The last card of your first hand collated set

[4reals]

I remember it so clearly, I was 11 and the first set I attempted to complete was the 1987 Topps set. I had opened three boxes and traded with friends at school yet one card eluded me...the Ron Guidry #375. The father of a boy up the street from me collected cards and I shared with him that it was the one I was missing and he gifted it to me. It might as well have been a Mickey Mantle because that last card brought me such joy. And still, 28 years later, that moment left a lasting impression, the completion of my first hand collated set. I was officially hooked on cards, for life.

Anyone else remember their last card of their first set as a kid?

[hcv123]

[ALR-bishop]

Bob Hale

[PM770]

1979-80 Topps Basketball was the first I completed. James Edwards was the last card. Still remember making the trade as a 9-year old that winter.

[Hammerin'Hank]

1964 Topps Stan Williams #505. This was my first set collected by hand.

As a kid, growing up in the 80's, all the sets were factory sets.

[steve B]

Last card of the first set completed? Last card of the first set collected?

Tough one for me.

First set completed was 82 - All three at once since I bought them complete.
First set collected - Even harder. First cards were 69, but not complete yet.
first set collected figuring buying more than one pack 73, also not finished yet
But I started late in the year, September. So the first I really collected was 74, which I finished in maybe 94 or 95. Mike Schmidt was the last one. Not hard to find, but I wanted a fairly nice one at a decent price.
Counting the Washington natl cards, I haven't actually completed the set.

The first set I actually finished was 48 Bowman. I don't recall what the last one was, and it might have been 4-5 cards. I remember getting some of the commons in batches towards the end.

Or............I put sets together from vending for a dealer in 78. Probably sorted around 70? Maybe more.

Steve B

[ALR-bishop]

Take a breath and relax Steve. Let your mind drift back to those days of long ago.

But you do really need to finish the 69 set soon

[grainsley]

1965 OPC......I was fascinated that the cards said printed in Canada...in previous years the boxes were stamped OPC but the cards said USA. Canada no longer felt like just a satellite of the U.S. to me. I remember being at the corner store with 25 cents allowance and whatever pop bottle returns I had scored. Early OPC's had notoriously bad centering, and even at 13 that angered me. (Didn't mind dented corners etc from playing topsides/leansies, those seemed legit.) I opened pack after pack, often throwing out Aarons etc. on the spot until I got one. Last was Checkist 3 and the cards wentin a box where they remain today in superb condition. Honorable Mention to '66 OPC, with a twist....thought I had finished it, and put it away also. Pulled out the box about 15 years later, no Fred Whitfield. Internet shopping solved that issue. Time to pull out the boxes again, since another 15 years has passed.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

1953 Topps Hal Rice #93

[rats60]

1968 Topps Willie Smith.

[Rickyy]

1974 Topps, I needed the Washington Padres variations to finish the set... I got Dave Roberts many years later at a show in SF in the late 80's...(pre ebay days) the dealer was just as happy for me as I was...

Ricky Y

[JollyElm]

1975 Steve frickin' Foucault!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[steve B]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Take a breath and relax Steve. Let your mind drift back to those days of long ago.

But you do really need to finish the 69 set soon

I only bought one pack back then. I did get a Reggie rookie. I remember sitting in the car showing the cards to dad and him saying "Hey this guy is pretty good" I still have that card, and probably one or two others from that pack. No pack in 1970, and one in 71 the only thing I recall from that one is the coin - Danny Cater, And I still have That one too.

When I got into cards in 73 I dug the older ones out of the toybox.

Hmm......Can I count that as my first "find" ?

Maybe I'll finish the 69 set. I think I'm at about half, and I've got one of the big ones, so maybe.......

Steve B

[mrmopar]

78T baseball was the set, but have no memory of the last card needed. I think Cullen Bryant was the last card I needed for an 81T football set. I remember that because I had trouble finding it in the pre-internet/local cardshop/show days.

[DHogan]

1967 Don Clendenon #535 The centering on that card drove me nuts.

[Harliduck]

1979 Topps was my first complete set, but I don't remember the last card. I do however remember getting a 1981 Topps Gene Richards for my last card in 81. I remember that feeling pulling it from a pack after looking though NUMEROUS packs for that one card...it was magic, like I won the lotto.

When I was 16 in 1986, I got the last card to my first 1969 set through the mail. I had to call a shop in Boston from an advertisement in the back of a Becket to get it, Norm Cash. I thought it was unbelievable cool to order and find a card from across the coast! I still remember putting in $2 cash into an envelope, and waiting for the card to arrive. My how times have changed...

[62corvette]

1960 Topps Smokey Burgess. As a 12-year old, I drove a hard bargain, trading a Whitey Ford and an Al Kaline for that Smokey! 6 months later dropped the hobby for about 10 years. Was 13, and too sophisticated for a little-kid's hobby.

[Jayworld]

I don't remember which one from 1977 mine was, but the 1978 was Padres Mike Champion....

[Jayworld]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

1975 Steve frickin' Foucault!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, I remember Steve Foucault pitching several times in person for the 1975 Rangers; sidewinder relief pitcher with a tremendous mustache. It was always "good" back then to see Foucault come in the late innings, as the game was "won" for the Rangers, a fairly rare feat back then...

[Ksquared]

1981 Topps Mario Mendoza. Seems like I bought packs for months looking for that card. As I separated cards into my Topps Sports Locker by team it drove me crazy not to have that card. Probably looked through my doubles almost every day thinking I must have it somewhere. Bittersweet to finally get the card.....finished the set but, wow, what an ugly card.

[runbrett]

I gave up way too much in trade to complete my set. Getting the Billy Martin was great, but I never again traded anything decent for a manager card.

[baseballfan]

I remember I needed the robin young foil sticker for the 81 or 82 sticker set. I bought a lot of those packs looking for it. My buddy got one out of pack. Good memory.

[tjv815]

1978 Topps was my first vintage set that I completed. The last card was Rick Auerbach

[keating3620]

1977 topps, buying a pack at a time at the candy store. Last card was Toby Harrah. Ended up with 8 Aurerlio Rodriguez of the Tigers

[SmokyBurgess]

1963 Fleer Orlando Cepeda.

Found the checklist much earlier at a flea market.

[1963Topps Set]

The first vintage set I ever completed was the 1959 Topps set back in 1993. The Al Kaline All Star card was the final card added. It was an amazing feeling!

[oilersfan9994]

I bought pack after pack of this in the summer of 1983 but #293 just never appeared. Weird thing was NOBODY in my area seemed to have it. None of my friends, none of the booths at the local flea market, not even any of the local card stores had this common. I finally ended up ordering it through the mail--I remember being so ticked that a card which would normally cost me perhaps a penny or two from a local dealer ended up costing me just shy of 30 cents because I had to pay for postage.

[Unclefloyd606]

#543 Bob Uecker 1964 Topps

[PowderedH2O]

I got the 1978 set down to 2 cards, but didn't get those 2 (Jeff Burroughs and Greg Luzinski) until 1983. My first finished baseball set via packs was 1980 when I finally got the elusive Bobby Bonds on the second to last pack from a full box that I purchased just to get that one card.

[mets41]

When I got back to card collecting as an adult in 1973 I set out put together the 1960 set. Yogi Berra was the last card to complete my set.

[JTysver]

1978 Topps Ray Knight. I needed both the Tom Seaver and Ray Knight and got them in the same day.
Built the set completely from buying packs.

[glynparson]

Roy Smalley.

[roarfrom34]

1976 John Balaz

[midmo]

1980 Topps Kent Tekulve. It felt like finding the golden ticket when it finally appeared.

[Tim Fritz]

1985 Topps Dwight Gooden - I road my bike 30 minutes across town to try a different grocery store thinking maybe I'd have better luck. You would have thought I hit the lottery.