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MJI buy almost exclusively raw - not looking to find a treasure or expect it to grade high SHOULD I choose to grade. I only buy the graded stuff when it's over a particular $$$ amount - would hate to spend a ton of money on a reprint.
And I actually like the beat up cards - gives them a tremendous amount of character (and it's kind of neat to hold something that someone else held a 100 years ago).
On a slightly different note - I never pay over a certain amount of money for raw cards - helps me build up my master set without having to be a grading-snob (don't mean to offend anyone out there - just my choice of collecting). I've learned, through auctions and ebay and other resources, about what a raw card could go for, sometimes significantly less than market. I've studied it hard and I can almost dictate what raw cards will sell for and adjust any snipes, bids, or what have you. Ironically, I'm going primarily for the Tolstoi, Sov, and the PB backs....they just look cool hehehehehehe