Mid-Grade Collectors

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by pcelli

I believe most people are focused on centering over all other attributes ( my view ) but old fashioned eye appeal works for me best..

Centering went from a preferences thing to a hard hobby condition judgment point in the early 2000's with the rise of TPG popularity. In the 80's and early 90's before grading, most collectors looked for cards with sharp corners over and above centering unless a card was just badly OC or miscut. Funny how times have changed. I'm not a centering freak, I guess in part because this is the era I came up in. I will generally go for a card with a better surface and image and coloring that's mildly OC, over one that is perfectly centered but lesser in those areas.

You are right though, sometimes you just have to eyeball a particular card and see how you feel about it. This is what too many slab-only collectors today seem to have lost the ability to do, in some cases it seems to me.

[KJA]

I've decided to get more into collecting lower grade vintage as it's a lot easier on my wallet and can get more for the money. Been debating though about a paper loss 57 Mantle, under a 100 dollars but the paper loss is on the front but none of the text or image of Mantle is fine and otherwise it's a great looking card. I've been okay with back paper loss if it's nothing major if it's not a blank back. But on cards like this it's tempting on something i might not otherwise get into my collection.

[bammerbb]

On my budget I need to use lower grades. I have a 58 All Star of Williams that's really nice and it's a 6. So I will keep looking for at least 5s and 6s. I grew up in late 50s and 60s and I'd like to have a nice collection of the players I enjoyed back in the day. Now if someone would let me know how to post my pics I'd sure appreciate it.

Brian (southeast Iowa's largest Yankee fan)

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by KJA

I've decided to get more into collecting lower grade vintage as it's a lot easier on my wallet and can get more for the money. Been debating though about a paper loss 57 Mantle, under a 100 dollars but the paper loss is on the front but none of the text or image of Mantle is fine and otherwise it's a great looking card. I've been okay with back paper loss if it's nothing major if it's not a blank back. But on cards like this it's tempting on something i might not otherwise get into my collection.

If it doesn't bother you, go for it. A '57 Mantle #95 for less than $100? That's basically a thing of the past.