Is it worth the trouble to build vintage sets?

[Vintagevault13]

IMO, there are certain sets that I think justify the extra cost of building one card at a time. These are the sets that are prone to specific issues. A perfect example is the 1975 Topps Baseball Set. I just finished it in EX condition. One of my pet peeves are the “fish eyes” that are quite common on these cards. Personally, I can’t stand them. Many sellers don’t take these into account when determining condition. I probably spent $100 -$150 more than I would have if I bought the complete set or several large lots. I felt it was worth it because probably 50% of the cards would have had the fish eyes and I would have been faced with massive upgrades. I guess it all just depends on personal preference.


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[avalanche2006]

Originally Posted by Vintagevault13

IMO, there are certain sets that I think justify the extra cost of building one card at a time. These are the sets that are prone to specific issues. A perfect example is the 1975 Topps Baseball Set. I just finished it in EX condition. One of my pet peeves are the “fish eyes” that are quite common on these cards. Personally, I can’t stand them. Many sellers don’t take these into account when determining condition. I probably spent $100 -$150 more than I would have if I bought the complete set or several large lots. I felt it was worth it because probably 50% of the cards would have had the fish eyes and I would have been faced with massive upgrades. I guess it all just depends on personal preference.


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That's how I feel about the 3 sets that I am doing.
1958,59, and 60. All known to have centering issues.
All of my sets are perfectly centered with sharp corners.
This took many upgrades to achieve, but it's worth it to look through a set and be satisfied with every card.
That's my goal anyway, being as picky as I am.

[ZiggerZagger]

I suppose it matters how much the thrill of the chase appeals to you. In my case, not very much.

My method has been to buy very nice complete sets to begin with, often waiting for quite a while for one to pop up.
Sadly, I have the centering sickness, so I've tended to wait for collector-assembled sets to pop up where it's been clear they've cared about centering and eye-appeal.
From there, I've probably upgraded 10-30% of the cards for perfect centering and condition, depending on the set.
By the time I get to the last few cards, I'm usually getting a bit frustrated, so the thrill of completing things is really more of a relief to me.

It's worked well for me, though, having just completed the last set in my 1953 - 1979 Topps run recently. Took about 6 years or so. Condition is consistent within a given set, and ranges from EXMT to NM/MT depending on year.
I'm sure that buying complete sets to start has cut the final cost of finishing each set dramatically.

I do really enjoy having those sets to leaf through though, and they look amazing when assembled consistently.

I respect and envy folks who are able to just focus on individual examples of cards without feeling the need to be completist about collecting. I would love to get to that state of mind, and feel like I'm getting closer to it as the years go by.

[PowderedH2O]

I love to collect sets, but my budget won't allow for me to complete sets from Pre-War (for the most part), so I am restricting it to 1948-present. I don't exactly collect like the rest of you. I can't focus on one set at a time. I get annoyed with it. Literally, I can be all in on a set one day, and a day later I don't even want to look at it. So, I set up a plan about 3 years ago. I listed all of the sets I wanted to complete, and decided to do it on a 10 year plan. I would make sure that each year I am at the 10% more mark each year. This year, my goal is to be at 30% or higher for each set by my birthday in August. I am only a few cards away from that goal, so I am right on schedule. I also assign a points value to each set, so I make sure that I am also picking up a fair amount of star cards for each set as well, so I am not stuck at the end with all of the toughies.
Doing it this way seems illogical. But, it keeps me interested and always relaxed and enjoying it. I have also finished quite a few sets in the last three years already, so those no longer are in play. I am not a Mint freak. I just like good looking cards. For the 60's, I am happy with Excellentish cards. For the early 50's cards, vg/vg-ex works just fine. I am working one 1940's set, and one 1930's set. Vg is just fine for those.

[ALR-bishop]

Sounds like a great collecting plan, Sam

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by PowderedH2O

I love to collect sets, but my budget won't allow for me to complete sets from Pre-War (for the most part), so I am restricting it to 1948-present. I don't exactly collect like the rest of you. I can't focus on one set at a time. I get annoyed with it. Literally, I can be all in on a set one day, and a day later I don't even want to look at it. So, I set up a plan about 3 years ago. I listed all of the sets I wanted to complete, and decided to do it on a 10 year plan. I would make sure that each year I am at the 10% more mark each year. This year, my goal is to be at 30% or higher for each set by my birthday in August. I am only a few cards away from that goal, so I am right on schedule. I also assign a points value to each set, so I make sure that I am also picking up a fair amount of star cards for each set as well, so I am not stuck at the end with all of the toughies.
Doing it this way seems illogical. But, it keeps me interested and always relaxed and enjoying it. I have also finished quite a few sets in the last three years already, so those no longer are in play. I am not a Mint freak. I just like good looking cards. For the 60's, I am happy with Excellentish cards. For the early 50's cards, vg/vg-ex works just fine. I am working one 1940's set, and one 1930's set. Vg is just fine for those.

I agree with Al, that seems like a great plan. I need to greatly downsize my collection or I would pick a few sets I have been considering and do it exactly like you described.

[PowderedH2O]

Mine isn't a few sets. I am working on Topps 1953-present, Bowman 1952-55, Hostess 1975-79, Red Man 1952-55, Kelloggs 1970-83, 1941 Double Play, 1936 National Chicle Fine Pens, Topps football 1956-end, Bowman football 1948-55, Leaf football 1948-49, Philadelphia and Fleer football sets, Topps basketball 1969-82, and other assorted sets. Plus, I am trying to get one of every HOF graded from the Pre-war times (I have graded Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig, Johnson, Alexander, and many others). I can't just focus on one, so I just look for great deals on everything at once. Ebay always has something I need at a great price. All of these sets are at a minimum of 30% complete. Many (most of football from 1954 to present is done - maybe need 250 cards more total), so it will eventually just be maybe 10-15 sets to keep track of... I hope.

I'm doing it all on a school teacher's salary, so I have to be very frugal.