If you were to start a vintage collection ...

[BobC]

Originally Posted by wdwfan

Thanks for the link. Will check it out. I like how it says slow and steady. Isn't that the truth? Took me 6 months I believe to finish my first 1958 Topps set. I thought I'd never finish the thing. Glad I got it done and was happy with the oucome.

Only real way to do it. Have sets I've been working on, off and on, for decades now. Probably never finish some because of the now ridiculous prices being paid for many items, but I've always found more pleasure in the hunt anyway. Good luck and happy collecting.

[packs]

You could get a real nice 1963 Fleer Willie Mays for $500.

My favorite star card on a budget is the 1961 Mantle. You could get a solid one for your budget.

[wdwfan]

Decades? That's nuts. As I said, I took l6-8 months, and I thought I'd never finish. I couldn't imagine it take a year or 2 years. And a decade? I'd give up on it.

Originally Posted by BobC

Only real way to do it. Have sets I've been working on, off and on, for decades now. Probably never finish some because of the now ridiculous prices being paid for many items, but I've always found more pleasure in the hunt anyway. Good luck and happy collecting.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by wdwfan

Decades? That's nuts. As I said, I took l6-8 months, and I thought I'd never finish. I couldn't imagine it take a year or 2 years. And a decade? I'd give up on it.

LOL

We're grown men collecting little pieces of cardboard. Most people think we're already nuts just for doing that.

I don't actively pursue sets, I am more passive in my collecting technique and over the years have picked up cards when I would come across them at reasonable prices, in reasonable condition. I have never solely focused on collecting just a set or two at a time, and look for things as they may turn up. Also, some sets have cards that turn out to be unbelievably rare, and that never come up for sale. So in those cases, you really have to be patient, and occasionally that patience needs to be over a very, very long time. Also, I'm talking mostly about pre-war card sets in this case.

But even if you're talking post-war sets, and you're on some kind of a budget as in your case with the questions of where to start with just $500, when you say you want to start a "collection", I think most people would assume that means multiple sets and/or players, not just a single set or only a couple individual player cards. So, lets say one of your collection goals is to eventually have a collection of Topps sets for a particular run of years. You start out working on one year, sticking to your budget, and then suddenly come upon a reasonable deal for a card(s) in another Topps set you hadn't really started on yet. Do you just pass on it because it isn't necessarily the Topps set you were working on at that moment, or do you grab the opportunity when it presents itself, not knowing if you'll be able to get such a similar deal in the future when you do finally get around to avidly collecting that other set? But if you do grab that deal, now you may delay finishing the original Topps set you were working on, and who knows when you may then get back to work on the other Topps set you grabbed the deal on.

I also understand how for some people they can't stand to not have a completed set of something, and if it looks like they can't quickly complete it, will often simply abandon the project altogether after a relatively short period of time. You are obviously one of those kinds of people, based on your comments. Nothing at all wrong with that, collect what you like, how you like. I enjoy the hunt for cards myself. Actually completing a set is almost anti-climactic to me.

[Exhibitman]

Another approach would be to run the table with later cards. For $500 you could get a really nice run of 1970s cards of all time greats