A 1952 Topps complete set. Starting "the" ultimate post war project

[Phil68]

Originally Posted by cardsagain74

I have decided to take on the very long-term task of building a '52 Topps set (pretty much out of the blue this evening). Beyond the obvious reasons, this epiphany also hit because:

- Making a slow-paced lifetime project out of it will be a fun challenge

- The set is one of the very few that may actually be cheaper to put together piece by piece. The few complete sets that you see are vastly overpriced, and I don't want to consider a 50 k outlay at once anyway.

- Already have Berra, Feller, Hodges, and about a dozen commons. Almost there eh, so why not finish it off

Will likely attempt doing it low (but no awful beaters) to borderline mid-grade, and just look for the best deal on everything in that range.

Has anyone else here taken this on? How has it gone compared to your expectations?

I'm on my 2nd run doing 52's. The first time I built it--it was raw and I did it from 1981-1985. It was actually pretty easy as I could find guys with albums with those 8-card pages and flip through 'em to find centered cards.

This time around, the Mantle will make it nearly impossible for me so I'll use a custom Banty Red Mantle.

I can't tell you what to do, but I can say that cards that PSA would deem a "5" that are centered present beautifully and have a slightly handled, beautiful appearance. I am happy to buy them raw. It seems Greg Morris brings higher prices for raw cards than graded examples--so he's really not a great option on-line. Great seller, but a card that sells routinely for 25 bucks in a holder sells for 40 raw. I'll save the $15 and break out the saw! But he's the only guy I find in that position. Most cards raw are affordable. Long-term you'll want centered cards with clean images. They are much easier to re-sell if you need to.

Question for you...are you a numbers guy? Meaning, are you cool with a set that ranges from "3"s to "8's" ? Some guys (me included) don't like such a wide condition range. I have found it's inevitable with 52's. The high numbers make NM and better cards awfully hard to assemble without selling your house.

I'm excited for you and hope you take it on! Keep us posted. At least one guy is very interested in your progress!
Phil