1950's Topps/Bowman question

[hawaiian bam bam]

when it comes to topps/bowman cards from the 1950's,

has anyone here ever attempted to just collect cards that were low grade/beaters, instead of chasing high grade cards?

I ask, because, yes of course it would be great to collect only psa 8 or psa 9 cards from the 1950's, but for many of us, financially that isnt possible, so I was wondering if just focusing on low grade beaters/fillers would be the way to go for those that are collecting as a collector and not as an investor? more of a quantity vs quality (trying to get as many of the 1950's cards as possible in lower grade)

[Lucas00]

Lots of people do.

Check out picturesofcardboard on Instagram for some really rough ones.

[G1911]

Tons of us do. I have most all Topps/Bowman cards from 1948-1975, plus lots of other sets, I don't even use penny sleeves for. Shoeboxes full of old cards, to handle and collect without panicking over a wrinkle or a bent corner. It's a lot of fun. Still not always cheap, but a lot cheaper and a lot more to collect that way.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by G1911

Tons of us do. I have most all Topps/Bowman cards from 1948-1975, plus lots of other sets, I don't even use penny sleeves for. Shoeboxes full of old cards, to handle and collect without panicking over a wrinkle or a bent corner. It's a lot of fun. Still not always cheap, but a lot cheaper and a lot more to collect that way.

Same here. I have complete runs of Bowman and Topps sets, and everything pre-1975 is probably VG at best including my raw 1952 Topps Mantle that I have in a top loader.

[jchcollins]

I usually don't go for true beaters, but here is a thread from a few years back on midgrade / still presentable cards (with issues) that got a lot of traction -

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=255366

Yes, certainly to the overall question. My objective with vintage is eye appeal. If I can get lower grade cards for a bargain that still meet my objectives with eye appeal, I'm all about that.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

As I get older, I increasingly think this is the way. I could even be persuaded to approach the large 60s sets in this fashion. I'm 51. There's no way in the world I will ever be able to build 50s and 60s sets in high grade, and I honestly don't have the urge to do so. I'm happy to just have a copy of a given card. I don't want true beaters, but lower grade cards are fine with me. If it comes down to not having a set/card at all or having it in lower grade, I'd rather have a lower grade copy than none at all. For whatever reason, I never follow through and actually do this. I guess part of that is due to the fact that I'm spending less on the hobby overall than I once did. Another roadblock for me with collecting lower grade sets is I never seem to come across lower grade cards in quantity at a reasonable price. They must be out there somewhere, but I rarely see them. Many who sell lower grade cards want so much for them that it doesn't always make sense to go that route because better condition cards could be had for not that much more, and I end up right back where I started by not acting.