General Forum

I enjoy the set aspect of collecting too much to drop that from how I collect. I enjoy seeing all the players.

That said, due to the changes in what card companies produce, how I collect sets had to change. I stopped buying in 1992. Finances were tight, as I was trying to finish up college, and the collecting landscape had changed greatly. When I started in 1978, it was one set. easy enough. 1981 came, 3 sets. I was working for a card shop, so, easy enough. Then 1988, hello Score, I was doing okay. 1989, UD joins us, along with a new Bowman product, UD was a little expensive, but I was doing alright. Then 1990 happened. A non-Canadian Leaf. It was expensive and limited. I figured, I could skip it, and be okay. Still was able to get all the others, including the traded/updates. But then 1991, all the same sets, plus $tadium Club, $tudio, Ultra (sorry, no S in that set), & OPC Premier. You get the point. The price point of these put them out of reach when you're also getting Donruss, Fleer, Score, Topps, UD, Donruss The Rookies, Fleer Update, Score Rookie/Traded, Topps Traded, Topps Debut, UD Hi-Nums, and UD Final Edition. When Pinnacle and Triple Play came around in 1992, that was it. I already couldn't get all the sets in 1991 (and I would only find out within the last year that I never had gotten the 1991 Topps set - already rectified), there was no way in 1992.

t was over for me. I stopped buying. Didn't mean I stopped collecting. I was still organizing what I had, selling off (or trading) extras. Then only a couple years later (1996), I was back on the scene, but now it was hockey. My wife already had several sets from the 80s, and then a major trade landed us a ton of sets from the early 90s. We were opening packs/boxes, compiling sets. Then buying hiatus #2 happened when we were blessed with our son. Everything went on the backburner (even organizing). When he was old enough to do stuff on his own without assistance, but supervision, I pulled out a monster box to organize. He wanted to help. So now that he is helping, it was time to get back into it. There was a little activity from about 2007 to 2012, but just a pack or 2 here and there, and a couple sets. No boxes.  Then the sets started again. But seeing how crazy it got even AFTER I stopped with the baseball sets, I knew I had to put a limit on it, but how? I asked the Swami - which sets are worthwhile getting? He said that only Topps remained attainable for complete sets through that time. UD went to the SNed base cards (as Billy mentioned). Donruss, Fleer, and Score went out of business. Good, now I know the focus of what to collect and fill in from 1992 to present. About 20 years of sets. That was also the time I determined to figure out what Phillies I had and which ones I didn't have. Also decided then to go after all the base set (including base updates) of the Phillies. Stars and HOFers would be buy if found cheap, trade if offered, else that portion would remain dormant.

Even though my collction is still very widespread, it is more focused now that it was 35 years ago as a youngster! There are still the sets. I finally started going backwards (my oldest set was the 1978 set until a couple yars ago), and got back to 1973 completely. Got a partial 972 and am looking to complete that one. That may be the end of the line for me. But it's a nice run!

I have collected (heavily at times) since the late 80's and have just recently found a love for set collecting. I guess it's strange that I finally appreciate the "set," when a lot of people are getting away from it.

I can understand the mindset of a set collector that does not like all the parallels and SP's (not feeling complete/difficult). I just collect the base and parallel sets that I like. If I get parallels I don't want for a set, I trade them for the ones I do need.

The one aspect of set collecting I really do not like is photo variations....I hate them. I feel like I need them for a complete set and they go way beyond the pale for a SP. Some of these brands have variations that are one per case or worse.

I've said some of this before, but it fits in this thread. I started collecting in the early 70's. And I collected baseball sets -- didn't complete any, mind you -- but I was a set collector nonetheless. Collected less during college, but still collected. Then I got out of college, moved, had a bit more money, and I started buying the complete Topps set each year. I still take hours to sort it and review it and just enjoy it, but I've been buying complete factory sets for years and years. I guess I'm flexible enough to not worry about short prints and parallels and weird colors, etc. I hate them and just don't care. I get numbers one through 700, or whatever, and I'm content that I have the "complete set."

But, although I'll continue that practice -- including filling in the vintage sets I haven't completed yet -- my collection has gotten a lot more diverse. I've become more and more interested in "super" vintage cards -- pre-1950. I can't afford too many of those and there's no issue about ever getting a complete set. Even a complete Cubs team set is a challenge, both financially and just from a hard to hunt down perspective. So I get a few cards I like from a wide variety of old sets. Players with odd trivia associated with them. Cubs. Cards that just look really good. The "pressure" of completing the set is gone, and I just look for what I like.

That said, I'm still working on 1969 and still have to go through my 702 card factory Topps set, because they ridiculously have two numbers that repeat. Because, now the sets are pretty stupid. If that stupidity is a given, I can work around it with my own definitions, which mostly comport to TCDB's definitions. In other words, the sets I consider complete are usually considered complete here. Except the Gypsy Queen sets, which TCDB thinks I have about 80% of because I don't collect short prints.

Short answer: if you can define "set" in a way that's comfortable to you, there's no reason not to collect "sets," despite all the ridiculousness.

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