Set Buliders Question
 

I am currently building a graded 1960 topps baseball card set in mid grade condition 6-7 conditions cause I feels that's what I can afford. But the question is, is it better to buy graded vintage for sets as a lot or separate? I see them here and there being offered. After thinking about it I feel like getting the set raw then upgrading from there, that way I have the whole set then I can just upgrade the cards I want.

Lots will usually save you money if you have the funds available to buy them when they become available. If cost is an issue, why not just collect the set raw? It's all just personal preference I know, but I don't really see why people spend more and have to store all those slabs for mid grade Topps sets. i can see it if you're working on a NRMT set, or a set where the individual cards are more expensive.

Hey Jake...you should talk to Erick (t206hound) about it.

He has built an impressive T206 partial set of all SGC40, I believe, and is on his way to accomplishing it.

I personally would pick a grade and stick with it. I also would pick up commons and stars at the same time instead of just starting with commons or just starting with stars/semi-stars.

If you find a lot for sale that has the grade you're building but also other grades lumped in with it, you can sell off or trade those extras to fuel the grade you are building.

There is also an online graded registry that you can sign up for and select the year you are building to keep track of your progress. It is a very neat program.

Hope this helped a little.

Craig

thanks for advice fellow vintage collectors

and I have been a fan of checking cardtarget.com

Jake btw it's probably been at least 20 years since I built my first raw 1967 Topps set and it was a blast.

It was during the building of that set that I realized even though Nolan Ryan's Topps Rookie Card was in 1968; he was pictured in the 1967 Topps set in the Mets Team card.

Craig

I sent Erick a pm, awesome on that Ryan

Very good Jake...Erick is a good man and he's accomplishing his T206 graded build on a tight budget fueling his purchases by using the BST board to his advantage.

Please report back and let us know what good tips he gives you.

I think I didn't ask the right questions

I think I may have misinterpreted your questions. I thought you were asking specific questions about your set.

Step one: decide what you are collecting and what you'll do with it once complete

For me, I'm reselling upon completion. Therefore I'm collecting SGC graded T206 common back cards (for resale value). I'm also collecting exclusively 40s as I'm looking for consistency with decent eye appeal without breaking the bank. If I wasn't reselling, I probably would collect raw.

The most cost effective way to build is buying large lots. I'll buy any lot that I think is a value. Sometimes I resell the entire thing as singles or in smaller lots. Sometimes I keep them all. Generally it's somewhere in the middle.

I buy both graded and ungraded. For my ungraded cards, I wait for an SGC special or until I have 100+ in which I can get bulk pricing.

My motto along the way has been that "50s pay for 40s"...

thanks Erick for the help and advice