Podcast #61 - Set Building & 2010 Topps Football

This week on the podcast we poll some of our Fan Forum members and ask them if they collect sets of cards anymore? I was curious because seems to me its expensive and time consuming.

However after reading through the posts it actually seems like something collectors are doing quite frequently these days. One way to get around hand collating the set yourself is to purchase factory sets or sets online that typically sell for a fraction of the price. You can't always get insert & memorabilia type card sets this way - but it does help get you started.

If you don't like the new sets on the market for a given month or two - (or even a couple of seasons) - you might not collect much at all, so Team Sets, SP or Mini Cards, Parallel Cards all give set builders an option to try something new. Its an endless amount of things you can go after, making it more appealing on a month-to-month basis while collecting. You can always start and stop a new set, which makes it perfect for the type of people that get bored with one thing easily.

One downside to collecting sets of cards is that you end up with a large collection that will take up a decent amount of space. Our forum members also pointed out that its easier to get cards damaged when having that many cards - plus the price of supplies goes up too!

Personally, I'm too lazy to get online and purchase cards on a daily basis - so I couldn't last trying to put together a set practically one card at a time. That being said, if there was a local card shop that put out base cards and things like that - I would go through them and pick out players I want.

I think set collectors have evolved with the times as it would be expensive to do a 'master set' of a product and its almost impossible with #1/1 and other low print run cards. You are forced to narrow the focus and sometimes avoid sets altogether because the cost and/or time would be too great. Single cards have certainly become more available online compared to even 10 years ago - so that helps the people that go after rare and expensive items.

I hope card companies continue to try and attract collectors that build sets of cards - and develop products for them in mind. They are like the guy that goes into the car part store everyday searching for just the right part he needs for his classic car...he's their best customer. Set collectors in a way are the hobbies best customer and I hope to see the tradition of set building continue to evolve and be passed down over the years.


The Sports Card Show Podcast