A reader responds to how to collect cards cheaply:

Some time ago I read the article on TheWrapperMagazine.com about ways to collect cards cheaply. I enjoyed the article (although I wished it were longer - there's so little on the internet about collecting vintage non-sports cards). Since the article asked for comments (don't know long ago that was), I am providing some comments.

I decided to use the approach one person took about collecting nine card from each set in order to fill a nine-sheet page and have a good representative sample of the set. This was a great suggestion since I collect primarily cards of the 1960s and some from the late 1950s (basically the cards of my youth). There are some sets that I am trying to collect in their entirety (e.g. Man from U.N.C.L.E., Civil War News), but some sets such as Lost in Space and Mars Attacks are too expensive too collect in their entirety. Using the 9-pocket technique is a great way to collect these. Expanding on that idea, what I've started to do is: after I collected my representative sample of nine LIS cards, I decided to go for another nine-page group. I don't know if this will lead me eventually to try to obtain the whole set (I doubt it since I really can't afford to), but it allows me to continue collecting that set, and keeps me within my financial bounds.

Another thing that I've tried to do is to collect scans from the internet (auctions, websites, etc.). This is not as much fun as the obtaining the cards, and I do bid on many of the cards also, but it's a way of collecting these cards. When I have some time, I hope to set up a website dedicated to trading cards of the 1960s and use many of these images on the site.

Thanks. James