Your Opinion on Complete vs. Near Complete Set Value

[Rhotchkiss]

CK - 1933 Goudey is an awesome set. In my opinion, it is a top 3 set (along with t206 and 1952 topps (1914 CJ with honorable mention)). If you are 6 cards away from completing the set, and you are financially able to get the 4 Ruths and 2 Gehrig, you do it!! Forget value increase or not. Get you a complete 33 Goudey set.

But about you query: the 4 Ruths and 2 Gehrigs will absolutely hold value, and likely increase. Because they are great investments in themselves, I don’t see how buying them could be bad for the set’s value. Get those 6 cards and don’t look back

[CK]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

CK - 1933 Goudey is an awesome set. In my opinion, it is a top 3 set (along with t206 and 1952 topps (1914 CJ with honorable mention)). If you are 6 cards away from completing the set, and you are financially able to get the 4 Ruths and 2 Gehrig, you do it!! Forget value increase or not. Get you a complete 33 Goudey set.

But about you query: the 4 Ruths and 2 Gehrigs will absolutely hold value, and likely increase. Because they are great investments in themselves, I don’t see how buying them could be bad for the set’s value. Get those 6 cards and don’t look back

Thank you for the reply!

I should also add, though I lurk more than I post on this forum, this set was built mainly through acquisitions made here at Net54. I contribute the credit for majority of the set to a few good sellers here and a bit of luck in my favor.

Though acquiring the cards will be a tough pill to swallow financially, I am concerned with short term value as I know once the set is as complete as I’d like it to be, I will likely choose to move onto another pursuit. I wish I was able to hold everything but I know that I just can’t tie up that kind of resources.

So, a redirect to anyone else who may be reading, should I go “all in” to acquire the remaining pieces and feel confident that I made the sum of the whole greater than the individual parts of this set? Keep in mind, we are talking 6 cards that will cost the equivalent of a small SUV.

CK

[G1911]

Originally Posted by CK

Thank you for the reply!

I should also add, though I lurk more than I post on this forum, this set was built mainly through acquisitions made here at Net54. I contribute the credit for majority of the set to a few good sellers here and a bit of luck in my favor.

Though acquiring the cards will be a tough pill to swallow financially, I am concerned with short term value as I know once the set is as complete as I’d like it to be, I will likely choose to move onto another pursuit. I wish I was able to hold everything but I know that I just can’t tie up that kind of resources.

So, a redirect to anyone else who may be reading, should I go “all in” to acquire the remaining pieces and feel confident that I made the sum of the whole greater than the individual parts of this set? Keep in mind, we are talking 6 cards that will cost the equivalent of a small SUV.

CK

If you are just going to sell it, there is little point in finishing. The general money trend is that superstars get pumped periodically before leveling off, and then the pump starts again. Set collectors are less and less common, and generally like building the set. It might be a good bye to try and buy the Ruths and Gehrigs for future profit, but not as part of a set so much.

[CK]

Originally Posted by G1911

If you are just going to sell it, there is little point in finishing. The general money trend is that superstars get pumped periodically before leveling off, and then the pump starts again. Set collectors are less and less common, and generally like building the set. It might be a good bye to try and buy the Ruths and Gehrigs for future profit, but not as part of a set so much.

Thanks for the reply, this is a thing I’ve been considering as well. Thanks for your thoughts. I do feel bad though for the guy trying to start this set today, especially in graded examples. Everything is going for a fortune and to get raw cards graded is a year out via PSA in bulk — I know because I’ve lived it..

CK

[CK]

Originally Posted by G1911

If you are just going to sell it, there is little point in finishing. The general money trend is that superstars get pumped periodically before leveling off, and then the pump starts again. Set collectors are less and less common, and generally like building the set. It might be a good bye to try and buy the Ruths and Gehrigs for future profit, but not as part of a set so much.

Appreciate the advice, thank you.

[oldeboo]

Originally Posted by CK

So, a redirect to anyone else who may be reading, should I go “all in” to acquire the remaining pieces and feel confident that I made the sum of the whole greater than the individual parts of this set? Keep in mind, we are talking 6 cards that will cost the equivalent of a small SUV.

That's the interesting thing about complete sets, especially in pre-war cards. If you sell it as a complete set, the potential buyers will start by valuing the set based off of the most important cards first. A lot of people out there are buying complete or partial sets in order to break them up and make a few bucks. A complete set has much less value than the sum of the individual cards. That gets into a whole different discussion of how to sell.

It's crazy to think that even 3 or 4 years ago a complete 1933 Goudey set could have been bought for the going price of a single Ruth today.

[CK]

Originally Posted by oldeboo

That's the interesting thing about complete sets, especially in pre-war cards. If you sell it as a complete set, the potential buyers will start by valuing the set based off of the most important cards first. A lot of people out there are buying complete or partial sets in order to break them up and make a few bucks. A complete set has much less value than the sum of the individual cards. That gets into a whole different discussion of how to sell.

It's crazy to think that even 3 or 4 years ago a complete 1933 Goudey set could have been bought for the going price of a single Ruth today.

Prices have certainly exploded. It would be challenging to piece together the entire set in PSA today considering the lag in the grading process at this time, I feel fortunate I submitted most of my cards a year or so ago. At the least, I feel having a near complete set in PSA removed most of the mystery in terms of value in comparison to a raw set where the value is in the eyes of the beholder. Wrong or right I have a numerical value anyways as a basis.