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
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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... 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 
