What’s the cut-off year for your collection

[egri]

I don't have a hard cutoff, but after the early 1960s I generally only collect if I don't have to open my wallet too much. The sets after then are too large, and I'm usually not a fan of the designs or the photograpy.

[deweyinthehall]

Right now I have a run of Topps master sets from 1969-1997, with just a handful of odd ball items still on my need list (i.e. 1969 #567, no black outlining, etc.). I have recently started moving slowly out in either direction - I'm more than halfway to a 1968 set, and I'll put a 1998 set together soon to, and then move to 1967/1999, etc. I have no cut-off date in mind in either direction - I'll probably keep going until my money or my breath run out...whichever comes first. Because I collected some of them as a kid, I also over the last few years put together a master run of Donruss, Fleer, Score and Upper Deck from 1981-1992.

That's my primary interest - I also have a modest assortment of Topps Football, Hockey and Basketball from the late 1970s which I'd like to expand in both directions as well (the '79 Gretzky is currently acting as a road block to THAT particular interest), plus some Topps non-sports (Star Wars, Charlies Angels, Happy Days, etc.) and the old Wonder Bread inserts from the earlier '70s.

Finally, I do player collections of Tim Wakefield, Dwight Evans, Jim Rice and Jamie Quirk.

[jayshum]

I've got the Topps sets from 1951-2021. I still get the new Topps base set every year along with the Heritage set. I'll see what happens with Topps in a few years and decide if that will continue.

[ALR-bishop]

I have also done Conlon 1983 to 1995 and Heritage 2001-2021. I had been thinking about stopping Heritage this year (1972) but decided to keep going to 1975 redo. But when the new license agreement kicks in Heritage may go away, even if Topps gets bought out or licensed

[hcv123]

Similar to Chris I am primarily a player collector - Roberto Clemente being my player. I have drawn a soft line at 1973 it being Clemente's last career contemporary card (albeit issued after his passing). I have made plenty of exceptions for cards issued later that are appealing to me, but don't as a rule chase them. Used a similar line for Pirates team sets with my kids albeit that goal line has changed:

Started as 1952-1973 Topps pirate team sets ('52, '55 & '73 are done)

Then added 1948-1955 Bowman ('52 is done)

Then added Venezuelan Topps 1959-1968 (Need 5 cards to have them all done)

Then added T206 (minus Wagner), 1933 Goudey (finished)

Then added T205, T207, 1914 and 1915 Cracker Jack and 1948 Leaf

That should take us till they're not kids anymore!

[toppcat]

I bought new every baseball season from 1981-92 as I re-entered collecting in '81 after dropping off as a kid (last year I remember buying in quantity is 1975) but don't collect post-1980 cards or sets anymore, with couple of minor exceptions. So I consider 1980 the end of the vintage era but I don't have much interest after 1975 (last excellent design IMO), although I consider '72 my "soft" stopping point for a few reasons. I also collect the Heritage Mets team sets and am stopping with the 1972 design.

I was big on early 50's cards, especially Brooklyn Dodgers but lost interest about three years ago in those (sold out way too cheap as a result) and have since refocused on the early 60's as I fill in my sets from that year through 1966. I'll have the 1960-75 set run when that's all done. And my Topps type run spans from 1939-80 in all lines, sports and non-sports alike. Anything Topps issued prior to 1948 is just comics and wrappers, which I also find very fascinating.

[BillP]

Baseball 54-69 but not 61
Football 55-69 but not 56
Hockey 64-72
Basketball 69-70

Never know why 60's hockey is not valued higher in particular high grade stuff. Not much was produced compared to BB, in my opinion and the checklists are usually killers.

[egri]

Originally Posted by egri

I don't have a hard cutoff, but after the early 1960s I generally only collect if I don't have to open my wallet too much. The sets after then are too large, and I'm usually not a fan of the designs or the photography.

I guess I should add that my cutoff line keeps moving forwards; there aren't too many living players from the 1950s and '60s I'm interested in writing to and don't already have, so I've had to start moving into the 1970s by necessity.

[toppcat]

For baseball sets it's 1975 but my interest wanes somewhat after 1972. For my Topps type collection it's 1980, although I pick occasional later items

[tonyo]

1999

I'm down to only a few cards after 1999.

trying to sell those on eBay.

[babraham]

The vast majority of my collection is between 1909-1969.
I do, however, have a few 1984/85 cards (my Puckett rookies) and a couple 1986 (my Jordan rookies).
Nothing newer than 1986 though in my collection.

[jchcollins]

As a pure vintage collector (probably about 90% of what I do...) I'm not interested in a ton past the early 1970's. I do like the '76 Topps set, but am not actively collecting it or anything. Junk era is my childhood, and I generally consider that to start in the mid 1980's. Early 80's cards were not produced in the same quantity as the ridiculous heights of the 90's, though some will lump those in and consider them "junk" as well.

For modern stuff it's tricky, because I do love things like Topps Heritage, and (only recently) their Archives series. Fantastic new shots of both modern and historic players in classic Topps designs. So technically the cards are new, but most look old. For me this is a way to pick up some big names on the cheap, and offers refreshing new card images and things I had not thought of before. I'm a big fan of the "cards that never were" format. Archives gets some criticism because some people think they will never retain value, but I'm not concerned with that right now. I just like good looking baseball cards.

[mrmopar]

I don't discriminate and at any given point, something could catch my eye. I stopped buying packs in the early 00s. I do maintain an ongoing Dodger autograph collection, so I keep up with who is on the team at any given point. That leads to other autograph pick-ups. I also collect Steve Garvey and up until 2021, I would pretty much plan to buy anything and everything with almost no exceptions. One such exception was Leaf and those unlicensed, multi-player GU dump sets that started around 2018 or so. That is not to say I have not bought any, but I stopped chasing them aggressively. 2021 brought a weird surge in prices for Garvey cards, especially whatever is new. After missing more cards than I would allowed myself in prior years, I have tossed in the towel on even trying to get certain new cards.

One thing that is definitely turning me off, even with singles, are that all the cards are starting to blend together with their gaudy prism, sparkle and color selections. These are 4 pictures from a local card shop, showcasing some of their new additions. They offer a very wide selection of stuff, so in fairness to this shop, I just picked a couple random pics out of 20 or more. i'm sure there are desirable cards in there, but not to me.. It's easier for me to say no, because baseball is my primary interest now and has been for years, but there is nothing exciting in these cards that all blend together.

And don't get me wrong, I loved and still do love a lot of the 90s insert designs across all of the sports. They had personality. The new stuff doesn't.