How do you build your sets, single or all in?

[2dueces]

It's no fun buying a complete set. The thrill is in the hunt and finding that last card to complete the set, even when you are working on multiples like most addicts on this board are. Put me down for a few cards at a time and time to enjoy each purchase.

[HRBAKER]

Definite multi-tasker here but I build very few prewar sets.
My Topps run from '53 up still has a few holes in several of the sets bc of my tendency to lose focus, find something else and then pick it back up at a later date. I made a post over on the postwar side in '56 Topps thread about this. I bought a partial/near complete set (-23) in 1989, put it in the closet and then finished it at my first National in 2001. In the 12 years in between I added not one card.

[jefferyepayne]

I do both. I work on sets that I think are interesting one card at a time but will buy complete sets if the opportunity presents itself, I can afford it, and I am not at least half way to completing it. If in the end your goal is to have complete sets, it is often a cheaper route to buy sets than building them one card at a time but agree it's not as fun.

I always work on multiple sets at a time so I don't get impatient/frustrated and start overpaying for the cards I still need. I've been focused on "completing" my vintage football for about 5 years now but have recently gotten bored with it since there are so few cards left to acquire so I've been slowly transitioning over to work on my vintage baseball collection.

Jeff

[tcdyess]

As Joe states above, I just can't see buying and entire set, for me it is too much fun buying the invdividuals. Also I feel I learn a heck of a lot more about the set, and player hunting down the cards. From what I see so far, looks like most have the all in approach of mulitasking. Looks like Bunst takes the total scrambled eggs approach. As usual, I guess there is no right answer, boils down to your individual "plan", and of course, resources available.

[pgellis]

I think the answer depends on which set (or sets) you are collecting. For me I am collecting T206 and only that set. There are other sets that I love and will collect some day, i.e. Cracker Jack, T3, T205, etc.

But with T206, it is a big set and they are readily available. I am approaching 300 cards and if I started dabbling in the other sets, I would get side-tracked with T206. I think that if you are collecting a set (or sets) that are rather rare, you may not see a card you need come up for sale too often, so then I could see where you may start collecting other sets that you like.

But for me, I need to stay focused on T206 and when I finish it it (520), then I will start another set.......probably about 5 years away from that goal.

Phil

[Zach Wheat]

I am an opportunistic buyer and therefore do not concentrate exclusively on one set when I am trying to complete a set. I agree with Phil that it also depends upon which set you are trying to complete. T206's are abundant and therefore I try to pick up blocks of cards to save on shipping. This means, of course, that I end up with a lot of duplicates.

ZWheat

[BleedinBlue]

For me it's a financial equation. I always have a number of projects going on at any one time but the time and money is usually focused on one set. For instance, I will always be collecting and upgrading my 1941 Goudey Master set. Whenever these cards come up I am in the market. A couple of years ago I started a T206 set and this was my primary focus but I was still looking for 1941 Goudey's. Because of the easy availability of the T206 cards and the significant size of the set I could not financially justify any other projects. Now that I have reached the 500 card number on the T206 set, finding new cards is more challenging. So, I continue to look for the 1941 Goudey's, I continue to look for the missing T206's but I have started picking up cards for my next project.

I think it depends on what you collect though. If you are working on a T206 set, there are so many cards that I needed to stay focused on small subsets in order to get some occasional gratification from completing a project. The problem was not availability of cards but funds. If I was collecting something scarce like T5's, I would make sure to go after each one because the next one may not come up again for quite a while.

Most of your sets are readily available. The issue isn't going to be finding the cards (generally) but rather finding the funds to pay for them. In this case I would prefer to go after the cards set by set until I neared completion on one. I would then start going after the next on the list until I was through with the project.

[vintagecpa]

I admire anyone that can stick with collecting the same set for years. I am personally 0-12 in trying to complete a vintage set. I generally get a 15-20 cards into it before I find greener pastures.

[t206blogcom]

Multitasker here as well. Been working on T206 and W512. Down to needing 1 for the W512 and around 40 T206s. I briefly started a 34 Goudey set, but quickly lost interest about 10-15 cards into it. Along the way I've also picked up a couple of Old Judges, T210 Series 2, Obak and T213s when I've come across good deals thinking perhaps one day I'll take a stronger interest in them.

With my W512 set nearly complete, I'm trying to decide whether or not to soley focus on T206 given the last 40 or cards I need contain a lot of the expensive ones (Cobb, Johnson, Young, O'Hara, Demmit, etc) or start on something else at the same time.

If I listen to my wife, I'd focus on saving up for a bigger home or selling my cards as a downpayment. My argument is if we had a bigger home, it would be more expensive to maintain, thus giving me a much reduced card buying budget. I've found a quick trip to Tiffany or Gucci gets her mind off this for at least a few months.