Vintage Football For Vintage Beginner

[Mike]

I've been considering this for quite some time now and, seeing the recent threads on the site related to vintage sets, I've just about convinced myself that chasing a vintage set is something I should do. Where should I start, though?

I've looked at a lot of vintage sets and I'm a bit overwhelmed and not real sure where I should start. I've even talked it over a little bit with @AndyDrummond because he's really into vintage and seems to have a great deal of knowledge about the older cards.

Even still, I'm not sure where to start.

So I've always really been into old-school football players, so I'm pretty certain that I'd like to start with football. I'm also a big-time Hall of Fame guy, so it would be cool if the set I collected had a lot of Hall of Famer rookie cards. Other than that, though, I'm not real particular about where I'd like to start, other than I'd prefer a set that doesn't have a single card that will cost me $1,000+ to obtain, especially not for my first set. I'd eventually like to even have a fully graded set of whatever it is I decide to start with.

I know it may not be actually considered "vintage", but right now I'm really looking at the 1984 Topps football set. It has a nice line-up of rookies and it's not too expensive. I think the set would be fairly easy to complete, and then I could just work on upgrading for condition. In fact, I can get close to 50% of the cards in this set on SportLots right now for around $.20 each, plus shipping.

Are there any other vintage football sets that y'all can think of that might check my boxes of fairly cheap to obtain, has a nice line-up of rookie cards, and has a nice amount of HOFers?

 

[AndyDrummond]

I've been considering this for quite some time now and, seeing the recent threads on the site related to vintage sets, I've just about convinced myself that chasing a vintage set is something I should do. Where should I start, though?

I've looked at a lot of vintage sets and I'm a bit overwhelmed and not real sure where I should start. I've even talked it over a little bit with @AndyDrummond because he's really into vintage and seems to have a great deal of knowledge about the older cards.

Even still, I'm not sure where to start.

So I've always really been into old-school football players, so I'm pretty certain that I'd like to start with football. I'm also a big-time Hall of Fame guy, so it would be cool if the set I collected had a lot of Hall of Famer rookie cards. Other than that, though, I'm not real particular about where I'd like to start, other than I'd prefer a set that doesn't have a single card that will cost me $1,000+ to obtain, especially not for my first set. I'd eventually like to even have a fully graded set of whatever it is I decide to start with.

I know it may not be actually considered "vintage", but right now I'm really looking at the 1984 Topps football set. It has a nice line-up of rookies and it's not too expensive. I think the set would be fairly easy to complete, and then I could just work on upgrading for condition. In fact, I can get close to 50% of the cards in this set on SportLots right now for around $.20 each, plus shipping.

Are there any other vintage football sets that y'all can think of that might check my boxes of fairly cheap to obtain, has a nice line-up of rookie cards, and has a nice amount of HOFers?

84 Topps wouldn’t quite be vintage to me, but everyone has their own definition and this reply is coming from a guy working on 55 Bowman baseball. I can say it would be something obtainable with some great HoF RCs and I may even have some help with a few of those. For a somewhat newer set like that, if someone here can’t get you started with a solid lot, I usually scope out eBay for lots that have solid commons. A set that knew you should be able to do NM I would imagine if you really wanted to. Set yourself a price you want to pay for common players and make some offers based on that. It’s never bad to have some dupes to trade with collectors working the same set if you need to buy a bigger lot to get a better deal.

 

[Mike]

84 Topps wouldn’t quite be vintage to me, but everyone has their own definition and this reply is coming from a guy working on 55 Bowman baseball. I can say it would be something obtainable with some great HoF RCs and I may even have some help with a few of those. For a somewhat newer set like that, if someone here can’t get you started with a solid lot, I usually scope out eBay for lots that have solid commons. A set that knew you should be able to do NM I would imagine if you really wanted to. Set yourself a price you want to pay for common players and make some offers based on that. It’s never bad to have some dupes to trade with collectors working the same set if you need to buy a bigger lot to get a better deal.

That's what I figured, as far as it not actually being vintage, but it'd be the closest thing I've built so maybe a good start. Plus, Elway and Marino and some of the earliest guys I remember actually watching play as a young child so it would be cool to have their rookie cards. Plus Eric Dickerson has a rookie in the set, along with numerous other non-rookie stars.

Thanks for the tip on buying lots. Definitely might not be a terrible idea to have dupes to trade out with folks, regardless of what set I choose. SportLots will probably be my first stop, though. Depending on the set, I should be able to get most of the commons pretty cheap there. With this set, I can get over half the cards for $.20 each from a seller on there we just discussed a few days ago (lattacar). So that'd be a nice start to at least start filling the box. I think with the rookies, and the bigger cards in there like Walter Payton, I'll probably go ahead and buy those on eBay as I can so I can go ahead and get them graded. Probably shoot for any grade now, then plan to upgrade later.

Again, I haven't actually settled 100% on '84 Topps yet, but that's where I'm leaning. I was hoping some of the folks on this site could offer a bit of insight to a set that maybe I'd overlooked. I haven't spent a lot of time looking at older cards so I really don't know when most folks were rookies, or who is in what set.