Do High Grades Really Matter?

[steve B]

I have a pretty wide range of grades. Most of my cards are raw, but I've had a few graded. It's cool to have a card that's the best or nearly the best(So far) of its kind, but I also like cards that wear their history openly. And the ones with the most "charachter" don't need to be slabbed (Another issue, unless it's really uncommon, I can't see grading anything that is obviously less than vg-ex)

And budget has a lot to do with it. There are cards that I'll probably never own because of what they are, and ones I'll probably never own because of the money involved - That PSA9 linked to is wonderful, but realistically I can get a very nice looking example for far less.

I don't mind buying a card twice, mostly since I buy the cards and keep them for usually a long time. So I do a bit better than if I upgraded right away.

Lately I've been looking at cards that are good looking for the grade, or look great but have obvious problems like back damage.

Steve B