Set Collectors Advice

[almostdone]

Originally Posted by Vintagevault13

I enjoy building sets, but have found myself getting distracted in the past. A trick I found that has worked for me is to break the set into smaller sets so there are several "completions" along the way. I collect one series at a time and have recently started buying cards in numerical order. Since I put my sets in binders, this makes it fun to fill up the sheets as I go. Gives me more of a sense of accomplishment and I can see the progress. Just my little trick to stay focused.


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This is good advice. Have you ever built a set before? The way I look at it is collectors are either set completionists or they are not. Start with a small, cheaper set to set if you can make it all the way through. Maybe 63 Fleer which is star packed but has its share of commons too. I would say the 1954 Red Heart with only its 33 cards but between Mantle and Musial it can get expensive just to try it on for size.

One tip I might give is go to a show or two if possible. Walk around and look at a complete set or flip through handfuls of commons. This will either get you excited seeing cards with players your not familiar with or it will overwhelm you and you'll loose interest in completing the entire set.

Once you are convinced that finishing the entire set follow the above advice and make small subsets to go after. Make sure each "subset" has a few stars and at least one big name as well as commons that way you can chip away a bit at a time and still see progress.

Teams are good way but for me I would want to be creative like go by when each player started or ended their career. That way it forces you to do a bit of easy research and learn a bit more of each "nobody" and they become real people who didn't just happen to play in the majors but we're actually good enough to make it to the majors. It sort of humanizes set collecting.

Just a thought but keep us posted one what you decide.

Good luck.
Drew