Near Sets?

[1970s]

I've seen "near sets" offered for sale. Is this a thing? (I mean, I bought a set missing one card, but "near sets" I've seen advertised aren't as near completion as that.) At what point do a bunch of cards with no duplicates become a near set?

I've got '78 and '79 Topps, each missing about 50 cards. Ungraded, but never handled much. Gotta decide whether to keep them together or pull the stars out. Thoughts?

Also a 1980 Topps set missing only Larry Bowa (#630), bought from a dealer at a discount due to the missing card. Most of the cards I've never touched. I should probably get the Bowa and complete the set, but what does somebody do with a high-quality ungraded set?

Thanks in advance.

[bakemeister52]

If the sets are $20 and under, I usually look to see how much the stars and RC's are and if they are more than the set, I pull them! It costs to much to ship neat sets/sets these days!

Bake

[1970s]

Thanks, Bake. Your post suggests you do something different if the sets are worth more than $20. That would be the case here.

[pwaldo]

Near sets are a thing but I think it really depends on what you have in the bunch of cards. If you have the key rookie or the majority of star and desirable cards you can get away with less cards constituting a near set. For example 1975 Topps if you had the Brett and Yount rookies but were missing around 100+ commons you can easily call that a near set versus doing the same but missing those two key cards. I don't think there is a set standard as in everyone's mind you have a definition of what a near set is and should be depending on your own views on the topic.

As for you I would definitely try and complete the sets as there are a ton of people who would buy 40+ year old sets that are in good shape for good money.

[1970s]

Makes perfect sense. Thank you!

[bakemeister52]

Peter's right and I have a lot of near sets with just commons or low star value. I am moving sets and partial sets in your area using Facebook Virtual Garage Sales.

Bake

[1970s]

Thanks, Bake. I hate Facebook, but it's good to know that exists as an option.