A Quest Begins

Is it possible to complete a set in this day in age by spending less than what the set of base cards is valued at? Some might ask if it’s even possible to complete a set these days what with the short prints, “mistakes” and gimmicks that manufacturers seem to be throwing out there these days. To me the answer is yes to both questions.

First I must test my hypothesis. So at random today I picked as a test set the 2008-09 Upper Deck MVP Hockey set. It’s not a super high end product or a product filled short prints a la Masterpieces. So in theory it shouldn’t be a problem to complete. There appear to be 392 cards (including the rookies which are seeded in every other pack) according to Upper Deck’s checklist online.

It was released on 12-2-08 so as of this writing I haven’t been able to find a value to the set. Therefore, I don’t have a spending limit as of yet. I am thinking it will be in the $50-$80 value once it makes it into Beckett. I know Beckett isn’t the end all to pricing that it used to be, but for this non life altering experiment it will do.

So how exactly will I go about acquiring cards for this quest? Well I assume most of my purchases will be made at the local Target or card ship. I picked up a blaster earlier today to start the ball rolling. At $19.99 a pop I don’t think I’ll be able to get too many more of those. I will also be open to trading for what I need once I get a significant portion completed. All non-Lightning inserts will be open for trade as will any doubles I pick up along the way.

I will have a quick breakdown of the blaster some time later this week. Upon initial review the collations didn’t look too bad so I should have a good start.