Quality VS Quantity

calleocho

A little while ago a young cousin of mine came up to me and since he knew i collected baseball cards he proudly told me that he has collected over 1000 cards. I think he is around 12 or so ...i told him that when i was in my early teens i had almost 100 thousand cards ...he was schoked!...lol

so he asked me how many cards i have now ...one million ..more?

i told him i have less than him now....the kid didnt know what to make of it.

then i told him that i didnt even have an arod or sosa card.

it got me thinking as to what PSA collectors think of the issue of quality vs quantity.

there are major collectors like Jim (davadillo) who has a fabulous collection which includes over 120 sets most of them hovering around 8.00 GPA and you also have a guy like don Louchios who also has a amazing collection but it is smaller yet he is usually the best or second best in any set he tries to complete.

which style of collecting do you guys prefer...and which collection would you rather have given the fact that both collections are worth about the same?

ranger63

I try to find a happy medium. In putting together my ryan set I have been picking up 8s and 9s every day instead of the 10s that are available but for $20-$30 more. Once again it comes down to whatever you like to collect.

ajw

I collect Will Clark, and back when dealers brought his stuff to shows, I'd pass on the one $20 card and instead walk out with 40 cards that cost me less than $20. To me, it was about quantity. Every Will card I don't have is worth about the same to me. (That's changed some with the GU/auto stuff, but not entirely).

On older stuff, I'd rather go for a reasonable grade where I can afford to build a set than go for PSA 8s and only get one card every four months.

Just me...

ydsotter

For me it seems to have more to do with quality. In fact, whenever my collection of cd's cards or books gets too big... I just scrape the cream off of the top and ebay the rest.
I feel like I do not appreciate my collection when it gets too large...
and mentally, it's just too much for me to manage.
Lastly, the cost factors in. I am not wealthy enough to acquire everything I want, so I focus on attainable goals.
Right now I am collecting vintage knicks in psa 8/9.. a nm raw + graded 1971 topps baseball set...
I also collect a few choice guys in psa...
and I have a "book." The book is my "i gotta buy something" outlet.
remember when you were a kid and you put all of your best cards in a binder?
Well, that's what I do now... when I want something that doesn't fit into the scope of my major collecting goals... I get a decent raw copy and stick it in my binder...

Buccaneer

As a hybrid set builder (raw/graded), I go for quantity on the commons and quality on the graded. For each $400 order, I can pick up 70-90 raw NM commons for my sets. That is a whole lot more quantity-wise than if I chose to get the same commons in the same grade in a plastic slab.

BugOnTheRug

- quality over quantity
- sentimental over $$$$$

For years I had a closet full of raw singles, rookies, boxed sets, boxed sets, boxed sets, and boxed................

Never looked a them much though, especially the boxed sets. Yeh, I'd open the lid, say 'yipee' while looking at 13 inches of stacked card edges, then close the lid for yet another year. Big deal. Over the years I've whittled this stash down, and am to the point of having 1 graded set, a few nice raw/graded sets in binders from 70-75 (and sold/selling most everything newer) and my favorite - sentimental cards-that either I've had graded or that are raw and completely trashed.

If the collecting world was a haystack, my collection would be the point on the lost needle, but at least I'm happy with it.

BOTR

minibeers

When I was a kid, I had well over 100,000 cards. Now I have about about 5,000. But at least now I have my Pete Rose rookie card (psa 8) that I lusted for and never had when I was a little. Now I must have a Goudey Babe Ruth. some day...

cheers,
minibeers

CDC4

Now I must have a Goudey Babe Ruth. some day...


There is a very nice 1933 Goudey Ruth PSA 9 on eBay right now .....what a better day than today? ....