the BST, and getting the satisfaction of building something myself.

For me, I think I've got some of both - maybe 60% of the first and 40% of the second.

How 'bout you?

Depends on the set and costs of shipping individual cards.

If I'm building a modern set I would rather buy in bulk at a show than piece out each card and pay $3 shipping per card for 10 cards or more.

Trading cuts down on the costs if I find another collector working on the same set.

Of course the same can be said for a vintage set I'm building. I usually buy heavy at the National than buy individually on the internet. Cuts down on "lost package percentage" as well.

I like the thrill of the chase, but it all depends on the set itself.

I build sets as a dealer. How, you might ask, is it possible to make a profit? I buy thousands of cards in lots and assemble sets from them I don't even look at individual cards until I'm at LEAST 90% done. If I buy a lot of 5,000 1975 Topps that's easily the base for 6 sets but I might get the lot for $200. Maybe I'll buy a lot of 70's rookies. Maybe 100 mixed rookies for a few hundred. Out of that I may get 2 or 3 or more Bretts, Younts, Rice, Carter etc... Also I try and do EX or better sets, so I can sell of all the lower end singles in bulk lots of my own.

I have actually put together sets virtually for free when you take into account cards I've sold from lots that I didn't need for sets. Time is the real cost for me, not money.

I have built almost my entire collection on this exact premise.....like many, when I get down to needing just a few cards to finish a set, I do tend to purchase those cards individually(and regretfully pay $3+ for s/h for each). For me it is about the chase also, I just prefer the chase to be realized by going through bulk lots I recently purchased (and will later resell for a small profit) versus paying s/h on each card that I add to my collection. If I took the route of buying each card individually (and paying s/h on each card), I would be lucky if my collection would be 10% of its current size.

Tom,

great question! I believe that if I had the funds available to buy the set that I wanted I would still not buy everything at once and would probably look to upgrade much of my set at the moment over time.

The thrill, hunt, chase, etc is part of the excitement. And I always wonder what happens one day when or if I do reach my goal of the set I'll never fully complete (t206)?? Will it be over will the set lose it's appeal? Will I pass it down to my son?

The late great legend Lemmy Kilmister once wrote and sang the lyrics to a song (about chasing women but applicable here) "THE CHASE IS BETTER THAN THE CATCH".