What Do You Prefer - Mnh, Cancelled Or Something Else?

I prefer mint so the whole design is clean and visible.

Obviously can't get everything mint so my actual order of preference is:

mint
used, with barely visible cancel
used, with fancy cancel
used, with CDS
used, (any cancel)
used, small crease
used, small tear
used, medium crease
used, medium tear
used, large crease
used, large tear
used, in pieces that can be put back together
used, small piece missing
used, medium piece missing
used, large piece missing
used, anything else

my collection contains some of all of the above :)

I don't care about the gum at all. I look for VF but will settle for F/VF if it looks nice. I'm all about the appearance so don't really have an interest in used, since I always think they just look dirty.

I like them mint attached to a 1oz piece of silver.

Or quality used in any form.

I mainly collect US Airmails. They are (with the obvious exception of C13-C15) inexpensive enough to try for MNH, though I will acquire MLH varieties if the price is right and the quality is attractive. I do have an extensive collection of them used...on covers (except for C1-C6 and the four Zepps). I especially like the older stamps on first flight covers.

A nice thing about this hobby is that there are so many different ways to pursue it, and I've enjoyed the postings in this thread demonstrating the variety of ways in which others go about collecting stamps.

I PREFER POSTAL HISTORY, STAMPS ON COVER COMMERCIALLY USED.

In general, I prefer genuinely used stamps. In those occasional cases where mint is cheaper, I will choose it under the assumption that cancellations are more likely to be fake.

I am not keen on paying a premium for MNH. A light hinge mark is fine for me. Before the Internet and when I lived in an area without any stamp shops, I would attach hinges to MNH French and US stamps figuring that it was my collection, but now that I have easier access to mounts, I use them for any MNH stamps that come my way.

For topical collections, and collections of the work of specific artists, I am happy with mint unless the cancellation does not interfere with the parts of the stamp design relevant to the topic.

For early Austrian, German, and French Colonial stamps, I have a very strong preference for clear postmarks that tell the story of those realms.