General Forum

Hey everyone.  After my last post of finding some junk wax cards at an estate sale, I'm getting back into set building, which leads me to a question.  One of the sets I'd like to complete is the 1986 Topps base set.  Like all the Topps sets of the era, it has 792 cards.  I currently own 506 of them, which leaves 286 to go.  Now here's the question....according to the 2021 Beckett guide, this set has a "book value" of $25.  I know that I can't expect to pay exactly that, but....I've made a couple sportlots purchases, and I like that site.  BUT...even if all 286 cards that I need are commons at the $0.18 price point, 286 x 0.18 = 51.48.  I'd be paying over $50 for 36% of a set that's "worth" $25.  Is there any better way?  Thanks for any advice anyone can provide.

Trade here first. Many of us have extras of this set and would be willing to trade (myself included).

I'm with vrooomed;

I have a set that's 75% complete, I could eBay a new complete set for $70 + shipping, but I'd rather trade here to complete it.

Agree with those above. I think you could trade here or I bet someone here might be willing to go through the work of pulling and sell commons cheap (like a couple cents a card just to help out and then out their collection. You could even try on your local Facebook marketplace putting up an add saying looking to buy them and you might find someone local?

Getting your wantlist updated and traders added to your for sale/trade list can help expidite the process.

Does anyone know how to get cards graded right now?

Welcome, but that has nothing to do with this topic

Trading here is ALWAYS my 1st stop. Please add the cards you need to your want list. Adding some " trade bait " may also speed the process. 

I was going to say earlier that trading here might perhaps be your best alternative in terms of economics. A quick glance at the 1986 set and it would appear that there are literally "hundreds" of member with a large number of cards available for trade currently. BY knowing your specific wants and what you would have to offer in exchange would surely be cheaper than the "Sportslot" ( or any other route). Unfortunately thoug asyou eluded to the so called "book value" does sort of indicate the difficulty of sometime competing a set when you are at roughly 75%. It's certainly worth a try.

Like everyone else has said, trading here would be quick and generally cheap. I have over 70 cards from that set listed for trade or sell right now. I have no idea what cards you need since you don't have them listed here yet (haves OR wants).

But I feel like I need to point out one thing about your original post. The Beckett "set value" is for the complete set, not the book value all of the individual cards combined. Also, Beckett hasn't updated set values for anything made before 2000 for a couple of decades now. A lot of sets from the 1980's now have a "set value" that is lower than what the top card in the sets are selling for, even before the pandemic drove prices way up.