A New Vintage Set Quest

I have been making good progress on my 1971 Topps set quest and I have expressed my frustration over the high series of 1972.  During one of the fits of frustration, I decided to do a search for a starter set lot of 1969 Topps cards, the next logical step after my 1970s Topps run was complete.

I saw a lot advertised as having 409 different cards.  With the set coming in at 664 cards, I thought it might be a good chance to knock off almost 2/3 of the set.  I knew most of the stars wouldn't be in the starter set but I have also picked up a few stars here and there so I thought what the heck and threw out a best offer price.  I was quite a bit lower than the asking price but I thought I would give it a shot.  Unfortunately the seller rejected my offer.  On eBay, auctions you have place a best offer on seem to stick around your My eBay page for a while and after unsuccessfully trying to find a lot of 1972 Topps high numbers I decided to up my best offer a bit and somewhat surprisingly the seller took my offer.

Within a few days the package arrived and I was excited to go through it to see if there were any surprises.  I was pretty happy to see that all but 2 of the League Leaders cards came in the lot. 

I also scored a handful of All-Star cards:

There were even a few stars and Hall of Famers in the group but none of the huge cards.

As I was going through the cards and I started making a want list it seemed like I was much closer than 255 cards from the complete set.  I counted out the cards and while the auction advertised 409 different cards, I actually got 573 different cards out of 664 cards in the set!  I was shocked

I dug through my collection and found 18 cards towards the set, some of them some pretty nice players:

I also happened to pick up a six pack from Sportlots when I also got some 1971 set needs:

Finally I dug through a couple boxes and found quite a few needs at my LCS:

I was able to finish off the League Leaders subset and pick up one of my favorite cards of Mr. Cub.

The highlight in this group is the pair of Hall of Famers and Jim Mudcat Grant.  I met Grant at a Arizona Spring Training game in Scottsdale a couple years back and bought a copy of his book and got him to autograph it.  He was a great man, had fun talking with him a bit and he was great to my son.

A couple Rookie Cups and some serious star power with Brock and Brooks not to mention a youthful looking Earl Weaver manager card.

These are some big ones here highlighted by Tom Seaver (the most expensive card in the group at $10) and some high numbers including a Bobby Bonds rookie card.

After all of this, I currently need only 41 cards to finish my set including several biggies like Reggie Jackson RC, Nolan Ryan, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays.  This is shaping up to be one of my fastest vintage set builds ever where I didn't just pick up the complete set.  Those 4 biggies won't come cheap but I am on the lookout for a good deal.  I am not looking for graded copies or near-mint cards but I know I have to watch out for reprints.

Wish me luck in my new vintage set quest!