Downgrade & replace - a good strategy to self-fund your collection?

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by G1911

Rare stuff is the only way I ever end up with an EX type card to downgrade . My Topps and Bowman stuff starts out low grade and stay there. My Mickey's and Willie's all have creases, but I love them anyways. Pretty much the only things I try and avoid are paper loss over the back write up (because I read them), and anything sticky on the card (because I store mine without any sleeves, touching the adjacent cards). Creases, round corners, a missing corner, a kid writing his name in the back border, these are features not defects that let me buy more cards to enjoy than I could if I did them minty fresh. I'm 95%+ done with my 1952-1973 Topps run; if I did them NM-MT I could have maybe a single set, probably not even that, for the same money. I find it more personally fun to have many more sets with creases instead of sharp corners to take out of the safe and flip through, variation hunt, and sort.

We very well could be related.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by vintagebaseballcardguy

We very well could be related.

Bring your cards to the next family reunion!

[Snowman]

I pretty much only care about eye appeal, so I often find myself "downgrading" in terms of the number on the slab while upgrading the actual cards encased by them.

Here is my Hank Aaron RC "downgrade"... (and yes, I recognize that some collectors would prefer the card on the left, but for how I define "eye-appeal", the card on the right is worth at least 3x the one on the left to me, and honestly, probably 5x or more).