Picky on centering.

There was a time before I knew how to grade a card, but I read the Beckett Price Guide and followed the instructions regarding what factors were important.
Well, I knew before the guides, that writing can detract from the appearance, and holes, and if they were folded too much or washed in the washing machine.
But the corners being rounded did not seem very important. They did not affect the picture.
Nor did the centering. Actually, centering defects were the hardest criteria for me to notice.
Minor creases were ... well, minor.

You know, it still seems to me that way too big a deal is made about minor imperfections in a card. But it is not just cards which undergo high scrutiny. Almost all collectibles do too. But still, I can not bring myself to really care. I mean: some people think that there exists card conditions better than excellent !
I have hardly any cards that good, and I'm a little afraid of hurting them.

This is how I have felt about cards since my first one. I wonder if anyone else feels this way.

Gil, I'm with you. Cards that look fresh from the press look nice, but they lack character. They were never loved someone. Cards that look perfect, or nearly perfect, were cards that were lost almost immediately after they were made. Left sitting in some dark and musty drawer, file cabinet or box until someone found them decades later.

I like the cards that have a some corner wear and creases. Creases generally mean that card was carried around in someone's pocket or was handled a lot because they loved the cards. I remember being set up at the big Bob Lee show in San Fran talking to elderly gentleman that still carried around his 1939 Play Ball card of Joe Dimaggio in his wallet. The picture was getting pretty well worn but that was a card that was loved like no other.

Jay

Gil
I like to collect mid-Grade cards which show minor wear but still present well. I do have some creased cards in my collection but they tend to be the rarer cards that I couldn't afford in much better condition, but on the more common issues I tend to hang around the SGC50 ish grade, if i can. I find this grade also fits much better in my budget and makes for a nice looking card also.
I'm happy with this approach.

I certainly do not mean that collectors of higher grade cards are somehow not collecting "right".
My intent here is just to state that I do not attempt to acquire cards in a specific grade; I pretty much buy them as they come, so long as I can afford them. And preferentially in a lower grade if I will not dedicate budget for the cost on some.

Old time collectors could afford cards in any grade, I would think, since there was no premium associated with a card or set for reasons other than rarity. Several have toured old time collections, such as the one at the Met. I wonder what condition cards Bray, Carter, Barker, Burdick and others appear to have sought. Certainly, if you have two and can't keep both, you would choose the nicer one, I would think. ..... but there is that character issue .......