Nearing completion ??

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Posted By: leon

As I near completion of my goal of the last 10 yrs I am wondering how I will feel when I do complete my type set? I think it could still be some more years but my question is how long is the longest it's taken anyone to complete one of their card collecting goals and upon completion how did you feel? I think there will still be some variations for me to collect but it could be a huge "low" after the high?

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Posted By: T206Collector

...recalls tales of Sisyphus -- it's never truly complete. I'm always upgrading and suspect I always will be.

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Posted By: John S

I have been working on a football HOF collection for the last twenty years or so. All items (preferentially cards) had to be issued when the individual was active as a player, coach, administrator, etc. I need items for 12 of the 235 members. A baseabll HOF collection (I am working on a baseball HOF collection as well) presents its own unique challenges, many of them financial. The greatest obstacle for football collectors is the lack of material (1935 National Chicle and Diamond Matchbooks are the only mainstream issues) issued prior to 1948. I have used broadsides, program covers, and press photos to fill holes in my collection for some of these early members. While 12 is a relatively small number, I do not anticipate completing this set anytime soon (I have never seen items for 7 of the last 12 members).

My card collecting interests are diversified enough (too much) that I will never suffer a letdown when any project is completed.

Leon,

Nice pickup (E271). Was that one of your bigger pieces towards completion of your type set?

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Posted By: Steve M.

The longest?

I think that maybe completion of my W601 Sporting Life Postcard set is taking me the longest. I've been at it for over ten years and am stuck on one for completion. (Anyone have a Detroit for me?)

Second is probably the 1906 Ullman New York Giants postcard set. Need three for completion, two are I think attainable, the third (Henry Mathewson) probably not. It may be that I'll have to wait for someone to die to get that one.

T206 (minus the Big 4) took me less than a year.

C46 Took a little more than a year.

I'm now working on the 1911 Zeenut set (13 to go but surely the toughest)and expect that it will take me the rest of my life to complete, if ever.

That's what makes this hobby so interesting for me. The challenge of completion. And that's why I always have something in the works. There is never the "ultimate" goal. There are always a number of goals. Finish one and move on to the next.

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Posted By: leon

Actually the E271 is just one I had never picked up. I don't even consider it in the top 10 of most difficult to obtain although it's certainly not common. I had just never ponied up for one. There are a few incidental cards I haven't picked up but since my last 2 (difficult ones) are going to be so tough I know I have time. Who said type collecting isn't collecting the way it was meant to be? I think Burdick himself might have leaned that way and I know a few other icons (Jim Beckett) and some others that were more type collectors than set collectors. With that being said I am NOT saying the hobby hasn't been built around sets because I know it has. As stated many times previously I get bored with things very quickly so the breadth, and diversity, of type collecting is what has fueled me so far...best regards

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Posted By: warshawlaw

But when I have I have typically ended up breaking them up or trading them off. Once the chase is over the desire for a new quest kicks in. I'd guess you'll probably decide on some sets that you really like and try to fill them out; that or upgrade what you have.

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Posted By: mvsnyc

leon- what exactly is/was your goal? what are all the "types" you have been collecting?

MS

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Posted By: David Seaborn

Leon,

I was working on an N300 Mayo set when you sent your very fist email to me (what year was that?). I just finished this year. Speaking as a 19th century set collector, it's great because there are many options from easy (n28 - took me only a few months) to almost impossible (N167 Old Judges - ongoing into eternity).

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Posted By: leon

My goal is one card from each baseball set. pre-1950, listed in the 1960 ACC. I prefer HOF'ers but will take commons on the more scarce sets. Really a very simple goal to define....and a little more difficult to complete. Once I had a T231 I knew I had/have a chance. The D355 will be my sore spot. One board member has one so at least I know where one is...though I don't think I could ever bribe it away from him, I will keep trying .


edited to add "pre-1950" ...and Dave- I think that was about 8 yrs ago...

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Posted By: Joe Jones

MVSNYC He has been collecting one of every card in the ACC pre 1950!

I have only been collecting for one year now and have not really completed much. So this will be an intersting thread to see what other people have done and to learn what it feels like to finish.

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Posted By: john/z28jd

It took me almost 13 years to finish my t206 set but i started when i was 15 and had no job.

When i finished it,i felt like a middle aged bald man from Texas....so i assume thats how you will feel too

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Leon, I think the simple solution for you is once you are finished with your pre 1950 type-set is to expand that to pre-1960.

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Posted By: dennis

football

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Posted By: Dylan

Leon perhaps he will give it some thought when your down to only needing the Niagra back to complete the real "monster"

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Posted By: Steve Dawson

It took me 28 years to finish my T205/T206/T207 hall of famer run (minus Wagner and Plank). I started in 1978 when I was 15. I stopped in 1990 and didn't start back up until 2003.

Edited to add that upon completion (with the T207 McKechnie) I was very happy and relieved


Steve

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Posted By: E, Daniel

I would think you could just move on to the other main stream sports of football, basketball, golf and boxing........and at completion, we could bronze bust you and start our own vintage sportscard hall of fame - with you in the first induction class alongside other luminaries of the hobby .
Or, you could just give all those pieces of dank cardboard away, piece by piece to board members in a buffett like move of philanthropy

Daniel


Ps. Oh, and I'm miles away from completing my "players who changed the game" type collection/with no issue repetition/high scarcity factor/printed at time of playing or involvement/nice variation in colors for display, collection. 6 years in, at least that many I would think to completion, and afterwards I would imagine the feeling to be much as you are dreading, a certain flatness, though proud as all get out, and nervous as all heck at the value of cards I had hanging around.
I'll probably stop collecting at that point, and spend my days running a nice b&b somewhere and getting sloshed every night with my beautiful and sexy wife.

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Posted By: Bob

The E94 master set will undoubtedly take me the rest of my lifetime and a good deal of cash. The problem is that once you get a ways in to it, you find that certain color variations, for some reason, rarely appear with certain players. I also am pursuing the D311 and 1911 Zeenut sets which contain cards which rarely (if ever) appear. Happily I am one card short on the E90-1 set (guess which one?), 2 cards away in Delong, 3 cards away in Tattoo Orbit and 2 cards short in the M116 set. All these sets are completable provided I have the cash as these particular cards I need are out there, unlike the aforementioned sets.

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Posted By: Jason L

Do you have a checklist for that "Players Who Changed the Game" set?

let us know when you open the B&B...will it have an open bar?

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Posted By: E, Daniel

for all who can flash the secret Net54 handshake!


Daniel

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Posted By: anthony

i was thinking of just 10 awesome cards that are my all-time favorites based on appearance of certain players. i started about 3 years ago. (prior to that i was a post war collector) that has since turned into about 25-30 cards. i have 3 more to go and although they have been available, i havent had the funds for the grade i want. but i expect to pick them up by next summer. this collection i will truly enjoy keeping.

the other goal i have right now is to put together a HOFer collection with portraits only (when available minus wagner and plank) in lower grade condition, as close to a 3 as possible. once i complete that, i will call mastro to auction it off. this set is just one of those "can i do it and how long will it take?" i'm expecting the high of excitement to dip down a little once the set is complete. i'm at about 22 or so and have been working on this for about 6 months.

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Posted By: barry arnold

It's an interesting question on a number of levels, Leon.
I've noticed that, as I near completion of the 206s---475 at this point,
I have conflicting emotions and approaches to collecting. Some weeks
I find myself ravenously seeking the ones I still need, while other weeks
I just sit back and enjoy what I have and feel no hurry whatsoever. Right
now, i'm in the latter mode.
Admittedly, 'the ravenous' has been much more the norm the last year, really the last 2 years.
I suspect the moods relate to other things going on but will save the psychoanalytic for another venue.
Happy collecting,

Barry