Another thread about set building
 

I nearly posted this is John's or Emily's set threads, but I didn't want to hijack them. As someone who is thinking about starting a set like '57 Topps, I am finding that thread informative. Here's my hang up...and red alert, this is really stupid but here it goes.

Last Summer, I broke up my '53 and '54 Topps sets, keeping the rookies/stars I wanted. With the proceeds of the rest of the sets, I bought some graded T and E cards. Part of me regrets breaking them up but, like I said, I kept some of the "big" cards. Anyway, I have since had thoughts about doing another set, but it has been hard to get myself motivated to build a "newer" (not that '57 is new) set after having had '53 and '54. At the same time, the fun was in the chase and, once that was over, I was more or less ready to part with them. I have thought about putting them back together before moving on to other sets, but I have already done them. I am trying really hard to just move on to a set like '57, but I am having a tough time. Have any of you gone through this?

Nah, it's not stupid. I know what you mean. I think there is a lesson in this, which is that while there is fun and excitement in the chase, there is a contentment in just knowing your good ol' cards are there. As the authors of "The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading, and Bubble Gum" book said - and I'm paraphrasing - just knowing the cards were up there on the shelf was enough to get you through another winter.

I know the feeling you're talking about, because I gave a lot of my cards away a while back. I've spent a bit of money buying back cards I used to have at much higher prices than I originally acquired them. I don't by a long shot, have them all. But as the expression goes, "it's better to light one candle, than curse the darkness". I've gotten a lot of nice cards, and every now and then I go over, look at them, and spend some time with them. I've also been reading a lot of baseball books and getting old rare games on DVD.

I'd say, if not having those complete '53 and ''54 sets is bugging you, go ahead and reacquire the cards you got rid of again. If you want, you can simultaneously do that while building the '57 set. Budget of course, will determine just how quickly you accomplish this, but knowing that you are working toward all of these things, might make you feel better.

Robert it’s like you and I have talked, I think at times it’s just hard for any one thing to hold our interest long term, so we jump around some. Witness my posts earlier this month lamenting the lack of anything “big” in my prewar collection. That’s something that generally hasn’t bothered me for years on end, but for whatever reason a few weeks ago, it reared it’s ugly head. So, I bought a big name prewar card and love it, but will admit now even before the shine has worn off that at all, the thought is in the back of my head like “Wow, I could sell this and get a very nice Seaver RC or a ‘57 Mantle...” It’s not lack of focus, I think it’s jut being genuinely interested in too many damn things. For me it’s usually individual cards and not sets, but if I had a dollar for every time I’ve sold something and then re-acquired it a year later - well that would help out my card budget. It’s not lack of focus like we don’t know what we are talking about. I think it’s the maddening desire to have everything, and the knowledge given the breadth and expense of this hobby at the end of the day, that that is impossible.


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[QUOTE]jchcollins Robert it’s like you and I have talked, I think at times it’s just hard for any one thing to hold our interest long term, so we jump around some. Witness my posts earlier this month lamenting the lack of anything “big” in my prewar collection. That’s something that generally hasn’t bothered me for years on end, but for whatever reason a few weeks ago, it reared it’s ugly head. So, I bought a big name prewar card and love it, but will admit now even before the shine has worn off that at all, the thought is in the back of my head like “Wow, I could sell this and get a very nice Seaver RC or a ‘57 Mantle...” It’s not lack of focus, I think it’s jut being genuinely interested in too many damn things. For me it’s usually individual cards and not sets, but if I had a dollar for every time I’ve sold something and then re-acquired it a year later - well that would help out my card budget. It’s not lack of focus like we don’t know what we are talking about. I think it’s the maddening desire to have everything, and the knowledge given the breadth and expense of this hobby at the end of the day, that that is impossible.[QUOTE]

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Darn fine points, gentlemen. Y'all referenced the dirty word: budget!! I was thinking on rebuilding the '53 and '54 sets, but I am starting to think I won't, and here's why. Increasingly, the cards I am looking at are more the types of cards with photographs and not art/painting looks. That is something that is increasingly drawing me to '57 Topps. I also like '53 Bowman and recently bought the Mantle from that set, but for sets, I just like the Topps issues more. I also want to use a binder for this set, and I want standard sized cards that will fit into 9 pocket pages. The '53 and '54 Topps sets were the only sets I was ever disciplined enough to actually complete. I think since I held on to the cards from those two sets I really like, I will be less likely to get distracted as I try to put '57 together.

John, that's good point about it not being a lack of focus but more of trying to have it all. I think over the last year, I have started striking a better balance with everything collecting-wise.

There's a maximum of three set building threads per week. This will have to stay on the waitlist ;)

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From a purely financial standpoint set building is a losing proposition, the sum of the parts is not worth the whole.

From an enjoyment / hobby perspective it's fun as hell so if the financial reality of that process is NOT a major motivating factor, then by all means build away and enjoy....

Yep, I have found this to be true over the years. This is all a hobby for me, strictly for fun. That's not to say that I want to intentionally make terrible financial decisions, but I really just want to get back to the fun this hobby offers. For me, that is pages in a binder and seeing those slots in the nine pocket pages fill in one at a time until completion is achieved.