It took over ten years, but I'm at 50%

[dembums]

My name's Ben, and I'm a cardaholic.

(This post is a little bit narcissistic, unnecessarily long-winded, and potentially boring. You've been warned.)

It's amazing the amount of pleasure these small rectangular pieces of cardboard bring - but it's true and hard to deny. So, after ten years of diligently plodding along on my set I've officially reached the 50% mark. The set I've been working on is literally every Brooklyn Dodger card PSA grades from the years 1948-1957, which is duly called, "A Decade of Dodgers."
Interestingly (albeit perhaps only to me), I'm averaging around 5% per year of set completion. One card being about 0.27 of a percentage point, or 1% being about 3.74 cards. As far as card acquisition, I buy around half my cards online and the other half at shows and in some rare cases from card stores. However, my true hobby enjoyment comes from going to shows and talking to the non-socially awkward dealers (thereby avoiding the awkward ones) and looking for dodgers. I find that with the pricing structure of ebay now (and the consistent premium for graded dodgers), I can find equivalent offerings at shows, but you have to look and you have to haggle - plus you never know what you will find. Although it is definitely easier to overpay at a show (usually happens to me around 30 minutes after arrival), it's all about the hunt.

When looking at my set, and reflecting on how and when I acquired particular cards, I found collecting habits and idiosyncrasies I did not notice before. For instance, centering was not nearly as important to me when I first started as it is now - I was much more focused on the corners and the so called "technical grade". And honestly on the holder. If it said a "7" or a "6" it was good enough for me. When I first started I think it was really just to fill holes and work towards completion rate. If there was a deal, I would grab it or if there was a card that I needed (and there were a lot) I would grab it.

Now I think it's more like I'm waiting for the cards to find me. It could just be the countless hours I've spent looking at ebay as well (I know you're nodding your head as you read this). But it's more now about finding the right card. A card that calls to me, or of course, just a damn good deal. I know I'm waxing a bit poetic for sure, but since I average about .001 posts per day you have to cut me some slack. Plus 50% bitch!

The card that got me to fifty: Mr. Podres

[dclarkraiders]

Congrats on your 50% milestone. Nice 2nd year Podres. Looks really nice and I am surprised it did not grade higher. I too have changed the type of cards that I purchase after joining Net54. Eye appeal and centering are far more important than the grade given by PSA or SGC. Good luck in completing your goal.

Duane Clark

[MattyC]

Man that card transcends the sticker for sure. Congrats-- sounds like a major haul and here's to the second half!

[almostdone]

Ben,
Great idea for a collection and congrats on teaching the half way point. It's all down hill from here.
I would love, and I'm sure others would as well, to see more of your choices that "called out to you". What your favorite so far? Where as the most unexpected find found? Are you holding out a specific card to be the final piece? As you look at your current accomplishment is there any cards you think you will downgrade in grade to upgrade in appearance?
Very cool overall. Would love to continue to hear about your progress in this venture.
All the best,
Drew

[JLange]

Congrats on your progress! I would love to be at 50% goal on my "sets" but I think that is still years away. I find it interesting that your personal standards are evolving as you go, as I have experienced something similar in my quest. FWIW I am personally much more interested in centering and overall presentation than sharp corners these days. No doubt you have also picked up on the eye-appeal factor as evidenced by your PSA 4.5 Podres. Its a fantastic card and probably puts some PSA 6 and 7 Podres to shame. Great pickup!

[jchcollins]

Great story Ben.

I would be another one to whom centering and overall eye appeal has become way more important over the past 20 years or so of my collecting life.

Centering just in general seems to be much more appreciated now than it was when I started collecting cards in the late 1980's. I'm not embarrassed to say I will take a nicely centered card with dinged corners and maybe even a light crease now over one that is o/c but sharp otherwise. Good luck completing your Dodgers collection.

-John

[Zach Wheat]

Ben,


Hey good luck and thanks for posting. Nice Podres card. As others have noted I am surprised it did not grade higher. Is there some hard to see defect? Also wonder what 3 cards you anticipate are going to be the hardest to acquire? Just curious. Best of luck on the hunt.

Z Wheat

[Reds Collector]

Quite a goal. Congratulations on your accomplishment. If I could maintain focus on a certain area I might have a few accomplishments like that.

Mark

[toppcat]

Hi Ben- your experience is a lot like mine, although I collect raw. I didn't work on the Bums for a long time so it took me over 30 years to complete the Topps and Bowman runs. Probably 8 years of that was actively acquiring the cards. It's not that easy to win some of the tougher cards in auctions as there is a lot of competition and the 52 Topps highs are not for the faint of heart but it was nice when I got the last card of the run. So good luck and happy hunting!

[dembums]

I appreciate the sense of camaraderie I get from your responses. As I'm sure is the case with many of you, few and far between are the people I can to share these types of milestones with and get any type of understanding or acknowledgement. So to get it from fellow collectors is gratifying. Thank you.

52 Topps highs are not for the faint of heart

Dave - I have one, my Jackie, and no others - so yes I've been holding out on these. Expensive and relatively hard to find. The Pee Wee and Campy are always out of my price range. At least on the low end, high eye appeal spectrum. With the Topps high #'s, I always had a hard time spending that kind of money on a non-HOF player, even if it was a semi-star or manager. I mean, consider the amount of HOF'ers on the Brooklyn Dodger roster (and yes I include Gil on that list) during the years I collect. There are literally over a 100 cards of these HOF'ers. So, in my mind, if I'm gonna spend over a hundred dollars on one card - it should be on a Jackie, Duke, Pee Wee, Campy or in some cases a Hodges. Although the older I get, the more tempting those high #'s become, and the more obvious my avoidance is. Last year, I did splurge on a Leaf Hermansk error so, eventually I'll bow down to the Topps God.

Nice Podres card. As others have noted I am surprised it did not grade higher. Is there some hard to see defect?

Zach - Yup, there are some paper wrinkles on the back of the card, which gives the card it's "technical grade" - but, man, it's a sweet card. I got it at a show a couple of weeks ago from a dealer who played semi-pro hockey. He told me some cool stories about being concussed half a dozen times because they wore no helmets and head injuries were of minor concern. Ah the "rub dirt on it" mantra, and how it was essentially the best years of his life. But it's stories like these, that keeps the hobby interesting for me and makes me appreciate the journey.

Would love to continue to hear about your progress in this venture.

Drew - Like I said before, thanks. You had some good questions that I'll answer next time with some pics of those cards that called out.