Today is question day:
For set collectors; do you consider a set complete without SPs or
parallels?
In my mind, short prints have
made set building extremely difficult and I have noticed that some set
collectors will actually state that the set is complete without SPs. This is part of the reason that I no longer build sets because it seems like some sets are just quagmires sucking people in and never getting finished.
My mind had a hard time accepting a set is 'complete' unless all the SPs are included. That said, if there are too many SP's (or they are too expensive) there is nothing wrong with collecting just the "base" set and considering it complete in your collection.
ReplyDeleteI think you can consider a set complete without parallels, but usually SPs are a part of the set. But just regular SPs, like the last 75-100 cards in a Heritage set or something. Not other SPs, like photo variations and sparkle cards and the like. I consider those to be parallels more than SPs.
ReplyDeleteI probably shouldn't admit this lest a certain card company jump on the idea, but I have a much easier time ignoring SPs for my "complete set" when they all fall at the end. So I can have a full set of 1-425, and consider 426-500 an insert set. However, I believe in some early Heritage sets, the SPs were interspersed. That bugs me, having cards 1-500 but missing ~75 of them, to the point that I want those SPs a little more.
ReplyDeleteI would love to collect sets complete with SPs, but I don't have the budget. I'm totally okay with completing a base set and only Cubs from the SPs. Maybe it's cheating, but it's my collection and I'm cool with it.
ReplyDeleteIf it's a variation short print then yes, I consider a set complete without them. For something like Heritage, probably not.
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't consider parallels as part of a set. SP's depend on the situation. If it's a set that I really, really like... then I want the SP's too. For example, I recently purchased the 2014 Topps Heritage set with the SP's included, because I'm a huge fan of the 1965 Topps design.
ReplyDeleteYes, I consider parallels part of the set. I don't consider a set complete unless I have every last printing plate.
ReplyDelete---nah, of course I'm being facetious here. No one would ever complete a modern set if that were true. I believe that's known as a "master set."
"Base set" would be all the regular base cards. And I guess there's not a good name for a "base set plus the SPs" so it's just known as a "base set plus the SPs."
Most setbuilding I do these days is vintage. I'd say SPs count as part of the base set when talking about vintage, from before SPs were constructed as a gimmick to screw collectors into having to buy more packs. I also try to get errors/variations with vintage sets I go after, and will often count them as part of the set as far as my checklists go, though really I don't think they're completely necessary for finishing a set in basic terms. Just more icing on the cake.
I'm about five months late to this party, but I don't consider parallels to be part of a set. They're independent insert sets on their own.
ReplyDeleteAs for variations and similar SPs (like are found in flagship Topps), I don't chase them as part of my regular set, with a few exceptions.
For regular SP cards (like Heritage, Gypsy Queen), it depends on how rare they are. I'm half-heartedly working on the '11 GQ SP set, and a few others, despite them coming at the end of the set. For some sets, like '06 Allen & Ginter, Topps 206, Cracker Jack, where the SPs are skip-numbered in the set, I'm collecting them. I consider a set without SPs to be a "short" set - complete but not fully complete. Sometimes I'm happy with the set that way; I just notate it as such in my collection.
My '08 Stadium Club set, on the other hand, is going to be complete when I have the Clayton Kershaw throwing variation - I'll have cards #1-150, including the rookie variations; however due to the insanity that is that set, some of the cards are represented by parallels instead of "base" cards. I'm not including the autographed RCs, though I might finish that part of the set eventually too.