Quality vs Quantity

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Posted By: Judge Dred

Quantity or Quality ----- Quality or Quantity.....

Would you rather have (10) T206 HOF cards in VG condition or (1) HOF card in NrNt condition? Lets just say (10) average HOF players or (1) average HOF player. Obviously Cobb, Wagner, Plank and a few others don't count.

Since I don't collect on an investment basis I would probably settle for the lower grade lot of (10) because there's a lot more history in (10) different players than only (1) player.

Now if I felt the other way I guess I'd get my NrMt card and have it graded. Then I'd piss and moan that it wasn't graded high enough and then I would rationalize paying a lot more than normal for the card because it's beautiful (regardless of the grade).

I don't collect for the investment aspect. I collect because I like the history of the game and I figure that the more cards I have, the more links to the games history I'll also have. I can care less if my cards don't increase in value, I don't buy them for that purpose.

I have my cards encapsulated for a few reasons, the main reason is that I want to protect them for future generations to enjoy.

I'd rather have quantity although I surely appreciate a beautiful NrMt card just as much as the next person. The only problem with NrMt is that examples of NrMt (for vintage pre war, not Vietnam but the big one, WWII) are much more costly than in the past. Sure, I'll never have the nicest looking cards but at least I'll have a diverse collection of players that "I" will appreciate.

My Cobb maybe ugly looking but at least I have one. Now if I were to have unlimited funds I'd probably look for higher grade material but I'll be happy with my modest budget and card buying habits.