[metroac]

One of the things I like most about net54 is the joy that many members take in acquiring cards that I could only describe as "beat up." You're just not going to find (m)any 19th and early 20th century cards in top condition. So if you're interested in Old Judges or T206 or caramel cards (and you're not a young gazillionaire), you take what you can find.

I sold off a long run of Topps and Bowman sets in 1997 and dropped out of the hobby for 10-12 years. When I got back in, I started to collect sets that 1) I liked, 2) were small, 3) that I hadn't collected previously, and 4) that didn't have to be in beautiful condition in order to be enjoyable (or that really weren't available in top condition -- like most strip cards, for example).

The first set I did was the R312 pastels. Most I have raw, but I have graded examples from PSA 2 to PSA 5. They're beautiful cards, IMHO, but they show their age. Next, I did the R346 Blue Tints, an ugly set that looked like it needed some love, but that I wouldn't have to fuss about condition to work on and enjoy. I put together a set of 1937 Wheaties Series 9: sixteen cards, including a Dimaggio, and maybe the prettiest cards ever issued. I also collected Post Cereal baseball and football cards. They were generally cut from box backs by 10-year-olds (or their moms), and if I could find cards with fairly complete borders, I was happy. No point in looking for PSA 7's and up. (Also true of Exhibit cards, which I also collect and enjoy.) And I collected things that weren't made of cardboard -- Armour and Salada coins and '56 Topps pins. I didn't feel the need to have a TPG adjudicate the difference between Ex, ExMt, NrMt, NrMt-Mt, and Mint. Not "cards" exactly, but similar and fun.

I find that I wouldn't like to collect "modern" cards (for me, those after about 1966 or '67) that weren't in nice condition. I once had all those sets in very nice shape (before the 3rd party grading changed the hobby), and I just wouldn't enjoy owning them with creases and rounded corners.

So, what condition is acceptable in vintage cards? "Vintage" means different things to different people, but for me the answer is "Whatever floats your boat (and fits your budget)."