Is set collecting a curse?

I find set collecting to be fun, but I've traded away so many cards that I miss in order to make progress on sets, I sometimes wonder if I'd be better off not going after the sets.

Anyone had a similar experience?

Its fun trying to collect sets but it all depends on your $ situation. Going after T206 is fairly easy but to try and go after T3, W600 set is for the wealthy.


I did try the M116 set a few years back but at the time my finances did not permit me to try and finish. I did get around 26% of the set finished.


Mark

I don't know that I would call set collecting a curse. I have embarked on an e107 collection, but know doggone well that I will never get them all and am pretty sure that I won't even manage to make a run at all the HOFers in the next decade. (Not being pessimistic, just realistic). That said, it is all about the chase. I enjoy the chase - even when that means missing out on something that I can't afford / can't find / can't wait for someone to let go of / or let pass due to not being willing to give up another prized card in order to get. Depending on what set(s) you are chasing, set completion may not be a realistic goal. If set completion is crucial to you, there are plenty of great sets out there that can be completed in low-to-decent grades. All in all, don't let "the brass ring" (my preciousssss...) rob you of the joy that first inspired your collecting.

We all have "in my collection until I die or someone offers me a ridiculous amount of money for it" type cards. Those should be off the table for the sake of set collecting. If you do decide to trade such a card, just make sure that you keep scans of the ones that you've chosen to let go of, so that you can look at them. Shoot, that is how I look at many of the cards I have anyway due to the valuable ones being locked away in a safe deposit box. Come to think of it, maybe I should just collect scans and save the money.

terjung wrote:Come to think of it, maybe I should just collect scans and save the money.

Ha! You should be able to acquire a world-class collection in about an hour.

I have completed the T202 set and finished the T206 up to the Big 5. Along the way I have bought and sold and have had very little remorse from the cards I have sold. If I did not buy and sell there is no way I would have amassed the collection I now have.

There is a great amount of satisfaction when the journey is complete. Both of my completed sets now have variation and took turns off the beaten path, so the journeys continue.

Lee

If you collect, you a set collect. You set the parameters for what the set is whether it's a traditional set like t206s or Goudeys, or collection of HOFers or your favorite team. Your collection and your collecting goals are your set and it will morph and change over time.

For me, being a set collector in the strict sense of the word is tough because if requires you to be very disciplined in what you collect. I've gotten much better at focusing my collection as I get older, but it is still hard. The pursuit of the player set allowed to buy a little of everything while dedcided what I really wanted to collect.

Jay

so many times i would curse under my breath when i have to sell a hof to fund a bunch of common cards.

i may be wrong but set collecting may become a lost art with the new generation of collectors, and that also indirectly leads into less importance on back collecting. not saying all new people coming in would not set-collect, just a significant less percent-wise.

This year alone, I abandoned my near sets of E94, E97, E98, E102, E104 cards. While a large percentage of each of these sets were HOF players, it was just too painful to spend large sums of money for common players. So I sold the commons and kept a few of the key cards from each of these sets. The proceeds from the commons can be devoted to tougher cards for major HOFers.

I don't know how collectors of Zeenuts, T210s, Obaks, etc do it. Each of these sets consists of mostly players who never even made it to the major league. Not sure how anyone can spend hard earned money on obscure players who never played in the bigs.

I personally have had very little sellers remorse, just a couple of cards. I am proud of the T202 set I have put together and have expended the set to try and get one of every back. At some point I do need to sell some cards to pay for my new pick up but always happy with the T202s I have.

As far as my T206s I put together I have changed my focus and have been selling of my commons with common backs and have not missed any of them I have sold.

Lee

I am on the other side of the fence of psacollector. My pre-war collection consists primarily of players who never made it to the "majors". I enjoy obscure issues of obscure players in obscure towns much more. I see T206 Cobbs every day on the message boards why do I want to see one on my shelf? It isn't like I ever saw Cobb play so what do I care?

That is true, Dan. Cobb is way overrated.

Now how about you sell me your 1914 Boston Garter Cobb so that you can buy more of those PCL beauties?

There are heroes in the commons, and finding each is quite a reward. This seeking among the commons is also the main thrust of what I collect:
Tom Cheney - 21 Ks in a game, 1963
Pat Seerey - 4 HRs in a game, sometime in the 40s.
Johnnie Burnett - 9 hits in a game, somewhere in the 30s
All MLB records by commons, and only the tip of the iceberg.

It is not whether or not Cobb is a chump. It is not about Cobb at all.

No problem Jeff, just wait for me to upgrade and Richard to pick one up.

My sets, never started off being sets. ... They just happened ... like an unplanned child.
For instance, let's take my incomplete T206 sets (2).

My beater set is missing 8 cards from the known check list.
My better set, (an unplanned child, and a story in itself,) is missing 1 card from the known check list. ... Believe it or not, I like the better set, but I luv the beater set.
The beater set has character, and the cards have been loved by every collector that's ever lived since 1909 ... one hundred years ago.

All of this started with ONE card back in 1982 or 83.
While looking for 1941 Play Ball cards in a small card store in California, (cards that I use to flip as a ten year old in 1941) a card in that store caught my eye.
It turned out to be a T206 Herzog NY Nat'l.
My father was a NY Giants fan, from McGraw's time, and I said to myself, he might like that ... so I bought it, and brought it back to him in NYC.
Then I started collecting the three NY teams, and the rest is history ... the set started to happen.

As a collector, I never bought a card thinking of what it will fetch later ... that never crossed my mind.
It was always the hunt, the chase, the Don Quijote mind set, of what's over the next hill.
Till this day, I still maintan that approach, and my hobby, has remained my hobby.
When my father passed, RIP, the Herzog became the focal piece of my beater set.

No way did I ever dream that I would be that close to completion of the T206 set.
Just Let It Happen.

P. Y.