Still Enjoy Building Sets After All These Years

Back when I started collecting in the mid 80s it was SO much easier to collect sports cards. You had only a few options to choose from and prices for a pack of cards didn't cost an arm and a leg. Donruss and Fleer never tickled my fancy, Score wasn't on my radar, and Sportflics was only available at Toys R Us (where my Mom would only take me for my birthday). That just left Topps and I was content with that. 792 cards to track down was a task that I could easily accomplish. I would normally purchase a couple of wax boxes and trade my doubles with friends to get me over the finish line. Fast forward almost forty years later and I still enjoy set building. I don't buy boxes of new product but I have started putting together some want lists of sets that I always wanted but never got around to chasing. The first is 1993 Topps Finest. I collected the entire set about 5 years ago but for whatever reason I sold it since I didn't think it fit in to my collection and I've regretted it ever since. So, once again I'm going to build it (along with the three promo cards) and hoping to have this completed by the end of the year. I'm also going to add a couple of Donruss Studio sets to the mix just because they're different and I think they're fantastic (1993 and 2003). Maybe I'll decide to chase a set or two later once these are finished, but for now I'll keep things manageable. 

2005 Studio

While I've been busy trying to knock out my 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen set, I've started on another set endeavor, the 2005 Studio set. I was a big fan of Studio when it came out in 1991 and while it held a special place in my collecting heart, I couldn't put in on the same pedestal as the 1991 Topps Stadium Club set. When I started dabbling in the hobby again in 2002 I was disappointed with what had happened to Studio. I wasn't impressed with their designs and was sad at what had become of this novelty set. However, in 2005 that changed when I saw what Donruss released. The card backgrounds are fantastic with the city skylines that are used on most of the cards in this set. In addition, I like how Donruss decided to use a sepia style in this design as compared to standard color photography. If I had one gripe with the set, it would be that I miss how Donruss didn't have the player's hobbies and interest or their hero. It's that quirky stuff besides a player's stats that I'm able to connect with.