Last Card Needed

[Rich Klein]

I was working on a project for one of my columns, and although digital, I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I found the final card we needed.

That got me to thinking, and you can answer this question for any set old or new. what was the last card you needed to complete a set and is there a good story behind buying or trading for the last card. (It's OK to list without the story -- but a good story makes this exercise better)

Rich

[Cardboard Junkie]

Dreyfus for my Tip Top set.......TUFF!!

Houtemann for 53 Glendales......another tuffy.

Both sold/ traded now.

[Jason]

Not much of a story but here goes.I only needed Buck Hooker to complete my T210 Series 2 set.I was bidding on one that was in a auction and missed it due to sleeping through an alarm I set.A couple weeks later the same card was on Ebay and I won it for exactly what it sold for including the BP.Here he is.

[darwinbulldog]

"Honey, why are you setting that alarm?"
"Well, um, I finally have a chance to pick up a nice-looking Hooker around 3 o'clock."

[and my wife would reply -- "But I thought you weren't going to buy any more cards this month."]

Originally Posted by Jason

Not much of a story but here goes.I only needed Buck Hooker to complete my T210 Series 2 set.I was bidding on one that was in a auction and missed it due to sleeping through an alarm I set.A couple weeks later the same card was on Ebay and I won it for exactly what it sold for including the BP.Here he is.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

"Honey, why are you setting that alarm?"
"Well, um, I finally have a chance to pick up a nice-looking Hooker around 3 o'clock."

[and my wife would reply -- "But I thought you weren't going to buy any more cards this month."]

Hahaha that was a good one

[freakhappy]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

"Honey, why are you setting that alarm?"
"Well, um, I finally have a chance to pick up a nice-looking Hooker around 3 o'clock."

[and my wife would reply -- "But I thought you weren't going to buy any more cards this month."]

Excellent! Thanks for that, Darwin!

[Jantz]

Hi Rich

Back in the late 90s I was building a Bowman Chrome set and got down to one card. I remember reading an article in Beckett that said this set was one of the toughest sets to build from the 90s.

Ironically it was a Cleveland player. I figured since I live here in Ohio, it wouldn't be that hard to find. After months of stopping by card shops...(card shops? What are those?) and hitting a few card shows I would be able to locate this last card.

After months of searching with no luck, I grabbed the latest issue of Beckett and began calling all the card shops advertised in the back of the magazine. Finally found a shop out in Las Vegas that had my last card I needed.

So after months of searching and an inflated long distance phone bill, I finally found that last common card I needed to finish my set. But as we all know, the hunt is a big part of what makes this hobby so enjoyable.


Jantz

[Republicaninmass]

T3 set it was Cobb but he is found easily

Last two were Rhoades and Tenney both very tough

[mybuddyinc]

Many years ago: E90-1 complete sans Jackson. Had to sell do to finances. As I was selling off, I had a chance to buy a PSA 2 Jackson for $3000, but had to pass .............


"Don't cry Constable, it is a sad story, but as my uncle Ichabod said "Speaking of the city: 'T'ain't no place for women gal, but pretty men goo thar." -- W.C. Fields (Fatal Glass of Beer)

[albrshbr]

Sorry Rich but this is about the last 2 cards needed.

It was 1979 and I was finally getting close to completing my first ever set of baseball cards (1979 Topps) and was only missing Clint Hurdle and Mike Krukow. I checked with a friend of mine who usually had more cards than me, and wouldn't you know it, he only needed the same 2 cards. (He was only 1 card short of the 1978 set...Thurman Munson). I took a trip to a local card shop (there weren't many available back then) and they already had 3 wantlists on file needing the same cards.

A couple weeks later I went to visit my grandparents for the weekend and I took my cards with me. I sat at the kitchen table with my grandmother and told her all about my card collection and what I knew about some of the players (Bench and Brett for the most part). After dinner, the 3 of us got into the car and went to a nearby K-Mart where grandma surprised me by buying the last of the packs they had available (about 10 of them). We got back to the house where I tore them open, but did not find the cards I was hoping for.

The next day grandma went to the grocery store and came home with about 10 more packs of cards. This time I found both of the cards I needed! I can't tell you how excited I was, I really thought back then that completing a set was a major accomplishment, for anyone. I knew people who had complete sets of KISS cards or Star Wars, but no one who had completed a set as large as a baseball set.

I lost my grandmother in 1981 and miss her for many reasons. I have many wonderful memories, one of which is her helping me complete my 1979 Topps baseball. She had no interest in any sports, but sat there for hours as I talked about my cards and various baseball players. I still have the 2 cards, don't know exactly where they are right now, but I do know I still have them in probably VG condition both in toploaders. They are my only 2 cards in my collection that I will never get rid of.

[conor912]

I'll let you know. I've never completed a pre-war set. I have about 8 sets that need three cards or less to complete. I have the horrible habit of getting down to the most expensive cards and instead of finishing, I start a new set.

[Koufax32fan]

The last card I needed for my 1954 set was the rookie Aaron. I wanted to buy one that I could see and touch before purchasing and I could not find one in nice EX condition to match the rest of the set (at a price I wanted to spend). I saw nicer ones but didn't feel like paying that much to have a NrMt/Mint card that would be nicer than the rest of the set and I saw worse condition ones all the time. A few years ago I saw a beautiful one that was out of my price range and I was told by the dealer, Wayne Johnson from Indiana, from whom I have bought a lot of cards over the years, that if I had to splurge on one nicer card the rookie Aaron is the way to go. So, to the story. This summer I decided to go to Chicago for the last day of the National and walk the floor with my best friend who still lives in Chitown. We had a great time and each picked up some cards and other stuff, but really just had a great time being together without kids, etc. As we were leaving we saw Wayne and my friend bought some really nice 1957 cards for his set. And, while Wayne didn't have any 39 Playball cards for my set, he did have another gorgeous 54 Aaron. It was more than I wanted to spend. My buddy asked me how much I wanted to spend and I told him and he said to Wayne to give me the card and he would pay the rest. Now, the money isn't really the issue here - the best part of this story for me is that I will always think of my best friend, Eric, when I look at that set.

I think the sequel to this story will be when I buy the Williams to finish my Playball set.

[atx840]

I'd been studying the T206 set on and off for around five years and decided the SC F649 subset would be a fun way to start the collection.

Last card I needed was Bransfield, months of searching with no leads.

Bill Brown was slowly working on the same subset and offered his example to help me out. Not a tough project but sure learned a lot.

Thanks to Bill and many other boardmembers who have helped me along the way.

[freakhappy]

Al, jantz, and Koufax...great stories! It's crazy how one or two cards can elude us, even when they are commons.

There is always that great feeling when you complete a set, but like someone said before, the journey is often the best part. So many stories and fond memories on purchases, interactions and friendships made...priceless!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[z28jd]

I started collecting Old Judge cards of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys and had a card of every player except Deacon White. Then he made the Hall of Fame and I'll finish this story once I win the lottery.

An actual set I finished with an interesting story. As a young child I bought many 1987 Topps cards and never got a Teddy Higuera card and my friend didn't have one either. Between us, we probably had close to 3,000 cards at the time. Even another friend that had about 150-200 cards didn't have Higuera. I bought a couple of the 100 card packs they sold and still didn't get the Higuera, so I finally ended up buying one at a card store for 35 cents. I decided to see how close I was to a second set and I was missing only three cards, two of which I got from my friend and there I was, one Teddy Higuera away from a second set.

[glynparson]

1960 Topps- Danny Murtaugh - tough one to find nice, manager from my favorite teams World Series victory year.

1966 Topps- Grant Jackson -I looked so long for one I since have become a little bit of a hoarder of this one as i buy it when i see one priced reasonably.

1980 Topps- Roy Smalley This was the first set I ever put together as an 8 year old. I still rember buying the card at a flea market at Wilson central junior high in 1980. I still remeber the feeling like it was yesterday. I do not know what happend to that particular card, it is one i actually hope is still in my old card chest at my parents with other sentimental but worthless (dollar wise) cards.

19867-87 Fleer Basketball- I got lucky and started the set when Jordan was still only $35. By the time I finished the set was pretty popular I think the Barkley cost me as much as The Jordan by the time I bought it from Gary Oates ( at his parents house in Wernersville PA) whom I ran into at this years national, he still is in the business.

There have been many more, these stood out for some of the reasons mentioned.

[Leon]

Nice stories, guys. There is a story behind the last e94 overprint I needed, but I forget all of the details now.

[bbcard1]

In both 1973 and 1974 when I was putting my sets together old-school by trading and buying cards at grocery stores and five and dimes, both years Cy Acosta was the last card I needed.

The last card for my T206 520 set was O'Hara St. L. Just took a while. I think I ended up overpaying just a little in the end.

Finishing up my 1933 DeLong Gehringer was the last card I needed. I was quite happy with the buy I got on that one.