I’m curious to everyone’s thoughts on chasing individual graded cards, vs buying the graded set completed already. What are your thoughts on this and what do you prefer?
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For many people, the enjoyment of this hobby comes from chasing cards they need to complete collections for themselves. Especially when you’re down to the last 5-6 cards that don’t show up very often, the feeling of putting that last piece of the puzzle together is stronger than the enjoyment of actually having the full set.
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This is what I’ve always done in the past! I am probably just going to stick with this method of checking a few cards off at a time.
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It also lets you appreciate and enjoy each individual card as you get it. I forgot to mention that 
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I’ve run the numbers and its always more economical (and fun) to buy the singles. WOTC sets at least, little to no one is willing to pay a set premium price so the market is dry.
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Piecing together a set is what its all about!
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I find it a lot more fun to buy singles over a long period of time. I think the best part of collecting is the process of putting together a collection, not just having things.
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When it comes to my personal satisfaction level from collecting, this is how it generally goes:
Buying sealed product, opening the card and (if grading) submitting yourself > Buying raw and grading yourself > Buying graded singles > Buying graded complete sets
I’ve done them all and I personally enjoy the cards from my collection most that I pulled myself. Bonus points for the ones from my youth. Having that connection to actually pulling it yourself is big for me. All applies for raw cards too, not just graded.
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I have about 500 sets that were a mix of hand collation and box openings. In the beginning it was fun completing them and decorating the binders.
I guess if it’s a super low priority set then set searching is fine.
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So my collecting goals for the past year have been to collect all WoTC PSA 9 1st Holos from non-reprint sets. What I do is lay out each card for each set in excel, then find the lowest sell price for each in the past three months and make note of it. From there I have an estimate for the lowest possible price I can get the set for.
From there it is the hunt of auctions and buying the high ticket cards with eBay 10%-15% off coupons. I’m only a few sets off from finishing WoTC, so what I’ve collected so far has ranged to a couple hundred below and above. There were times where a full holo set, reasonably priced would pop up on one of those 15% off coupons. My best haul is Gym Heros PSA 9 1st holo set for $466 AND it came with a complete non-holo set, all pack fresh which looks to be ~$50+ if I were to sell that off.
I do like collecting one by one (Neo Destiny was my favorite for that), but I definitely got a rush when good priced sets + best offer + eBay coupon would line up.
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its all about the thrill of the hunt. I view my collecting goals as a marathon, not a race, try to get the most expensive items first and slowly chip away at the rest.
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One by one, my way to go!
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I’ve bought partial complete sets. It has been less expensive to buy complete or mostly complete sets. Depending on one’s long term goals in the hobby, it may be that the cost alone justifies buying complete or mostly complete sets.
However, I do understand that emotional attachment can develop when you undertake more effort to obtain cards and complete sets. Nonetheless, I’d still rather save $$$.
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Opening packs and/or buying the cards raw and then grading them myself has been the most satisfying for me. I’ll take mixed grade sets that I graded myself over a PSA 10 set I bought on eBay.
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And this thread is the reason people struggle when they want to sell the set they completed. The majority of people just want to sit back and collect one by one and selling as a whole is quite difficult. If you are collecting a set - keep that in mind. Don’t be in a rush to complete it just to sell it off right after.
P.S. I prefer getting cards one at a time myself as well unless it is strictly a financial decision to purchase as a complete set for cheaper.
I WILL NEVER SELL ANY OF MY SETS!!!
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I think it depends on what you value more. If you have the time to research every sold listing for each card of the set you want to complete, wait for it to show up at auction or find a deal, then great. If you value your time more and money wasn’t as big an issue and the additional cost of a few to a few hundred dollars is no big deal to you, then do it that way.
I’ve been collecting 1st edition psa 10 cards for Gym Challenge. I have like 5 cards left to go and I’m really really excited! However, I don’t think I’ll do this type of thing again. It’s taken over a year. I’d rather just buy as much as I can in one go if I decide to do this again. I do see a problem with people having complete sets for sale though. Few and far between i think.
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