Can anyone honestly say....

[mintacular]

Been challenging my assumptions recently about card collecting, prices, etc. (for example that 80s cards were basically worthless due to oversupply//modern artificial scarcity not sustainable--which they seem to continue to break glass ceilings) and thought maybe I should do the same with this one....

Can anyone honestly say that you've built a vintage set (70s and older) brick by brick, lot by lot, filling in singles here and there, etc. and were able to later resell a complete vintage set HIGHER than the dollars you put into it?

I've always thought (and still believe) that building a vintage set (from a financial standpoint only--not the joy that comes from it) is a losing proposition, i.e. the sum of the parts is LESS than the whole.

Anyone care to agree/disagree? Thanks! -Pat

[Bigdaddy]

Nope, and that is probably the reason that I never keep track of the dollars I put into it.

I do believe however that it can be done if you are diligent about buying larger lots and selling off the extras. I think you go from black to red once you start buying individual cards, especially with all you'll lose on shipping.

[hotshot888]

It’s a unbelievable with the recent phenomenon of modern sportscards especially basketball where seem hitting new highs and now vintage basketball. Basketball has a global following and the sportscards market are still exploding.
I started modern in the late 80s and 90s basically from wax whatever you can buy on your local card shop and shows. Back then, vintage was untouchable for me because of price relative to modern such as Mantle, Aaron, Musial, Cobb.
I sold off basically all my modern cards around 1999-2000 because I was unable to keep track of all the new issues and turned off by the serial number cardsI then began buying post war then pre war cards subsequently took a hiatus from 2000-2007 due to newborn. I got back buying prewar 2007-2009 and set off another hiatus due to career until 2016. I was blown away by the modern pricing especially the Exquisites and National Treasures issues coupled with the Gem Mint chase. I never understood the “self-made” scarcity of serial number and Gem mint because pretty much all new cards are straight to protectors then off to grading companies so began to understand anything under a Mint label is almost worthless. But the scarcity in serial number chase /50, /25, /10 support the chase.

If history repeats itself, vintage really ensures times of bike flipping, garage sales, house moving; you get my point should stand tall once again. In a way, vintage basketball is now off to the races especially some records may or will be broken such as all-time points by LeBron James. (A disclaimer I am not a LeBron fan nor own any of his cards simply because not a fan of Super Team).


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[jgannon]

Originally Posted by mintacular

Been challenging my assumptions recently about card collecting, prices, etc. (for example that 80s cards were basically worthless due to oversupply//modern artificial scarcity not sustainable--which they seem to continue to break glass ceilings) and thought maybe I should do the same with this one....

Can anyone honestly say that you've built a vintage set (70s and older) brick by brick, lot by lot, filling in singles here and there, etc. and were able to later resell a complete vintage set HIGHER than the dollars you put into it?

I've always thought (and still believe) that building a vintage set (from a financial standpoint only--not the joy that comes from it) is a losing proposition, i.e. the sum of the parts is LESS than the whole.

Anyone care to agree/disagree? Thanks! -Pat

Well, my feeling is, if you put a set together over the years, brick by brick, and it gave you great joy, why would you want to sell the set?

I took a long break from collecting - about 40 years - from 1978 until 2018. I really didn't keep up with what was going on in the collecting world. My whole feeling about the so-called "junk wax" era is that those cards may be junk to collectors who are in it for the money. But those cards were just as important to the kids collecting them, as 1950s cards were to kids collecting them then. If you're into collecting the cards, they should have just as much meaning as any other, if you liked those players, liked the designs, and like baseball.

[Smanzari]

I recently put together a 1951 Red Backs set in Poor-Midgrade condition and DID make a very small profit ($10-20) when I did sell. I did take my time on it and found many cards here, on eBay or COMC for <$5/shipped.

I think its super, super hard but not impossible (and easier to do on smaller sets)

[ALR-bishop]

I have built all the Topps, Bowman and Fleer sets ungraded. I have been collecting since 1957. Agree with Patrick that neither myself nor my estate will realize much over what I have put into those sets. Some of the Topps test and insert sets are likely worth more than I paid. But whatever they bring will be a big bonus for remaining family.

I have never sold a set, other than a duplicate 91 Topps DS set, and accumulated cards as a hobby rather than investment.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by jgannon

Well, my feeling is, if you put a set together over the years, brick by brick, and it gave you great joy, why would you want to sell the set?

I feel it's about the journey, not the destination. Why would you finish it and keep it on a shelf to collect dust, or look at it once a year. There is much more joy to life than staring at cards, but building a set can be a nice challenge to occupy some free time.

[tonyo]

this is peanuts, I know, but based on a quick ebay search of sold items just now, I think I would break even or make less than 20 or 30 bucks if I patiently sold a 1973 complete set I built in fall 2009.

summary of the build:
bought 36 lots on ebay.
2000 +/- total cards

nine of those were 1 card lots.
7 of them were more than 100 cards.

sold 1300+ doubles in one lot after completion.

Net spent was $320. overall grade is closer to VG than G.


It was a lot of fun , I've "looked at the cards" probably less than 10 times since then, and will probably look at them less than 10 times in the next 10 years. But I doubt I'll ever sell it if all I can get for it is $300 or $400.


******
that being said, I've always understood and believed that the whole is way less than the sum of it's parts when it comes to building card sets.

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

I feel it's about the journey, not the destination. Why would you finish it and keep it on a shelf to collect dust, or look at it once a year. There is much more joy to life than staring at cards, but building a set can be a nice challenge to occupy some free time.

The journey can still continue after finally acquiring the set, by continuing to experience the joy and the meaning the set or any card or group of cards, continues to give you. Who says you have to keep a collection on a shelf and look at it once a year? The cards are there for you for whenever you want or need them. Using the term "staring" strips the experience of collecting and treasuring cards of whatever inner meaning and joy it has for the collector.

On the flip side (pardon the pun), there are so many cards to collect, I don't think there will ever be a concern about ever running out of things to acquire. But if one is compulsively acquiring and selling what they acquired, I would say that it's unfortunate to sell something that someone really wanted, at least at one point. I can understand that maybe tastes might change, and that someone might really want something else and because of limited funds, sell something that may not seem as important as getting the present thing they really want to get. But for me, everything in my collection has a reason for being there, and it's going to stay there if I have anything to say about it. I made the mistake of giving a huge collection away, when I was looking at things very differently, and also had to sell some really valuable cards because I needed the money. I regret giving the collection away, but don't feel badly about the sales, because even that had a really nice aspect to it. These cards that I had acquired as a kid, because I loved them, were going to help me out now. And they did. Something good came out of something good.

There's a great passage from "The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading, and Bubble Gum Book" written by Brendan C. Boyd and Fred C. Harris which I feel captures a lot of what card collecting is all about. It's at the end of the book where they are talking about how "Your mother threw your baseball cards out, right?". The entire passage is so great, and everyone should read it. They commiserate with the poor fellow who doesn't have his cards anymore, and at the end they say, "You knew they were there, and that was enough. Enough to get you through another winter..."

Amen...

[Mike D.]

A quick look at eBay shows that for my recent 1976 and 1977 Topps sets, I probably got close.

Both cost about 300 to build in EX or so condition. That doesn’t seem far off what they’re going for...and my $300 included the binder and pages.

I was pretty aggressive in selling off extras to reinvest in the set. That’s part of the fun and challenge to me.

We’ll see how the ‘75 Topps set goes.

[Tere1071]

I began piecing my 53 Bowman color set together from scratch last December. I know I have more into it than what it would sell for, but I enjoy looking at the cards over and over again.

My major stars are on the nicer side of vg/ex to ex, many commons are ex to ex/mint. My high numbers are where I have some weaknesses- many of the cards are vg to vg/ex. I'm not real fanatical over centering, either.

I am trying to replace those cards that have wrinkles with copies that are in excellent condition. After I get close to where I want the set to be I definitely would not get my money back, but I have a 53 Bowman color set that gives me joy to look at over and over again. Hopefully, I can move the extras to start another vintage set or pick up one in vg condition that I can equally enjoy.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

I feel it's about the journey, not the destination. Why would you finish it and keep it on a shelf to collect dust, or look at it once a year. There is much more joy to life than staring at cards, but building a set can be a nice challenge to occupy some free time.

That's why I sold my 1948 thru 1992 Topps sets after I came as close to completing them as my wallet / lovely wife would allow.

I lost money on the deal, but wasn't bothered by that on any level.

A non collector buddy of mine pointed out to me that I didn't spend much more for my vice (cards) than he had probably spent on his vices (drinking and smoking), but he wouldn't be selling his cigarette butts and empty beer cans and liquor bottles for anything close to what I got for my cards.

[Exhibitman]

"Can anyone honestly say that you've built a vintage set (70s and older) brick by brick, lot by lot, filling in singles here and there, etc. and were able to later resell a complete vintage set HIGHER than the dollars you put into it?"

Well, I could do it now. My 1969 basketball set is worth many times what I spent assembling it.

[GasHouseGang]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

"Can anyone honestly say that you've built a vintage set (70s and older) brick by brick, lot by lot, filling in singles here and there, etc. and were able to later resell a complete vintage set HIGHER than the dollars you put into it?"

Well, I could do it now. My 1969 basketball set is worth many times what I spent assembling it.

I always though vintage basketball was too cheap. But what the heck has happened to the prices! Wow.

[riggs336]

[QUOTE=mintacular;2010622]

Can anyone honestly say that you've built a vintage set (70s and older) brick by brick, lot by lot, filling in singles here and there, etc. and were able to later resell a complete vintage set HIGHER than the dollars you put into it?


It depends on when you built the set. I bought my first cards in 1954 and started building sets in 1958 so my Topps, Bowman, Leaf and Fleer sets (which I still have) would definitely bring a profit.
On the other hand the sets I'm working on today--T207, R306 Butter Cream, '53 Glendale to name three--will never be worth what I have in them in my lifetime.

[JollyElm]

The full and partial sets I have built are basically the golden age, standard-sized Topps sets from 1957 through 1973, and I constantly try to upgrade them (99% of the time it's just commons and high numbers, with an occasional HOFer thrown in now and again), and if I ever try to sell them, there's no way in heckfire I'll ever get even close to what I have paid out for them so far. But once this COVID nightmare is over, I'll be right back at the card shows digging through everything I can get my hands on, looking for further upgrades. It never ends.

[mintacular]

Thanks you for all the comments so far some interesting insights , I still hold on the belief that this type of spending usually does not work out to a plus financially, not as bad as ripping wax, but in the same bucket of collecting that takes more than it gives (financially) unless the building spanned diff decades which is sorta diff discussion