Only got serious about collecting about a year go, but I’m curious what’re people’s mindset on this?
Scenario:
You have a specific budget for a card you’d like to add to your collection.
Let’s say 1st edition PSA 10 of said card is out of reach (for now)
You can afford 1st ed PSA 9 and lower but there’s not alot of them being up for sale mostly PSA 5 - 7s
There are unlimited versions of the card at PSA 9 - 10s available in the market
At what PSA threshold of 1st ed would you start considering buying an unlimited version instead?
e.x. I’d rather buy a PSA 9 - 10 Unlimited than a PSA 7 1st edition. So if I was keen on completing my collecting goals fast and there were no 1st edition 8s or better around I’d go unlimited.
Personally, I think of Unlimited and 1st Edition as totally separate cards. I’d go all the way down the line on 1st Edition grades before I went to Unlimited if a 1st Edition is what I wanted. I’m also willing to wait longer, work harder, flip more, and save more to get the exact condition I want. So price movements rarely influence my commitment to getting a certain card.
I have been collecting 1st Ed. sets for a long time and am down to about about 15 cards left. I would prefer PSA 4 over Unlimited. Or maybe just not get the card if I cannot afford PSA 1. I don’t want to mix-up my sets and it is not my collection goal.
I think Unlimited is great and if I had been collecting Unlimited along with 1st Ed. I would likely have a different mindset, but I don’t presently view it as “settling for a cheaper option”, I view it as “paying money for a card I don’t really want”.
Where I specifically only target PSA 10 Pichu cards I’m not interested in lower grades at all if the card is from a main set. If I can’t afford a card I’ll simply hold off for a while until I can rather than aiming for a lower grade.
The only time I do buy cards which are lower condition are when the cards are unique in some way (miscut, etc.) or crazy rare, but to me grades on those are kinda meaningless anyway.
As for 1st edition vs. unlimited - I regard those as different sets, so wouldn’t want to mix them up. You can’t fill in a gap in a 1st edition collection with an unlimited card, it’s just not the same.
I have almost all the crystals in psa 8 and probably saved myself 10k which Id much rather put into a booster box than buy the exact same card with a slightly nicer back side that never is viewed in my cabinet
I don’t presently view it as “settling for a cheaper option”, I view it as “paying money for a card I don’t really want”.
^
This was a mind blowing quote and hit me deep. but yeah I think the general consensus from collectors here is that they’re separate.
Which definitely a new perspective for me and one I shall adopt! LOL
I definitely see that, but I’m abit more meh between PSA 8 - 10, i feel like if I’m getting that card for the first time then 8 - 10 is fine but once I have a few I’m only aiming for 10s lol.
Also very true you can’t fill a 1st ed gap with an unlimited card, won’t feel right
I mean I have 20 years in me still ,I hope… we don’t have the highest life expectancy here in Indonesia, but I think might considering the 20 year waiting game as well! LOL
I have a lot on my radar to collect. With that said I know I can’t afford 1st edition everything. So one thing I did and I am very happy with is I decided to collect the Neo holos in Japanese cards. Neo is not a target set I’m looking to collect, just certain cards/artwork.
Same great art, still love the cards. Allows me to spend money on the sets I’m actually collecting while still getting great looks ng cards
Oh yeah I forgot about the Japanese versions, I do still see them as separate tho, but if i really can’t wait to get one, I’ll go for the JP version for the art as well!
but yeah I think the general consensus from collectors here is that they’re separate.