I've been working on some sets from the 1980s that I thought would be fairly easy to complete and a nice respite from trying to finish stuff like 1967 and 1970 Topps. It'd balance things out and keep set-collecting fun.
I set as my target the '80s Fleer sets and then eventually the early '80s Donruss sets. I chose these because all these sets still contain the players I followed as a kid.
I finished the Fleer sets from '82, '83, '88 and '89. I already had the ones from '81 and '84 done. I've barely touched the 1987 set but that's because I wanted to get '85 and '86 done before adding another one.
Well it's been a few years now and '85 and '86 Fleer are still not finished.
What the heck. This is not as easy as I wanted it to be.
Part of the problem is that I care about other cards a lot more than mid-1980s Fleer. I can't get myself fired up to add a SuperStar Special card from 1985 when there are cool Coke cards and such. Mid-'80s Fleer is hurt by the fact I was not really collecting cards at the time.
Due to that lack of enthusiasm and the length of time it's taking, I've started to wonder whether I should just buy the whole set and be done with it.
This is heresy talk for me. I have never, never, ever, ever, never purchased a complete set of the traditional 600-plus card kind. I grew up in the years where you completed sets through pack purchases and trades. It built strong bones and character.
But a 1986 Fleer set is like $30 bucks. I'd pay a little more for a 1985 Fleer complete set but it's still very affordable. What's keeping me?
On top of the "buying the whole set is not collecting" mind-set I've had for decades is that I've gathered the majority of the cards for each of those two Fleer sets. If I buy the whole set, then that's 500-plus dupes apiece for each that's landfill fodder unless I can find someone who wants them.
I'll break down where I'm at in each of these sets (and throw in the early Donruss ones, too) and maybe that will help me determine things.
1985 Fleer
Number of cards: 660
Number of cards I have: 603
Percentage complete: 91.4%
Key cards to get still: Gooden, Strawberry, Ozzie Smith, Guidry, Mattingly, Ripken, Dawson, Palmer, Dale Murphy, Seaver, Molitor, Eric Davis
Approximate complete-set cost: $50-70
1986 Fleer
Number of cards: 660
Number of cards I have: 610
Percentage complete: 92.4%
Key cards to get still: Brett, Carter, Rickey Henderson, Mattingly, Carew, Reggie Jackson, Murray, Ryan, Ripken, Gwynn, Sandberg, Puckett, Carlton, Schmidt, Molitor, Eric Davis
Approximate complete-set cost: $30-35
OK, so when I put it that way, I'd be kind of insane to not simply buy the complete set. Thanks to me relying on bulk-load trades and such, I've accumulated a ton of commons but have too many stars to chase. That is spending too much money there.
Let's see where I'm at with early '80s Donruss (P.S.: the 1981 and 1984 sets are finished).
1982 Donruss
Number of cards: 660
Number of cards I have: 380
Percentage complete: 57.6%
Key cards to get still: Ripken, Winfield, Brett, Rose, Lee Smith, Schmidt, Dale Murphy, Bench, Eddie Murray, Reggie Jackson, Guidry, Stargell
Approximate complete-set cost: $25-50
1983 Donruss
Number of cards: 660
Number cards I have: 98
Percentage complete: 14.8%
Key cards to get still: I'm not going to list them all, a whole bunch
Approximate complete-set cost: $50-70
It makes even more sense for me to buy those early '80s Donruss sets complete. I have fewer of the cards than Fleer and the early '80s cards mean more to me than the cards from later in the '80s.
So, it's settled. I'll be buying some complete sets for the first time. When I get to that, who knows?
But before I do that, some 1986 Fleer needs that Johnny's Trading Spot sent me that touched off this whole self-collector-examination post:
These could be the last 1986 Fleer cards I obtain before there are a whole bunch of duplicates in the house.
Johnny added a Dodger need, too. It's my 101st Julio Urias card!
Unlike set-collecting, I have no problems with purchasing complete team sets when it comes to Dodgers, probably because there is not that kind of commitment with team-collecting. I'll buy Dodgers from any set, whether I like it or not, but I won't complete sets that I don't like.
Anyway, I know I sound crazy here. Don't try to figure me out. Don't try to figure us out.
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Comments
I never had an issue with buying a complete set, but I do enjoy building them more. I do agree if you can find them cheap enough some of those under 30% complete I'd really consider just buying the set. Anything over 50% I would think hard about. It's an issue I'm having building the 2016 Topps set.
But I do understand and appreciate the "old school" set build. I have a huge stack of sets I'm building. It gives me something to hunt for at card shows and flea markets.
It's often financially a no-brainer to buy the set at once rather than try to accumulate the cards individually or in small lots.
The downside, in my experience, is that you might not feel like you "know" the cards when you get them 600-700 at a time. That may be less of an issue when you've already completed 90% of the set.
Sets I build from scratch though are intended to be things to work on fo a while. I only like to have a couple going at once and right now I'm basically done with both 89D (83 commons short) and 14T (6 short) that I'm casting about for a new build. Am tempted to try 1976T but am not sure if I want to go vintage. Am also weighing 85T or 85F. 85F is currently winning out due to "first baseball card I ever owned" reasons.