[gcrouthamel]

Well the good news is I love sports, and collected baseball cards when I was in my teens...I was never a very serious collector but just enjoyed the hobby...So now my mom's cousin, who was a serious collector, left her a giant collection of sports memorabilia mainly baseball cards...She wanted me to just go to a local card shop and just sell the lot...I didn't have the heart to do this, just didn't seem right, plus i love looking through it...

So far I've found complete sets of 1955,56,57 Topps and 1955 Red man...I've been reading and know condition is everything, but being far from an expert I am having a very hard time determining condition of these cards...I've been trying to compare them to ones listed on ebay, but it's hard determining between a Ex\NrMt...I would like to send some in for professional grading, but which ones? And is it worth it?

Is there a good site that actually shows graded cards next to each other so I can see the flaws and how they affect the grade?

I appreciate any information and guidance, and elope everyone has a safe and happy holiday...

Greg

[Dub24rollin]

See if this site helps you. It helped me out.

http://www.deanscards.com/How-to-Grade-S...-Magazines

[djohn]

Finding a bunch of cards from the 50s is definitely a nice treat. You did the right thing in not just taking them to a card shop and taking what they would give you for them. I was always saddened when I saw people bringing in their loved one's collections and seeing the shop owners offer pennies on the dollar. I understand with large collections it takes time to sort, organize and sell them, but it still amazes me as to how little some card shops offer for collections.
As for your question about grading, if you have a lot of cards it could get expensive (though some may argue worth it) to grade a bunch of them. If the sets are complete then it would be worth looking at the key cards in each set and getting them graded, and possibly any cards that might get high grades (i.e. an 8 and above for 1950s cards). As for a website that shows the information you're looking for, I know there are some out there. PSA has pictures and descriptions for each grade at the following link:
http://www.psacard.com/Photograde/1/1952...mantle-311
There are lots of things to consider too, such as the back of the card as well as the front. Also, it might be worth taking some to a local card shop to see if they are willing to assist you with what grades the cards might be in. It really depends on the shop, as to whether they will be of much assistance, but it could be worth a shot. Also, a little bit of research into what cards are selling for on eBay and other sites will help you in determining value.

[Hofcollector]

If they are in nice enough condition, definitely. As far as trying to figure out conditions, you may be disappointed. It takes a long time staring at example after example of vintage cards to even be close to accurate. People that have been dealing graded cards for years can only give you a best guess. Unfortunately, even if there was a site available to walk you through every half grade, it still wouldn't matter once you sent them in because all graders grade differently. That includes graders within the same company.

[gcrouthamel]

I checked out the video on deans cards, and the PSA photo grade, that helped some...Since they are complete sets I will take the advice and pull out a few of the key cards and send them for grading...After I do some more homework of course...