Set Building Tips

[Divino]

With the ridiculous prices of modern wax, I've recently started venturing into vintage, and am considering putting a set together.

I'm thinking 1956, as it is my personal favorite design, but I'm open to suggestions.

Any tips for where to look, storage, etc. I should be aware of before diving in fully?

[VanLingoMungo46]

I recently built the '57 set and continue to improve it. It's a lot of fun and you learn a lot about the game, which is great. Other thoughts:

You'll get no argument on '56. It's a beautiful set and I think Ignatius, one of the regular posters here, built that set. It's reasonably sized but there are the white backs and the gray backs. Some folks want to target one, or the other. Some want both. Some don't care and just want to collect all the #s.

In terms of collecting, decide if you want graded or ungraded, or both. Most people suggest you target the most valuable cards first because it will enhance your commitment. For '56 that starts with Mantle, of course, but would include the usual suspects, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Jackie. '56 was not a big year for rookie cards. I believe Luis Aparicio is the highest profile of those.

If you buy ungraded in this on-line environment, as a rule of thumb, don't believe whatever grade the seller is giving to the card. People habitually over-grade the merchandise they are trying to sell. If you're buying ungraded stars try to push hard to make sure the card measures up and ask the seller outright if there are creases or wrinkles because it's very easy to hide these in photographs.

Do your homework. Research the value of cards and don't overpay if you can help it.

A lot of set builders suggest you buy a "starter set" that has all the cards and upgrade it. What you will find, especially if you prefer ungraded, is you'll have to upgrade more cards than you think. You could buy large lots and eventually you'll have them all. This will result in duplicates which you will have to sell off if you don't want doubles and triples of certain cards.

Decide ahead of time what you care the most about. Are you a "Centering Guy?" Are you a "No Creases Guy?" Are you both? If you are rich you can just get all mint cards, but assuming you have financial constraints you should establish a budget and goals and what you're willing and unwilling to give up in terms of condition.

Hope that helps.

[Divino]

Originally Posted by VanLingoMungo46

I recently built the '57 set and continue to improve it. It's a lot of fun and you learn a lot about the game, which is great. Other thoughts:

You'll get no argument on '56. It's a beautiful set and I think Ignatius, one of the regular posters here, built that set. It's reasonably sized but there are the white backs and the gray backs. Some folks want to target one, or the other. Some want both. Some don't care and just want to collect all the #s.

In terms of collecting, decide if you want graded or ungraded, or both. Most people suggest you target the most valuable cards first because it will enhance your commitment. For '56 that starts with Mantle, of course, but would include the usual suspects, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Jackie. '56 was not a big year for rookie cards. I believe Luis Aparicio is the highest profile of those.

If you buy ungraded in this on-line environment, as a rule of thumb, don't believe whatever grade the seller is giving to the card. People habitually over-grade the merchandise they are trying to sell. If you're buying ungraded stars try to push hard to make sure the card measures up and ask the seller outright if there are creases or wrinkles because it's very easy to hide these in photographs.

Do your homework. Research the value of cards and don't overpay if you can help it.

A lot of set builders suggest you buy a "starter set" that has all the cards and upgrade it. What you will find, especially if you prefer ungraded, is you'll have to upgrade more cards than you think. You could buy large lots and eventually you'll have them all. This will result in duplicates which you will have to sell off if you don't want doubles and triples of certain cards.

Decide ahead of time what you care the most about. Are you a "Centering Guy?" Are you a "No Creases Guy?" Are you both? If you are rich you can just get all mint cards, but assuming you have financial constraints you should establish a budget and goals and what you're willing and unwilling to give up in terms of condition.

Hope that helps.

Wow this is exactly the kind of information I wanted! Thank you so much! I'm typically not very OCD about my cards, and one thing I find beautiful about 50s vintage is how sporadic the cuts are, and the large scale of condition issues.

I already picked up the Hank Aaron 56 in a PSA 5, so I have a bit of a start. I'll probably get the stars and high value cards graded, and do raw on the commons.

For storage of the commons, do you recommend the ultra pro 8 pocket pages and a regular binder?

[VanLingoMungo46]

Glad to help. Your strategy is essentially what I did with my 57 set. I have 62 graded cards, and that would include virtually all the big $ cards. The rest is raw. For storage of commons and lesser value cards I use Ultra Pro semi-rigid card holders. Not sure if I should be doing this or not and others can probably advise you on this.

[VanLingoMungo46]

btw, here's a nice short video from one of my favorite bloggers which talks about his experience building vintage sets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM6v0zp6b7s

[rats60]

I would get the Hofers or the Hofers over a certain value like 50+ or 100+ graded and then once you have them move onto the commons and lower price stars. If you ever decide to sell people will buy based on the most expensive cards. Decide what grade or grade range you want. Are you going for all PSA 5s or will you settle for lower grade. Pick up the most expensive cards first, Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Clemente, Williams, Mays, Aaron, Koufax and move on down the list. If you are going to worry about backs, understand 101-180 are really tough in white, for 1-100 gray is slightly tougher but about the same price as white. 181-340 are gray only. You also have variations on some team cards and two checklists depending on how OCD you want to be.

[Divino]

Originally Posted by rats60

I would get the Hofers or the Hofers over a certain value like 50+ or 100+ graded and then once you have them move onto the commons and lower price stars. If you ever decide to sell people will buy based on the most expensive cards. Decide what grade or grade range you want. Are you going for all PSA 5s or will you settle for lower grade. Pick up the most expensive cards first, Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Clemente, Williams, Mays, Aaron, Koufax and move on down the list. If you are going to worry about backs, understand 101-180 are really tough in white, for 1-100 gray is slightly tougher but about the same price as white. 181-340 are gray only. You also have variations on some team cards and two checklists depending on how OCD you want to be.

Great tips! Thank you!!

[albatross7979]

im putting together the '53 topps set, the thread is on the first page here. i am close to complete now. here are my thoughts

* before you start, figure out if you can afford the set, and what your overall goal is. for example, do you just want to collect the set raw? do you want to grade the HoFs? do you want a fully graded set? once you figure out what you are aiming to do, then do some research. if the most expensive card in the set you want to build is roberto clemente or mickey mantle, and you want that card graded in a certain grade, go to ebay and search for completed sales to figure out the cost. you should have a general idea of what its going to cost you before you start

* there are 2 paths most people take: either buying the big expensive cards first, or buying them last and filling the commons first. either option could be right/wrong depending on when you are looking to buy. the expensive cards will typically rise and fall in value at a bigger actual value than commons. a common might range between 10-15 dollars at peaks and valleys, whereas an expensive card could shift by hundreds of dollars. use the PWCC research database to look at historical sales of the expensive cards over the last 6 months to see if things look like they are peaking, or if things have dropped recently and if it might make sense to buy the expensive cards now.

* you also need to figure out how dedicated you are to building the set and your likelihood of seeing it through before you start buying the expensive cards. generally, the big cards do hold their value well, but 2020 has been a crazy year for card prices. its hard to know if the big increases in price on a lot of vintage HoF will sustain, or if the cards will come back down in price. If you pay $1,000 for a card now that was selling for $600 just 6 months ago, you need to ask yourself if you'll be okay holding that card if the price dips down over the next few months. If you are truly buying to collect/hold the cards, maybe its less of a concern. If you are on the fence, thats a lot of real money at stake.

* if you are accumulating the set raw and have no interest in grading, its easy to store the cards in card savers (not toploaders) and use graded card boxes to store them. you can get them cheaply at any number of outlets. I am not an album/pages of sleeves person, because im worried about dinging the cards. i havent had a ton of great experiences buying raw vintage, but thats just my own personal experience. for safety and display purposes, i want all of my cards graded. some people still swear by raw collecting, and it has its merits too.

i think set building is a lot of fun. ive had a ton of really cool moments collecting the '53 set, and when I get my 2 orders back from PSA, i will be down to about 10 cards total to complete the set. if you put together a nice graded set, it will be a fairly unique item, not many people take the time or effort to do it, and if you ever do need to sell it, you will have a very interesting item that should garner quite a bit of interest from serious collectors.

[Vegas Cards]

Originally Posted by VanLingoMungo46

btw, here's a nice short video from one of my favorite bloggers which talks about his experience building vintage sets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM6v0zp6b7s

Great video, thanks for sharing. I have '77, '78, & '79 complete sets in boxes. After watching the video I'm thinking I should get them in a binder. His looked great!

Plus i guess if I can't see them all out at once, I don't really know what I have as far as condition so I can't see what might need replacing. I've got a new project ahead of me

[somethingclever]

I’m still in the 1970s with my set building but I thought I would add my 2 cents.

I Buy multiple lots of commons and minor stars if possible. I usually buy several lots and keep the nicest example of each card for my set and put the duplicates back on eBay. I can usually make out fairly well sometimes, at the very least it saves on shipping single cards.

I have used pages and binders for my last few sets. I have to say it is much more satisfying to add cards to the binder as you make progress or finally complete the set.


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[IgnatiusJReilly]

How did I miss this post?

Firstly, congratulations on choosing to complete the 1956 set. This is my favorite set of all time and the only set I’ve completed. I did it over 10 years but I took my time and bought only one card at a time. Here are my primary thoughts:

1. Choose a grade or grade range that fits your budget and your aesthetic. I did my set in 6 Ex-Mt because it was the right balance for me. If you choose to do the rest in EX I think you’ll be pleased. You can get great looking cards for a great price in that condition. You definitely want consistency in eye appeal for your set so find a grade range and stick with it. You can get a lot of commons in an 8 without breaking the bank, but unless you’re also doing the star cards there you should steer clear.

2. Most others have already said this but I will second it: get the major stars in graded condition. There are plenty of shady shenanigans in raw (admittedly also some in graded) but IMO buying graded for the stars will save you a lot of heartburn.

3. I went raw for my commons because I learned to trust my eye and found trustworthy sellers. I was burned a few times but the losses were minimal so the risk was worth it for me.

4. Decide early if you want to chase the PSA set registry. If you want to do this, you’re better off just buying all PSA cards. Personally, this wasn’t a big deal for me so I have a mix of PSA and SGC.

5. Realize that not all 5s are the same, especially in mid-grade vintage. Eye appeal is a major cost driver, and no condition element drives price like centering. Decide early on where you want to compromise: corners, centering, surface, etc.

6. Grading standards have changed over time. A newly graded PSA 5 in a lighthouse holder would probably be a 6 in an old holder. This is a big deal in mid-grade 50s cards so beware.

7. 5 is a bit of a tricky grade because you can have a surface wrinkle or vein and it can grade a 5. This issue is particularly annoying because it doesn’t pop up in a scan. You need to view the card under indirect light.

I’ll think more on it but good luck!


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[oaklandasfan]

Always buy complete sets then upgrade

[chippv]

Sorry to bump this up op. But I am in the same situation with modern and ready to tackle my first vintage set. I am not going to start it until next year hopefully prices calm down a bit but I am going after a 1955 PSA 7 set. I know key cards of Clemente and koufax are the key and going to eat much of my budget. If anyone has put a 55 set together I would like some insider info

[crazy4kinsler]

I'm loving this. In fact, I have just recently started my first set (1957). I didn't start with big names. Instead, I bought a couple of starter lots, put together what I could then sold/traded the rest.

I'm only up to about 210 different, and I have a few of the stars (Colavito RC, Maz RC, other $50-$100 BV cards). But I don't have the biggest names (Mays, Mantle, Aaron) yet. I've decided I want to make a firm decision on building this before picking those up.

The more I think about it, the more I'm back and forth. Are commons really going to appreciate or be wanted by anyone in the future? I mean, no one is going to know who any of the common guys are, so I'm back and forth on collecting the whole set versus just buying the stars. Plus, you can go buy joe blow common for $1-$2 on eBay. Really makes me unsure if I want to waste money buying up commons and lower end cards.

Also, I don't do graded in any way. So nothing is/will be graded. Everything raw, and I typically look for Ex to Ex-Mt cards.

[hxcmilkshake]

Originally Posted by crazy4kinsler

I'm loving this. In fact, I have just recently started my first set (1957). I didn't start with big names. Instead, I bought a couple of starter lots, put together what I could then sold/traded the rest.

I'm only up to about 210 different, and I have a few of the stars (Colavito RC, Maz RC, other $50-$100 BV cards). But I don't have the biggest names (Mays, Mantle, Aaron) yet. I've decided I want to make a firm decision on building this before picking those up.

The more I think about it, the more I'm back and forth. Are commons really going to appreciate or be wanted by anyone in the future? I mean, no one is going to know who any of the common guys are, so I'm back and forth on collecting the whole set versus just buying the stars. Plus, you can go buy joe blow common for $1-$2 on eBay. Really makes me unsure if I want to waste money buying up commons and lower end cards.

Also, I don't do graded in any way. So nothing is/will be graded. Everything raw, and I typically look for Ex to Ex-Mt cards.

If you feel that way the middle series for 57 will make you insane. Theres a near complete series on ebay for $849. Like $10/card for commons.

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[crazy4kinsler]

I've got 30-35 of the mid series already. I had no idea why they were selling for more until the LCS owner told me. But I've been picking them up there for $3-$5 apiece (BV $20 for the most part) from there.

Originally Posted by hxcmilkshake

If you feel that way the middle series for 57 will make you insane. Theres a near complete series on ebay for $849. Like $10/card for commons.

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