Has card grading lessened/heightened your collecting contentment/anxiety?

BLUEJAYWAY

Being somewhat still new in the realm of card grading consideration, how has the process worked for you? Your comments will help me in my decision on how far into submitting my cards I will go. So far I have only 4 graded:86 Fleer Jordan rookie and sticker and UD Killebrew 500 bat card and 96 TOPPS Mantle rookie refractor. Thanks.

DanBessette

Both. It has heightened my enjoyment And my anxiety. Before, I was ony concerned with whether a card was crease free, with nice edges and corners. Now I've come to appreciate good centering.... But am also becoming increasingly anal about it. Still, I just dove into graded cards 3 months ago and I love it. Before Jan 1st, I owned 2 graded cards. As of today I'm up to 17 graded, and 16 are PSA. Given my budget, that's a big jump in 3 months

BostonAmericans

At first - it heightened my anxiety. I had hopes when I got back in the hobby and started grading of turning my cards into cardboard gold. Needless to say, I was one of the countless noobs who got a hard dose of reality. I have since refined my collecting focus and any grading I do now is strictly for my personal collection. I have some registry sets I want to build, and I want to display my cards, and I do like how a slabbed card looks.

That said, the grading process has opened my eyes to the finer points of a card. Now, when I go looking for raw cards, I look for good centering, corners, coloring, etc. I am not aiming for a GM10, just a good card. I will take the grade. My only anxiety now is the cost. But I figure if I throw a few dollars a month into an envelope over time I will have enough for a good monthly special sub.

I don't know about contentment, but I do have an increased interest in collecting. Instead of taking any card, I want nice cards that should or could bring a decent grade.