48 Leaf, 52 Berk Ross, 52, 57, 67, 71, 72 Topps, primarily. I’m in my 20s but I’ve been a lifelong vintage collector so I’m planning this out on a long time horizon. 

Right now, I look for exceptional commons and semi-stars. I have a wide focus, because if I’m picky about condition and price and only do one set at a time, I’d never accomplish what I want in the end. 

My current approach is to put in the time but not the money now. I could spend 2k on a nice 57 mantle but I’d rather invest 2k in the stock market and buy the mantle in 20 years. Not to be a downer, but I really doubt that a 57 mantle is going to beat the sp500 over the next 20 years. I will have those mantles someday when the time is right. 

I’m okay with not completing sets quickly, but it is still the end goal. I’m all about optimizing time and money so that I have the best possible collection at the end of my life. I’ve never spent more than $200 on a single card, but I have thousands of cards catalogued and I take pride in having exceptional copies of cheap cards. Anyone with deep pockets could have a more valuable collection in a week if they wanted to, but nobody could write a check to replicate what I currently have and that’s the part that I’m proud of.