1965 Topps Baseball Forum

Tater Salad has perfectly described my experience, here and in childhood.  I, too, am working on all the Topps sets since I was born, coincidentally in 1965, a set I love. I don't think I believed I was doing that when I first started working on completing 1974 many years back. But now that 1972 through 2015 is complete and 1971 and 1970 are both 85% done, it seems more realistic. I love playing on eBay. One reason I haven't finished 1971 yet is that it's more fun to buy a lot of 100  1960s cards, not knowing what might be new, figuring about half will be, than it is to buy the individual cards I need in 1971 (and about as expensive, since I'm left needing just high number). This site and eBay has made it fun and active. 

Alas, with this plan, I can only buy so many more cards, so eventually I will drop off the list of top 100 Baseball collections, which is based on pure volume of cards. I can't keep up with those who buy four or five sets of the variations that come out all the time now, and the other brands. This might create a whole new thread, but I was wondering what other Topps cards I should collect which would feel finite, cool, and not completely drain my wallet. But I feared asking that here because I could be flooded with differing answers. And I want to keep focus on the older Topps cards, with the occasional T205 mixed in. And maybe I should have a Goudey or two from the 30s, and....I love this hobby. 

v3 

Complete set building is the best.

I just broke over 500 (actually 502) cards in this set today with the acquisition of 3 leaders cards #4, #5, #9, C.Stengell #187, W.Stargell #477, and R.Schoendienst #556.  Reaching each 100 cards in a vintage set always seems like a milestone achievement, but reaching the last 100 cards represents a major milestone before completion.  With only 27, 22, and 1 card(s) to go in the 1966-1968 sets, respectively, I tend to only go down another year when the going gets tough.  So, although the 1965 Topps set is not on my 2018 Collecting Goals list, it's rapidly commanding attention for inclusion in future lists.  I've already completed the Embossed insert set for 1965.  Hopefully, I can wrap one of these mid-to-late '60s sets up soon so that I can narrow down the focus. 

I've started the 1965 O-Pee-Chee set. I have 1 card so far :)

That makes you one card closer than me!!

I've wondered if I should change strategy. I've been working my way back through the years, with 1968 and 1969 currently making nice progress. But it might actually make more sense to go back to 1965 and work forward, since the cards are only gonna get more and more expensive as I go. But could I get over having the complete 1965 set, followed by a four-year gap before you get to my 1970 complete set? Not sure that I could...

v3

V3, you could always do like I do, and collect by opportunity. I don't work on specific sets until I get really close to them. I get what I can get for the best price. Granted, I collect sports, so I have a wider variety of options than just base Topps, but for that era Topps is the only option for the NBA, and doing so I've completed 6 of the 8 completable sets of the 70s, with the other two having cards I'll never be able to get. If I could get past my fascination/obsession with serial numbered cards, I could probably knock out the last two sets on COMC with under $50. 

What I'm trying to get at is, if you are going to collect the sets eventually, why not work in them at the same time? You might miss a great deal on one set because you are only looking for one of the other sets.

I prioritize collecting in reverse chronological order.  I only break away from that strategy when I get stuck--meaning that the cards I want are either overpriced based on book values, or just too expensive for me at the moment.  I began this strategy when I was collecting the 1970-1972 sets.  Before that, it was strictly reverse chronological order.  Sometimes I get on a tangent and end up nearly completing a much older set (i.e. 1951, 1954, 1955, 1960, and 1962 sets).  In that sense, I agree with Billy when the price is right.  I was getting early '50s Topps cards at under 10% BV, which led me to focus my efforts there for a while when I was first adjusting to high-priced high-number cards. 

For set builders, I'd say maintain progress on completion, but stay within total budget and at the right BV percentages for your goals.   

Of course, it gets easy to overpay for a card when you're so close, but I've stuck to my guns on the '62T set where I'm only missing #572 (way overpriced at like $35) and #594 (Bob Uecker always seems to come at a premium and is about $50 here). 

I'm not a set collector, other than small ones like the '69 Topps Deckle Edge set and possibly going after certain all-star inserts. If there were some I'd go after the '65 would be one I'd consider along with '62, '64, '72, and '75.

However, I do have a question that you bring up, RTD: Where do you find book value? Are you going by Beckett?

Don't get me wrong, Billy and RTD, I don't exclusively buy cards from the sets I'm trying to complete. Some of the most fun I have is buying lots of 1960s or 1950s cards of different years when I "accidentally" win something on eBay for less than I thought. It's all a matter of focus. Put another way, what cards am I highlighting on my wantlist so when my wife and starting daughter go to the local card shop in December and April, they'll know what to buy?  Right now it's 68 and 69. If I moved those numbers lower on the list, de-bolded them, and replaced them with a list of 65s that's what I'd be opening on Christmas and my birthday each year. 

But, like I said, i'm content progressing on 68 and 69, and buying other years opportunistically. For now.

And, don't you worry, Billy, there's plenty out there that I still need. I don't feel terribly limited sticking to only Topps baseball (at least from 1951 to present; prior to 1951, any brand is game)

v3