Collection from 1978 to 1983
I collected as a boy back in the day, including entire sets from those years and also from buying packs in the early 80s.
About 9 years ago, I took inventory of my collection and separated out all the cards I identified as having potential value and placed them in magnetic cases inside a cardboard box lined with towels. If a player was in the HoF, they were placed in a case. That includes if that player appeared on a Team Leader card, In Action, or on a sticker. The cards themselves are in great shape! I have a number of rookie cards of players like Montana, LT, Art Monk, Dorsett (2), etc. but the centering isn’t great on the vast majority of them. My understanding is that cards from that era just weren’t cut very well. My best card might be a rookie John Stallworth as I believe it might be a 10.
I have never graded any of these cards, and I am actually not looking to sell any time soon. I am generally aware of the grading criteria and how to estimate a card’s value based on recent sales. I have been looking into grading services, but I just don’t trust PSA given their conflicts of interest and the fact that they changed their grading criteria. And if I lack trust in PSA, I wonder if their graded cards might also diminish in value.
To this layperson, it seems grading should be moving toward automation rather than individuals grading individual cards, so I am inclined to wait that out. And is more objective grading on the horizon that uses computer automation?
Generally speaking, what is the market’s perception of that era, 1978-1983? And how are those cards graded? IOW, I assume the same stringent criteria are applied to older cards as newer ones?