Base Card Set Building Strategies?

[ZSCollects]

Do any of you have any unique or efficient strategies for building base card sets. Weather it be team sets or full sets I'm curious what your approach is to them?

A big part of what I love about this hobby is building full sets. For me this typically looks like a complete base card set, and every base version of the inset set, excluding the parallels.
To name a few I'm working on every Topps Chrome base card & insert produced from 1996 - 2008 (nba) 2008 UD masterpieces run of every sport, a bunch of the 1990s fleer & upper deck sets (nba)

Personally, I've been using SportsLots. Pros are there are a ton of sellers who have huge inventory. It's been easy to make big progress on a set especially when starting from square 1.
The cons are $0.20 seems to be the lowest price you can buy a card for. Often times (especially with the 90s Fleer, UD, etc) that is a bit more than the card is actually worth.

For the more expensive players ComC/eBay seems to work to get the best price.

Does anybody have any alternative methods or approaches to building your sets?

Would love to hear from everyone!

[AbraCalabro]

I'd suggest researching any set you're about to start building. Sometimes sets have quirks, but if you're only sticking to base and base level inserts, then you have parameters you're following and anything outside of that is disregarded. I'm bringing this up because when I built the Skybox Emotion master set, I did the base and the inserts, but there was a promo card and a Grant Hill 3D SkyMotion card redemption, both of which I added to do a master set.

Flair Showcase, when I built the full base set, I found out there was a promotional Hallmark card featuring Grant Hill which was derived from the 96/97 Showcase design for his Row 2 card, so I added that.

Research ahead of starting is good too because there can be variants in the cards, uncorrected errors, etc. So you can figure out what fits into your goals and what you are going to ignore.

You already mentioned Sportlots and COMC, but sometimes you will run across ebay sellers who also have massive inventories, you can also contact Burbank Sportscards to see if they can locate something in their inventory which might not be listed on ebay.

[ZSCollects]

I'd suggest researching any set you're about to start building. Sometimes sets have quirks, but if you're only sticking to base and base level inserts, then you have parameters you're following and anything outside of that is disregarded. I'm bringing this up because when I built the Skybox Emotion master set, I did the base and the inserts, but there was a promo card and a Grant Hill 3D SkyMotion card redemption, both of which I added to do a master set.

Flair Showcase, when I built the full base set, I found out there was a promotional Hallmark card featuring Grant Hill which was derived from the 96/97 Showcase design for his Row 2 card, so I added that.

Research ahead of starting is good too because there can be variants in the cards, uncorrected errors, etc. So you can figure out what fits into your goals and what you are going to ignore.

You already mentioned Sportlots and COMC, but sometimes you will run across ebay sellers who also have massive inventories, you can also contact Burbank Sportscards to see if they can locate something in their inventory which might not be listed on ebay.

Will definitely have to give Burbank a try. Do you find that shops near you accommodate some of the cheaper set building? Around me I feel like I haven't seen much bulk / < $1.00 boxes around me, but I do need to start hitting more shows when work slows down.

Have even considered buying bulk lots to pick apart for sets I want and move the rest in Quarter, .50, dollar etc boxes if I ever set up at a show.

Will have to report back and share my progress once I get my basement set up to record videos and photograph the collection.

Really appreciate the response and glad to see another fellow set builder!

[FrankAZHP]

Do any of you have any unique or efficient strategies for building base card sets. Weather it be team sets or full sets I'm curious what your approach is to them?

I used to do full sets for Topps Chrome every year for Basketball & Football, but then I decided against it and just started doing singles of HoFers/Notable RCs/Fan Favorites instead. I'd keep an eye on lots on eBay from people who opened boxes, and cases and also when I was doing them it was mostly before the days of COMC & buysportscards etc so I just went to local shops and went thru their boxes for any and all Chrome. I'd have either physical lists or lists online (TCDB) I'd refer to, or I'd just buy all of them if they were cheap enough and go thru them later as I never minded picking up dupes of Topps Chrome.

Nowadays I don't do any base sets, most of the sets I do are insert sets or parallel sets, so I use eBay and COMC.

To name a few I'm working on every Topps Chrome base card & insert produced from 1996 - 2008 (nba)

LOL! We should talk.
I kept all my TC base and just stashed them in 3200 count boxes. I'm certain I'd be able to fill a lot of your lists out.

[ZSCollects]

Do any of you have any unique or efficient strategies for building base card sets. Weather it be team sets or full sets I'm curious what your approach is to them?

I used to do full sets for Topps Chrome every year for Basketball & Football, but then I decided against it and just started doing singles of HoFers/Notable RCs/Fan Favorites instead. I'd keep an eye on lots on eBay from people who opened boxes, and cases and also when I was doing them it was mostly before the days of COMC & buysportscards etc so I just went to local shops and went thru their boxes for any and all Chrome. I'd have either physical lists or lists online (TCDB) I'd refer to, or I'd just buy all of them if they were cheap enough and go thru them later as I never minded picking up dupes of Topps Chrome.

Nowadays I don't do any base sets, most of the sets I do are insert sets or parallel sets, so I use eBay and COMC.

To name a few I'm working on every Topps Chrome base card & insert produced from 1996 - 2008 (nba)

LOL! We should talk.
I kept all my TC base and just stashed them in 3200 count boxes. I'm certain I'd be able to fill a lot of your lists out.

Love the videos Frank!

What's the best way to reach out? Would love to work something out if possible

[FrankAZHP]

Love the videos Frank!

What's the best way to reach out? Would love to work something out if possible

Thanks for the praise.

Most of my back to back chat do with card stuff is on IG. Feel free to send me your need lists/links wherever though (can PM here on HB too). I'm sure I'd hook you up with a deal far better than having to go to elsewhere. Just glad it'd be put to good use with another collector. There's no HoFers/superstars in my boxes as I pulled those and they're pretty much just commons/semistars, but the stars/superstars are easier to find anyways. hmu we'll make something happen

[SacKingsCards]

Will definitely have to give Burbank a try. Do you find that shops near you accommodate some of the cheaper set building? Around me I feel like I haven't seen much bulk / < $1.00 boxes around me, but I do need to start hitting more shows when work slows down.

Have even considered buying bulk lots to pick apart for sets I want and move the rest in Quarter, .50, dollar etc boxes if I ever set up at a show.

Will have to report back and share my progress once I get my basement set up to record videos and photograph the collection.

Really appreciate the response and glad to see another fellow set builder!

I feel like shows might be the cheapest way to go but also take the most time and least success rate. I don't go to a lot of shows, but when I do, it feels like base And base inserts can be had for almost nothing. The difficult part would be finding what you're looking for. Chrome might be more prevalent than other older sets due to its popularity, but might also not be in a quarter or dime box for the same reason. Much easier and faster to search an online platform but I think much cheaper if you end up finding what you're looking for at a show.

[@cp]

If you are just building the base sets, here are a few tips that I can offer (however it is dependent on your area).

I know hobby stores have people break wax and just dump the commons or unwanted cards. I've personally seen people crack whatever product, take the hits and leave the rest for the owner or store. So if you make friends with such stores you can ask them if they're willing to sell for cheap. It's a great way to get lots of base stuff and it helps the owners clear out unwanted inventory. One such store close to me does primarily gaming, but they do have a section for sports. Every once in a while I've seen stacks of opened product sitting on the counter and nobody cares for them. If i was a kid, I'd be happy just to look through them.

Have you tried online marketplaces for the same idea? Kijiji, craigslist or FB marketplace? Again, you can find sellers trying to sell their unwanted base/cards in general. Contact them, meet up and look through their stuff. Sometimes you can score a huge lot of cards from people wanting to clear out their inventory. I once was able to buy 2 lots of cards from a man that no longer wanted most of his cards, because he stopped collecting and wanted to take the card money for his son to buy pokemon. So i was lucky enough to buy them from him.

Sports card shows can sometimes have sellers with large inventory back in their homes or stores that they didn't bring to the show, due to sheer size and lack of demand. If you connect with these sellers, they can tell you what they have and you can go from there. I've made a friend with one such dealer. He had so much inventory at home that he would sell shoe box count sizes for cheap. I'm talking hundreds of cards for a few bucks just to get rid of them in his home. I was able to score several lots from him. Just the supplies the cards came in alone was worth the few bucks spent. I also had lots of fun sorting the cards too.

Good luck with your search. Hope this helps.

[AbraCalabro]

If you are just building the base sets, here are a few tips that I can offer (however it is dependent on your area).

I know hobby stores have people break wax and just dump the commons or unwanted cards. I've personally seen people crack whatever product, take the hits and leave the rest for the owner or store. So if you make friends with such stores you can ask them if they're willing to sell for cheap. It's a great way to get lots of base stuff and it helps the owners clear out unwanted inventory. One such store close to me does primarily gaming, but they do have a section for sports. Every once in a while I've seen stacks of opened product sitting on the counter and nobody cares for them. If i was a kid, I'd be happy just to look through them.

Have you tried online marketplaces for the same idea? Kijiji, craigslist or FB marketplace? Again, you can find sellers trying to sell their unwanted base/cards in general. Contact them, meet up and look through their stuff. Sometimes you can score a huge lot of cards from people wanting to clear out their inventory. I once was able to buy 2 lots of cards from a man that no longer wanted most of his cards, because he stopped collecting and wanted to take the card money for his son to buy pokemon. So i was lucky enough to buy them from him.

Sports card shows can sometimes have sellers with large inventory back in their homes or stores that they didn't bring to the show, due to sheer size and lack of demand. If you connect with these sellers, they can tell you what they have and you can go from there. I've made a friend with one such dealer. He had so much inventory at home that he would sell shoe box count sizes for cheap. I'm talking hundreds of cards for a few bucks just to get rid of them in his home. I was able to score several lots from him. Just the supplies the cards came in alone was worth the few bucks spent. I also had lots of fun sorting the cards too.

Good luck with your search. Hope this helps.

Solid advice here, but that last paragraph is amazing. I don't have card shows in my area (or maybe I just don't look hard enough) but if you can get a hookup like this, then you've got it made. It's really a win/win for both sides.