I have finally decided to break my rule about not collecting sets past the year 2000. I have settled on Downton Abbey Ser1 & 2 (just 'cos I loved the programme)
Question is where to start! The set is huge with inserts, costume cards, autos and other extras for Africa.
Logic says to start with the base set then gradually accumulate the rest as money permits. Am I better off buying each lot piecemeal or buying boxes. The 'bay is selling boxes for around $60-80 but base sets can be bought for something less than $20. Some of the full insert sets can be bought for $10-15 but it gets quite expensive once you are in to costume and auto's (I note that Joanne Frogett as Anna runs to nearly a $100) If I buy full boxes, what can I expect to receive? Is there a full base set in each box? What extras could I expect to score?
Advice please.

First, there's 126 cards in the base set and 120 cards (with inserts) in a box, so no, you won't get a full base set in a box. I settled for the mini-master base + 3 insert sets when there was more competition, that's $90+ now depending on shipping. These days I usually buy boxes of new releases only in multiples and if I'm going after high inserts too - the multi-case buyers have made it too easy. The least competitive autos and wardrobes are often pretty cheap, but the most-desirables have been bid up pretty high by now.

Without a full base set in a box, the manufacturers aren't really marketing to the by-the-pack or by-the-box buyers.

My approach in your situation: buy the base and low-chase sets in auctions or direct from a friendly dealer, and pick up auto and wardrobe singles by checking completed auctions and then setting a price limit on each card (or tier); bid on them a couple of times a week at your limits; and don't obsess if the $100 items never come your way. Give up on completing the mini sketch card set from the beginning. Consider a "best offer" for one of the auto or wardrobe sets if you think you want to go that far and it looks reasonable versus individual cards. I note that the Anna autograph has sold recently for as little as $25 (but free shipping was only for USA) - the priciest auto seems to be Lady Mary.

Thanks for the advice Jeff it is (as always) very informative and helpful. But let's not loose sight of the fact that mailing a single card to NZ under Ebays mailing scam can cost as much as $25, a full box anywhere around %50 and a case probably near the production costs of the movie trilogy Lord of the Rings.
Probably my best scenario is for you to bring in a couple of cases in your luggage when you come visiting Godzone Country to confirm that this is the greatest place to live on earth. (BTW you can stick Costa Rica)

......and another thing...who in this day and age of card production would even consider publishing a set that you can't complete in a single box? That truly sucks, where's Inkworks when you need them.

My wife and I have been slowly working on Downton. The two hardest parts have been the parallel set of 125 mini cards and the autos. It is a nice set. We got two boxes and have one set and about 3/5th of a second set. At the moment we are down to two of the dual costume cards to finish up the 12 costume cards. Good luck!

Thanks Barabehere.
Did you complete the base set from the two boxes?
And what was the hit rate across the two boxes?
Is it one parallel per pack?

Every other pack had a parallel card. 12 per box.
Other hits per box 1 auto, 1 costume cards, 2 of 12 Upstairs cards,2 of 14 Downstairs cards, 2 of 9 At War cards. So, if you look at a box there are 20 inserts in 24 packs.

Out of the two boxes we got a full 126 card set duplicates and no triplicates.

It is a really nice set.
If you love the show like my wife does, it is worthwhile. I have been able to trade or pick up all but two of the costume cards for under 10 bucks US.

Hey, that's not bad distribution ('cept for having to buy two boxes to get a set) Hit rate isn't too bad then.

I have a partial base and will check if I have extra chase. Don't have duplicate cigarette cards.

No need to trade as long as the shipping is paid.

Let me know.

NL

Well this mornings courier delivered me the first full box new product that I have ever bought since 2000.
The cost was $50 per box and $40 postage. So landed cost was $US140.00. This related to $NZ160.00.
Having been warned by Jeff that I wouldn't make a full base set in one box I bought two. This yielded still 11 cards short of a base set. Well done Cryptozoic, your clever marketing ploy of only putting a miserly 5 cards in a pack and guaranteeing that you can't make a base set in a single box has worked a treat. It guarantees that I won't be buying your product ever again. Inkworks always promised a full set in every box, so how hard can it be.

The only thing I will say is that the hit rate was extremely good. I scored a Jim Carter (as Mr Carson) and a Michelle Dockery (as Lady Mary) autos plus a single and a double costume cards. The jury is still out about the cigarette sized parallel set.

Finally , just in passing I owe all of you auto and costume card collectors an apology. Over the years I have scoffed at this aberration in card collecting. Suddenly, I have received my very first cards in this genre and I confess to have experienced a surprising rush of excitement at holding in my hand both a piece of Lady Mary's dress and Jim Carter's personally signed auto.All things have become clear!!

Funny!
I'd kind of felt the same way about costume cards, but my inner weirdo really digs that prop card from "Dexter" I got (and still have) that had a piece of a bloody severed foot prop in it, and I was also happy to get a piece of the "Rubberman" black latex costume from American Horror Story since I'd found all of that so creepy when watching the show.

Thanks mostly to those, I can now totally see why people like the costume and prop cards, especially with some of the nice variants you can get on some of them.

The Harry Potter set in total is incredible. It ended up being hundreds(?) of different handsomely designed numbered keepsakes with bits of the actual costumes worn and props shown onscreen in them. I can't see those not holding their value. And the Downton relic cards benefit from the outstanding costume design on that show.

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:
Inkworks always promised a full set in every box, so how hard can it be.

The base set was always the chase. Even after Inkworks started the trend, it was a while before others followed. Maybe by doing this, Cryptozoic will be the trend-setters so people appreciate the base sets again rather than being the ignored part of the set. When was the last time the majority here read the back of a base card other than to look at the number?

I must admit it took me several weeks to notice that the complete base set I bought from a dealer for Downton Abbey had a second #35 in place of #33.
And that was only because I noticed I had 2 pictures the same

Thankfully my friendly dealer sent me the missing card.

Breygent's Dexter seasons 1/2 didn't come with a full base set to a box either, so it does seem to happen now and again.