Sets vs. Singles

[Archive]

Posted By: tbob

I know, it makes no sense to spend way too much money on the blue background E94 Lord to try and complete a master set of color variations, especially when you could use the money toward a decent Lajoie or Speaker, but...
I have built many sets and sold them, plowing the profits back in to more cards. I've built the T207 set twice and this time I kept it. I have built the T206 set, less 4 (guess which ones), T205, E98, E90-1 less Joe Jax, 1909, 1910, 1911 Obaks, etc, all of which I have hung on to this go round. I am working on the M116 Sporting Life, D311 Pacific Coast Biscuit (hopeless), 1911 Zeenut, and a couple of others.
The only discouraging thing for me in this hobby is to find after a couple of years of searching that one card you need to complete ot get you closer to completing a set, only to see it is a PSA 7 and have the slab hounds, fixated with registry numbers like Pavlov's dogs, driving the price in to the stratosphere. That's what makes the M116s especially tough toward the end.
I have also built and sold in exmt to nrmt the 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 Topps baseball sets and 1955 Bowman bb set and also 1954 and 1955 Bowman football sets, 1955 Topps All-American football set, and 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968 Topps football sets. There are a few I regret selling, like the 1951 Topps Magic football set, but they furnished the funds to collect all the caramel and tobacco cards.