Should I stop making sets and become a HOF collector?

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Posted By: Geoff Litwack

Hello all,

I just finished the most difficult set of my baseball card collecting career (1933 World Wide Gum), and while it was challenging and fun, it made me wonder if I should give up collecting sets and focus on singles. If I broke up my other sets and sold off the commons, it would free up a lot of capital I could use to pursue single cards I've always wanted - maybe an M116 Wagner, maybe an N28 Kelly? On the other hand, will I miss all of those beautiful Diamond Stars who just didn't happen to make it to the Hall? Has anyone else made this transition?

I started collecting modern cards in 1987, and around '93 I realized that I really loved older stuff - I was a big Baseball Cards magazine reader, and there was a really passionate article about 1971 Topps that made me want to collect them, so I sold all my modern stuff and got started. Since then, I've finished earlier and earlier sets (65 Topps, 54 and 55 Bowman, 1941 Play Ball) and sold them off to fund even older and challenging ones. That's my pattern - what about you?