[mintacular]

My general rule of thumb with vintage grading is that for most cards 95%+ are not worth the grading fees/hassle which is why you saw so many raw cards at the show....Here are the 5% exceptions:

1. Major stars/rookies (Mantles Clemente's Mays, etc.)
2. Pack-fresh HOFers with nice centering
3. Cards that are known to be counterfeit (OPC Gretzky RC, Michael Jordan, '52 Mantle, '68 Ryan RC)
4. Pre-war cards in decent shape
5. Low population high-grade singles (this takes several years to learn, etc.)

In short, for me I like to buy singles and build sets and for any high $ card I will spend a little extra $ to have the card graded---I do like a 2nd opinion if I am spending several hundred dollars on one card. If I am spending $10-$100/ea. on a card I trust my own judgement based on the scan provided--I think most alterations on $100 or cheaper cards are pretty obvious and you shouldn't be so paranoid that you need a grading co. to authenticate these types of cards....