When we first started collecting bats it is fair to say the we were picky. If the bat lacked substantial use or had too heavy a crack, we often passed it by with the belief that another would surface. Of course, when you are trying to collect players from the 1960s and 70s whom spent little time in the majors, you learn the hard lesson that ANY bat must suffice because it may be the ONLY bat you ever find from that player. These early missed opportunities are a story for a different day.
The question of the moment is given the choice between a cracked bat and an uncracked bat what would you choose and why? It is likely that most will fall into the camp of uncracked because such bats oftentimes display better, can be held by the owner without concern and raise no issues about missing pieces. All good points, but give me the cracked bat provided there are no missing pieces. If the bat has heavy use it is almost assured that the cracked bat saw real use in a game. There is something noble about the cracked bat, employed by the player until the end of its useful life.
Also, if the bat lacks MLB Authentication, being cracked IMHO makes it much more likely that the bat is genuine. It is virtually impossible to fake crack a bat and, besides, who would try to do that and risk ruining the bat? That used but uncracked bat of a star player leads to questions like, why would a player give that bat up before cracking it? Of course there are valid explanations, and there is no substitute for the proper player use characteristics, but when the bat is cracked you know the player willingly parted with it. See many cracked bats in the BAT COLLECTION section of the website
Classic cracked Rick Burleson game used bat