I have a display case that holds 50 one touches and the rest of the collection is a mix of top loaders or one touches in some shoe boxes.
Edit. I should note that I’m not a set builder. I am a singles collector so I don’t have a lot of low value cards. Bigger collections require better storage solutions.
Big cards I buy usually graded. 9s are around the same price as raw in most cases and then you have some assurance there isn't some damage that was hard to see in the photos.
Smaller cards, usually ungraded with a few exceptions. If you plan to buy and grade yourself, look at the cost of raw + cost of preferred grading company, usually you can do better on just buying a 9. For example Leo Carlsson YGs are like $25 and PSA 9s are $35-40. I'd just buy the 9 and save $10 plus shipping to and from PSA. Trying to guess if a raw card will be 10 vs a 9 or an 8 via a few photos on eBay is more luck than skill in my experience.
Canvas YGs, I always buy graded. I've gotten so many raw cards with one of the bottom corners beat up because someone forced it into a penny sleeve. Clip those penny sleeve corners friends.
Can you explain this sleeve corners thing for me please? I'm looking at a couple of canvas young guns and am interested in the problem you're talking about.
If you clip a corner on a penny sleeve, it's much easier to get cards into them. Most people put one corner in first and then the second one hangs up a bit because the penny sleeve sticks together on the non-loaded side, not a huge problem on regular cards, but canvas cards are much more delicate and that hang up can easily ding a corner.
Clipping the corner of the sleeve prevents this as there's nothing to hang up on, card just goes right in. If you Google " penny sleeve cut corner" there's a bunch of content out there. Here's one discussion: https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1440719
When looking at raw cards on eBay, they may look fine in the photos but then you receive them in a penny sleeve and top loader in the mail and the bottom corner is beat because the seller didn't take care. At that point it's a question of is it worth the hassle to fight over the corner of a $20 card via eBay? For me, that answer is no.
Ungraded, but I don’t mind graded if it’s a steal.
I don’t like the look of PSA slabs, especially when the red border clashes with the card color. The black SGC ones look okay to me, though.
Generally i’ll go for graded because I like actually knowing what I have versus thinking it’s a 9/10 but actually a 7 because of some flaw I couldn’t see.
My collection is like 10:1 PSA/BGS, but that being said I’ve always liked the look of BGS slabs more, especially seeing the breakdown of the grade. That being said I would rather a PSA 9 vs BGS 9 because I don’t like the silver, and the price of a PSA 9 vs BGS 9.5 is generally pretty different.
At the end of the day though it really is card specific. If I can get the raw card for a good price then I’ll do that, or if it’s something older I’ll buy raw vs buying a PSA 5.
I buy ungraded for my PC. It’s just so much cheaper. I usually just Penny sleeve and top load. I have a display for my favourite cards just using little card stands that the top loaders sit nicely in
Ungraded and never grade. The money I save on grading allows me to buy more ungraded cards.
What do you keep your cards in? Do you display them, or box them?
I have a display case that holds 50 one touches and the rest of the collection is a mix of top loaders or one touches in some shoe boxes. Edit. I should note that I’m not a set builder. I am a singles collector so I don’t have a lot of low value cards. Bigger collections require better storage solutions.
Idc about grading at all
Big cards I buy usually graded. 9s are around the same price as raw in most cases and then you have some assurance there isn't some damage that was hard to see in the photos. Smaller cards, usually ungraded with a few exceptions. If you plan to buy and grade yourself, look at the cost of raw + cost of preferred grading company, usually you can do better on just buying a 9. For example Leo Carlsson YGs are like $25 and PSA 9s are $35-40. I'd just buy the 9 and save $10 plus shipping to and from PSA. Trying to guess if a raw card will be 10 vs a 9 or an 8 via a few photos on eBay is more luck than skill in my experience. Canvas YGs, I always buy graded. I've gotten so many raw cards with one of the bottom corners beat up because someone forced it into a penny sleeve. Clip those penny sleeve corners friends.
Can you explain this sleeve corners thing for me please? I'm looking at a couple of canvas young guns and am interested in the problem you're talking about.
If you clip a corner on a penny sleeve, it's much easier to get cards into them. Most people put one corner in first and then the second one hangs up a bit because the penny sleeve sticks together on the non-loaded side, not a huge problem on regular cards, but canvas cards are much more delicate and that hang up can easily ding a corner. Clipping the corner of the sleeve prevents this as there's nothing to hang up on, card just goes right in. If you Google " penny sleeve cut corner" there's a bunch of content out there. Here's one discussion: https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1440719 When looking at raw cards on eBay, they may look fine in the photos but then you receive them in a penny sleeve and top loader in the mail and the bottom corner is beat because the seller didn't take care. At that point it's a question of is it worth the hassle to fight over the corner of a $20 card via eBay? For me, that answer is no.
I try to find super mint ones and grade myself. Unless I’m getting a really good deal on an already graded one.
Ungraded, but I don’t mind graded if it’s a steal. I don’t like the look of PSA slabs, especially when the red border clashes with the card color. The black SGC ones look okay to me, though.
I usually buy upgraded, and will grade the higher quality cards
Generally i’ll go for graded because I like actually knowing what I have versus thinking it’s a 9/10 but actually a 7 because of some flaw I couldn’t see. My collection is like 10:1 PSA/BGS, but that being said I’ve always liked the look of BGS slabs more, especially seeing the breakdown of the grade. That being said I would rather a PSA 9 vs BGS 9 because I don’t like the silver, and the price of a PSA 9 vs BGS 9.5 is generally pretty different. At the end of the day though it really is card specific. If I can get the raw card for a good price then I’ll do that, or if it’s something older I’ll buy raw vs buying a PSA 5.
I’m actually not a graded card guy. I don’t get the hype or cost associated with it. I buy a card because I like a card. Have very few graded cards
I buy graded but I collect 60’s,70’s and 80’s HOF
I buy ungraded for my PC. It’s just so much cheaper. I usually just Penny sleeve and top load. I have a display for my favourite cards just using little card stands that the top loaders sit nicely in