How do Current Player Collectors do it??

2006 Diamond Signature #42

I am up to 86 unique Bill Virdon Cards.  That means that there are only 44 more for me to get.  (Assuming that there was no 2010 or 2011 Heritage Buyback cards)  It will get REALLY difficult to pick up the last 45.  Right now there are 4 Virdons on ebay that I do not yet have but they are all going for way more than I want to spend.   I don't know how collectors of current players do it?  Those last 44 cards seem so daunting though it is nothing compared to hundreds or even thousands of cards that some player collectors have to chase.  I'm not kidding myself, there are a few that I will never get.  I have seen the Virdon/Torre/Pinniella auto on ebay one time and it went for $175.  That 175 would be better spent on some vintage Sox than on a card of a bunch of yankees.  Plus, I doubt I ever see the Heritage Buyback cards.  Still 86/130 is pretty good. 

2006 Diamond Signature Back

I do continue to find oddballs like this that do not exist on any list I have ever seen.  Not The Standard Catalog or Beckett lists this 1956 Game Card.  It is kind of like an APBA card only the back is blank.  New player collectors probably don't have to deal with this kind of thing.

1956 Game Card

Here is the current need list:

1955 Cardinals Hunter's Wieners #28 Bill Virdon

1956 Pirates Team Issue #23 Bill Virdon
1956 Topps #170A Bill Virdon (White Back)

1957 Pirates Team Issue #10 Bill Virdon

1958 Hires Root Beer with Tabs #45 Bill Virdon
1958 Pirates Team Issue #12 Bill Virdon

1959 Pirates Jay Publishing #12 Bill Virdon
1959 Topps #543 Corsair Trio/ Bob Skinner/ Bill Virdon/ Roberto Clemente

1959 Topps Venezuelan #190 Bill Virdon

1962 Pirates Jay Publishing #12 Bill Virdon
1962 Pittsburgh Exhibits #7D
1962 Swan-Virdon Postcard #1 Bill Virdon
1963 Jello #142 Bill Virdon
1963 Pirates Jay Publishing #12 Bill Virdon

1964 Kahn's #29 Bill Virdon

1964 Pirates Jay Publishing #12 Bill Virdon
1964 Pirates KDKA #28 Bill Virdon
1965 Kahn's #44 Bill Virdon
1965 Pirates Jay Publishing #11 Bill Virdon
1969 Pirates Team Issue #25 Bill Virdon CO
1970 Pirates Team Issue #19 Bill Virdon CO
1973 Pirates Post/ Gazette Inserts #24 Bill Virdon MG
1974 Syracuse Chiefs Team Issue #28 Bill Virdon
1975 O-Pee-Chee #611 Yankees: Team/ MG/ Bill Virdon
1975 Yankees SSPC #9 Bill Virdon MG
1976 Astros Postcards #30 Bill Virdon MG
1977 Astros Photo Album #13 Bill Virdon MG
1977 Pirates 1960 World Champions TCMA #7 Bill Virdon
1978 Astros Postcards #24 Bill Virdon MG
1978 Grand Slam #147 Bill Virdon
1979 Astros Postcards #25 Bill Virdon MG
1979 Astros Team Issue #1 Bill Virdon and Coaches/ (Calendar Variation)
1980 Astros Team Issue #27 Bill Virdon MG
1983 Expos Postcards #33 Bill Virdon MG
1984 Expos Postcards #34 Bill Virdon MG

1984 Expos Stuart #38 Coaching Staff/ Bill Virdon MG/ Felipe Alou CO/ Ga
1987 Astros Rainbow Postcards-Series Two #28 Bill Virdon
1987 Astros Rainbow-Series One #31 Coaches Card/ Bob Lillis/ Jesus Alou/ Bill Virdon#
1993 Pirates Nationwide Insurance #34 Bill Virdon CO
1994 Pirates Quintex #25 Bill Virdon CO
2002 Pirates Outback #31 Bill Virdon CO
2003 Upper Deck Yankees Signature Yankees Forever Autographs #PTV Piniella/ Torre/ Virdon
2008 Topps Heritage 1959 Buybacks #190 Bill Virdon
2008 Topps Heritage 1959 Buybacks #543 Corsair Trio/ Bob Skinner/ Bill Virdon/ Roberto Clemente
2009 Topps Heritage 1960 Buybacks #496 Bill Virdon