[Harliduck]

I actually did the exact same thing as you for my 1975's...

My 73 on up are all NM, 76 and up I bought whole from vending lots and 73 & 74 I built from NM. I have tons of cards in those years from my youth...my 78-80 sets I actually have two...the ones I bought mint and my childhood sets that I have kept...and they were well loved.

My 75 cards I had as a kid were VG at best, some better, some worse...and I had about 2/3rds of the set. I decided to build from there picking up first what I needed, and upgrading on occasion. The set quickly came together as all I needed were mostly commons. Grabbing 20 or 30 here and there from shows etc and the set really became a long term deal. I started this about 7 years or so ago, and just last week I picked up 10 cards as upgrades. Now every once in a while I'll grab the set in the evenings...crack a beer...and just go through the binder looking for upgrades. Getting harder and harder and I'd say I'm about 97% NM with lots of VG doubles...had a lot of fun doing that. I remember at the time I could have bought a NM set for about $300 (much more now) and I am sure I have spent more with this approach, but I made that decision to "build" and I appreciate this set that much more...

Good luck!