Great post, Steve. It's all about making sounds decisions, isn't it? You have a system that works for you, and ultimately, I need to take what I'm learning from you and everbody else, and find what works best for me. I want that sharp PSA 4 Ty Cobb green background, but I also don't want to go more than two months between adding a new card to my collection because I'm saving for just one card. Decisions, decisions...
Spending $50 now on a good-very good common that will cost roughly the same three years from now is not the best use of my funds. If I take that money, and put it towards the Eddie Collins I want, knowing full well that he is (in my opinion) an undervalued Hall of Famer with a lot of upside potential from a collectible standpoint, in essence I will be spending less to "check him off" the list. Spend $200 now, or spend $300 two years from now. The monster is tough enough to defeat, and throwing money away just adds to the difficulty level. Based on what you guys are saying, it's about intelligently picking and choosing my battles.
Here's an example of a common with great eye appeal that didn't break the bank. To be honest, it's one of my favorite cards thus far, and at the end of the day, we all collect because we enjoy what we buy, so it was money well spent (thank you, again, David!) While it's certainly not on the level of John's cards aesthetically speaking, I am quite happy with the overall look of the card.
From a
technical standpoint, the card deserves a 2 grade because there is a very slight, almost imperceptible amount of paper loss on the back (in the 'A' of Caporal). And by PSA's grading standards, paper loss automatically = a specific grade. But I think this little card, which has survived God knows where for a century, is beautiful. I look at it, and ask myself if I will upgrade this anytime soon, and honestly, I can't see myself doing it until I'm done with the Hall of Famers, and Southern Leaguers, and working on commons. I am perfectly content with this card. The registration is spot on. The color is beautiful. The centering is awesome, and the corners overall are actually quite nice. I'd wager that this card would have superior eye appeal to similar cards in a PSA 3 to 4 range. So, therein lies the conundrum that really shouldn't be. I am buying for my own enjoyment, right? So in this case, why do I need to pay more for a card with a higher grade because somebody I've never met thinks a spot of paper loss makes my example somehow inferior?