My last post got a ton of great comments (and I was afraid it was too wordy) so I'm going to try the "ask a question in the title" device again.
I've been contemplating the future of my unfinished set builds, specifically 1956 Topps baseball and 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee Hockey as they are graded set builds. For this post however I'm focusing on traditional non-graded sets that I'm very close to completing. Perhaps you can help me decide their fate.
By the way, it was 80+ degrees and sunny yesterday and I had to dig a pair of shorts out of my closet when I got home from work. The past 12-18 hours has felt like a summer weekend. Bring on the baseball!
I'm four cards away from completing the 2003 Finest baseball set*. They are all on the way to me via Sportlots, which seems to be taking for-ev-err because I chose the box option. (I'm such a noob.)
Once those are in hand I will be ten autographed cards away from assembling the complete set. Yes, the asterisk means that the 100-card veterans portion is not the entirety of the set. Of course not. However..
..the ten autographed rookies are not big names at all. The only names I know are Adam LaRoche(weirdo), #1 overall pick Bryan Bullington, and Daryl Clark - only because I pulled his auto back in the day. Most - if not all - of these could be acquired for a buck apiece. Is it worth spending $20 at most to have a true complete set?
I've continued to plug away at the 2016 Donruss football set, which started with a hanger box or two. Four years and several TCDB trades later I'm down to three needs in the 300-card veterans portion. One of them - #18 Desmond Trufant - is on its way to me from user jmkidd. Once that PWE arrives (which could be today) I'll be two veterans and 24 rookies away from completing the full 400-card set.
That number should be one fewer, as I received a PWE from Thunderfoot yesterday and learned that I already had a Keenan Reynolds RC #379. I needed a Kenyan Drake RC #381. My mistake. Or was it..?
Upon further review I'd asked for Kenyan and received Keenan instead. I also got a Vince Carter Chrome card with a crease in it. D'oh!
Most of the remaining rookie cards should be easy enough to acquire. However the three top quarterbacks are all missing from my binder:
I really do not want to spend $30 or more on a Dallas Cowboys quarterback. Damn expensive ham.
I'm just glad I have the Pat McAfee base card. This frickin' punter sells for $10? Why, cause he has a podcast?
In my next post I'll discuss some basketball sets that are so close to completion - yet so far away. If you think the McAfee card is overpriced, wait till you see a certain 2016 Donruss NBA card!
Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
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I have the Wentz Rated Rookie. I might want something in return for it though. I'll think about it.
ReplyDeleteI'd definitely send you something useful in return.
DeleteI don't tend to include autos/jerseys (and almost never SPs either) in my set builds. Sometimes I'll make a note for myself that I have a "complete set minus SPs" or "complete (1-90)". That's the cool part about getting to decide how to collect!
ReplyDeleteAs for doing Box on Sportlots, it can definitely slow things down, and I think it's been a bit worse lately not only because of the pandemic plus DeJoy sabotaging the USPS, but also because Sportlots is finishing up an office move. I'm still waiting on one more envelope to arrive to my Box and I'm betting it's been there, just not uploaded to my account. But considering it saved me like $50 on shipping (some sellers' shipping costs are as nonsensical as pack prices these days) I don't mind waiting.
Anyway, keep those wantlists up-to-date, you never know who might be able to help!
Who's more overrated - Dak or Romo? For sets like '03 Finest I would just consider having all the base cards as set completion, but that's just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteIf I were in your shoes, I'd definitely go for those rookie autographs from the 2003 Finest set. I think it's kinda cool when you have a complete set... with the autographs.
ReplyDeleteI've never collected a modern base set that had the intentional short prints, or autographs, so I can't really help with these. It does seem like you're far enough along though that you might as well see them through, but I gave up on a set when I was only one card away from completing it, so you might not want to listen to me when it comes to such things.
ReplyDeleteIf you're that close to completing the whole thing and it's just no name rookies in your way, go for completing it. That's what I would do.
ReplyDelete