What would you do if you had these raw sets?

[Promethius88]

A lot of good perspectives above. I am somewhat in the same boat on a couple sets I'm assembling. Here's my take, and I'm sure others will disagree. While you are putting the sets together and upgrading over time, sure, you may have more money in it over the long haul than what a particular set sells for in the end. BUT, that's not the only consideration, in my opinion. First off, where's the fun in buying the complete set? Some have said that you buy a card at auction and you are the highest bidder so you are losing money. Well, that could be true, but you are also getting enjoyment out of what you are doing and there is value in that. This is just an example, but if you were to spend $5k putting a set together over a period of say, 5-7 years but in the end only sell it for $3k, some would ridicule you for that. I think too many of us in the hobby, say it a "hobby" for them, but unconsciously take it more as an investment. If you have been doing this for the love of collecting and have enjoyed the time you have spent, then does it really matter? Yes, you have value in the sets you've put together and that is good. But the truth is, you can't really put a price tag on the enjoyment you've received. And hell, you most likely would have blown that money you spent on cards over time on something else that has no value today. Let's take the avid golfer, for example. Playing golf is their hobby, they get enjoyment out of it and in the end, all he/she has are some great memories, a bunch of goofy pants and 6 bags of golf clubs cluttering up the garage. Ten's of thousands of dollars could have been spent over that time period but it's not looked at like they lost money.
I think we are fortunate that we enjoy a hobby that we actually have something to show for it in the end. And does it really matter if lose a little bit of money doing what we love?
Best of luck in whatever you decide to do. Sounds like you have put a lot of yourself into those sets and I'm sure when it comes right down to the point you are ready to sell, it won't be easy.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Promethius88

A lot of good perspectives above. I am somewhat in the same boat on a couple sets I'm assembling. Here's my take, and I'm sure others will disagree. While you are putting the sets together and upgrading over time, sure, you may have more money in it over the long haul than what a particular set sells for in the end. BUT, that's not the only consideration, in my opinion. First off, where's the fun in buying the complete set? Some have said that you buy a card at auction and you are the highest bidder so you are losing money. Well, that could be true, but you are also getting enjoyment out of what you are doing and there is value in that. This is just an example, but if you were to spend $5k putting a set together over a period of say, 5-7 years but in the end only sell it for $3k, some would ridicule you for that. I think too many of us in the hobby, say it a "hobby" for them, but unconsciously take it more as an investment. If you have been doing this for the love of collecting and have enjoyed the time you have spent, then does it really matter? Yes, you have value in the sets you've put together and that is good. But the truth is, you can't really put a price tag on the enjoyment you've received. And hell, you most likely would have blown that money you spent on cards over time on something else that has no value today. Let's take the avid golfer, for example. Playing golf is their hobby, they get enjoyment out of it and in the end, all he/she has are some great memories, a bunch of goofy pants and 6 bags of golf clubs cluttering up the garage. Ten's of thousands of dollars could have been spent over that time period but it's not looked at like they lost money.
I think we are fortunate that we enjoy a hobby that we actually have something to show for it in the end. And does it really matter if lose a little bit of money doing what we love?
Best of luck in whatever you decide to do. Sounds like you have put a lot of yourself into those sets and I'm sure when it comes right down to the point you are ready to sell, it won't be easy.

Very well said, I thoroughly enjoyed putting the set together I lost my shirt on when I sold it. The auction company even said they were sorry for the low price it sold for. I told them not to worry about it the experience of putting it together was well worth the loss.

My other posts in this thread are just on the monetary side.

[Promethius88]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Very well said, I thoroughly enjoyed putting the set together I lost my shirt on when I sold it. The auction company even said they were sorry for the low price it sold for. I told them not to worry about it the experience of putting it together was well worth the loss.

My other posts in this thread are just on the monetary side.

Yeah, I think most were looking at it the same way. And, looking back at the OP's original post he said he had been putting them together for investment for the future for his granddaughters. I guess my take on it was that while he is doing it as an investment, he's probably getting the enjoyment out of it at the same time. There's not really any wrong answer posted anywhere. I think that we all get wrapped up in the monetary aspect of it from time to time and forget why we collect in the first place. I know that ocdassionally I have to stop myself from looking at certain cards from the perspective of dollar signs and just enjoy them for what they are.

[bb66]

I have really enjoyed this thread. Very good perspectives to think about.I put together a NM set of 1965 &1966 Topps baseball. It took me 20 years to do it(talk about dedication).I collected Nm because I really believed I would stop working on the sets before I finished . I thought I would be able to get rid of everything much easier if the cards were nice.

But I did finish and am now working on 1967--this set is going to be EX-EXMT condition--scared of those high numbers!

I plan on keeping the cards another ten years or so before selling. But I have had a blast doing this. Also, it has kept me closer to my favorite sport.

I am working on a signed 1966 set , too. There are several of these cards that will never work with my budget. But I have worked on this set and only need 15 more cards signed!This project has been for fun(for me) than the regular issue sets.I certainly didn't think originally that I would take it as far as I have.