grade or not ?

[raulus]

For the noteworthy cards you listed, grading might not be a terrible choice. It makes them easier to sell, and you probably make back your grading fees, plus maybe a little extra by way of increased sales price. If you're talking about commons from this era in grades 3-4, then I would probably skip getting those pieces graded.

I suppose you should also figure out where to get them graded. I won't offer much advice other than to observe that PSA historically carries a premium over other graders, although that premium is declining, and for some issues and some grades, you might argue it no longer exists. So the premium for your specific cards here might not be all that noteworthy.

The good news is that at present, if you meet the bulk pricing requirements, you can get them graded for $19 each at PSA, and the value cap is $499 per card, so you might be able to get most (or all) of these to work under that value cap. Unfortunately, bulk is only available if you're a member of PSA's club, and have an order of 20+ cards. If you're not a club member, then it's $25 per card.

If you're a gambling man, and not in a hurry, you might consider whether it makes sense to get them graded right now. Grading prices have been declining lately, and they might drop further. Plenty of debates around here about how much further they can theoretically drop.

Others will also observe that if you're not in a hurry, then you might wait to see what further developments are in store for the market, because 5, 10, 20 years from now a new grader or system might become king of the mountain, in which case getting them graded now could be a waste of your money.

There's also a lot of raging debates around here about whether graders are grading particularly harsh at the moment, with some asserting 1-2 grade discounts compared to historical grading standards. At the same time, if your cards are in the 3-4 range, then there might not be much of a discount, if any. So that might be another reason to wait - in the off chance that they re-adjust and become more reasonable in their grading. Just so you don't get them in now and get dinged with 2s and 3s instead of 3s and 4s.