Guidance Needed from the Set Builders

[kailes2872]

Last night was a big night as I finally got '61 and now have 57-85. Up until now, I have been buying the sets and then upgrading as needed. I had minimal upgrades with 57, 62, 64, 65, 66, 69. 59 was a major upgrade (but I bought the original set very cheap), 58, 60, 70, 71, 72 had a modest amount, but still provided good value by the time that the upgrades were done versus the original price for the set. I paid more for the '61 up front than I did for any of the other sets, but I believe that I will have less than a couple hundred in upgrades and it is a very strong EXMT-NRMT set.

Which brings me to my current crossroads. Last night, there was a VG/VGEX '55 that I could have gotten for about 2 grand. The Clemente was probably a 3 OC, the Koufax was creased, the Killebrew was solid, Snider was almost filler, and the Mays was pretty strong. Commons were pretty solid in the VGEX-EX range. If I would have bought the set, I would have eventually upgraded Clemente to at least a 5 (possibly a 6), Koufax to a 6, and the Snider as well. By my count, that would been at least 2 grand in those 3 cards. At that point, I would have had 4 grand into it and a pretty uniform set. I would have had some value in the 3 cards that were upgraded, but I tend to hold onto them.

Since there are 340 cards in '56, 206, in 55, and 280 in '54, I was wondering if the smart thing to do would be to look for a large lot of cards from each of these years and then collect the stars star by star in the holder that I am looking for - or if there is still value in finding the entire set together (and knowing that I will be paying a pretty solid price at the grade that I am looking for). My big fear is that if I buy raw and send in the big cards for grading, they will come back at a lower grade than the raw description. For example, something called EXMT will come back as a 4 VGEX and I will want to upgrade to the higher grade.


Very long winded way of asking - those who have completed the smaller count sets like 54-56, did you do it card by card to get the stars in the specific grade that you were looking for, or did you buy it complete?

If it is a card by card with stars, that strategy is a little different for me than the whole set as I would probably look for starter lots in each and begin filling in the big cards in all three simultaneously as I find the right deal. If it is buying the entire set at one time, I would save up, buy 56, upgrade the set as needed, then buy 55, rinse and repeat, etc.


Thanks for any feedback.
Kevin

[savedfrommyspokes]

Kevin, for me, I first built these Topps sets (53-present) by starting with (multiple) larger lots of commons/semis and then subsequently buying the stars to finish the set out. In the case of 56's, after completing the set initially, I came back and bought several complete sets in order to further upgrade my set. I then sold off the lower grade cards as singles ( I had the time to do so) on ebay to more than cover the costs of my upgrades.

In most cases with sets I have built (69 and back) I have followed the same MO as above and subsequently wind up with a minimal amount invested in a nice mid grade set (EX to EX-MT) after selling off all of my dupes as singles.

Currently I am working the 50-55 Bowman sets and the 61-63 Post sets with the same MO...while I still have a few stars remaining that I need (Mantle/Mays), these sets 9 sets range from 75% to 99% complete in solid mid-grade shape. By buying multiple lots for each of these sets and selling off my doubles(profitably), I have approximately $1500-$2000 invested in these 9 sets.

To answer your question, I recommend buying multiple lots, upgrading, selling off the dupes as singles (to maximize profit) and adding stars as time and money allow.

[Brianruns10]

I never buy whole sets. Always singly. For me it's the thrill of the hunt, cherrypicking only the finest examples (within my price/grade range) with an emphasis on centering. I just like to have that control. Because buying a whole set, it is just harder to ensuring uniform quality.

[ALR-bishop]

On my Topps sets 1948 and 1951 to 1971 I pieced them. From 72 to, so far, 2014 I buy sets, with minimum upgrading. But for all sets I add any variations listed in SCD, Beckett or The Registry. Also a pack :-)....and any insert or test set for the related year ( up to 94). It is some sort of illness :-(

[brob28]

Kevin, congrats on the '61 set you showed in the pick-up thread, looks real nice. I build all my sets by buying lots, mostly for commons and buy the star cards individually. In a lot of sets I've seen for sale there seems to be a drop off in condition and/or centering in the more expensive cards. I don't have a lot of time to re-sell in Ebay or elsewhere so I try to buy what I want from the start. Long-winded way to get to my answer, but if you are interested in a specific grade on these cards, I would buy the card in the holder. With the vagaries of grading you could by several cards hoping for that 6 and get a 4. If you paid anything more than a 4 price for it, your losing money. IMO it would be easier and safer to just buy them slabbed if that's what you want.

[K-Nole]

I have done both ways, bought complete set, and then buy "lot".

When I buy the set as a whole, it is not "fun". I buy the set, and there it sets.

So now, all i ever do is build sets with my son, by buying winning "lots" off ebay, then what i still need, I go to the local card shop and see what I can get from him, because I believe it is our duty to keep our little card shop owners, in business.
Then what i still need, i buy thru "sportlots.com".
Then what i still need, which by this time is only 5-6 at the most, i buy off ebay.

That way is a lot more fun as i am doing it with my 11 year old son, and we get to physically analyze almost every card. When I bought already built complete sets, it was, "well, here it is", "Now what?"

[kailes2872]

Thanks all for the replies.

K-Nole, I appreciate the head's up on sportslots.com - as I had not heard of them before.

I think that I am going to go this route for the 53-56 quests that will take a couple of years to complete. I went through last night and built spreadsheets for each year and am in the middle of the process of pricing out the stars as to what I should expect to pay. I classified cards as super stars, stars, minor stars, commons, high numbers, team cards, checklists, etc. Now it will be a matter of filling in the worksheets over time with the date, price paid, vendor, etc.

Does anyone have any tips &/or tricks on how to do the search function for lots to get a cleaner return? I attempted to do 1956 Lot EX-NM and got a wide assortment of things that were neither 1956 nor EX-NM. I could just be that I have to wade through some stuff to find it.

Much to your chagrin, I will keep you posted over time on my progress.

Take Care,
Kevin

[K-Nole]

if you are a "set guy", their is no better site then sportlots.com

I have done baseball, from 1982 to 1973 and football from 1981 to 1968 & 1959, using that site.

Completely free to get set up.

It is so easy. Just go thru pick your cards, and if you have cards from 1 seller to 20 sellers, it doesnt matter, they handle the payment dispersal.

Just for your knowledge, I have a few sellers that I have bought from, that are heads and tails over the top, better then others. I have bought hundreds of cards from these guys and have NEVER been disappointed with the card/s

SetMaker
Frankves
JWestport
Jet
DCottons
rtg74rtg

let me know if you need any help. Lord knows I spend most of my days on there

[darkhorse9]

The way I've always done my sets (and I have them from 2014 to 1954) is to collect them by series, just like they were originally issued.

I start with the first series and complete that before moving on to the next. That way I'm not overwhelmed with cheap common cards or overwhelming my budget with tons of stars at one time.

It's so much easier on the budget and you can focus on condition easier.