For those that still pick up the Topps set every year...
 

I am working on everything from 1952-Present in both Topps and Bowman. I am nowhere near finished, although I am closing in on being done with the basic sets from 1973-present, so I can concentrate on the older stuff probably by the end of the year. Here's my question:

From 1981 to now, Topps (and Fleer and Donruss to some extent) have issued update/traded sets. Do you consider your set complete for that year without these additional sets, or do you feel like they are a part of it, even though they are numbered differently? I'm kind of mixed on this. I have a lot of these sets, but I just don't know if I think that my set from last year needs to be 1100 cards. Or does it?

Chime in.

I've added some of them, especially if they have key rookies in them. Although I don't consider them necessary, some sets just seem incomplete without without them. 2000 Miggy. 2001 Pujols. 2011 Trout. Etc.

Runs
 

I have done the Topps run 1948 and 1951-2016. ( and Bowman 48-55) Up to 1994 I have also collected any test or insert sets listed for Topps in the SCD Standard Catalog ( up to 2011 it included post 1980 stuff, it no longer does). After 1994 the proliferation grew to great. So after that date I only did the base set and any update/traded set. I also have done all the Heritage sets and any updates to them. I keep all the traded/update sets with my base sets.

Some people include them, some don't. I think if you are an OCD collector you include them :)....and of course you need all the cataloged variations to all the sets...and an unopened pack too ;).

Good luck on your run, Sam

Thanks. I am leaning towards the updates. I don't care for errors or variations or inserts. I'm building this year's heritage set from packs for fun. Gonna cost me triple what I could buy it for off eBay probably.

I have always included the update traded sets, but not everyone does, I think it's a personal choice but given how cheap they are today, it's probably worth picking them up.

Used to build the Heritage sets for 'fun' from packs. Until it wasn't 'fun' anymore. I bought maybe 6 boxes last year at $65-$70/box and was STILL missing a dozen or more SP's. Bought them for maybe $40-$50, so I had about $425-$450 in a set that I bought this year off ebay for $229 or $230 including all (5) of the insert sets in the base product. No oddball color shifts or action images, but for the base 'Master' set, couldn't beat it. Full disclosure.....I also bought a hobby box and a couple of boxes at Target. But I'm still $100 or more to the good. It's a sin that they cannot collate better than that.

As for updates, etc......I would consider the update part of the set. JMO.............

FYI Heritage SP's fall 1 per 3 packs.

So at 6 boxes x 24 packs per box you get 144 packs / 3 you figure to pull 48 sp's. Since there are 75 Sp's in a base set, if you only needed 12 or so more sp's, you did extremely well and bucked the odds tremendously.

I have Topps sets completed down to 1967. I included all Traded / Update sets. It's not that I consider them part of the regular set, I just think they need to be included. The run as a whole would seem incomplete if I didn't include them.

Question for you set collectors that don't go after all of the errors and variations.... Do you consider your 2006 Topps Set complete without the Alex Gordon? I'd did for a while, but I got a Gordon a few years ago and am glad I did.

Now, for my Cardinals collection, I do go after variations to an extent.

Gordon
 

But which one ? :)

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...539/img230.jpg

And do you need this one to finish out the 1984 Topps set ;-}
http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...539/img057.jpg

My Alex Gordon is the full card....the one that looks like the rest of the set. For the longest time, I settled for a cutout version. Now, I have the real deal.

What is the story behind the 1984 Topps Palmer?

https://lifetimetopps.wordpress.com/...mer-card-scan/

What is the value of a Palmer card?

Palmer
 

The card as mentioned was a movie prop produced by Topps. How many were made or survived is unknown. They do not show up often so pricing is also an unknown. When they do show up the seller is usually asking a gazzillion or so. I keep thinking that, like the Topps 1990 president Bush card, at some point a bunch of them may turn up. It is numbered 800 on the back, which is a regular back with made up stats and bio. Good thing he did not play a Cardinal :-)

Do you recognize the actor, Danny Noonan from Caddyshack ( Michael O'Keefe)

I consider my set complete without the Gordon. Even the official Topps checklist from that year shows no number 297. Good enough for me. Plus, I can't justify spending Hank Aaron money on Alex Gordon.

Completion
 

What if a number and name are on the checklist but the card does not exist ? :)

I don't collect current Traded/Update sets primarily because my collection is housed a displayed in 3-ring binders and there's simply no room to add another 200 cards to every set.

As for that Darryl Palmer card...funny thing is I'm actually in that movie. (as an extra) I lived in Atlanta and they had an open call for extras to be in the stands. There were a couple thousand of us and they kept moving us around the stadium in order to get shots. The would shoot baseballs out of a cannon into the outfield stands to get us to react to a home run hit to us. The biggest problem were the fights that kept breaking out over people trying to catch the balls.

For an entire day of work in the hot sun all we got for our efforts was a hot dog,

Just put an empty toploader in the box in the right place..........Or a penny sleeve, if you're cheap. But that might slide down under the cards and get creased, so it'll need a toploader anyway. :D

Steve B

Cards
 

Steve-- I was thinking of Ed Bouche who shows up on the first series 1958 checklist (Senators team card) # 145 I think, but who has yet to make an appearance except via a Bob Lemke creation.

Mark -that is really neat, too bad it was a dud movie. You need to go over to nearby Senoia and be an extra on the Walking Dead :)