Autographed set collectors - questions about your experience
 

I am thinking of working on a set where each card is autographed. I've seen these from time to time at various auction houses, and they usually sell as near sets missing a handful of cards. Whether complete or just a near set, this looks like a huge commitment in time and financial resources to find and acquire each card to build such a set.

For anyone who has ever attempted or completed such a set, how did you choose the set to go after? What are some of the hurdles? Did you have to have some of the cards autographed yourself, or did you find that every card is available for your chosen set? How long has it taken, or what is your progress to date?

Would love to have some feedback before I bite off more than I can chew!

Thanks!

Difficulties:
1) Players that die or are incarcerated. Even players from sets in the 2010s have died (Yordano Ventura, Oscar Taveras, etc)
2) Players that don't sign much.
3) Players that retire and move back to their home countries.
4) Determining whether autos are authentic.
5) What to do about checklists or team cards or multi-players? Do you need 1 sig or all sigs or best player?
6) Costs of auto acquisition and authentication.

Swarmee's comments are all true and valid. Signed sets can be a total pain in the backside. However, they are one heckuva lot of fun as well. If you acquire signatures by writing to players, then you are forced to learn a lot about the players as well. Really, it is a truly in-depth look at the sport and players that you are collecting.

In terms of set building, it is completely different than non-signed sets (obviously). Cards that are common in standard sets can be exceedingly difficult in signed versions. Likewise, signed sets tend to be not as strict on condition, so the cards themselves are often easier to acquire. I collect signed sets from the 1960s, and tend to focus on cards that would be in the PSA 5-7 range. Nice, presentable cards, but at a fraction of the high-end cost. Of course in many situations (deceased/rare signatures), you kind of have to take what you can get.