Posted By:
Al C.risafulliJoann:
I have a reasonably ambitious set-collecting goal (all 26 years the Yanks won the WS, plus T205). What I've found is that focusing on one set at a time can be harmful to the wallet. After building sets for a while, you see that they get hot, they cool off, and all points inbetween. It's driven by how many other people are collecting it at any point in time.
Basically all you need is two people to decide to collect it at the same time, and Ebay/auction prices start going to the moon as they beat each other up on prices.
As such, I try and collect a couple sets at a time, so if prices start going crazy on one, I can focus on another for awhile.
As for your other dilemma, I had the same problem. Focusing on a single goal was killing me as I started seeing cards I liked in non-"Yankee years". The Yanks didn't win their first Series until 1923, which limits many prewar sets as well. So I started building a Hall of Fame set. That enables me to collect individual player cards from whatever sets I like - so I could go out and buy some great prewar items, some cool oddball and regional 1950s and 60s cards, et cetera. It's been a great distraction - so much so that there are times that the HOF set is all I'm working on, as I get bored quickly. With the HOF set, my goal is one card (at least) of every HOFer, using as many card types as possible.
I highly recommend it; it's the most fun I've ever had in the hobby.
-Al