Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Set Builder in Me is Feeling a Little Dirty

I am probably best known throughout the blogging community as a Giants collector but before being a team collector and player collector, I started in this hobby as a set collector.  The first set I completed was 1981 Topps and the earliest complete set I put together with cards I bought from packs during the year they were produced was 1979 Topps.

In 2012 I went set collecting crazy, it seemed like just about every set that came out I bought a box or two and worked to complete the set.  Due to my move and my wife's new job staying home and taking care of the kids (therefore reducing our take home income) I decided I needed to cut back some in 2013.  I always get a Jumbo box of Topps Series 1, 2 and Update and that probably won't change.  I also bought a box of Opening Day (very cheap) and finished up that set and actually made a last minute call to collect the Heritage set (almost done with the SPs!).  I am a huge fan of the Panini Cooperstown set and am a few SPs short of that set as well (I did cut down on the number of inserts sets I went after from 2012).

My cut back included not going after Gypsy Queen, Allen & Ginter, Topps Stickers and Topps Chrome.  Chrome was by far the toughest as I have put the set together every year since 2010 and also in 2008.  I love cracking boxes of Chrome and getting the parallels. I don't think I have ever gotten a decent autograph but it is still fun to crack.  The down side is that I have usually had to buy 3 hobby boxes and some retail packs to even get within striking distance of buying singles or trading for the final cards to finish my set.

Well the reference in the title to feeling dirty is due to this:

 I decided to buy the complete set online, fully complete.  No box purchases, no hand collation of the set, no packs to rip and I feel like an impure set collector.

Here is another pic with the bookend cards, #1 and #220.  So why did I do it.  First off, box prices seems to be higher than normal, I am thinking it is the Puig effect.  Living in the LA area, boxes were moving fast and at a premium.  Even looking on DACardWorld right now, boxes are around $77 so that would be about $250 for my 3 boxes.  I was able to score this set on eBay for less that the price of 1/2 of one box.  I just couldn't pass it up.

So, fellow set collectors, will you forgive me?
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9 comments:

  1. P-town TomDecember 22, 2013 at 7:42 AM

    Yep, completely forgiven. I love building sets, but sometimes it just doesn't make fiscal sense to purchase a couple of boxes. Especially when you're paying for the chance of finding a hit that you could care less about. Happy Holidays!

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  2. Matt RunyonDecember 22, 2013 at 8:40 AM

    You are forgiven. I buy a set every year -- the "hits" and inserts usually don't interest me. The only singles I get are the ones that I need to fill holes in vintage sets (and/or Giants sets).

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  3. RobertDecember 22, 2013 at 8:48 AM

    You got the complete set for 1/2 of what you would normally spend? This cheap ass here absolutely forgives you!! This time of year you gotta find bargains like that to stretch your gift giving dollars....

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  4. HackenbushDecember 22, 2013 at 10:56 AM

    I've never built a set from scratch. Seems way to expensive and frustrating.

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  5. The Baseball Card SnobDecember 22, 2013 at 6:02 PM

    You are forgiven, as long as you throw 3 Hail Mary Passes, and sacrifice a bunt.

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  6. gcrlDecember 22, 2013 at 10:58 PM

    forgiven. i used to buy a box of chrome every year, but didn't this year. definitely the puig effect, i am sorry to say.

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  7. cynicalbuddhaDecember 23, 2013 at 11:24 AM

    No need to ask for forgiveness. I'm a set builder at heart too, but I've come to the realization this coming year if I want a Topps set or any other set for that matter I will not be building it from box breaks. With the little one on the way I can afford to blow 100's of dollars on boxes anymore and I love ripping wax. I'll probably pick up a full set of Topps Baseball and football off of ebay and it'll be a fraction of the price I would have spent building one myself, but not nearly as much fun.

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  8. AdamEDecember 23, 2013 at 2:20 PM

    I'm not a set collector I'm a Team Set collector. This year like you and your Chrome set I abandoned hand collecting new team sets. I'm just grabbing full team sets off ebay rather than hand collecting them through wax and trading. So no apology needed.

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  9. AnonymousDecember 24, 2013 at 12:38 AM

    the cost of boxes are based on the hits you could get and not the ones you will probably end up with...so financially it makes more sense to buy the set, which i don't blame you one bit for doing.

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