What is a set?

[familytoad]

Geno,
I got to thinking about this concept earlier this year during the "400 subjects" topic on T205 which had some interesting debate.

With Topps, or any other typical numbered set, it's pretty obvious where the set starts and begins.

The backs of T205 and T206 hint to the amount of cards there should be, yet as mentioned , most in the hobby have'nt restricted those sets to just the same back and a unique front.

I don't know how I feel about the theory of T206-1 to include just the 150 subjects, as that would still indicate mixed backs.

I think maybe our beloved T205 should be 11 sets, not one.

Seven of those sets actually claim 400 subjects while Broadleaf, HLC, Polar Bear and Drum only claim "assorted designs".

So you've convinced me that while I thought I had a complete t205 basic set, I don't have anything except maybe 8 partial sets.
It also means I haven't started the Broadleaf, Hindu or Drum sets yet...

T206 Monster needs to be split into 15 sets, discounting Ty Cobb back.

This means we've all got a lot of work to do...heading to BST now to get crackin' on my sets

[dabigyankeeman]

When it comes to the old cards, i go by variations on the front only, i dont care about back variations. Thats me only though, and i can see where many people would want all the back variations also.

For instance, if a player has a card with a white hat and one with a dark hat, to me i need both of them. The same if he has cards with different poses. I have a Yankee T206 team set which for me is 28 cards which as far as i know includes all the variations on the front. Whats on the backs? I dont care!!

As to modern sets, its insane, and i would not consider Burger King or similar things to be part of a regular Topps set. I feel bad for modern set collectors, how can you put together a set with a million cards, blue and purple and gray borders and upside-down inside-out chrome refractors and so on. Its moronic already. Thank God on my modern Yankees i only collect cards i like, i dont bother trying to put team sets together.

[Leon]

Back in the old days many collectors only collected fronts. When I have seen a few old collections, such as in E92, the backs were all mixed. The front design was the same and they saw no reason to have the same front pose twice.

As for any ACC designation, I still adhere to my position. Had Burdick wanted to include T213-1 or T215 into T206, he would have. He didn't and he definitely thought about it because he even said, in the catalog "similar to T206".. And if we are going to change those, which we aren't, then we would need to look at hundreds of other issues that don't make exact sense....such as W600 (Sporting Life) and H801-7 (Old Mill Tobacco).

A complete set definition is really up to each collector to decide. Have fun and enjoy it ...with cream or without, it's ok.