A lot of this decision depends on where you are in your collecting career. Most of us start out scoring every blaster we can afford based on how it looks and very few selected are because of how it sounds (because most of us have never heard the early blasters we bought before we bought them). Again, another point as to why having MEETS is important, to hear IN PERSON, LIVE, what these things really sound like.
Now, some of us have to start out with cheaper/non grail blasters to fix and sell off and build wealth to afford the grail blasters we really want. It is how the cycle of collecting works for most of us. Buy cheap, freshen up, sell for a little profit, move up the ladder.
I wouldn't change the past for anything. Starting out buying whatever was cheap enough and looked cool has been an awesome learning experience. Also, gives the owners the chance to test their skills cleaning and disassembly on blasters that don't cost much and if you end up frying one and making it scrap, no harm at all.
In my situation my limits have always been around 30-40 blasters. No room and no time for many more than that. As I score a decent priced grail I usually unload one of my lower end units to make shelf space and to help fund the newest purchase. If a non-grail comes up for a decent price that I can roll over into a better purchase later, I won't pass up the deal.
