321/342

And a little bit closer!

With an additional 11 cards, I am now 93.9% complete of my 1956 Topps Baseball set.

To get from 310 to 321, I made my first purchase from the Check Out My Cards website.

Although I had known of this site for years, it was my first order from the site. A place where you can acquire many items from many different sellers yet pay only one shipping price, it was a simple way to acquire more of the low-grade 1956 Topps Baseball cards that I needed.

With only 21 cards remaining, it feels pretty darn cool getting this close. Although there are some commons remaining, there are also some important cards remaining too, including Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Yogi Berra, and Warren Spahn.

310/342

With the acquisition of 9 more 1956 Topps Baseball cards, I've now completed 90.6% of the set (including two checklist cards)

Although none of the 9 cards which I acquired are high-end players, they had eluded me nonetheless until now. Most of the cards are in quite good shape (as shown in four of the cards below) and would grade quite well except for being off-centre.

With only 32 cards remaining, I've decided to test my luck with the Check Out My Cards website. I've selected some cards that I need and we'll see what I end up with. The cost of the cards were quite reasonable and it's handy to be able to get cards from different sellers in one single shipment.

I'll update my set progression in the next few weeks when the package arrives.

It's exciting that I'm getting so close and it's fun to try to build an older set.

301/342

With a few pick-ups at the Sports Card Expo in Toronto this weekend, I was able to pass the 300 mark in my quest to complete a low-grade version of the Topps 1956 Baseball set.

Picking up Minnie Minoso, Bob Feller, Bill Skowron, and Elston Howard, I now have put together 88% of the set.

Obviously, it will be harder and harder to finish this set off at a reasonable cost but I'm quite proud to only need 40 more base cards and 1 of the 2 checklists.

More Than Half Done!

It's always a great feeling when you're putting together a set and you've passed the half-way point.

Until then, it's all up-hill. Especially when it's an older set. It's not like you can go to the corner store, buy a few packs, and luck into the remaining commons.

I've been slowly putting together an ungraded, low-grade 1956 Topps Baseball set. It's a great set because the design is top-notch, it contains an unbelievable number of superstar Hall-of-Famers (except for Stan Musial), and it's possible to find most of the needed cards with time and patience.

Today, I received an eBay lot of cards from an American seller which put me over the half-way mark. The set has 340 cards plus 2 un-numbered checklists, so 342 in total. I now have 183 cards in the set! Only 159 to go!

As you can see, the cards are low-grade. But these three cards above book for $525 in near-mint condition. I was able to get these three plus about 10 more for only $50.

I felt low-grade was the way to go from the beginning.

Graded cards by PSA cost too much. If I purchased ungraded cards in great condition, I'd always be worried that they'd be fake. But with low-grade cards, there is a sense of security. I don't mind if my New York Yankees Team Card has extremely soft corners or if my Duke Snider is full of creases. In the grand scheme, I'm pretty damn happy that I own these cards. Period!

I still have some big names to acquire. Hank Aaron. Sandy Koufax. Yogi Berra. And lots of commons.

On the bright side though, I've already got The Mick!