Chasers and builders unite

For something so simple, collecting sports cards has become such a segregated hobby.
High-end or low-end? Modern or vintage? Prospector or private collection?
There's room for everyone. Still, the biggest crease divides those who chase the "hits" in a particular pack or box and those who take on the challenge of reuniting hundreds of cards into a set.
One style is about chance, the other is about patience. Builders happily accept the sweet insert or serial-numbered card they come across, but many chasers disregard anything base because, well, it's a base card.
It all begs the question, can you be both a chaser and a builder? Can you find the value in every card within the pack/box/case?
From this corner of the collecting world, I dare say yes, yet it's clear few appear to be on board.
Since returning to the hobby in 2007, and introducing The Son to it, we've tested our mettle by putting together - and failing to complete - several hockey and baseball sets during their respective run year.
We do it to see if it can be done.
We've tried sets as small as 100 cards and as big as the monstrous 1006-card 2009 Upper Deck baseball. It's taken as little as a month, as long as six months and then there's a few we just gave up on.
Pack-by-pack, flipping through bins at shows and, in desperation, buying a couple of singles online all accompany the mission to cross out those of numbers listed in an old reporter's notebook.
Sometimes the journey drops a low-number patch card on us or something equally desirable or scarce. Sure, we get pumped to see those show up, but we're just as excited when the closer (the last card to finish a set) appears.
Ultimately, we sell most of our sets, the leftover doubles and best inserts to bring a few bucks back to take on the next challenge.
So, which is the "moment" for you - chasing the "hit" or finishing a set?
Stay tuned to Checklist Chasing as we give you a snapshot of our adventures. You can also post your own here or email them to me at threebseman@hotmail.com.

Checklist Chasing is written by Dan Campana, a media consultant, former newspaper reporter and longtime collector living in the Chicago suburbs with a sports-minded 5-year-old and an understanding wife.