Oh I like cards that you have to look real closely to detect an imperfection,

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Posted By: identify7

and I like cards that have obviously been well handled and enjoyed. But for me the card grade which has the right price/value/asthetic ratio is a vg or a vg/ex.

What is your preferred grade?

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Posted By: Steve Dawson

I completely agree when speaking of vintage cards!

My favorite grade by far is vg-ex


Steve

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Posted By: Lee Behrens

I lso am a VG/VG?Ex guy, you can get really nice looking cards in that grade. Being on a budget does make me pick and choose a bit. I have traded away most of my higher grade cards to get affordsable nice looking lower grade cards.

I laugh at people calling higher grade investor grade. Dollar wise than are going to command a bigger buck but all these cards go up almost the same % wise so I don't feel higher grades are the only "investor" grades.

Lee

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Posted By: Joann

Ditto. Same range here. I'll pick up lower grades sometimes, but find I am pretty averse to substantial creasing or compromised edges (ripped, gouges or cut-ins to the edge, etc.) Diamond cuts that are more than minor also put me off a card for some reason.

I like the higher grades too, but as a practical matter I need to set my sights lower. Plus, I kind of like the used look a little bit. It's a little less stark.

So I find myself hanging in the VG range or a little better. Or G for HOF'ers, etc. But some G's are more equal than others, so I do try for those that are better looking on the front and have the grade for technical reasons.

I bet that to some degree people's aesthetic preferences align pretty closely with the grade they can afford to collect - maybe that's human nature. Has anyone here changed financial circumstances quickly and dramatically while collecting, and if so did you find that your preference changed as your ability to buy better cards increased?

Joann

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

Vg-Ex is preferred here. There's something attractive about a vintage card that appears to have been loved rather than worshipped.

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Posted By: JimB

I like the full range from about vg on up to mint. I have a few cards that would probably have technical grades of gd because of light creasing that still have great eye appeal. However, it is spectacular to see cards like the ones Marshall Fogel posted. Think about the care and love those cards received for nearly 100 years to be preserved in that way today. Obviously we can't all afford those sorts of cards and I love vg-ex cards too. But I appreciate the super high-end condition cards as well. It varies by set of course, but I think a nice vg-ex or ex card can be a great value relatively, with outstanding eye appeal.
JimB

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Posted By: Charlie O'Neal

I guess I'm with the majority with liking my cards vg-vg/ex. I love it when I can pick up fair and poor cards that have no crease but have collector stamps or paper loss in the back.

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Posted By: jay behrens

I've been on both ends of the spectrum. While crisp, new looking ar cards look impressive, they lack character. No one loved that card when it was first issued. It got hidden away in some box until recently found.

I love a card with wear and tear. It shows that the card has been loved appreciated during it's initial existance. For me, NM card look too sterile. The only thing I avoid in a card is heavy creasing thru the face. Other, paper loss and other damage doesn't really bother me.

While most people try to upgrade the condition of their collection, I actually try to downgrade because this allows me to buy more cards without taking more money out my budget. There are a few cards I'll never downgrade, just because they are so rare that finding another example would be almost impossible or in the case of my Thorpe card, a prized possesion that no amount money can get me part with it.

Jay

I've just reached Upper Lower Class. I am now officially a babe magnet for poor chicks.

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Posted By: Joann

Jim is so right. Even if I think I like VG+ or so best, I found the Marshall Fogel M116's just breathtaking.

J

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Posted By: Josh K.

I like VG/EX as well, but I will take lower grade cards that present higher any day. For example:


The young has a small white spec of paper loss in the lower left; the alexander has some paperloss on the reverse.

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Posted By: mike campbell

The grade I obtain, is a combination of how bad do I want/need it, the cost, and the rarity. Sometimes a grade 6 or 7 will have to do. For a rare card, sometimes a grade 2 is satisfactory. Especially if there only a dozen or so floating around. I may never see it again, if I don't get the 2. I try to stay in the grade 7 range. Nice cards, but they don't break the bank. Many times, the price differential between a 7 and an 8, doesn't justify tying up all that cash. A 51 Bowman mantle grade 6 ran me $4500. A 7 would have been around $9500. I can't justify that. i am a collector, not an investor. But I TRY to stay in the 7 range.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

on the price and the scarcity. I take what I can find on many issues, hold out for the nicest possible in others. If pressed to collect one grade only, I would probably go with ex as interpreted by SGC. Their standards seem to mirror mine the most closely.

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Posted By: Scot Reader

This is a great topic. I'm a VG-EX to NM guy. The more insecure part of me has always wondered if this says something deeper about my personality--be satisfied with a 4, grateful for a 7 and don't even think about a 9 or 10.