Rebuilding sets you've sold off

[bb66]

Sorry to bring this back from so far back!

[Tere1071]

I built my 1974 and 1975 Topps sets by purchasing packs mostly from the corner liquor store, but I got rid of them not long afterward. In 1989 I picked up a fairly beat-up 1971 Topps set and proceeded to upgrade it over the next two years until it, too, sold.

About two years ago I decided to relive my childhood (1970-1975) by completing those Topps Baseball sets. I never had complete sets for 1970, 1972, and 1973 so these will be my first sets from that era. I have completed my 1971, 1974, and 1975 sets once again.

Phil aka Tere1071
complete 1953 Bowman Color, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1975 Topps Baseball sets- all being upgraded

incomplete 1970 and 1973 Topps Baseball card sets

[Kevvyg1026]

I have rebuilt and sold many sets throughout the years. I first sold my collection of 1961 to 1973 sets to help pay for college. After college, I managed to rebuild several sets, but sold them after a few years to defray costs for the birth of my daughter. Most recently, I rebuilt sets from 1963 to 1974, although the 66 and 67 sets were short a few notable high numbers (LoL). I just sold these to help may for medical bills. So, I don't think it is that uncommon a practice.

[skelly423]

I haven't done it, but I'm getting close. I built a 1965 Topps set, and later sold it. Every month or so I'll see a card from that set and think "I wish I still had that, maybe I should buy it again". I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but it's probably inevitable.

[commishbob]

I’ve never sold a set that I put together but I’m about to change that. I think I’ll keep one from each decade, 50s through 80s. I can’t see myself ‘rebuilding’ any of them. I enjoyed each chase but my hobby interests have changed/shrunk over the last few years.

[steve B]

Built a 48 Bowman set with most of the cards being in really bad condition. Sold it to pay for part of a ski trip.

Started rebuilding, with nicer cards. Never got all that close, and the big cards are too much now.

I remember particular defects with some of mine and look for them every once in a while.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

I got a good chuckle out of seeing this thread revived. I have since taken another run at '53 Topps, and it's completed (again). I'm currently pursuing the black/white biography variations. I haven't pursued rebuilding '54 Topps but might eventually (I kept the big boys from the first time around). And, of course, I'm pursuing sets that I haven't built before.

[Volod]

Originally Posted by Tere1071

I built my 1974 and 1975 Topps sets by purchasing packs mostly from the corner liquor store.....About two years ago I decided to relive my childhood (1970-1975) by completing those Topps Baseball sets.

Phil aka Tere1071
complete 1953 Bowman Color, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1975 Topps Baseball sets- all being upgraded

incomplete 1970 and 1973 Topps Baseball card sets

Ok, Phil, you've tweaked my morbid curiosity. Were you a regular at the corner store at such a tender age, or were wax packs for some a reason a big seller with the customer base there?

[wdwfan]

I just came across this thread.

But I built a 1958 Topps set and sold it off a couple of years ago to fund a trip to Disney World for my wife and I. I think I paid $500 putting the set together in Ex to Ex-Mt, mostly through trading with the LCS. And I sold it for $1,500, so I tripled my money.

And I have since rebuilt it.

It cost more money than the first time because the LCS where I did most of my trading went under, and I've been buying most of them. Not many people want to trade for whatever reason. I'm again going for Ex-Mt to NM (strictly raw). The biggest thing is it's hard to find raw in that condition because most of it gets graded. And I don't deal in graded.

[Exhibitman]

I built and sold off two 1954 Topps sets. I've resisted the lure of doing it again. So far.

[Tere1071]

Originally Posted by Volod

Ok, Phil, you've tweaked my morbid curiosity. Were you a regular at the corner store at such a tender age, or were wax packs for some a reason a big seller with the customer base there?

Paul's Liquor in South Gate, CA was literally a 2-3 minute walk from my home. I don't know if it had a wide fanbase for sports cards, but it served my needs quite well. In 1970 as a nine-year-old I got paid 20 cents a week to bring in the trashcans and I'd take my earnings to purchase two packs of cards. It worked until I sought a raise to 25 cents a week whereupon I was fired. Two years later I became a paperboy for three years and that helped me purchase cards.

The only thing "unique" about Paul's was that it sold some cards a year later. I purchased my 1970 packs in 1971 and the 1971s in 1972. I still have a 1970 Clemente, the only card I left from my childhood. In 1974 a box of high series 1970 Topps Baseball appeared and we (my friend and I) purchased those packs until they disappeared. I had scant knowledge of "the hobby" at that time so having them was no big deal. They never had high series packs, that I remember as well.

Ah youth, I wished I knew then what I know now.

Phil aka Tere1071
upgrading my 1953 Bowman Color, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1975 Topps Baseball sets.
working to complete my 1970 and 1973 Topps Baseball sets

[Volod]

Originally Posted by Tere1071

Paul's Liquor in South Gate, CA was literally a 2-3 minute walk from my home. I don't know if it had a wide fanbase for sports cards, but it served my needs quite well. In 1970 as a nine-year-old I got paid 20 cents a week to bring in the trashcans and I'd take my earnings to purchase two packs of cards. It worked until I sought a raise to 25 cents a week whereupon I was fired. Two years later I became a paperboy for three years and that helped me purchase cards.

The only thing "unique" about Paul's was that it sold some cards a year later. I purchased my 1970 packs in 1971 and the 1971s in 1972.

Ah youth, I wished I knew then what I know now.

Phil aka Tere1071

Yeah, great story, Phil. Reminds me of my own card collecting intro as an eight-year-old. My old man used to take my brother and me with him on weekends to a grungy old bowling alley for about five hours a night. We were handed a buck each and told to sit in a booth in the barroom and stay out of trouble. Instead, we raced down to the corner Mom/Pop store and spent a couple of hours sitting on the floor reading comic books. The ancient guy who owned the store was very kindly and never told us to get out. One evening, he set up a table near the front door and hauled up several boxes of waxpacks from his cellar. In the boxes were cases of 1951 Topps baseball cards that had been collecting dust for months. He opened them up and spread hundreds of packs out on the table, pricing them at two for a penny. I don't recall if he ever managed to unload them all at that price, but my brother and I spent half of our allowance on packs of Redbacks, Team Cards and CM All-Stars. I sure wish I had somehow been able to save those cards, but most of them were quickly trashed by Ma the day after I enlisted.

[lampertb]

I had a mid-to-high-grade '71 Topps baseball set that I auctioned off via PWCC. Beautiful black cards, many graded... still wish I had it, but can only afford beaters now.