[whitehse]

Originally Posted by buymycards

It isn't always about what a set is worth. It is more about the enjoyment of putting the set together, one card at a time. In some cases, full sets are not available. In my case, I have been working on my T213-2 set for nearly 10 years, and I have 128 of the 185 cards. To the best of my knowledge, there aren't any full sets available to purchase, and if I do complete my set, there probably isn't anyone out there who would buy a full set of T213-2's. But, I don't care. I look for cards at shows, I look for cards on eBay and Net54, and I love the chase.

Financially, I look at it as if I am playing golf or going fishing. If I spend $10,000 over a 10 year period playing golf, I don't expect to sell anything to recoup my "investment", but if I enjoy playing golf, the cost is worthwhile. If I enjoy fishing, and I have an assortment of fishing poles and tackle, and I have an $8,000 boat, and travel expenses for travel to and from fishing, I don't expect to recoup my investment. I use the same "logic?" for my Louisiana cards. I enjoy collecting them because I love Louisiana, and I realize that I will never sell the cards for the amount of money that I have in them, but that is OK.

I take the complete opposite view when I am purchasing cards to resell on eBay or to sell at cards shows.

I am a hopeless set builder and I think we all know that set building for profit is something that does not happen. I am in agreement with what Rick said above....building the set is about the experience and not the financial return. I have been building a '56 Topps baseball set for two years and have probably spent more on it so far than I would have buying a full set outright but I enjoy the hunt and knowingly realize I will likely never recoup my investment. But I cannot put a price on the enjoyment I received in building the set so there is that.