I needed an outlet to show off my type collection - what I've called my sampler collection. I have a name for it now: Cardboard Zoo. Not because it's a crazy endeavor, which it is, but because, like a zoo, it's a way to bring cards from all over the world together to protect and display. I know, I know, a regal idea. I've had plans to do something like this for over a decade (in some form or another) and finally made the decision to go ahead with it. And then I realized, there is a blog like mine, and it's been around for several years (albeit with an interesting but limited scope)! So check out my site, follow if you please - there are a few posts up already!
Our discussions and your votes on my previous poll helped me with a decision regarding printing plates - the decision that the four (or five, or eight) colored printing plates essentially are the same set, at least as far as my type set is concerned. This week's question is along the same lines.
Every year, Topps releases team sets for all the MLB teams, and this year they added NL and AL "All-Star" sets to the mix. Each team set has its own checklist and numbering, so in essence there are 32 different sets for which I need a sample for my type set. This has happened well before the Topps team sets, as there are hundreds of minor league team sets issued by companies like ProCards and CMC in the late '80s with exactly the same design, sometimes even numbered sequentially, and companies like Star issued multiple player sets with the same design each year. In the '90s, team sets issued by Stadium Club and Score were released. I'm sure there are plenty other cases of this happening before the 1980s.
The question: Do identical team sets count individually or as a group when making a type set? Should a type set collection include a card from each of the 32 team sets issued this year, or just one to represent them all? Would the same concept apply to other similar sets, like the minor league, Stadium Club, and Score sets? Is there a point where the distinction should be made? Or should it always be made? Tell me your thoughts on this issue - one that primarily affects releases in the past thirty years.
Leave a comment below with your response! Everyone who comments by the deadline - Monday night - will be entered to win a minor prize (randomed off via random.org). One entry per person. Void where prohibited, wherever that may be. No purchase necessary or possible, though bribery is always welcome but not worth the effort. Feel free to plug this on your blog (and my new site, while you're at it), but no extra entries for that this time. I'll do the drawing sometime next week.
I'd say each 32 is distinct. Different numbering is different set. Also I change my mind about the plates in your case. One plate represents enough
ReplyDeleteI don't even consider team sets, even the Astros, when I am set building. I just consider the team sets a gimmick by Topps to get you to spend another $7... I'd rather spend that on cheap eBay pick-ups! Haha.
ReplyDeleteI always get all the Rockies team for my team collection...but for a type collection I would think that since only the stadium cards are different than the regular set one of them would suffice.
ReplyDeleteI feel if you're building a type set, one card from the team sets would suffice. It's not like you're building a team type set.
ReplyDeleteOne example is all that's needed.
I would be hard for me to justify including any cards from the team sets because, like The Dimwit, I believe that they are simply released by a company to get fans/collectors to shell out more money for an identical product.
ReplyDeleteThat said, if you had to include any, I believe one card from all the team sets should suffice.
I buy the team set from the Mets and Yankees each year since they are numbered differently and may contain a card or two not in the regular set. As far as your "type" collecting I think a card from each set would fit as they are numbered for each team differently (example the Mets are NYM1, 2, etc. and the Yankees are NYY1, 2 etc. Thats just my view.
ReplyDeleteConsider the contest closed, but feel free to make additional comments as you wish! I'll do the randomization later. I have five packages to get in the mail!
ReplyDelete