30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, July 6, 2020

Final Piece of the Puzzle

A few years ago, someone wrote a blog post about that "last" card needed to complete a set.  Can't remember who or when that post took place.  I feel like there was even a catchy term that described that final piece of the puzzle.

Hopefully one of you will remember and leave the link down below in the comment section.

***UPDATE***  After reading this post and some comments down below, the credit goes to Night Owl and his One-Card Challenge.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share twelve sets I'm building that are one card shy of completion.  Most of the cards are valued at a buck or less, but there are a couple that might set me back a few extra dollars.

Let's get to it...


After years of accumulating Comic Ball holograms, I finally decided to sit down and organize them.  I'm also building the Comic Ball 2 hologram set, but I need more than one of those.


A few years ago, I decided to try and build all four Marvel Universe series sets... and now I'm down to needing only one card.  It's a shame that Sportlots doesn't carry non-sports cards.


Dick Perez fans might appreciate this 90's oversized oddball issue.  I know I do.  I picked up an "almost" complete set last year.  Still trying to track down McGriff


My friend was attempting to build a 1994 Fleer baseball master set.  Eventually he passed the torch to me and I'm down to needing three cards for three insert sets.


This is a beautiful looking set.  I've got all of the big names.  Now I just need Shuler.


This is one of the two cards I probably won't find in a dime box.  But at least I've already crossed off all of the hall of famers in this set.


There's a copy of this card online for a little over $3.  Unfortunately, it's on COMC... which means if I buy it... I won't get it until October.


Anyone open up any packs of this product?  I don't see too many people selling singles of this stuff.  This might be the last card I find from this post.


Puig-mania is over.  Now maybe I'll be able to grab an affordable copy of this card.

Well there you have it.  Twelve setsTwelve cards needed to complete them.

What about you?


Are you currently working on any sets where you're down to only needing one card?

Leave your responses below... and maybe someone will be able to help you out.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few packages I recently received in the mail.  The first one came from Adam over at ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession.  I've been really hitting Sportlots hard this summer in an effort to complete some setsLast week, I purchased two cards from Adam.

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Across the Years #MT
2003 Topps Opening Day #147

When he recognized me as the buyer, he generously refunded the money and sent the cards free of charge.


The Posada completes one of the sets my buddy Woody sent me two weeks ago, while the Trout gets me one stop closer to completing the 100 card Ginter insert set.

Thank you Adam!  I appreciate you helping me with these two sets.

Next up are three PWE's from fellow bloggersTwo are are known for their custom card creating skills, while the other is known for his Big Fun Game.

First up are two cards from Gavin who runs Baseball Card Breakdown:

Pat Neshek Custom Card

This card is awesome!  I'm a huge fan of the 1999 Century Legends Epic Signatures set.  It's one of my favorite autographed sets of all-time.  I'm sure Neshek was blown away when he saw and signed Gavin's custom.  I know I was.

Plus he drew this sketch card of Kurt Suzuki:

Kurt Suzuki Sketch Card

And if you know Gavin, you know he loves his glow-in-the-dark cards.  After reading the back of the card, I noticed that you can turn off the lights and see this:


Thanks Gavin!  The Neshek was added to my ever-growing TTM/IP autograph collection, while the Suzuki sketch card was added to the blogger section of my Sports Card Smorgasbord binder

Next up is another cool custom card:

Masanori Murakami Custom Card

This custom is right up there with Gavin's in terms of quality.  Only this one was created by Nick Vossbrink who authors the blogn j w v.  I'm a sucker for black and white photography, which is why I love this card... and enjoy checking out the photography on his blog.

Nick also sent me this Panini card of Kyle Bellows for my SJSU collection:

2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition #84

Bellows also attended the high school down the street from where I grew up.  Thank you Nick!

The final PWE arrived from Johnny's Trading Spot:


These Hostess cards were my prize for participating in his BINGO game a couple of weeks ago.  John must know how much I appreciate 70's Hostess cards, because he's sent me a few over the years.  Thanks John for hosting these awesome games... and for this generous prize package.

That's it for today.  I still have two more care packages I need to write about... as well as some cards from my recent COMC shipment.  Stay tuned for those.

Until then...

Happy Monday and sayonara!

17 comments:

Dennis said...

Hmmm, is this a challenge? Time for me to get to work and see what I can complete for you!

The Diamond King said...

I might have one of the cards you need, I'll double check when I get home.

gcrl said...

I think you are thinking of Night Owl's "one-card challenge" from a few years ago. Cool of Adam to refund your order; I should have done the same when Wrigley Wax placed an order from my inventory.

Mike Matson said...

I have a couple that are one card away
1991 Donruss Bonus Cards Carlton Fisk
1990 Donruss Grand Slammers Chris James
1993 Studio #220 It's the last checklist.

Spyda-Man said...

I loved those Upper Deck Comicball sets. I also collected the "Adventures In Toon World" set that featured art by the legendary Chuck Jones and featured Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana & Reggie Jackson. BTW, I received the cards you sent me and I thank you kindly sir!

Dennis said...

Mike, I think I have that Fisk you need. Please shoot me a message (caljr3000 at gmail) and if I have it I'll PWE it over to you. --Dennis (Too Many Verlanders)

Chris said...

Good on Adam for refunding your money and sending you ther cards for free. The 94 SP All-Pro holograms are really nice, and the Inkredible auto set is very impressive. Good luck with all of these set building projects!

I just ordered the last card I needed for at least three sets but I'm still one away from completing 1986 Topps football (need the Steve Young RC), 2007-08 Black Diamond hockey (need the Carey Price RC) and 2018 Stadium Club baseball (need Giancarlo Stanton) among others.

Elliptical Man said...

I don't have any of those cards.

I need three more for my Football Plus custom set. Should be able to trade for them through TCDB.

GCA said...

I just got that Shuler for my (probably finite) Redskins collection. Now I know what it looks like, I'll be on the prowl for another.
Most of my top wants page listings are set killers. Though this time I added a few player collection targets since fellow traders have knocked off so many single wants this past year. My "next top wants" list is down to a lot of threes and fours to kill sets.

P-town Tom said...

Man, I thought I had the '94 Fleer Piazza insert, but turns out I have the '93 Fleer Ultra instead. Ugh.
Wasn't there like an entire blog where people could post their "last" cards? I forgot all about that until this post. Or maybe it was just a post on Night Owl's blog. The memory is fuzzy.

NPB Card Guy said...

There's eight sets that I'm down to one card on, mostly Japanese but one US and one Korean set. A couple of these I've been looking for for a while.
1978 Yamakatsu JY6 - Koichi Tabuchi
1998 BBM - #575 Hawks checklist
1999 BBM - #619 Usami Makitani
1999 Teleca - #89 Kim Yong Soo
2000 BBM O-N - #15
2001 BBM Tigers - #83 Kozo Kawatoh
2017 Topps Now WBC - #32 Didi Gregorius
2019 Epoch Giants 85th Anniversary - #24 Tatsunori Hara

Sean said...

Like NPB Card Guy, I am also exactly one card shy of the 1978 Yamakatsu set (but I need Shibata, not Tabuchi).

On all my other sets I am working on, I need way more than 1 card!

I'm impressed that you have 12 which are that close, good luck!

sg488 said...

I like to complete my sets as soon as possible,I don't like "loose ends".

Jongudmund said...

I am down to needing 1 cards to complete my Topps 1987 set. #200 Pete Rose

The Snorting Bull said...

I hate the feeling of only having one card left to chase down to complete a set. It's even worse when you can't find a copy of the card, and it shouldn't be something that is too difficult.

Matt said...

I have a few but the one I really need to complete the most, it's been a year wait, is the 1997 Action Packed Studs set with Emmitt Smith being my final need. Someone said the final card can be had on Sportslots (I don't have funds there or any right now) Would love to trade with someone willing to snag it for me

Fuji said...

dennis - lol. not really. i just figured i'd document the cards i needed... as well as give others a place to put down some set needs in case there are people who happen to have some singles laying around

the diamond king - thanks. any help is appreciated :D

gcrl - that was it. thanks. i actually wanted to pay to support him and his store. i'm sure wrigley wax felt the same way.

mike matson - glad dennis was able to help you out. you can probably grab the two other cards fairly easily off of sportlots

spyda-man - i heard there's a chuck jones autograph in that product. i'd love to one day land one of those. and i'm glad the cards arrived safely

chris - thanks chris. that was definitely cool of adam. i have a small stack of 2018 stadium club, but i don't have the stanton. best of luck to you on those three sets.

elliptical man - thanks for checking. best of luck on your football plus custom set

gca - don't worry about the shuler. i'll most likely target that card in my next sportlots order which will take place soon. i have a couple of set killers myself. maybe i'll write about those in a future post

p-town tom - my memory is crap. but you're right about night owl's post. that's the one i was thinking of

npb card guy - wow. great list. hope you're able to find a few of those final cards in the near future

sean - that's pretty cool that you and npb are so close to finishing a vintage japanese set. and i actually found two more non-sports sets that i'm missing a single card from :(

sg488 - me either. hate it in fact. but i refuse to pay inflated prices for some of the cards i need... and there are a few that just don't pop up in the condition i'm looking for

jongudmund - have you tried sportlots? you probably could add a bunch of gwynns too and save on shipping

the snorting bull - yeah. i've run into that problem with a few of the sets i'm building... and it kinda sucks. but i distract myself by working on other sets

sport card collectors - yeah, i just looked it up on sportlots. the seller wants $25. not sure if that's a good deal or not.