Is Set Collecting Still A Thing?

[5280Cards]

Apologies for the long message beforehand, but I'm wondering if anyone is still set building in vintage?

I had an uncle pass away 30+ years ago and my family recently uncovered a small binder of old trading cards. Primarily 55 Bowman Football, but also some 52 and 54 Topps Baseball. I only need ~ 40 cards to finish the football set, but a seemingly daunting task is to try to build the 54 and 52 (for obvious Mantle price reasons). Regardless, I have thought about trying to build out the 52 and 54 as much as possible knowing that it will take me the better part of the rest of my life, LOL, but wondered if anyone even still really builds sets anymore.

I haven't built any sets since being a kid in the 80's/90's and don't have much knowledge of vintage in general. So basic question -- is this just a waste of time, effort, and money? Or if it's a viable thought, is there a better way to tackle it? Such as hit the big cards first (maybe one a year) and pick up some of the lesser value cards along the way or would it be better to build quantity first and try to fill in the big names later? My initial thought is the former than the latter, but looking for any guidance from the folks who have experience here.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

[rnocards]

Yeah, some still do that. I don't, because I only collect HOF, and the majority of a flagship set are commons, so it wouldn't work with my collecting style and preference, unless I'm pursuing a specific insert set, a "set within a set", that only includes HOF.

But, as far as flagship sets, there are people who don't care if it's a HOF or common... they just want every card that was issued, even checklists, as part of that particular year/brand flagship set.

If you can finish the 52 set, with the Mantle... that would be an accomplishment!

[Hollywood42]

There are definitely still set collectors out there. Biggest advice, just do what you enjoy! If you think it'd be fun to try to build out the full set, do it! If you'd rather just focus on the stars or HOFers, do it!

If you do decide to do the full sets, it would make sense to me to try to knock out the biggest ones sooner than later - my thinking being, those biggest cards will likely continue to go up in price, whereas the commons should be fairly stagnant and easier to grab whenever. But, same thing applies, here too, do what's best for you and what you enjoy

[bblair_2002]

When it comes to my set building I like to pick up a couple of starter lots and fill in the rest over time but this is easiest to do with sets from the 70s to now. I couldn't imagine trying to finish off the sets you've mentioned. The 1955 Bowman FB shouldn't be too bad but the 52 and 54 BB will be quite the task.

[rats60]

People still collect sets, it is just not as popular as it used to be. There are several different ways to collect. I get the bigger Hall of Famers graded and the commons raw. If you don't already have some of the bigger cards in 1952 (Mantle, Mays, Robinson, Mathews) or 1954 (Aaron, Banks, Kaline, Williams, Robinson, Mays), I wouldn't bother. Just collect the players you like.

[DynaEtch]

I can speak more to nonsports- it’s very much a thing, probably a lot more so than sports. In non sports sets are the basic unit. And it makes sense- in say an art set or movie set, you want all the art/scenes and the set is a little more homogenous- also the size of the sets are usually just 72-150 cards or so. Whereas in sports you have tons of forgettable commons alongside HOFers…sets are huge at 600-800 cards. People just want the HOFers mostly.

No doubt set collecting still is going in sports though. At any large regional card show, there’s always that *one* table, with tons of binders of vintage sets laid out. And there’s usually a few people sitting in front of them, pencil and paper in hand, diligently working through them and cross off their needs, flipping through the binder pages. I have noticed, predictably, that this stereotypical person is almost always middle age to elderly in age…I simply don’t see the youngin’s with the snazzy briefcases at the show doing this. But that makes sense- it’s not a graded Ohtani auto or 90s Jordan or Pokemon Charizard foil…it’s vintage. I wouldn’t be surprised if set collecting in general correlated strongly with age.

I thought at one time how cool it would be to have a run of topps flagship 52-present and could then pick up the new set to add on each year it comes out. Then I thought just how daunting that would be. It’s not smartest financially to be hand collating vintage sets- would be wiser probably to put the money into graded key HOF and RCs. The whole really is worth less than the sum of the parts with sets- and once you get down to the last 50ish cards you need, you tend to overpay for every last single..junk common cards included… to finish the set. Whenever you go to sell the set- that doesnt carry over to the person buying it, plus people generally like to put together their own sets vs just buy one. So money wise you lose out probably, but it’s not about the money with set collecting. It’s about the thrill of completing a project.

The 52 and 54 ones both sound incredibly daunting and expensive…but hey do you. The football set could be fun.

[mjohnatgt]

Review your cards numbered 1-50 in the 1954 Topps baseball set and 131-190 in the 1952 set. If either have the rarer gray card stock, you could sell those and put a dent in the ones you're missing.

[5280Cards]

Really appreciate the insights everyone. I think for me it would be more of a way of honoring his memory - so definitely not financially responsible. I'm committed to the 55 FB since that is a relatively small lift. I do love the 54 Topps to be honest - the 52's are just too daunting to really consider.

And thanks for the info on the gray card stock - I am still just doing some research on what I really have so that helps a lot!

We'll see where the journey takes me!

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by 5280Cards

I'm committed to the 55 FB since that is a relatively small lift.

I have some 55 Bowman FB.....sent you a PM.....

[OneBuck]

One issue I've found with collecting vintage sets is unless you stumble upon a good local deal most starter sets you find have had most key cards pulled & it ends up costing significantly more to finish completing the set than to just buy it complete in the first place.

I'm also in a more rural area with no local shops/shows unless I drive an hour+ (and just about all those shops primarily only carry modern cards). This may not be the case in a more populated area, but virtually all of my purchases are online & one seller never has all the cards you need. If I still need 100 cards to complete a set I'm likely looking at a minimum of a dozen separate shipments & those add up very quickly.

[mjohnatgt]

That is one reason that so many people still stick with COMC despite their catalogued woes/issues/difficulties. Thousands of different sellers with dozens of each of some vintage card that makes it much easier to complete sets without so many different shipping/purchases.
1954 Topps baseball at COMC has a whole bunch of nicely presenting options for commons at $2 each.

[corndog]

I am close to finishing a set of 1973 Topps baseball.
It's a sentimental set because it was the first summer I used my $1 a week allowance to buy packs of cards at the local 7-11.
10 cents a pack!
I can see a card without the name shown and can usually know the player even 50 years later.

[RedLabelRecords]

I built 2022. My son was just born and it kept me busy for the year. The most fun was the 2022 Heritage set. That was a pain to complete. Lucky for me, I found another on this forum who also was building the set, so we complete it by helping each other out.

I won’t be doing that again. Heritage was difficult.

I later completed an insert set of WWE wrestlers.

So yea, it’s a thing. Not for everyone.

[somethingclever]

I primarily build sets, I’m working on 72 and 69, and picking up some random stars from 67-71 as they pop up. Working on the high numbers first for the 69 set, down to needing about half of the highs for 72. Definitely recommend buying the stars and or high numbers first. I wish I had done that for the 72s but I picked up several large lots locally to start and there was very few highs. I also think it’s perfectly acceptable to just collect a specific series for the 50/60s sets, especially something like 52


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[sheetskout]

I collect vintage but only graded high-end cards that are vaulted.

My question about sets always was once completed what's being done with these sets? Are the collectors simply re-breaking them like I see in some eBay listings and then selling them off again?

What other options are set collectors doing with completed sets?

I haven't done complete sets since the junk-wax era. Never did them again past about 1993.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by sheetskout

I collect vintage but only graded high-end cards that are vaulted.

My question about sets always was once completed what's being done with these sets? Are the collectors simply re-breaking them like I see in some eBay listings and then selling them off again?

What other options are set collectors doing with completed sets?

Keeping them in their collection.

[bblair_2002]

Originally Posted by OneBuck

One issue I've found with collecting vintage sets is unless you stumble upon a good local deal most starter sets you find have had most key cards pulled & it ends up costing significantly more to finish completing the set than to just buy it complete in the first place.

I'm also in a more rural area with no local shops/shows unless I drive an hour+ (and just about all those shops primarily only carry modern cards). This may not be the case in a more populated area, but virtually all of my purchases are online & one seller never has all the cards you need. If I still need 100 cards to complete a set I'm likely looking at a minimum of a dozen separate shipments & those add up very quickly.

A couple of months ago I picked up most of a 1971 Topps set in mainly VG condition. Most of the big cards were gone (did have a Hank Aaron though) but it didn't bother me in the slightest because the set had all the high numbers.

Like you,I live in a rural area and this was a local purchase from one of those shops that re-sells items from storage unit and collection buys and stuff like that.

[sheetskout]

Originally Posted by rats60

Keeping them in their collection.

I get that but then what? Displaying them?

Anything else?

[crazy4kinsler]

All of my vintage sets go into notebooks. I put the HOFers and stars into Ultra Pro penny sleeves then into the pages. But every single card goes in a page, doesn't matter if it's.a Mantle, Rose RC, Brooks, Mays, Aaron or a 5 cent common. I love being able to take a notebook out of my office and sit in the recliner watching a baseball game and looking through that binder reminiscing on how that card came to be in my collection.

Originally Posted by sheetskout

I get that but then what? Displaying them?

Anything else?

[sheetskout]

Originally Posted by crazy4kinsler

All of my vintage sets go into notebooks. I put the HOFers and stars into Ultra Pro penny sleeves then into the pages. But every single card goes in a page, doesn't matter if it's.a Mantle, Rose RC, Brooks, Mays, Aaron or a 5 cent common. I love being able to take a notebook out of my office and sit in the recliner watching a baseball game and looking through that binder reminiscing on how that card came to be in my collection.

That's awesome. How many do you have and what's your favorite?

[estang]

Based upon the success and business model of GM Cards, there are still many vintage set builders.

As a vintage football & baseball set builder, I have found the availability of cards in visually appealing, NM or better condition to be increasingly difficult to attain - even when attending major shows.

I have hit a wall on certain sets & the major or HOF cards seem to be sent in for grading in nearly any condition. PSA has seemingly changed the grading standards & I think folks are now cracking out cards and selling them via GM Cards for speculative grades if you can get them to assign NM or NM/MT grades.

FWIW, I don't think many ultra-modern collectors are building sets. They are just chasing serialized and SSP cards akin to buying lottery tickets.

[jtclockwork]

I'm actively putting together these sets:
1966 Marte Ataca set
Series 1 Garbage Pail Kids Set (PSA 6 and above)

That's it. I find set collecting more fun for non-sports unless it's pre-war vintage, but that can get really expensive.

[Gary]

Years ago i started 4,3 basketball sets 1 football

1968 topps test.......gave up last year not enough around that people are willing to sell and the ones that are for sale are way over priced.

1972 icee bear...almost done just 2 left PSA 8 or above

1987/88 fleer had all the pricey stuff so decided on an 8 or above complete graded set,unfortunately they are in SGC not that i mind SGC but there's just not enough out there and some are like pop 4 at 8 or better.....should have sold the SGC cards and did it PSA.

last one is a Complete run of every Walter Payton cards 1976-88 in PSA 8 just 1 card left for that.

[TheWrightStuff]

I've been working on a 1968 Topps baseball set for 25 years or so off and on. Only need about a dozen more. Have the big cards already. Nolan Ryan was my guy growing up so decided to do his rookie year. I wouldn't start it today for sure and only keep at it because I've been working on it for ao long.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by TheWrightStuff

I've been working on a 1968 Topps baseball set for 25 years or so off and on. Only need about a dozen more. Have the big cards already. Nolan Ryan was my guy growing up so decided to do his rookie year. I wouldn't start it today for sure and only keep at it because I've been working on it for ao long.

What are you still missing? Can't you find them on COMC or eBay?

I do get frustrated sometimes when I'm trying to locate a card, because even when I do find it, I come across some greedy sellers who won't let it go for a reasonable market value price. So, I end up deciding if it's really worth it. I can't imagine trying to complete a set for 25 years though, wow... I'd prolly give up the first year, lol.