In my early/mid 50's baseball sets, I have been getting all of my HOFers and higher priced non-HOFers (Martin Hodges, Yankees team card, etc) graded. I do all PSA 6 & 7 and, as you stated above, there is not a ton of difference in the cost of graded vs non-graded. Since I have had mixed results on the actual grade of a raw card (ExMt tends to be about VG/EX - so I have to buy NM raw to get the equivalent of ExMt graded - which makes the cost negligible), I just buy the grade card and I know what I have.
I keep them in clear containers with lids and have them to look at. I make photo copies and put the photo copy in the binder (along with the raw commons of the set) to help me deal with my OCD tendencies.
As I get to older issues and smaller sets, I will probably start buying most, if not all, graded. The 48 Bowman set is 48 cards, PB 41 set is 72 cards, 33 Delong is 24 cards. I can see getting all of these cards in graded examples unless I run across the right deal and the raw cards are in good shape.
Good Luck in your collecting!
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2024 Collecting Goals:
53-55 Red Mans Complete Set
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