Dean’s Cards Goal for Set Inventory: For Post-War Vintage Sets (these are cards issued between 1948 and 1980) we strive to keep an online inventory of the following: 1) Complete Sets, Near Complete Sets, and various size Starter Sets, in every possible grade, and 2) Team Sets, and also (the more affordable) Near Team Sets for every baseball and football card team, also in multiple grades.

We currently have an inventory of almost 5000 sets online and ready to buy and we sell hundreds vintage baseball sets each month.  Dean’s Cards offers complete, near, low number, high number, starter, variation and team sets.  Each set is built from our online inventory of over a million vintage cards and contains specific statistics of the grades of each card in the set. 

We also display an Average Grade and a Weighted Average Grade for each set.  The Average Grade simply considers the grade of each card equally.  The Weighted Average Grade will measure the card’s grade, along with its value, to give a more accurate picture of the set’s true grade.  Lastly, there is an enlargeable scan of the front and back of each card in the set.  

I recommend to always consider the sets Weighted Average Grade, and to examine images of every card, before making any purchase.  If the seller of the set does not offer this, then do not waste your money.

We build our complete sets with the assistance of a software program that we developed in-house.  The software selects the best card for a set, based on its grade and price.  We then have someone examine the cards in the set and make any adjustments that may be needed, in order to build the best possible vintage complete set.  The cards in the set are not pulled from our inventory until the set is sold.  This way we can continue to enhance the sets, as new cards become available.

Most cards in the complete vintage sets contain cards that are exclusive to that particular set and not available for sale anywhere else.  There are some exceptions, where we may share a very high dollar card, among multiple sets.  Examples may include cards such as the Mickey Mantle and Pete Rose Rookie Cards, which cost thousands of dollars.  These cards are often made available in multiple sets , and also for individual purchase. 

When a “shared” card is sold, our website will automatically remove it from the set and replace it with another card.  This way, it is near impossible for someone purchase a card that has already been sold.  It seldom happens.  The cards that you see in our vintage sets, are the actual cards that you will receive.  Sets of cards issued before 1976, do NOT contain “stock” or “catalog” images.  We do use stock images  of some cards in sets that were issued after 1980, to avoid the cost of scanning near perfect cards.   Most of these cards from this era remain in pristine condition.

Before 1974, Topps would issue their baseball cards in series.  The first series would be issued at the beginning of the season and stay in the stores, for a month or so, in order for the kids to collect the all the cards.  Then Topps would issue the next series of cards.  By the time the last series of cards were printed, the season was almost over and interest in baseball was waning.  It was not uncommon for this last series baseball cards, called high numbers because they were the last cards in the set, to be printed in smaller quantities than cards in the earlier series.  

This scarcity has caused the high numbered cards, of many sets, to become much more valuable, than their low numbered cousins.  It is not uncommon for 30% to 50% of a baseball card sets value to be contained in the last hundred or so cards.  Many of which were cards of no name prospects, who had very short and uneventful careers.

Dean’s Cards builds both low number and high number sets.  This allows the collector on a budget to purchase a Low Number Complete Set and get the majority of a set’s cards, for a fraction of the cost.  He has the option of completing the set, by purchasing the High Number Complete Set, at a later date.  You may notice, that the Complete Sets on DeansCards.com are usually the Low Number and High Number Sets combined for that particular grade.

Dean’s Cards also offers a variety of the tough to find variation cards.  By adding a variation set to a complete set, you will have a master set.

Dean’s Cards uses the FIFO (First-In/ First-Out) method to manage our inventory of over a million vintage sports cards.  This means  a particular card, may be in multiple Near Complete Sets , Starter Sets and/or Team Sets and also available for purchase individually online.  Have no fear, the card that you see is still the card that you get.  We generally have a total population of 20 or more of a given card in a variety of near, starter, and team sets.  

When a card sells, that card is removed by our software and replaced by that same card, in the same grade.  The cards image is also updated.  This technology is what allows us to offer such a wide range of sets.

For example, if we sell a 1961 Topps 50-card Starter Set, and it contains card #110 Vada Pinson in the grade of Excellent–5, that card could be in several other starter sets and team sets.  It will be replaced by another #110 Pinson in a 5, and the set’s images, average and price will be updated.

Sorry, but we can not substitute cards in our Near Sets or Starter Sets. The set building software that we developed selects the most cost efficient cards, which results in deep discounts for these sets.  If you need additional cards, please feel free to select what you need from our website, and take advantage of the quantity discount that site will automatically apply to your current order.

We have Team Sets and Near Team Sets for every Topps and Bowman post-war baseball card set.  The team sets generally have every standard and special card containing a player from that particular team.  The exceptions are very expensive star cards or short-printed cards and cards containing players from multiple teams.

The have built Near Team Sets for most years also.  The Near Team Sets are built with cost in mind and omit some of the high-priced cards.  We attempt to offer both the Team Sets and Near Team Sets in multiple grades.

I hope that this answers all of your questions.  If not, please give us a call at 513-898-0651.  We will be glad to assist.

Thanks,

Dean