[Il Padrino]

Jeff,

This question is one I struggle with a lot, in fact I believe I finally arrived to what works best for me: The Raw.

The method of how I arrived to this answer was via my Ohio State collection and the fact that nothing is graded because there are no cards involved. I feel more in touch with the collection through the rawness of each item and although each item is within a holder, I scan all images raw and unrestrained from the prison walls of an SGC or PSA holder.

Now that is just me and I can certainly see the utility of having a card graded, in particular the old stuff that may be prone to trimming or similar issues, so when it comes to items like my Nagurski, Poe, etc. then I desire for them to be in a graded holder.

So, long story short:

HIGH END CARDS - YES, graded.
EVERYTHING ELSE - NO, raw.