Little League baseball is the perfect example. I dedicated years of my childhood to playing ball. I was fortunate enough to play on a few all-star teams. But I was short, chubby, left-handed (who played second base), and when I finally reached high school, I couldn't hit anything they threw at me.
In short... I accepted the fact that I'd never end up playing for the Oakland Athletics at a fairly young age.
Did I quit playing? Heck no. I enjoyed the challenge and had way too much fun.
That same philosophy can be applied to my collecting habits.
1999 UD Century Legends Epic Signatures #RJ
I recently purchased this Reggie Jackson for the 1999 UD Century Legends Epic Signatures set I'm currently trying to build. If you asked me who was on my Mount Rushmore of autographed card designs, this would be on it.
I love how Upper Deck combined the player's portrait with the black and white photo of Tiger Stadium in the background. This allows the blue Sharpie to really stand out.
And the checklist is rock solid. Here's who I've acquired so far:
Getting back to the topic at hand. Just like I came to terms with my baseball career... I've come to terms with completing this set. It's never gonna happen.
Why not? Well... out of the thirty cards on the checklist, I've whittled my way down to eleven cards on my wantlist. Four of them are reasonably attainable. Bill Mazeroski, Don Larsen, Eddie Mathews, and Willie McCovey can all be obtained for $30 or less. It's just a matter of whether or not I'm willing to spend that much on their signatures.
Six of them are either expensive or crazy expensive. I'm not sure if these guys were short printed or not, but Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Greg Maddux, Nolan Ryan, and Tom Seaver sell for hundreds of dollars. I'm willing to spend $100 for any of these. Maybe even $125. However... it's probably more realistic for me to tryout for the Oakland Athletics.
Then there's Juan Gonzalez. Gonzalez doesn't sell for triple digits, but he's not in the under $30 category either. So while I may eventually add three, four, or five more signatures to this set, I've accepted the fact that completing this set is never gonna happen. But that's okay, because I'm going to have fun trying.
What about you...
Are you currently building any sets that you're pretty sure you'll never complete?
I look forward to reading your responses.
Happy Tuesday and sayonara!
26 comments:
Most of them.. lol
Then again, it might just be as easy as spending a little time on CardBarrel to find some of the cards I need to complete sets.
Not currently but I had the same experience trying to build the similar Upper Deck signature decades set. I still love the ones I have.
Sets? No. Mainly because I'm not building anything tough there. 1978 is probably the hardest but there's nothing impossible in it.
Team sets though. Absolutely. I've resolved myself to not completing any Giants teams sets before 1972. Mays and high numbers and key rookies and it's just never going to happen. Doesn't mean I'm not trying. Nice thing about Mays and rookies is that Topps seems to reprint those frequently enough that I can count on using those as optimistic placeholders.
What a gorgeous group of cards you have. I'm staggered! There aren't any sets I'm working on at the moment. But I often think about trying. Just can't decide what so I'm chipping away instead on PC guys. Great blog post.
I've got several projects like that... 1970 Topps, 1972 Topps, 1979-80 Topps Hockey (Gretzky rookie) plus most of the 1960's Mets team sets which have Nolan Ryan rookies, Tom Seaver rookies, high-numbered Duke Snider cards.
I'm not much of an autograph collector, but that Epic Signatures set sure is nice.
You have amassed one heck of a run on those cards. They look amazing! Maybe the baseball card Gods will drop those big names on you. I'm an Optimist, realist but optimistic.
What an amazing set! I hope you can finish it one day.
If you chase perfection, you’ll achieve excellence. That is a pretty excellent set you have so far and something to be proud of for sure! Even if you don’t complete it, it is a noteworthy set.
Beautiful cards to say the least. That is a tough task, but never say never. I've been able to acquire things for my collections for a reasonable cost that I never thought I'd have.
These are great cards. I only have the Spahn and am glad that it features a color photo for that extra "pop". I will never complete the 2003 ud vintage set due to ssp 3d cards included as part of the main set. Also, although I have the Josh Beckett dodger ssp from 2012 update, I will likely never complete the team set due to the other ssp cards of Adrian Gonzalez , Carl Crawford , and Nick Punto.
My whole collection is pretty much an incompletable (if that's a word) task, but that's what I love about it. Collecting, for the most part, doesn't have to have a pinpoint beginning and end to be fun.
LOL, I had my MLB dreams cut short in high school too. I have to agree with your comment about the design of that set, those cards really do look great.
The main question you ask is one I ask myself before even starting a set (and I am by nature a set builder). If it has cards that are prohibitively expensive or some really hard to find short printed series then I usually don't even start.
My main passion is vintage 1970s-1980s Japanese Calbee sets. There are a few sets from that period (mostly late 70s-early 80s) that have some extremely hard to find series, so I've mostly avoided those. My most challenging one that I might never complete is the monster 1975-76 set which has almost 1500 cards. There are some short printed series which are very hard to find but not impossible and singles in mid grade can usually be found for under 20$, so its not going to destroy me, though there are a lot of them so it does add up. I'd rather have a set that had 100 cards at $20 each than a set that had one card which cost $2000 though just because I could at least spread the financial pain out over a lot of single card purchases rather than all at once, which hurts more!
Those are flippin' sweet. Don't lose hope, there's a bargain out there somewhere. I've found high (book) dollar cards for a song several times.
I second the motion on the '79-80 hockey set and '03 Vintage. I'm also at a similar point like your auto set with the 2007 UD Sweet Spot Classic relic set. Down to the big money stars that you hardly ever see...
Very cool cards... and you will finish the set someday :)
That's a very nice set. You've got a big chunk of it and you just never know... you might just get lucky on the rest if you keep looking.
To answer your question...no, not really. I guess it depends on the definition of 'building'. I collect cards from T206, T207 and other tobacco sets knowing full well I'll never come close to completing them. I just enjoy owning what I have.
OTOH...I only 'build' sets I feel I can finish...1959, 1970, the '70 Topps basketball etc.
Having read what I just typed it looks to me like your '99 UD falls somewhere in between. It's a high mountain to climb but certainly not impossible.
Beautiful autograph set, and everyone is extremely legible (except for Bad Vlad)! Keep going...you never know when one is going to pop up in a place you'd least expect it.
I might not ever finish my 2004 Topps Retired Refractor Auto set, as there are still a few I've never even seen for sale in the several years I've been working on it. But never say never!
-I really like these Upper Deck cards that you posted...what an awesome set.....I was way way out of the hobby in 1999, but Upper Deck was ahead of the game based on what I have seen and collected from that era....my "never going to complete set" is 1955 Bowman...I say that but I think I will still complete it...just not this decade...Mantle and Banks are the two biggies in that set I don't currently have plus some of the umpire cards....I am trying to get them at least an VG-EX range too...I need to complete '87 Fleer and Donruss plus UD '92 and '93....those are more reasonable, as well as the 2017 and 2018 Topps flagship...Not going to beat myself over any of them...this is a hobby, relaxation not hardcore work....Your post really got me thinking about that aspect...Thank you...
Oh, man. That is an incredible collection already. Never say never when it's just a matter of money and time. If you want it to be a focus, it can be done.
But with that said, I think some of the master sets I want like the Past & Present basketball one or the 95-96 basketball sets may not happen. Obviously player collections are near impossible, but a lot of that has to do with card availability.
I need a Getzlaf Dominion plate from the first year of Dominion to have all four plates....doubt I'll ever see it. A Russell Martin Spectrum Swatches rainbow that is down to cards /15 or less plus one slightly more common. Need like 4 of 'em. It's been years.
Super nice set!! I hope you are able to continue on. I am slowly working on the 1971 Kellogg’s football and baseball sets. I scoop them up whenever I find any decent ones. Love the challenge since there were no mail in sets that year.
mike matson - cardbarrel? never heard of it. gotta look into it.
hackenbush - ud signature decades are great looking cards
nick vossbrink - gotta love the reprint placeholders. have fun with those team sets. do you display them in binders?
peter k. steinberg - thank. with the number of sets out there... it can be hard to decide on which one you want to build.
the shlabotnik report - oh man... the gretzky rookie is one of my dream cards that i'll probably never end up owning. best of luck on your set builds.
john miller - hopefully. i'd have to be in the right place at the right time.
the lost collector - not gonna happen ;)
sumomenkoman - thanks. i'll be happy if i can cross of the four remaining affordable cards
colbey hopper - yeah. the stars would need to be aligned... and the cardboard gods would need to be shining down on me for this to happen.
gcrl - love the 2003 ud vintage set. didn't even know about the ssp 3d cards. best of luck!
nick - very true. although... there's just something special about that feeling you get when you cross that last card off of your list
sean - you're a smart man. i actually didn't think i'd ever own more than a handful of these cards. but over nineteen years, i found myself sitting on over half the set. oh man... those calbee sets sound amazing. the 75-76 set has almost 1500 cards? that will be quite the accomplishment should you ever complete it. best of luck!
gca - i said it before... and i'll say it again... i love that 2007 ud sweet spot classic relic set. i'm pulling for you to one day complete it.
jon - never gonna happen ;)
commishbob - i could definitely complete it, if i wanted to open up the wallet. just not sure if I'd be willing to spend $1200+ for the six big names remaining on the checklist. super jealous that you're building that 59 set. best of luck
mr haverkamp - agree. vlad's signature is terrible. hey are you going to serramonte this saturday?
defgav - you'll definitely finish it. you have to!
alan deakins - the 1955 bowman set is super cool. love the positive attitude towards the build. the 87D, 87F, 92UD, and 93UD shouldn't be too difficult. i'd start by looking at your local flea markets. i've stumbled across all four of these sets at one time or another at the ones in my area.
community gum - ultimately that's the problem i'm going to run into. i'm not sure if i'm willing to drop $300 on an autograph (unless i win the lottery) :)
greg zakwin - best of luck on finding that plate. that would be pretty cool to own all four.
baltmoss68 - i'm rooting for you. love 70's kellogg's lenticular cards.
You have all those beauties!? Damnnnnnn =O
Just picked up Eddie Mathews too :)
gorgeous set of autos! for me, 51 Bowman will never be complete. I have around 75 cards with Berra being my biggest(most expensive) addition.
1951 Bowman is such a great looking set... especially the Mantle with the sky/clouds in the background. Best of luck with this project.
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