Any other set builders undertaking an impossible task?

[Geoff G]

2018 Bowman’s Best COMPLETE set .. like all autos parallels and inserts .. let me know if you’re holdin


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[tdubs1010]

Cool stuff here!

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by scott1234

Wow that's impressive on the Mexican set! Congrats on that 1, Haha 26 years wow. Must have been pretty satisfying finishing that 1. Do you have any estimate how many there are of those?

I have no idea how many complete sets there are now, but I'm guessing it's less than twenty. There are about a dozen cards that are SSP's than are almost impossible to find in any condition.

I started building the set in 1977 because my best friend sent me a whole bunch of the cards from Mexico. His dad worked for the State department, and got posted to Mexico City for a year, so I sent my friend 1977 Topps baseball cards, and he sent me back the Mexican Football cards.

Didn't really start working on completing the set until the mid-90's, though, since I didn't have much disposable income until I graduated from college.

[Soxfan26]

Originally Posted by Thor34

2013 Topps Chrome Master Set w all the colored, numbered Parallels.
That's 14 separate 220 card sets.
Complete on:
Base
Refractor
Blue #/199
Gold #/50
Very close on both Purple and Orange those being retail parallels, un-numbered.

Certainly buying ones I don't have or trading to others working on the set. I've got hundreds of dupes.

Wow, amazing. I'm putting together a Frankenstein set of 2013 refractors (a little bit of everything). I know I have a couple of purples and orange. I'll take a look at what I might have for you.

[Soxfan26]

I love threads like this.

[grandslam14]

So I started working on the 2001 SP Game Used Edition set when it came out. I was able to finally finish the master set version of it in 2016, as the last card that took forever to find was the Cal Ripken Jr. GU Jersey Gold #/25. Needless to say my eyes lit up when I found it on eBAY and put in an outrageous bid to make sure I won it.

Only 25 complete master sets can ever be made and it will be 20 years old next year.

Breakdown:
Base cards: 90 (#1-60 regular players / #61-90 rookies)
GU Jersey: 80
GU Double Jersey (#/50): 14
GU Triple Jersey (#/25): 6
GU Auto Jersey (#/50): 21
GU Jersey Gold (#/25): 80
-----------------------------------
Total Cards: 291

I do have multiples of most cards now too and the next goal is to try to get the entire set graded at a minimum of Mint 9.

I already have some graded by PSA and BGS, my question is on a set would you prefer to have all cards graded by one company or it doesn't matter?

[base set]

Am doing an all-parallel set of 2013 S1+S2+Update, one color per 9 card page. Is going pretty well but need one Sapphire in Update and now especially need any horizontal Sapphire from Update as I decided to also do pages of just the horizontal cards as they look better that way. The S1/S2 Sapphires look great in that portion too.

Also need any Update Platinums to avoid using Chrome cards.

A variety of S2 purples are probably the hardest part.

Also going for a master set with the photo variations; the Update SSPs will be probably impossible with the Teddy Kremer and Prince George never coming out of collections.

[Swipe79]

One of my all time favorite sets was 2008 Upper Deck Heroes. I tried collecting all of the parallels, autos, game used, and auto/game used cards I could.

Spent a lot of time and money on it - completed the base, charcoal, emerald, beige, black, red, and blue. Was about halfway on the aqua and light blue sets. Had most of the base relics and a lot of the numbered parallels. Same with autographs. My favorite set was the light blue jerseys which were patches instead. I only had a handful of the purple parallels numbered /10.

[rj.cataldo]

I have lots of sets I’m always building but I’d say two of the toughest are the 1999 Upper Deck Century Legends Century collection and the 1994 UD Collectors choice Gold signature.

These sets are incredibly tough as some cards rarely show. The 1994 choice set is much tougher to find that you’d think. I think the cards a are more SP’d than most probably know (at least relative to other sets in the period).


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[sbfinley]

For the better part of a decade I worked on a signed Topps run from 1975-1993. Made real good progress for the first couple years and then it became a log jam. Yes there are impossible cards, unwilling signers, players who refuse to sign a particular issue, and guys that fell off the face of the earth - but even before that private signing prices jumped even higher and I was shelling out too much coin for mid career stars in multiples (base, league leaders, team leaders, checklists, etc.) At peak I probably had about 40% of the run from 75-93. I threw in the towel on 76-80 first and picked up some steam and then started cutting more sets to narrow the focus. The closest I got to 100% was 1981 Topps and I threw in the towel 34 cards short if you count multi-player cards to be finished. The last dash kinda became meaningless with the realization it really couldn’t be fully done. I’ve since narrowed to 83, 87, and 91 and I’m anywhere between 65%-85% complete on those three with 83 being the closest. I don’t think I’ve added anything new in since late last year though so I’ll probably be stuck in that range for an long time. Hats off to anyone that can knock out a complete signed set! It will break you! It’s funny just last week I was cleaning out a closet and found shoebox with a couple hundred random signed cards in CS1s. Among them was a group of about seventy-five 1970 Topps and mind instantly thought “oh there’s a nice start...” So hell, maybe I’ll add that one to the list.

[Archangel1775]

I'm not going to say impossible but the 2020 Finest Flashbacks Refractors set is my endeavor. I'm going any color just to get all 199(currently have 166) but it's going to get significantly tougher for both the silver and gold sets. I may consider the black refractor set /25 down the line. The reds and supers I'm just adding if the prices are fair.

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by grandslam14

So I started working on the 2001 SP Game Used Edition set when it came out. I was able to finally finish the master set version of it in 2016, as the last card that took forever to find was the Cal Ripken Jr. GU Jersey Gold #/25. Needless to say my eyes lit up when I found it on eBAY and put in an outrageous bid to make sure I won it.

Only 25 complete master sets can ever be made and it will be 20 years old next year.

Breakdown:
Base cards: 90 (#1-60 regular players / #61-90 rookies)
GU Jersey: 80
GU Double Jersey (#/50): 14
GU Triple Jersey (#/25): 6
GU Auto Jersey (#/50): 21
GU Jersey Gold (#/25): 80
-----------------------------------
Total Cards: 291

I do have multiples of most cards now too and the next goal is to try to get the entire set graded at a minimum of Mint 9.

I already have some graded by PSA and BGS, my question is on a set would you prefer to have all cards graded by one company or it doesn't matter?

First congrats on the set. I had no discipline back in the inn the mid 2000s and instead of building a 2003 Exquisite Basketball set, I bought random junk. Nice work to stay focused.

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by sbfinley

For the better part of a decade I worked on a signed Topps run from 1975-1993. Made real good progress for the first couple years and then it became a log jam. Yes there are impossible cards, unwilling signers, players who refuse to sign a particular issue, and guys that fell off the face of the earth - but even before that private signing prices jumped even higher and I was shelling out too much coin for mid career stars in multiples (base, league leaders, team leaders, checklists, etc.) At peak I probably had about 40% of the run from 75-93. I threw in the towel on 76-80 first and picked up some steam and then started cutting more sets to narrow the focus. The closest I got to 100% was 1981 Topps and I threw in the towel 34 cards short if you count multi-player cards to be finished. The last dash kinda became meaningless with the realization it really couldn’t be fully done. I’ve since narrowed to 83, 87, and 91 and I’m anywhere between 65%-85% complete on those three with 83 being the closest. I don’t think I’ve added anything new in since late last year though so I’ll probably be stuck in that range for an long time. Hats off to anyone that can knock out a complete signed set! It will break you! It’s funny just last week I was cleaning out a closet and found shoebox with a couple hundred random signed cards in CS1s. Among them was a group of about seventy-five 1970 Topps and mind instantly thought “oh there’s a nice start...” So hell, maybe I’ll add that one to the list.

I dont even know what to say, you're talking about over 700 players and then you're doing multiple sets. That's impressive.

[sbfinley]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

I dont even know what to say, you're talking about over 700 players and then you're doing multiple sets. That's impressive.

I’ve spent a ton of time and money on the chunks I’ve amassed, but it’s the last 15% on signed sets that’s really arduous. I can only tip my cap to the people I know who have completed signed sets.

[rgc73]

While none of them are impossible tasks, I do have several sets in progress: 2015, 2016, 2019, & 2020 Heritage. Then here's the vintage efforts at '52 Bowman and '55 Bowman.

[tdubs1010]

Good sets there!

[Baseball4life90]

I tried to do 2008 Heroes master set of patches and some of the parallels. The patches were coming along fine even 7-8 years AFTER the release. The problem was finding the parallels at decent prices. The parallels would be 1-2$ but shipping was robbing me!

[grandslam14]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

First congrats on the set. I had no discipline back in the inn the mid 2000s and instead of building a 2003 Exquisite Basketball set, I bought random junk. Nice work to stay focused.

Thanks!

I bought a few of these boxes back in 2001 and starting collecting them, then probably in 2003-2004 I started going seriously into this set to see if I could finish it. The chase of different cards and trying to find them is fun, also the fact that only 25 total master sets can be ever made. However, that number is lower because I have 9 of the "gold" #/25 from one player. LOL

[sabrgeek]

Do a true 1991 Topps Master Set and get back to me in about 10 years. And I'm including "parallels" of Desert Shield, Tiffany, Micro, etc and of course all the variations.

Rich

[creasecollector]

Originally Posted by Soxfan26

I love threads like this.

Same here !

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by sabrgeek

Do a true 1991 Topps Master Set and get back to me in about 10 years. And I'm including "parallels" of Desert Shield, Tiffany, Micro, etc and of course all the variations.

Rich

Marathon, huh? How about an Ultra-Marathon! I would imagine the Desert Shield would be tough.

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by mfw13

Although not a baseball set, I was the first person to complete the 1977 Topps Mexican Football set.....took me 26 years (from 1977 to 2003).

Current "impossible" baseball sets I'm working on are the 2013/14/15/16 Heritage Minis.

Also working on the UD Hockey Heroes auto set....they're each #/15 and the set was released over multiple years, so cards are very hard to find.

Nice and congrats. I have a BBCE sealed box but sadly, they are the 2 packs. Sometimes I feel like opening them to see if it's a box of Payton or Largents.

[smapdi]

Low-print-run sets/parallels are my favorite way to collect. I've undertaken quite a few over the years and even completed some.

2020 Topps Decades' Best Chrome (200 cards so far, need 28, difficult distribution model, print run probably surprisingly low)
2020 Topps Project 2020 (400 cards, not sure about going after the whole set or just players/artist collections, but I'd love to own the whole thing someday)
2017 Topps Silver Pack 1987 Chrome Rainbow (100 cards X 4 colors #/50-175 plus base, need 2)
2016 Panini Flawless Team USA #/20 (15 cards, complete)
2014 Panini Flawless #/20 (100 cards, need 3)
2011 Topps Lineage Mini Relic (99 cards, some wicked SPs, complete)
2011 Topps Marquee Museum Gold Frame Autos (120 cards, though maybe 15-20 were not made, I'm at 93)
2010 Upper Deck Exquisite #/75 (100 cards, 1 likely not made, missing 14, probably no more than 10% of the print run actually released)
2009 Topps 206 Silks #/50 (50 cards, got half-way, gave up)
2009 Topps Turkey Red Silks #/99 (50 cards, complete)
2008 UD Timelines Timeless Teams Platinum #/25 (100 cards, missing 4)
2007 Upper Deck Goudey Game-Used set (100 cards, complete, deceptively tough with some HTF SPs, sold)
2006 Bowman Originals Prospect Set Black Border #/99 (55 cards? Complete, but it took years to find a Hunter Pence)
2006 Topps Allen & Ginter autos (burned out pretty quick on this but I did collect many of the SPs before I did. I think paying $100-150 per card is what burned me out. But it worked out.)
2005 UD Classics Fantasy Team PR 36 (18 cards, complete)
2005 UD Origins Old Judge Gold #/20 (286 cards, missing 1)
2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite Basketball base #/225 (42 cards, complete, sold in 2005ish for way too cheap but you can't look back)
2000 UD Ultimate Victory Gold #/25 (120 cards, need about 75, these dried up a long time ago)
1997 Donruss Signature Significant Signatures (22 cards, complete)
1975 Topps PSA 8+ (660 cards, complete, #40 on current finest registry)
1971 Topps Greatest Moment PSA 6+ (55 cards, need 4, had been aiming for 7+ but the SPs are tough)
1955 Bowman (320 cards, complete)
1941 Play Ball (72 cards, missing 6 biggest names) (neither of the last 2 are hard to complete, just takes time and money and trying to be consistent on condition, never really done)
Magic The Gathering Reserved List (572 cards, complete, though no one really collects it as a set, per se)

I gave up on a few, but in the mid-00s UD had a #/25 parallel in quite a few sets and I chased after a few to one degree or other, but they just got to be boring and/or dried up. I made some progress on the 2005 Artifacts (about 40 cards) and Hall of Fame (about 15) #/25 parallel sets before I gave up. And every year I think about going after the Heritage Black Chrome set but never do.

Currently my dream project is to complete the Independence Day parallel #/76 from a Topps base set, but at 700 cards over 3 series that seems too difficult. If they ever add it to Chrome, though, I'll definitely chase it every year.

[nutshell278]

I am doing a 2012 Gypsy Queen master set, Everting but the 1/1, off and on sine it was released. Daunting, yes. Fun, sometimes.

[mfw13]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

Nice and congrats. I have a BBCE sealed box but sadly, they are the 2 packs. Sometimes I feel like opening them to see if it's a box of Payton or Largents.

Don't!

Collation is horrible, and probably half the cards will have gum stains.

I remember opening one box and getting 11 Ken Andersons out of 72 cards.