Let's hear it for VG
With all the discussions lately about questionable high grade cards in holders, I have had the following thoughts (partly a response to being locked in my house since March - so please humor me).
When I was actively collecting, I was always looking for an upgrade to a less-than-perfect card. But I now appreciate the under-appreciated VG card. No, not the TPG definition of VG, but what most collectors who grew up in the 50's/60's and even earlier accepted as a VG card.
VG was a card that was issued, in the example below, over 80 years ago. It was collected, maybe from its pack, by some young collector who perhaps got the pack as a gift or bought them with their newspaper route money or allowance. The card was enjoyed by this young collector, maybe traded with their friends, used in a flipping game or put in a stack on their desk with a rubber-band keeping them safe.
The card probably moved on thru the years from one young collector to the next and to the next. Each adding their touch to these cards. How many young collectors did touch this card? They obviously took respectable care of it. It didn't end up in the spokes of their bikes or written upon or folded and put in their pocket. They cared about this card. This card has lived a long full life bringing joy to I don't know how many youngsters and maybe young adults along the way.
How it ended up in my possession, I can't really recall. But when I look at this card and think about the many many people that crossed its path, I almost feel a sense of history - not from the card itself - but from the lives that touched it and lives that it touched. It's unlikely many of them are still alive, but would they be astounded that the card that they enjoyed, that had been a part of their lives was still going through history with others taking care of it?
Is it perfect? No. It's been touched by too many hands that simply enjoyed holding it. Its history will never really be known and that is part of what I think makes it perfect. Simply put, it was enjoyed by countless people thru that past 80 years and will probably still be going strong for the next 80.
And for the record, I would call this card VG+.
Thanks for letting me ramble. Now if I could just get up the courage to cut my own hair...............
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