[commishbob]

I finished mine late in 2019. It wasn't overly tough for me as I put my vintage sets of that era together in raw, VG-EX condition. I'm not a centering freak, as long as no part of another card encroaches on the one I want, I'm good. Intact but soft corners are OK and an occasional stray mark on the back (not the front) doesn't bother me. I do buy some of the stars in graded slabs but only as a bit more insurance when buying from folks I don't know. I pull them out and save the flips for some reason. LOL

I started with a handful of stars (both Robinsons and Koufax) and the Orioles team set and a few others. I did what I always do, picked up a fair-sized lot of the commons and lower-tiered stars to get me started.

As mentioned the 4th Series is tougher than the rest. The Kubek and Richardson cards from that series were the last ones I picked up because the 'Yankee Tax' made hunting down decently priced, acceptably conditioned ones harder.

I think the only card I overpaid for was the Mantle/Berra combo card and if I had to do it all over again I'd have more patience but in the end, I'm really glad I built the set. I really enjoy flipping through the binder.

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edit...I meant to mention that I still lack one checklist and one of the four contest cards. In my mind the checklist are part of the set, the contest cards are just a fun insert and I won't be too upset if I never pick that last one up. Both the checklists and contest cards have a couple easy-to-find and a couple tough-to-find pieces. At least that's been my experience.