I was talking with a friend of mine who would like to start putting all the Rittenhouse throwback bond sets together. The sheer number of cards is beyond me. I don't have the time, cash or energy to put into a task like this. Best of luck to him. However, what is the most difficult set you put together without buying a case or cases of a product?

For me, it was Smallville season 6. It took me 6 years to finally find all the autos, pieceworks and case incentive cards in a price range I could afford. It was one of the few sets I really wanted to finish. It put the close on having a master set of all 6 Inkworks Smallville cards.

I've never completed a master set of any of the more current (meaning the last 15 years or so) products but have come close on a few. I've never bought a case of anything and never more than three boxes of any given product.

A few sets that I managed to complete were the Star Trek 25th anniversary sets (both series one and two), the first TNG set back in '92 and Marvel series one from the early '90s. All of those were done solely from buying individual packs. Those were hard to complete since there was no ebay, card shops or places to buy boxes back then. It was all a couple of packs here and there slowly piecing it all together. The hobby has changed SO much since then.

Twilight Zone 1 was tough. I recently traded for the A15 Elizabeth Allen autograph that wasn't issued in packs and that enabled me to finally finish it about 14 years after it was first issued. Luckily, I got the A1 Shatner in a pack pretty early on, but I didn't buy even close to a case of it. It was more like 4 or 5 boxes and I gradually got the rest of the autos online or at shows.

I have a master on The Dead Zone, including the expansion, and almost a master on AVP Requiem, but not all its variants. Both smallish sets to put together without much expense. It's been awhile, but I bought only a couple Dead Zone boxes and I had about five or six of the AVP boxes. The missing hits and the expansion cards were picked up on that site, both individually and in small groups.

I have never bought a case in my life and don't see that changing. I also don't expect to complete a master again, although I am actually only a few premium cards short on the Castle Season 1 and 2, so I could still pursue that if I cared to try it.

Is the question about sets or master sets?
For me, the hardest one was the Star Wars Finest Holochrome set (90 cards, 1 card per box): it took me 4 years to complete it from France. I had bought 2 boxes of that set and it was only the beginning of internet as we know it.
I have master sets and other hard to get sets in my collection but this one was the hardest to complete for me.

Before I became a Dealer.....

Babylon 5 Season 4 Autograph Set.....

I sold it at a Convention in '97.

I just bought this set again.....

Tough Set..... Autos were 1:90 packs



Having a Plaque Made for this Set.

We have Lost 3 of these Actors already.....

Maybe more difficult back when I was collecting it than it would be these days... but Inkworks' Tomorrow Never Dies stands out in my mind as one that was tough to finish. And by finish, I mean finish properly because of some more obscure items in the set.

Before the dumping of Inkworks inventory the last couple of years, the P1 and 0 promos were very hard to find as were the sell sheet and uncut promo panel (the latter two items especially in the UK).
I also found a P3 promo which I have only ever seen on eBay once. Whether or not this was cut from the promo panel, I can't decide but I have only ever seen two on eBay.

The chase cards were easy enough but I did get them via mail order(!) and for far more than they go for these days. These were my first ever chase cards I collected for any card set and it was a real thrill to get them because I had never even heard of chase cards until then! The uncut 9-card mini press sheet was a bugger to find, and is still not the easiest Inkworks sheet to find today. Then there was the Joe Jusko signed variant that was equally hard to find.
Ultimately though, the hardest piece needed to finish this set was the "Aston Martin Instant Winner" contest card found 1:3,600 packs / 1:10 cases. I have only ever seen two of this card on eBay in the last 15 or so years, and I feel very lucky to say I have one. For years I never even knew what it looked like. The maths (based on the box/pack count) suggest there were approx. 150 of these cards but the number must be lower because only 100 prizes were available; some collectors will have redeemed them and forfeited the card by doing so; and they just don't seem to show up on the secondary market.

Maybe not a set difficult of the type put out by Topps or Rittenhouse these days with a gazillion autographs and sketches in every release, but Tomorrow Never Dies will always have a soft spot for me. It was my first trading card set I collected (besides what I had as a kid), it is one of my very few master sets, and features one of the rarest Bond trading cards most have never even heard of.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: X,

X - could you post a picture of that Aston Martin redemption card? I'd like to see it.

I don't have scan saved on my computer so give me a few days and I'll try and dig the card out for you cardaddict! I could do with a handy pic of it anyway!

For me it's the Inkworks' Buffy sets. I've been going on these since 2008 and still haven't finished.

Alot of that comes down to cost and rarity, some of those cards just don't get listed for sale very often.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Szym:
Is the question about sets or master sets?
QUOTE]
Either. Whatever one feels is a set. My friend feels that the James Bond Throwback cards are a set. Others would feel that they are inserts inside another set.
I have just completed Inkworks 4400 series I and II autograph set (even though I will never go back and get all the inserts) I feel the 18 autographs are in fact a set.

More than a decade after its release I find that really completing Dynamic Forces' Crimson Commemorative set is quite the challenge. About five cards to go.
It seems to me that the set just isn't popular enough for sellers to put them up for sale on "that website". As there are virtually no dealers in Belgium, "that website" is all I have. Yet, I remain hopeful.
One day... One gloriously fateful day...

I was all set to say THE COMPLETE JAMES BOND but then I realized I'm still missing two cards from it.