How to Build a Vintage Baseball Card Set
Maybe you're hoping to rebuild a childhood set that Mom threw out, or maybe you're just a fan of the game's great history. Chances are, if you've been around the Hobby a while, you've at least thought about putting together a vintage baseball card set. Almost whatever the set, there are three primary strategies you can adopt.
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Big Bang
The fastest way, which might almost feel like cheating, is just to buy the entire set in one fell swoop. An obvious advantage of this approach is that it's fast. Another advantage is that it's often the cheapest as well. Of course, there are also drawbacks. The main disadvantage to the "Big Bang" approach is how little control you have as a collector in the condition or appearance of certain cards. Another disadvantage is that it's easily the least fun way to go.
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One Card at a Time
The opposite of the Big Bang approach is to add cards one by one. While this approach is by far the slowest and may even be the costliest, it also puts you 100% in the driver's seat as you determine exactly which cards do and don't work for your binder and, importantly, your pocketbook. Not ready to pay up for that Mickey Mantle in PSA 4? Chances are there's a PSA 3 with strong eye appeal that does perfectly nicely.
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Starter Set
A happy medium between the two aforementioned approaches is to take a big bite out of the set right off the bat with a "starter set," which may range from 20% to 90% of the set you're trying to build. Starter sets usually exclude the set's top cards, which sounds like a bad thing but really is not. With the big hitters off the table, starter sets are often very low cost thanks to bulk discounts applied by the seller. Meanwhile, the big hitters are often the very cards you do want to choose one at a time on your own.
Tips and Tricks
Whichever approach you take, here are three important tips and tricks to help you succeed.
- Know what you're getting into. Doing your homework on the set ahead of time can help you avoid unpleasant surprises that can derail your effort. For example, maybe your idea is to collect 1967 Topps as your "birth year" set. That's a great choice, but be sure you know up front that it's high numbers are notoriously tough. Some would even say impossible.
- Work your way down. It's tempting to begin with a set's lower cost cards under the assumption you'll save the biggies until the end. However, there are two problems with that approach. The first is that there's risk you'll eventually figure out the biggies are beyond your budget, at which point you'll be the proud owner of 97% of a set that never gets finished. The other problem with saving the best for last is that these cards may go from very expensive to very, very expensive, depending how long it takes you to get to them.
- Plan ahead. A plan is always a good thing, but one particularly important aspect of a set-building plan is knowing what condition you're after. It may seem attractive to build your entire set at PSA 5 and above, but then what happens when you can't afford the set's top cards in that grade? One option is to lower your standard for the set's biggest hitters. The better option, at least for many collectors, is to determine up front what you can afford on the biggies and then target the rest of the set in comparable grade.
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.