Sets VS Singles

Joe Sakic
2000-01 UD Reserve #OS3

It seems many hockey card collectors have followed similar trends:

• Got back into hockey cards later in life (held onto this stuff for a reason)
• Actually play ice hockey (as opposed to being armchair athletes)
• Enjoy making custom cards (when passion turns into obsession!)
• Became more focused on picking up complete sets (as opposed to packs and random singles)

As a young adult, my collecting focus was as controlled as a Fulton Reed slapshot...

Dangerous and inaccurate

Sergei Samsonov
1997-98 Upper Deck #SG30

At least I had zeroed in on Upper Deck as my pack of choice...
Often several packs of day, tons of fun, exciting and addictive...

Jeremy Roenick
2003-04 Upper Deck #AS-210

It's incredibly satisfying to build a set yourself, card by card...
But consider at all the money spent, and the inevitable piles of leftover doubles, triples and quadruples.

Joe Sakic
1989-90 O-Pee-Chee #113

Lately, I've enjoyed the appeal of focusing on acquiring certain sets...
I started collecting in the early 1990s, so I've got most of that stuff...

I'd like to go backwards and collect the sets from 1989-90, 1988-89, 1987-88 and so on...
Eventually all the way back to 1979-80: The Gretzky Rookie year.

Ed Belfour
1991-92 Upper Deck  #81

As people sell off their collections, opportunists can swoop in and score stuff they've always wanted to have.
Just like having a bit of luck around the net, sometimes you get rewarded for being in the right place at the right time.

Do some research, and keep a broad range of desired sets on an "ultimate" list, and pick up things as you find them for the right price...

Take a few shots, and poke around for a rebound... You'd be amazed at what can happen.