Memorabilia Guy - needs card help pls PHOTOS ADDED

[baseball tourist]

Love to check this side out but never have anything to post about, as I am a memorabilia collector (bats, jerseys, tickets and photos etc mostly).

Have a buddy in Toronto that is being entrusted with selling a collection of 1950’s baseball cards from a the estate of a friend of the family. It includes some big names (Mays, Robinson etc) and a rough, 1952 Topps Mantle.

The family wants the cards sold visibly, so different stakeholders can witness what the cards realize and they had assumed selling these raw through Ebay would be the way to go. I would like to help my friend and the estate maximize their returns and I believe slabbing the cards and perhaps if the collection’s value is solid enough, an auction House like Heritage (where I have sold some non card, pieces) can expedite the grading process and waive the seller’s commission, will likely ensure they bring the best prices.

That is sound advice, right? It’s hard to convince a family who has not done this before, that paying $1,000 to have a Mantle graded “authentic” (is that the right grading fee price?) is the right thing to do.

With approx 100 cards (list and photos coming to me soon and I will post) it looks to be an interesting collection.

I would appreciate any advice I can give them. Thanks!