Guidance Needed from the Set Builders

[ALR-bishop]

On my Topps sets 1948 and 1951 to 1971 I pieced them. From 72 to, so far, 2014 I buy sets, with minimum upgrading. But for all sets I add any variations listed in SCD, Beckett or The Registry. Also a pack :-)....and any insert or test set for the related year ( up to 94). It is some sort of illness :-(

[brob28]

Kevin, congrats on the '61 set you showed in the pick-up thread, looks real nice. I build all my sets by buying lots, mostly for commons and buy the star cards individually. In a lot of sets I've seen for sale there seems to be a drop off in condition and/or centering in the more expensive cards. I don't have a lot of time to re-sell in Ebay or elsewhere so I try to buy what I want from the start. Long-winded way to get to my answer, but if you are interested in a specific grade on these cards, I would buy the card in the holder. With the vagaries of grading you could by several cards hoping for that 6 and get a 4. If you paid anything more than a 4 price for it, your losing money. IMO it would be easier and safer to just buy them slabbed if that's what you want.

[K-Nole]

I have done both ways, bought complete set, and then buy "lot".

When I buy the set as a whole, it is not "fun". I buy the set, and there it sets.

So now, all i ever do is build sets with my son, by buying winning "lots" off ebay, then what i still need, I go to the local card shop and see what I can get from him, because I believe it is our duty to keep our little card shop owners, in business.
Then what i still need, i buy thru "sportlots.com".
Then what i still need, which by this time is only 5-6 at the most, i buy off ebay.

That way is a lot more fun as i am doing it with my 11 year old son, and we get to physically analyze almost every card. When I bought already built complete sets, it was, "well, here it is", "Now what?"

[kailes2872]

Thanks all for the replies.

K-Nole, I appreciate the head's up on sportslots.com - as I had not heard of them before.

I think that I am going to go this route for the 53-56 quests that will take a couple of years to complete. I went through last night and built spreadsheets for each year and am in the middle of the process of pricing out the stars as to what I should expect to pay. I classified cards as super stars, stars, minor stars, commons, high numbers, team cards, checklists, etc. Now it will be a matter of filling in the worksheets over time with the date, price paid, vendor, etc.

Does anyone have any tips &/or tricks on how to do the search function for lots to get a cleaner return? I attempted to do 1956 Lot EX-NM and got a wide assortment of things that were neither 1956 nor EX-NM. I could just be that I have to wade through some stuff to find it.

Much to your chagrin, I will keep you posted over time on my progress.

Take Care,
Kevin

[K-Nole]

if you are a "set guy", their is no better site then sportlots.com

I have done baseball, from 1982 to 1973 and football from 1981 to 1968 & 1959, using that site.

Completely free to get set up.

It is so easy. Just go thru pick your cards, and if you have cards from 1 seller to 20 sellers, it doesnt matter, they handle the payment dispersal.

Just for your knowledge, I have a few sellers that I have bought from, that are heads and tails over the top, better then others. I have bought hundreds of cards from these guys and have NEVER been disappointed with the card/s

SetMaker
Frankves
JWestport
Jet
DCottons
rtg74rtg

let me know if you need any help. Lord knows I spend most of my days on there

[darkhorse9]

The way I've always done my sets (and I have them from 2014 to 1954) is to collect them by series, just like they were originally issued.

I start with the first series and complete that before moving on to the next. That way I'm not overwhelmed with cheap common cards or overwhelming my budget with tons of stars at one time.

It's so much easier on the budget and you can focus on condition easier.