How Did You Beat the Monster?

[Edwolf1963]

Hey, good morning. I just recently completed down to just the "Big 6" remaining. Fun, expensive, draining - much of what everyone has chimed in on in one fashion or the other. I never started out with that mission - which I guess for some may be a good avenue to take - just don't think about it.

You know - sort of like if you say all week you have to clean out the garage this weekend - but then procrastination sets in and the idea of killing an entire day eats away at you, "it can wait", etc. .. whereas if you get up, go out there and do one or two things - before you know it you're half-way done and motivated to continue.

That's sort of how I approached it. Collected what I liked first, looked for good deals in slabbed and raw - I didn't even add up how many I had or focus on completing the set until I realized I had half of them already!

I focused on any back - nice if tougher, but not my primary focus. Trying for mid-grade (3 to 6) was my only real "consistent" theme. SGC, PSA or BVG were all fine w/me. HOFs and SL'ers naturally are tougher and more $$. I did subscribe to the VCP which gave me some peace of mind and really helped me stay within a set boundry.

I had some good buys on raw, some not so good if they graded out lower or trimmed - so that's a hit/miss. As you get closer, resist the urge to overspend to close in on the remaining. Patience is key - I can say that bcse in some ways I was .. many others I wasn't and let my emotions dig deeper. Nothing horrible or way out-of-bounds, just the realization that if I had been more patient in some instances, I could have waited for a better card/deal.

I have nowhere near the experience of many/most on this board on all the in's & out's, so I read w/open mind and great interest the thoughts, posts, opinions, ideas, etc .. and got to know many from dealing with them - buying, trading, selling. Networking is always a good thing - in my book, the most essential piece in helping me reach the goals I set for myself in collecting.

Good luck with your set!

Ed