Question for Set Collectors

JohnnyDrama

JohnnyDrama

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I'm a big set guy and it got me thinking: what kind of numbers are others putting up?

So, if you consider yourself a regular set collector, how many completed sets do you have? What are the highlights?
 
I was a set collector since the 90's. I had at one time 150+ sets. Now I am disassembling and either trading, selling or giving away the cards. UD has kind of ruin the thrill of the chase with too many sets and inserts.
 
Set collecting use to be awesome. Now it's too hard to get base cards. People only care about limited, short print, autos. The fun of set building just isn't what it was.

Still putting together the UD base set every year, but that's it.
 
mq13 said:
I was a set collector since the 90's. I had at one time 150+ sets. Now I am disassembling and either trading, selling or giving away the cards. UD has kind of ruin the thrill of the chase with too many sets and inserts.
Click to expand...


Same. I never counted how many I had, but the sentiment is the same for me.
 
I do the Upper Deck and OPC sets every year. UD since 2011-12 and OPC since 2017-18.

But I actually still go back and work on my sets from the 90s and early 2000s.
 
OPC Baseball 78 through 89 working on 77
OPC Hockey 77-78 through 89-90 working on 76-77
Every years Tim Horton's set
80's Non Sports ( gremelins, E.T, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, WWF etc)
All 80's OPC baseball and hockey sticker books
 
Have all Upper Deck Main sets from 90-91 all the way to 2010-11 and 15-16. All other years I have partcial sets of the inbetween. Im slowly going back to get certain inserts from years past. I use to want SPA and Trilogy and other fun sets but because or how crazy prices have gone im basically limiting myself to just the main Upper Deck Sets and OPC and just slowly going back to fill in past ones like others.
 
I'm still a set collector but you are right that it's not as enjoyable with the new products. For current releases I mainly only collect OPC, OPC Platinum, Upper Deck, Allure, and Tim Horton's.

Right now I have 466 complete sets, which includes sticker sets I have as well. For stickers I have all of the OPC-Panini-Topps sets from 1981-82 to 2020-21 except for 2000-01 and 2006-07 Panini. I also have a few other sticker sets as well.

As for cards I have every OPC set (not including inserts) from 1972-73 to 2012-13 Complete also have a few complete since then and there are others that I am still working on. I am mainly still working on ongoing sets from around 2000 to 2016. After that was when i drastically reduced the number of sets I'm collecting per year.

Still enjoy that feeling of getting the last card to complete a set though.
 
250ish sets, that includes base, and insert sets. Range from late 80s to this season.
I go for O-Pee-Chee sets ( still looking for 16-17, and 22-23 base sets. no rc or sp). Tim sets as well. But I will pick up any set I dont have, that is priced right, including 90s junk wax.

I keep OPC in binders, everything else in boxes. I was going to put everything in binders but, binders and sleeves get expensive, and take up space quickly
 
Very selective NOW opening only UD1, UD2 and UD Extended.
Once upon a time, I ripped everything and still have remnants of IT!
Best for me IS to look @ CHECKLISTS, pick what I want, exercise PATIENCE and proceed with what is available, mostly eBay.
 
When I got back into the hobby in 2015-16 I collected S1, S2 and SPA base sets for probably 3 years, then I realized what an awful idea it was. I realized that it's not fun to collect something that's worthless, takes up an obscene amount of space, collects dust, and is worth nothing - probably negative worth as my kids will have to clean it all up after I kick the bucket.

So I switched to something harder to collect - decided on the french version of base sets, or the red version of SPA, then, basically wound up with having the same thoughts on those sets as well.

So I switched it up again, decided to collect the S2 Rookie Materials Patches /25, but again found problems. Sure they were more rare, but outside of a handful or rookies, they weren't worth much, and they also took up a crazy amount of space - think 70+ 180pt One-Touches, every year. So I abandoned that.

Now I have very strict rules regarding sets I wish to collect. They need to be very rare - /10 or /5, and the entire set needs to be under 25 total cards. Lastly, they need to be really nice looking cards, and only include good players.

What kind of set has all that - have a look here:
http://hobbyinsider.net/forum/showthread.php?t=450883
 
foley2k said:
250ish sets, that includes base, and insert sets. Range from late 80s to this season.
I go for O-Pee-Chee sets ( still looking for 16-17, and 22-23 base sets. no rc or sp). Tim sets as well. But I will pick up any set I dont have, that is priced right, including 90s junk wax.

I keep OPC in binders, everything else in boxes. I was going to put everything in binders but, binders and sleeves get expensive, and take up space quickly
Click to expand...

I keep everything in boxes but I'm starting to run out of room. Might have to invest in another shelf or move to binders like I did back in the day. There's just something fun about flipping through a box of toploaders and picking one out!
 
According to my spreadsheet, I currently have 231 sets, which is higher than I thought. They are concentrated between 1971 and 1994.

I probably shouldn't count many of the sets after 1994 because few include the short prints. 2005-06 is the only Upper Deck set after 1994 that is truly complete, young guns and all.

I make no effort to collect modern sets anymore. For me it's a futile endeavor.
 
Set collector here. Upper Deck base set, OPC, OPC Platinum, even MVP the last couple years.

No idea of the number of complete sets and even more base sets.
 
Sold off my collection twice, and seem to be at 296 complete sets and subsets at this point.

I'd say my proudest collecting feat is likely finishing the 272 card main set of 2006-07 Artifacts.

I have sold a hot ton of sets over time to purplemommyofthree and bulkbuyer. A nutty amount, considering what I still have, lol.
 
JohnnyDrama said:
I keep everything in boxes but I'm starting to run out of room. Might have to invest in another shelf or move to binders like I did back in the day. There's just something fun about flipping through a box of toploaders and picking one out!
Click to expand...


I stick to OPC mostly so big sets, fun to flip through the pages every now and then. But where 1 binder can sit, I can stack 5 single row boxes. I want to put them all in binders but the pages alone are a fortune. The binders I pick up the amazon basics D ring. Leaves some space to slide in a paper when i want to slide in a binder insert.
I am currently using an Ikea Kallax (12 spot version) shelf for mine. They fit (4) 2" D ringer binders with enough space for a smaller binder. Couple more binders and I start a new shelf.

I am considering moving all boxed sets into 4 row boxes. Putting them on the same type of shelving unit.
 
I still tackle sets every year -- primarily Series 1&2 and Tim Hortons these days. I also chased SP Authentic for a few years.

I got these
2005-06 to 2021-22 Series 1 & 2 (base + YGs)
2015-16 to 2018-19 SPA (base + FWAs)
All McD and Timmy issues

But my proudest accomplishment are my modern Master Sets. My definition of a Master Set is a copy of every card on the checklist.

In most cases I continue the OCD of the Master Set and chase sealed packs, boxes, and sell sheets.

Here are my Master Sets, along with time taken and maximum sets available
2000-01 Topps Stars (12 years, /25)
2001-02 Topps Heritage (13 years, /25)
2002-03 Topps Heritage (10 years, /10?)
2003-04 Parkhurst Original 6 - Toronto Maple Leafs (2 years, /20)
 
I collected many upper deck sets till 05-06....didn't really put the effort to getting all the YGs after that. My hardest set was probably the true master set of 03-04 UD Ice. my Roy patch is probably coolest (not most valuable)since it looks like it has a part of an auto on it(if I remember correctly I did not buy it I pulled it)
 
I started doing sets in 90/91. I did just about every set possible til about 95/96. After that I would only do the main sets of product (Upperdeck, Score, Topps). I stopped after the 01/02 season. I sold almost all of it, except for my complete 01/02 UD, in 2003.

I sold the 01/02 UD around 2007 and got back into collecting sets. Since then I have collected all sorts of base sets with and without rookies. I have every complete OPC base and retro set since 08/09. Some of the OPC Platinum sets I have the full base set, rainbow, retro and retro rainbow sets. and in some of those years I have the complete insert sets (non-auto).

one of the sets I just completed was 20/21 Allure. I have;

Base 1-150
Black Rainbow
Red Rainbow
Orange Slice
4 insert sets

I couldn't even guess how many sets I have. One of the hardest sets I ever did was the 95/96 UD Electric Ice set. It took me about 5 years to complete.
 


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