One of the great joys of set collecting is the completion of the task. The sense of accomplishment. The reward for a job well done. There aren't a lot of people out there telling you "good job," so set collecting fulfills the need.
As I get closer and closer to completing a set, the thrill and anxiety heightens. When will I finish it? Which card will be the last? How can I get that card and how soon?
I'm at that point with several sets. I need a mere 62 cards to complete the 1973 Topps set. I'm four cards from finishing the 2008 Stadium Club set. And I need to get off my butt and order that one common to complete the 1988 Fleer set.
Recently, Fuji sent me some cards that added to the thrill of completing two more sets, two of my favorites.
Add Wilbur Wood to Thurman, Brock and Reggie and you've got four needed cards from 2001 Upper Deck Decade the 1970s.
Here are four more (those Reggies are always the last ones).
That leaves just four more cards (120, 146, 154, 167) until I put a bow on the whole thing. Exciting! Exhilarating! Anxiety-Inducing!
I NEED those four cards.
But I'll get 'em.
I also need some more of the insert cards to fully finish off the set. When I get done with it, I'll do a whole post about it because it's really a wonderful, wacky set with a bunch of weirdness that Upper Deck threw in there.
Fuji also aided in my quest to complete 1981 Fleer.
These six goodies (there's Reggie again) get me down to needing 11 more cards to finish the first full-sized Fleer set.
I'm so close I can taste it!
Fuji also threw in a few Dodger cards:
Some Tek and some Museum. I don't see much of these sets so I'm pretty sure I need all four.
Fuji also sent a card from a set that's entirely new to me:
It's a graded card of an owl! It's from the 1957 Premiere Birds set. In doing a small amount of research on these cards, they're pretty darn affordable for something that's 60 years old. Birds get no respect.
Anyway, as much as I like the Dodgers and post their cards, I admit I don't get as excited about my team set as much as I do the regular set collecting.
Team-set collecting also features an element of completion, but it doesn't feel as satisfying as wrapping up an entire set, especially when that set is at least 660 cards strong.
That's why I'll always be a set collector, even if I'm the very last one.
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