Building a set without the internet

[Fred]

Originally Posted by scmavl

I'm just curious if in the past decade or so any of you folks have tried to build a set with no assistance from the internet? Just card shows, trades with friends/friends-of-friends, etc, like we used to do. Unless it's a truly difficult set, it's so easy to complete one via ebay now, as long as your funds allow it. I just think it could be a neat challenge. I miss seeing a FS ad in the back of a magazine with no photo, sending away money, and hoping I get a nice card in return.

Is that even possible?

I pretty much rely on the internet for a huge majority of my searches/transactions. On the wrong coast there's not many good shows and we certainly don't have dealers with the same quality/quantity of vintage material that exists in the north-east side of the US.