Posted By:
Aaron M."I'd rather have quantity although I surely appreciate a beautiful NrMt card just as much as the next person. The only problem with NrMt is that examples of NrMt... are much more costly than in the past.... My Cobb maybe ugly looking but at least I have one. Now if I were to have unlimited funds I'd probably look for higher grade material but I'll be happy with my modest budget and card buying habits."
I think you hit the nail on the head. More than quantity vs. quality, I think what dictates a collector's habits are the budget he has to work with and how that enables or shapes his priorities.
If someone has $1,000 to spend on cards, depending on his personal preference he might choose to buy 5 cards in VG condition or 2 cards in NM for the same amount. Investment might be the furthest thing from his mind--he just might prefer buying better condition cards, even if it means it takes him longer to build a set or he has a smaller collection. That's the essence of "quality vs. quantity", he prefers quality.
OTOH, another collector might choose the 5 VG cards because conditioned is not that important to him, or he would rather build his set and/or collection more quickly. He prefers quantity.
As you state, if you could afford it, you'd probably shoot for the higher-quality cards, but as it is are more than happy to settle for lesser-conditioned ones.
So, ultimately, it's a question of resources and prioritizing within them.
If the question is: "Do you think quantity or quality makes the better investment", then I would agree, quality is probably the way to go.
If the question is: "Do you prefer quantity or quality in your collection?" (as I think the question was phrased here), then the answer is completely dependent on the collector's preferences and budget.