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Favorite card in a set or EVERY OTHER CARD IN THE SET?

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Juan Gris

Well-known member
May 23, 2013
2,222
106
Columbus, OH
You can apply this question to your own personal scenarios but would you rather own your favorite card in a set or every other card in the set except for your favorite card? For example, would you rather own the 1/1 of your PC player or every other 1/1 in the set except for your PC player's card? To define "set", it could be a straight up card set (1952 Topps), a memorabilia set (TOTT, bat barrel cards, etc.), autograph sets (SP Legendary Cuts) PSA graded sets or any of the many sought after 90's inserts (pick your poison). I imagine most people will come up with different card sets to use in their own scenarios.

This question occurred to me after a card I've never seen come up for sale became available and the auction ends in the next week. The card is possibly worth more than the combined value of all other cards in the "set" combined and will likely end at a price 7 to 10 times more than I have ever paid for a single card. The thought of owning such a card is salivating but it also has me wondering what really makes that 1 card better than all the other cards combined?
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,188
4,100
I see this playing out mostly as "rest of set" for those who see it more for monetary value in their card collection and "my card" for those who collect for the fun of collecting. However, the thought of getting upwards of 600 or more cards (in most sets) in lieu of 1 is a hard deal to pass, even for a dedicated player collector. Even with something as iconic as the T-206 Wagner or the 1952 Topps Mantle, the sets as a whole contain so much more, especially if you are not just looking at solid value alone.

Sure, there will be cases where a single card may easily outpace the rest of a set combined, but that would mostly probably be modern rookie cards where the current values are likely inflated anyway and the rest of the set is junk.

Take a relatively generic 1963 Topps set for example. I believe the top priced card is likely the Rose RC. Definitely the card to have from that set for all it's positives. I would love to own that card and still need it, not only for the fact that it is a Rose rookie, but also because it contains a Dodger too. However, I would be foolish if I were offered the rest of the set and passed on it for just the Rose. The set is loaded with other great cards as well.

The question would get extremely tough with very hard to find or extremely expensive cards for a collectors "player" though, especially if the rest of the set was equally loaded.

One factor that would help swing the decision the other way pretty easily is with much smaller sets that only have a couple key cards. 1948 Bowman for example. It has a few goodies, but beyond the Musial or maybe Berra, it might be a pretty close trade off to just take that one card you really covet.
 

Juan Gris

Well-known member
May 23, 2013
2,222
106
Columbus, OH
I see this playing out mostly as "rest of set" for those who see it more for monetary value in their card collection and "my card" for those who collect for the fun of collecting. However, the thought of getting upwards of 600 or more cards (in most sets) in lieu of 1 is a hard deal to pass, even for a dedicated player collector. Even with something as iconic as the T-206 Wagner or the 1952 Topps Mantle, the sets as a whole contain so much more, especially if you are not just looking at solid value alone.

Sure, there will be cases where a single card may easily outpace the rest of a set combined, but that would mostly probably be modern rookie cards where the current values are likely inflated anyway and the rest of the set is junk.

Take a relatively generic 1963 Topps set for example. I believe the top priced card is likely the Rose RC. Definitely the card to have from that set for all it's positives. I would love to own that card and still need it, not only for the fact that it is a Rose rookie, but also because it contains a Dodger too. However, I would be foolish if I were offered the rest of the set and passed on it for just the Rose. The set is loaded with other great cards as well.

The question would get extremely tough with very hard to find or extremely expensive cards for a collectors "player" though, especially if the rest of the set was equally loaded.

One factor that would help swing the decision the other way pretty easily is with much smaller sets that only have a couple key cards. 1948 Bowman for example. It has a few goodies, but beyond the Musial or maybe Berra, it might be a pretty close trade off to just take that one card you really covet.
Well said. To be honest, I first started thinking of this question from the viewpoint of having to select either a super scarce PC card or the rest of the set (but never both). If the rest of the set was worth twice as much would you be willing to miss out on it for just 1 card at the same price (assuming it's your favorite card)? I suppose it all comes back to how we value our personal collections. Some people see dollar signs, some people can feel something when they hold a certain card. Kinda weird and kinda true.
 
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