Which Set Next???

Which set should I start next?

  • T205

    Votes: 4 17.4%
  • 1941 Play Ball

    Votes: 5 21.7%
  • 1951 Bowman

    Votes: 2 8.7%
  • 1955 Topps

    Votes: 10 43.5%
  • Post-War HOF Rookies

    Votes: 2 8.7%
  • Ultimate PSA Vintage Sampler

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    23

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bsatttu

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I've been working on a PSA 4/5/6 1948 Bowman set for the last few years, and I've gotten down to where I should be finished next year sometime. It's been a lot of fun putting it together, so I have been contemplating what set to start next and have narrowed it down to these six (although I won't really start it for quite some time). I have a pretty good idea which one I'm going to pick, but just for fun I would like to hear other's opinions. Keep in mind this is probably going to be a multi-year/life long project. Here's the options with some info about them and some of my thoughts:


T205

Grade: PSA 2 (possibly SGC)

Current Status: 0 / 220

Expensive Cards: Cobb($800), Johnson ($500), Joss(?), Mathewson ($400), Speaker (?), Young ($700)... probably others

Avg Common: $20-30?

Positives: Very nice looking set, IMO. It would be cool to do a pre-war set. Lots of HOF'ers that I would love to own a card of.

Negatives: Hard to find. Do I do SGC or PSA or a mixture? Commons would cost quite a bit. Would have to do it in low grade. I don't have any yet.

Odds of me completing it: very low


1941 Play Ball

Grade: PSA 5 (possibly SGC)

Current Status: 0/72

Expensive Cards: Hubbel ($130), Ott ($140), Ted Williams ($1000), Greenberg ($215), Gehringer ($150), Ruffing ($130), Reese ($375), Klein ($150), V. DiMaggio ($160), D DiMaggio ($160), Doerr ($140), Dickey ($255), J. DiMaggio ($1500), Gomez ($300)

Avg Common: $25-30

Positives: Small Set. Very attractive. Pre-war. Lots of HOF'ers.

Negatives: Pretty tough to find. A couple of very expensive cards. I don't have any yet.

Odds of me completing it: medium


1951 Bowman

Grade: PSA 5

Current Status: 0 / 324

Expensive Cards: Whitey Ford ($500), Berra ($150), Campanella ($100), Snider ($100), Ted Williams ($250), Fox ($100), Mantle ($3000), Mays ($1200)

Avg Common: $15-25

Positives: IMO, one of the best looking post war set produced. A great lineup of HOF'ers and RC's. Good balance of being hard to find, but not too hard.

Negatives: Relatively large set. Commons would run into quite a bit of money. The big two are very expensive. I don't have any yet.

Odds of me completing it: low to medium


1955 Topps

Grade: PSA 5/6 (possibly raw commons)

Current Status: 13 / 206 Including Koufax

Expensive Cards: Clemente ($1000), Ted Williams ($300), Jackie Robinson ($200), Aaron ($150), Killebrew ($150), Mathews ($100), Mays ($300), Berra ($200), Snider ($300), Banks ($100), Rizzuto ($125), Hodges ($125)

Avg Common: $10-20 (graded)

Positives: Very nice looking set IMO. Already have a decent start with the Koufax and others. Good crop of HOF'ers. Probably the quickest to complete of all my options.

Negatives: Low dollar commons are a drag to chase. Maybe not a very big challenge as almost all cards are pretty readily available.

Odd of me completing it: fairly high


Post-War HOF RCs

Link to set contents

Grade: Grade based on decade of card (ie. PSA 5 for 50's cards, PSA 7 for 70's cards)

Current Status: 8 / 77 (Kiner, Berra, Spahn, Musial, Shoendienst, Koufax, Fisk, Yount) (once 48 Bowmans are done)

Expensive Cards:
48 Leaf Newhouser ($400)
49 Bowman Paige ($675)
49 Bowman Robinson ($425)
49 Bowman Doby ($125)
49 Bowman Roberts ($100)
49 Bowman Campanella ($210)
49 Bowman Ashburn ($300)
49 Bowman Snider ($400)
49 Bowman Lemon ($100)
51 Bowman Ford ($500)
51 Bowman Fox ($100)
51 Bowman Mantle ($3000)
51 Bowman Mays ($1200)
52 Topps Wilhelm ($350)
52 Topps Mathews ($3500)
54 Banks ($375)
54 Aaron ($800)
54 Kaline ($225)
55 Clemente ($600)
55 Killebrew ($100)
57 Drysdale ($125)
57 B Robinson ($150)
59 Gibson ($150)
60 Yastrzemski ($100)
65 Carlton ($110)
67 Carew ($150)
67 Seaver ($350)
68 Ryan ($325)
69 Jackson ($150)
73 Schmidt ($120)

Positives: Lots of cards that I would love to have. No commons to chase. I would have the key cards to the next set I start after this is done. Relatively few cards.

Negatives: I would not get to add to the set very often due to money. Set will grow every year.

Odds of me completing it: low


Ultimate PSA Vintage Sampler Set

Link to set contents

Grade: For the most part dependent upon the decade of the card (PSA 5 for 50s, 6 for 60s, etc.)

Current Status: 7/125 (T206, 48 Bowman, 52 Bowman, 53 Bowman color, 55 Topps, 72 topps, 75 Topps)

Expensive Cards: 11 different cards from $100-200 is all

Positives: Cool "reference" set. Lots of variety. I might try to get a few key cards from some of the main stream sets. Lots of possibilities.

Negatives: I don't like storing the over-sized cards. I have a feeling of inconsistency with this because of the grades and what cards I would be getting in the different sets.

Odds of me completing it: Somewhat high
 
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I voted for the 1941 Play Ball set. I have always liked the fronts with the way the names were done and I think the Williams card is one of the nicest ever made.
 
while i personally prefer 52 and 54 bowman along with 53 topps , my vote here is for the 51 bowman set....
 
Play Ball. Then 1955. Just how I would do it. Of course I would do 1956 over 55 but that is just my preference.

Shawn
 
Thanks everyone that has commented so far. I've been flip-flopping on this for a long time now and really wanted to get some other views, which I appreciate. As far as the other sets that were brought up, I've thought about them, but for various reasons, these are just four of my favorite sets of all time.

I'm pretty surprised that no one has mentioned or voted for the one that I am actually leaning towards (right now anyway). Although it's not a traditional set, I think the HOF RCs would be really cool to do. I was thinking I could tackle it by decade, and if the funds became available, I could pick up some of the big ones. That being said, I may also work on a raw '55 Topps set at the same time, with only the three HOF RCs being graded.

Anyway, keep the comments coming. It really is making me think.

- Britt
 
I would go with the 55 Topps. It seems to be the easiest to attain and has some really nice rookies (Clemente & Koufax to name a few). After that is complete you can move on to another item on your list.

Dewayne
 
I like the HOF rookies option. I have thought about doing that as well, starting with the recent additions and working backwards.
 
Did you decide which one you are going to do?

Well, of course things can and probably will change, I am thinking about doing two sets :rolleyes: ... but not exactly like I said above. I really want to do the HOF set, but I may cut it down to be '55 to present, which should be attainable. At the same time, I am thinking I will do the '55 set, but maybe do it in vg-ex to ex with only the key cards being graded. I could then use the three '55 HOF RCs to fill in for both sets. Initially I was just going to do the HOF set, but after reading what everyone said, I really started to get the itch back for the '55s, so this is a compromise, I guess :D


The HOF rookies is something I started a couple of years ago.....it gets expensive but alteast you know your getting key cards of great players.

My collection can be viewed at :

http://www.thebenchtrading.com/champs96ws/psa.htm

I remember seeing you post that a while back, now. That's a beautiful collection, and I don't think I will being going for that nice of a set. I was thinking, in order to keep the cost down, I would do the 80s in 8, 70s in 7, 60s in 6, etc... If I only go back to '55, that just leave the Ryan, Seaver, and Clemente for cards over $150... still not cheap, but a whole lot cheaper than the entire post war set. Also, I think I am only going to do the Topps RCs, except for possibly the 84 Fleer Update Puckett.

Thanks again for the replies, everyone!!

- Britt
 
BTW, does anyone happen to be a PSA member here? I usually buy my graded cards already graded, but have a few I would like to send in under the current registry special but not enough to justify a membership. I'd be willing to chip in some money for anyone that would send some in for me. Please shoot me a PM if interested.
Thanks!
- Britt
 
I'd say go with the '55. It's "only" 204 cards, and you have a huge head start with the Koufax rookie. Just two more major cards in that set to obtain.

I love the 1951 Bowman set (it's my favorite of all time) but I haven't taken the plunge and started it yet based solely on the fact that I know I could never finish it in a decent grade (thanks to Mays and Mantle). Plus that puppy is a monster. Over 300 cards? Yikes.
 
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