What to do??

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Ok, I hit submit too early. I can relate to what Brian said about the "clutter" argument. Before sets, I bought the cards of players that really stood out to me. I plan on returning to this way of buying. There are some real significant works of art to be had. I would like to focus on a single player and then move to the next. Ted Williams might be the guy I start with...I am an Ernie Banks junkie, too. 53 Bowman (Musial, Hodges, Reese, etc) and 52 Topps (Zernial, Jackie Robinson, etc) have cards I really, really want. There are also lots of HOF rookies, like Hank Aaron's, that I plan on acquiring. At the end of the day, we all collect what we like. My collection may end up becoming a hodge-podge to someone else, but that doesn't matter. I am not going to lose any sleep over what some dealer thinks of my collection. I am not looking to make a profit. Time and again, I have been able to sell off or trade a piece if I needed money or a different card. I truly appreciate all of the different approaches and perspectives regarding our hobby reflected by the members of this board.

[brian1961]

Patrick made a brutal but right on remark of the '52 Topps. There ARE too many head shots. If it weren't for the great expressions and the master craftsmanship in the colorization ..... The variety of the colors helps, too. Obviously, there's enough great cards to keep one interested. But Patrick is right---Topps made too many head shots! It got worse in '53, but again, there's so many good ones and the artwork is awesome.

Someone mentioned '53 Bowman and there's a set with lots of variety in the poses. I well remember when I first saw, and bought the same day, Gil Hodges. It is such a stunning card.

[tonyo]

Nice thread and great input by everyone.

I think you have practically made your decision, but my vote would be to collect from a variety of sets over focusing over the 52's. There are just too many great cards out there to limit yourself.

I've long considered myself a set collector, and in the last few years since getting back into the hobby, have put together t206 (520), 33 goudey (minus Lajoie and 1 Gehrig), 52 bowman, and 73 topps - all low grade and mostly natural state. But all the while I couldn't focus on just one set. So, I started "tricking" my ocd tendency to complete sets by defining subsets. t205 hofers; t207 bat, belt, glove ; e card clouds and sunsets ; pre-war 100 different types.

I considered the 52t complete set since it is one of the iconic sets but the high numbers $$ and the large % of cards that honestly don't appeal to me visually wouldn't let me get close to actually going for it. I did in fact start a subset with 52t (cards with stadium backgrounds) and got about 30 of those, but ended up selling them as I had too many pre-war projects going on at that time.

The topps completionist thread http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=174273 inspired me to expand my 50's and 60's type set and attempt to collect every hall of famer (active playing years, regular issue) in the main topps and bowman sets 1948-1979. That's going to be a huge task (for me) in itself and I can't even fathom being able to pull off the set run that is described in the completionist thread.

Regardless, for the purposes of this thread, I think you'll like the idea of collecting a small representative sample of multiple sets. I know I really enjoy picking up a stack of 15 to 25 cards from any of the topps/bowman sets in the 50's & 60's and flipping thru them as if I'm a 10 year old standing next to my bike in the gravel parking lot of the country store back in the day.

Have fun and thanks for the thread!

Tony

[Vintageloz]

Here is my 2 cents

I struggled with the same question over the last couple of years and decided to do a low grade 52 topps graded set, all Psa graded (in case I ever decide to part with it). I've been looking for Psa3 to 4 and am closing in on the low series - need about 60 more. Have also picked up a few hi series along the way and figure I can pick those off little by little. I do have a Mathews but no Mantle yet.

From my perspective, Im glad I decided to do it. It to me represents the ultimate topps set and collection and it's amazing to look through. The lower to mid grade makes it affordable (I'm sure my mantle will be a PSA1 like my Mathew when I get it) and it should hold its value. I've been upgrading when I can and am hoping to sell my ungraded cards and graded dups (I have about 100 ungraded and 40 graded dups) to help fund some of the hi's)

I figure it will be a set that I will continue to upgrade and add to through the years. I'm not overly concerned about variations and figure I'll pick them up someday

I say go for it, you won't be sorry!

[Vintagevault13]

Originally Posted by Vintageloz

Here is my 2 cents

I struggled with the same question over the last couple of years and decided to do a low grade 52 topps graded set, all Psa graded (in case I ever decide to part with it). I've been looking for Psa3 to 4 and am closing in on the low series - need about 60 more. Have also picked up a few hi series along the way and figure I can pick those off little by little. I do have a Mathews but no Mantle yet.

From my perspective, Im glad I decided to do it. It to me represents the ultimate topps set and collection and it's amazing to look through. The lower to mid grade makes it affordable (I'm sure my mantle will be a PSA1 like my Mathew when I get it) and it should hold its value. I've been upgrading when I can and am hoping to sell my ungraded cards and graded dups (I have about 100 ungraded and 40 graded dups) to help fund some of the hi's)

I figure it will be a set that I will continue to upgrade and add to through the years. I'm not overly concerned about variations and figure I'll pick them up someday

I say go for it, you won't be sorry!

I am with you. Just starting on my 52 lower grade set, but I am excited about working on it. Other sets may have better pics, players, etc., but these are not what interest me. The 1952 cards are simply one of the iconic sets in our hobby (along with T206 and 1933 Goudey). It is a unique piece of history that set the standard for others that followed.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

52 is a nice set. I am going to acquire a few of the key cards over time from the set to give me a good sampling.

[Paul S]

Robert, IMHO that is the way to do it. I'm not a set collector or type collector, yet somehow I get close to one and am satisfied with the other. Really, if you want to finish your other sets then do it. The 52T will come. Slow and steady wins the race.