Are your cards ===mint=== ???

[dabigyankeeman]

Matt, great stuff, and no need for higher grades, those cards have super eye appeal. 5 on the true Mantle rookie is really great! Mine is a 1, but again, with great eye appeal. I find that if you look hard enough you can get really good eye appeal in lower grades. Your 52 Mantle with a 3 grade is really nice, again mine is a 1. Love your Sporting News card, thats one i need, even if Babe is in a Boston uniform! I have a part of my collection that i call "Yankee players when they were on other teams" and that card would go in there.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

The question I usually get is what is your most valuable card? Do you have a Babe Ruth? Luckily I can answer yes to the last question.

[Copa7]

Mint is a myth created by PSA to influence the hobby and line their pockets.

Mint is a matter of opinion.

Mint is a term used by dealers to degrade items of historic value.

Anyone collector who has compared PSA cards and their grading system can easily see the vast discrepancy in opinioned number values they are given.

In the end, it still one person's opinion.

Make you own choices and enjoy.

[dabigyankeeman]

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

The question I usually get is what is your most valuable card? Do you have a Babe Ruth? Luckily I can answer yes to the last question.

Me too, in fact I have about 14 cards of Ruth from his playing days, BUT THEY ARE NOT MINT!!!

Also, as many have said here, i constantly get asked how much is your collection worth. I hate that, i always say just that its got good value, but not great value due to the cards NOT BEING MINT!!!

But most of the time, their eyes just glaze over as Brad said, and they have zero interest in my collection!! Particularly after i say ITS NOT MINT!!!

chuckle chuckle snort snort

[EvilKing00]

Yea non collectors dont understand. Lol i have a few mint bonds rookies .... But i also have a few not so mint ruth cards

[ullmandds]

Quite honestly... Being around and handling Mint cards make me a little nervous... Aside from the potential that they are altered or tampered with... The fact that they are so perfect... Like friends that we may have who never do anything wrong... Make me uncomfortable!!!

[Rickyy]

This forum turned me onto non MINT cards...and I've never been more happier!

Ricky Y

[HOF Yankees]

I agree with what a lot of the members said on here, my cards aren't mint either and never will be I like to collect for the fun and love of owning the cards. It's always about owning the cards to me, never how much I can get for it. Brad I searched the Camaro and wow a beauty of a car. The worst question I always get asked is, "How much did you pay for that", I don't like to say cause people out side of collecting don't seem so interested and just get silent so I don't say really. Coming here on Net54 I can actually talk to fellow collectors who share the same passion, and know what were talking about and we crticze ones collection, cause we all seem to share the same interest, just different collecting themes.

[BradH]

Arnie - I feel your pain, but I think this is common with a lot of things in life - people don't tend to show a ton of interest or appreciation for things they don't care much about or understand.

We took our kids back home to see relatives in northern Indiana at Christmas time and one night my brother-in-law was talking about an old car he'd recently finished working on in his barn. (Other than basic maintenance and how to change a tire and my oil, I don't really know squat about cars.) So I showed some interest and asked him a few questions about it. After he talked for a while I realized I was doing just what you're talking about. My eyes had to have been glazed over. Then he said something that caught my attention. He said the car was a '68 Camaro SS and that he'd "rebuilt it with matching numbers." This intrigued me and I asked to see the car. We spent the next hour in his barn as he showed me this unbelievably beautiful vehicle (Google '68 Camaro SS and you'll see what I mean).

He explained the pains and searching involved in doing a car with parts that have matching serial numbers. This is a whole sub-culture that I was never aware of and he just beamed as he explained all of this too me. Some of the parts took him years to find and I realized how important this was to him and I was glad that he got to enjoy showing it off to me. And while I was tempted, I never asked the "how much is it worth" question because I hate it when people do that with my cards.

I think I've somewhat educated my family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. about my collection. Now some of them actually seem to be interested when I have a new addition to my collection. Sometimes they actually like the stories behind how I found a card hidden deep in an antique shop or at a flea market. Or how I searched for a card for years and finally found it.

Anyway - most of us understand what you're experiencing.

[wonkaticket]

Personally I have never experienced this most folks eyes glaze over before the topic of condition ever comes up…..guess it’s all in my delivery or I’m talking to the wrong people.

[bnorth]

Yes all my cards are mint. Take a look at these 2 mint beauties.

[KCRfan1]

Brad, it sounds like there are some similarities between card collecting and your brother-in-law putting together his Camero. There is common ground, just different items ( cards and a car ).

[midwaylandscaping]

In rebuilding part of my collection, I've made it a point to not go after "mint" cards. Instead, going after cards that were more in line with what I once had. For me it's more a realism thing or a character thing. Cards that aren't "mint" have a certain bit of character to them IMO