[jchcollins]

I went through a phase in my mid- 20's where I was concerned about higher-grade and centering, but I also used to sell a lot of cards on ebay before my kids were born. I put them away for a good while along about 2004 when I went back to grad school. When I gradually got back into buying stuff purely for my own collection - my thoughts on condition and centering had changed a bit. As long as I'm happy with the eye appeal of the card, that's usually what matters. And I do try to buy the card and not the holder. My main condition pet peeve is creases still, but many times you can still find decent looking cards in the PSA 4, VG-EX range that are not creased but just have corners or borders that are a bit more worn than what is acceptable for EX. Often because of the lower grade on the slab, these cards can be had for huge bargains. I have a '58 Topps Hank Aaron that is a 4, but has no creases and is a heckuva lot nicer card than the same creased '58 Aaron I had as a kid, and I'm totally happy with it. Maybe age of the cards has something to do with it as well. For example with 1950's cards, I try to buy PSA 4 or 5 stars if I can afford - but into the 1960's and later my standards seem to go up to at least EX-MT.