Totally love and appreciate videos from down to earth collectors. The vast majority of us apply to these concepts. If the economy continues to tighten, the desire to be more frugal will also grow. It's all about enjoying what you have instead of fretting over what you don't!

Great video. All of my cards are ungraded. I focus mainly on vintage and I find it is so much easier to buy it for less. I don't care about the quality of the card. The only cards that I would consider buying graded would be the two cards that I really want for my PC. 1955 Bowman Mantle and the 1956 Topps Mantle. I know I will never afford any of the pre-1955 Mantles and I would be happy with reprints on those cards. I just picked up 28 1952 Topps cards for under $100 over the last week. I have about 96 of them now. I focus my collection on the 1948-1955 Bowman and the 1951-1956 Topps cards. I am not trying to make a set but just appreciate having these cards, something I loved when I was collecting them in the 1980s.

Love these videos and just got back into collecting. Born and raised in Mid Missouri. Lived in Columbia 20+ years.

Hey, Billy. Just found your channel today. Man, you are speaking my language. I LOVE picking up vintage stars and Hall of Famers for budget prices. I've been collecting since the late 70s, but don't pick stuff up like I used to. I've started picking up Detroit Tigers cards from the 50s through the 70s. My son is into newer cards, and we have fun look at each others' cards. Great channel. Looking forward to seeing some of your past video and checking out the new ones as you release them!

Great video Bill! You know we collect a lot alike. I buy a lot of raw and then grade the better ones, combo and leader cards are some of the best bargains out there. Some great advice, well done!

Love the 71 Morgan card, I have 2 of his rookie cards, by far the greatest 2nd baseman ever to play

Heck yeah! finally found someone that sounds like me with the budget. I like the old stuff but seems like people are losing the love for it and just want the new stuff for that one big hit with the amount of autos and 1/1s these days that brings insane money.

Great helpful knowledge. Enjoy collecting and keep making awesome content.

Love seeing ungraded cards. I really think there r hundreds of collectors that dont grade or care about grading, but really just love rhe card. They r just not on utube. I enjoy hearing about the card and not the monetary value. I dont collect for that reason. Please keep showing ur ungraded. That seems to be how you atarted👏👏

Hi Bill. I'm more of a guy who likes to buy graded, but I do have no problem picking up raw cards, specially when they are a good deal. Good video showing some of the risk and rewards buying raw. You showed a lot of really nice looking HOFer cards, plus those Basketball cards are sharp.Enjoy your videos as always my friend. Talk soon pal.

Watched the whole video. Good stuff.

Good advice on shopping ungraded. I pieced the 68 Topps set from scratch in 2022 mostly from EBay purchases and from reputable sellers with great success.

Good discussion. I started collecting again about 9 months ago after taking 20 years off. I'll never buy a graded card or send one in. I also enjoy collecting all the special subset cards such as the league leaders, playoff/world series cards as well as the record breakers, 1975 MVP cards, 1976 all-time teams, etc You can get Nolan Ryan, Hank Aaron, and other top tier stars at a fraction of their base card prices.

Im 65, been collecting for decades. 95% of my collection is raw. You need to develop an eye for grading.

100% agree with you about the combo cards. I am a fan of them as well. Especially the rookies or like the managers dream, etc... nice stack of 71 topps. My favorite Reggie jackson card. Enjoyed and thanks for sharing

Firstly, very informative video Billy. It's very insightful. I will say that there is a disparaging difference when it comes to pricing. There are old school dealers that still go by the book value rather than the market value. I feel like this is an important when it comes to budgeting. As an example, I'll use the 65 Kaline. I've seen it where one table prices it based on the book at $35 for an EX. Then, two tables down, another dealer is selling a very similar conditioned 65 Kaline for the market value of $20 in EX. I always strive to buy from dealers that price their cards based on the market over those that sell by book. I find the deals are generally better.

Great advice and great cards. I love the league leaders and multi-player cards as a way to pickup cards of HOFers on the cheap.

Another great thought provoking video. There is a lot of nice raw vintage to be had out there & at a budget friendly price. Fantastic topic & video.

Good video. Yes, bargains still exist with HOF players, even 1st ballot. I apply these tactics for photos. Since its still mostly uncharted territory, Ive found many bargains. Ive found an original photo of Ernie Banks batting stance (used on his rookie card). I even found a Hank Aaron type 1 rookie for under 200.00 where he still wore his #5 jersey.

Great video Billy!! Love collecting ungraded cards.

Great video bud! Some fantastic advice for people. The 70s cards are growing on me… stop it lol

Seeing and hearing your topics and what your doing is very interesting. Seems way more interesting then all the new sparkling foil cards to me. Thanks for your work.

Another well delivered informative presentation, Bill. Buying cards ungraded can be risky, but employing your strategy is sound advice. I agree with you to try and buy the best conditioned card for a reasonable price which allows for the option of grading at a later date. Leaders cards are great and I like seeing the stats on the back. Well done.

Love the basketball cards!

I’m in a similar situation to you ie Limited budget (or at least it should be) and I am working on a Hank Aaron playing days run I’ve added 58 through 76, So 54 to 57 will be much more expensive and perhaps out of budget. Anyway just another fellow raw/low grade collector enjoyed your video and gave a sub.

Collected from 71 to 1980. Still have them..all ungraded.

That card show you and I went to last year, I ended up bundling some raw cards together for a great deal, they're out there, keep digging.

Good advice and great video. Well done!

Great topic Billy! Enjoyed seeing your cards and hearing your strategy. Best part of the hobby, if your budget is $50 a month or $5000 a month, there are great cards to pick up. Really enjoyed the video bud!

Good job on Graig's video with Theo. I enjoyed it and left a comment there. Nice 74 Mike Schmidt by the way.

I really like the Hall of Famer Manager card suggestion. Every time I see that Ted Williams 1971, I consider that as a side mission. Ted Williams and Frank Robinson are good examples, definitely others also. Good stuff...

I just bought a 1968 rbi leaders card. Aaron, Clemente, and Cepeda on it. My first card of each of those players. Paid $8 for it. Also picked up a 58 Stan Musial. I love the idea that I now own a card of some of the greats.

Great video. Thanks for sharing. New subscriber!

Because most sellers put too high of a price on some of these raw cards. I bought a bunch of the ones you showed already graded for less than the prices you said. If I can buy a graded card cheaper than raw, I think it is a no brainer.

I picked up a 67 Ron santo for 7 bucks on eBay this week. It was advertised as vg, I would say it would probably grade a 5 or 6. You have to be careful buying ungraded on eBay, but you can definitely find good deals. A lot of sellers say their cards are ex when they are really vg or g, but there are some sellers who undergrade their cards because they don’t want returns or angry buyers.

Hooray for ungraded cards! Thanks for promoting the least expensive way to collect vintage. BUT you have to educate yourself regarding condition pricing!

Keep up with the great videos

I have a lot of nice common 1960 cards if interested

All I buy are ungraded cards (I refuse to insult them and all them “raw.”). I’m not buying too many big-boy cards other than the Hall of Famers or tougher high numbers I need for my Tigers team sets and 1971 Topps set. They all go in binders, so if I somehow for a slabbed card, I would crack it out of its tomb.

you can get a digital microscope that hooks up to your phone for under $20

Due to the obvious reasons I only buy graded cards online, and I don’t have a great shop for vintage in my city, so I mostly collect slabs these days, even when buying live, because it matches the rest of my collection that’s mostly slabs.

I prefer ungraded cards. For me, they are easier to obtain. The case is distracting to me.

I care only about Raw cards, I think Grading cards ruined collecting for a lot

I'm putting a 1960 set together also. I havea lot of doubles. Let me know if you would want to trade

I been selling more ungraded cards than graded. So I am not gonna grade cards

After sending PSA my personal Mario Lemieux i pulled from when i was a kid and have kept in primo condition coming back a 7 then breaking it and sending it back only to come back altered. I am personally done with grading cards. These guys at PSA are so inconsistent its baffling.

I'm not into graded cards, but a $100 card I can understand why. But sending every new card that will eventually be worth less than $5 seems like a waste of time and money. Unless you want to flip it, then you waste someone else's money. And PSA always wins.