To Build a Set or Not to Build a Set

I received 2 trade packages in the mail over the last 2 days. One package contained some inserts from 2011 Topps Lineage like the ones shown above. The other had a bunch of base from 2015 Topps.

I received this stack of about 100 2015 Topps cards I needed from Bo of Baseball Cards Come to Life! I sent him about 100 2017 Topps cards that he needed in exchange for about 100 2015 cards.

This causes me to ask myself the question: what makes me decide to collect a set?

Well, last year I got a few of the Fairfield 20-pack repack boxes which had a lot of cards from 2015 Topps. I love the different colored borders and since I got a lot of these in repack boxes I made the decision to start collecting this set.

This set features a lot of cool pictures. It's mostly shots of players swinging bats, but at least it has some good uniform choices.

It also continued these Future Stars cards. I like the concept of the future stars print on the card, but I wish it was a bit more exciting. 

All in all, I am now 100 cards closer to completing the set so thank you, Bo, for helping me out.

I also made a trade with Greg of The Collective Mind. He saw my post of 2011 Topps Lineage and he reached out telling me that he had some 2011 Topps Lineage cards available. 

Like these Stand-Up inserts. Greg had a lot of these available and I took advantage of this opportunity and I asked for all of them. I find it interesting how the Stanton card says, Mike Stanton. I couldn't resist getting this card, because of how well he's been doing.

There are also Stand-Ups of retired players. Both are unfortunately pictures that have been used before, but still, these were worth it. Both of these players are players I collect, so I'm thrilled to add these to my collection.

The 3D cards from Lineage are some of my favorite inserts I've ever seen. Despite Howard and Utley now being shadows of their former selfs I still collect both players, so these were obvious choices.

Yes, I know the image is blurry.

Yes, I know it's smaller than most 3D cards.

But I don't care.

This is a 3D card of none other than Mickey Mantle. The pink around the team name works well with the card. I know that Mantle cards can be a lot of money, so I am more than happy to acquire this card.

So this is the thing about card collecting. Even though I love the Lineage cards I got it's not a set I want to collect. Sometimes I get cards to build a set, and sometimes it's just to add to my collections. It's just the decisions collectors have to make.