1953 Topps & 1953 Bowman Color Complete Sets - To grade or not to grade?

[Mister2Bits]

I have finally completed both sets of 1953 Topps and 1953 Bowman Color. I'm considering grading both sets but I'm not sure how much additional capital I want to fork over having these graded. Should I grade the whole set? Just the HOF'ers? Just the big ticket cards? Leave it raw?

I'm concerned about
1. Cost (Will the value of the sets increase to cover the cost of the grading? - I'm NOT selling anytime in the next 30 years)
2. Shipping and insurance on such a big ticket item. I would be crushed if they got stolen in the mail.
3. Insurance post grading
4. How to store post grading (in home safe? Safety deposit box?)

I'm no expert in evaluating card condition but I feel like these could be in the 6-8 PSA range on average with a few outliers. I think the worst card out of the bunch is the 1953 Topps Jackie Robinson which is a pretty rough card but should grade a 3 maybe worse, maybe better.

I contacted PSA regarding my concerns with shipping the sets and they basically sent me a link to the submission page telling me the information was out there and I should research myself (ouch to PSA customer service). I dont think they realized the value of the sets and the amount of cards I wanted to have graded but it left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Would BVG be a better option? I like these cases much better and again i'm not going to sell so I would rather have the nicer looking cases.

There are 160 cards in the '53 Bowman Set and 280 cards in the '53 Topps.

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

John