Great thread...it's been hard to participate here lately...
Hello, my name is John Otto, and I am a set collector.
Almost everyone's feedback could be mine as well. I was born in 1970, and when I was a kid old cards were hard to come by. I was obsessed with 1969 Topps because it was OLDER than me. Started the set around 11, finished with Jim Northrup by mail (all the way from Boston to Seattle! A big deal then...HAHA) when I was 20 in 1990. I lost touch with cards during junk era, and sold my childhood set to a shop for $1000 and it broke my heart. Whats funny is that set was P-VG at best and the shop was thrilled to see a vintage set. I thought I got raked over the coals back then, and that shop went under about a month later. Be lucky to get $500 for that set on Ebay now...
EDITED TO ADD - To be fair, the Nolan Ryan was NM, a beauty I picked up at a Portland card show, and Ryan was going through the roof at the time.
Started up a few years ago collecting 1969 to get that set back for nostalgia, and I haven't looked back. In my continual quest to upgrade my 69 set, I am now 20 cards (all commons) from completing my 3rd 69 set with my first now NM. My wife laughs because I now have a stack of about 200 left over and she is convinced it is the start of my 4th set....it's a sickness!!! (I do have some upgrades on my 2nd set needed!)
My signature is current on what I am building now. I did have the 1954, 1955 and 1957 sets complete, but sold them to fund other projects...and I do regret that. I hate selling, although I did make a nice profit. Good project though, they completely paid for the adoption of our 5th kid as I have mentioned here before, which forever gives me card credibility with the wife, which is priceless...
Love reading about everyone's set collecting adventures!!! There is nothing better as mentioned then looking though a stack and finding the numbers you need!!!! I also love the simplicity of putting cards in a sheet where needed, especially when working with a new set and working those lots. Love it!!