Full team rosters?

[ellford]

So back in the day (70's) when I collected cards, they came with full rosters.

This past year my son and I got into collecting cards (he's 8) and he (and I) were hoping to see the full roster for the teams.

He's a wiz with stats and I'm starting to wonder if he's actually my kid as my buddy is a wiz with player stats as well (LOL), so I was a bit disappointed when we started collecting the Upper Deck Artifacts cards and then weeks/months into it, I found a link (thank you SCF) to the Upper Deck Artifacts card list and noticed only cards 1-100 are 'base' and others are what I would call 'rares' (impossible to get unless you purchase the big boxes, which he can't afford on his allowance money)...

So here I am with an 8 year old wanting to make a deal where instead of cash, he gets a pack of cards or two for his allowance and I now know he has everything he's going to get out of the 'base' set with everything else being rares.

I'm thinking we started collecting the wrong set...

I don't want to make the same mistake next year, so I'm wondering if anyone out there knows if other brands/types have full rosters? Does OPC have full rosters? Or maybe UD does, but it not in Artifacts, it's another type?

Any help would be appreciated, as right now he's totally depressed over what I'm finding out...

[creasecollector]

Sadly, no product makes "full rosters" of each team in card sets unfortunately, too much cards to print and rosters to update from signings, trades, deadlines, etc. But they get it very close, but some players will get left off the list. But there is some positivity: Upper Deck S1 and S2 & O-Pee-Chee would be your best bet for a lot of base cards of the more "common" players not usually mentioned in other sets. Nowadays, the major sets only focus on more or less the same type of "stars" to put in the base sets 1-100, so although you may have a fairly large base set you'll usually notice a lot of the same type of all-stars in the base sets of other products.

I think you should focus on OPC to get the experience you're looking for, or at least come close to it at least. Every year O-Pee-Chee puts out a massive base set (Around 600 cards!!) which is great for players collectors, team collectors, and everyone in between. Also, as an added bonus to the base cards, you'll also hit some base variations called "parallels" which are a little more rare and are fun to accumulate as well.

Although a tad off topic, here's a quick example of some base and base parallels from 15-16 O-Pee-Chee:




(From left to right: Regular base, Rainbow base parallel, Black border base parallel ***Only /100 Black copies made***)


If you're looking to collect a large amount of players from different teams and from around the league, OPC is your best bet! And OPC is also one of the cheapest products out on the market, so you won't be breaking the bank picking up a box... or two :) You'll no doubt snag A LOT of base for your son and hit some other neat cards in the process.

Hopefully this helped, best of luck with the collection! :)

[Sharky94]

OPC is definitely the way to go. Its the biggest set, so it has the most players. There are about a dozen or so players from each team, give or take. Plus, they still make them with the basic cardboard finish, so they are the best to get autographs on if your son wants to get them signed. And for you, its better because they are some of the less expensive cards made these days.

There are still enough "hits" in OPC with parallels and inserts to make them interesting. You wont pull any $2,000 Connor McDavid cards, but at this time, your son shouldn't be too concerned with what a card is "worth" as seems to be all too common these days. To start off with just collecting, you don't want to have to deal with cards were every other card has to go into a plastic holder.

[jmatchett]

Agreed with the other, O-Pee-Chee is the best bet for what you want. The days of the multiple 500+ base card sets are almost dead aside from regular Upper Deck and OPC. I'm glad your son is taking an interest, but I feel like this hobby is becoming more and more of a kid-intolerant hobby with the prices of cards. I hope I'm wrong.

[reoddai]

Mvp could also also be a good alternative, but opc tends to be more popular.be careful with doing either though a parts bouts they only release once a parts outside you may find it harder to get packs later in the year.

Upper deck series 1 and two might be your very best shot though. It's 2x 200 card series etc released about 6 months apart. It's not as full a parts opc, but it's much more popular than opc, easier to trade and I think the price point is about the same. It's also available everywhere like walmart, target and even some smaller places sometimes carry it like shoppers.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[wild4life]

Agreed with the other, O-Pee-Chee is the best bet for what you want. The days of the multiple 500+ base card sets are almost dead aside from regular Upper Deck and OPC. I'm glad your son is taking an interest, but I feel like this hobby is becoming more and more of a kid-intolerant hobby with the prices of cards. I hope I'm wrong.

Bingo! Which is why I miss the days of Victory and Score. The hobby is becoming a game for adults (with lots of money to spend), which is a shame.

I agree with the others - OPC, UD S1/2 and MVP will likely be your best bets. Unfortunately, today's sports card industry is driven by a craze for rookies, autos and GUs, meaning a lot of role players, journeymen and bottom-pairing defensemen are excluded from production after their rookie year. It's been five years since a card was produced of my No. 1 PC player, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Best of luck to you and your son!