I’ve cross graded 4 BGS 9.5 cards over the years and only 1 graded a PSA 10. The remaing 3 cross graded as two 9’s and one 8 or 8.5 I cant remember exactly. In my perfect world PSA would use BGS cases lol.
I forgot to mention that I did this through PSA cross grade service, not by cracking and submitting. Which could potentially scew the results.
From the BGS 9.5s I’ve seen it seems like they are softer on the corners.
#nope
Tomorrow’s thread: are Cheerio’s the same as Fruit Loops?
Depends on sub-grades. If you have at any subrade less than 9.5, most likely you won’t get PSA 10. Ideally you want 2x 9.5 and 2x 10. Quad 9.5 might also work, but really depends on a specific card.
Subgrades are your friend.
I believe each company has to be different in order to create market value and attract customer through differenciation.
There you have it, PSA/BGS are two different companies grading cards but each ones has their own standards. Just learn from both of them, built your opinion and understand what’s going on. Always ask yourself regarding your cards and their flaws, which one will suit better to BGS and/or PSA ?
But if you are less pragmatic and want a collection full of PSA let’s go for PSA all the time, if you are willing to have a full BGS etc… You get the drill. There will always be “VS” in the community but it is due to “customer loyalty”. Every time some one will pick a side it not for a scientific or pragmatic reason but more likely due to emotions and the company they like better. And there is as many reasons to like a company as there is collectors 
Ofc not, just stupid ways to sell on ebay, the “Not 1st ed Charizard” on another pokemon, or the “PSA 10?” bullcrap. Humanity in a nutshell
BGS 9.5s are equivalent to PSA 9s.
Some BGS 9.5s may be 10 worthy.
Some PSA 9s may be 10 worthy.
What matters in the end is that neither is actually a PSA 10.
It surprising to see how many people are wiling to pay a massive premium over an equally strong PSA 9 for a gold colored label and an extra 0.5 added to the end of the grade.
The 9.5 grade is an ingenious marketing strategy on BGS’s part.
Paying a huge premium for a BGS 9.5 with at least 1 sub-grade of 9.0 which on average is equally as good as your typical PSA 9 makes little sense to me either, but to each their own.
LOL…Please sell me your PSA 10’s, the way you talk, they must really be special.
The term “strong PSA 9” doesn’t exist without an acknowledgement that a noticeable spectrum of quality exists within the “PSA 9” grade.
To most, a PSA 9 is only a PSA 9 and the people that claim there cards are “strong 9’s” have little qualification to base any observations… yet they make a lot of noise when they are trying to sell them.
BGS 9.5 with subgrades, provides added value in the form of information that financially translates into buyer confidence and a price premium. Buyers appreciate the objective assessment the 4 subgrades provide.
Not all BGS 9.5’s are PSA 10 quality; but some are.
The PSA 10 grade is hardly a definitive threshold; one extra nick, a partial print line, slightly miss aligned centering, etc. can all result into a coin flip decision between 9 and 10.
With the widening financial gap developing between PSA 9 and PSA 10 prices, I predict the premium of a BGS 9.5 over a PSA 9 will continue to grow.
I respect your enthusiasm for BGS.
I also recognize why some may appreciate the additional information and clarity provided by sub-grades.
What I would say is that because of this clarity in the sub-grades, BGS 9.5s should be treated very differently. There should be a huge difference between a BGS 9.5 with all sub-grades 9.5 or higher and one with a sub-grade that includes a 9.0. I understand BGS quad-9.5+s should be going for more than PSA 9s. What makes little sense to me is paying a big premium (compared to a PSA 9) for one of those BGS 9.5/9.5/9.5/9s that I would expect to have roughly the same quality as a typical PSA 9.
Equal? Sometimes it’s actually better then a PSA 10, dependent on those extra grades + it has waterproof from the encased penny sleeve. That’s a premium. Is this an collector or a investor question? You pay as much as you’d like.
I was speaking about the idea of a PSA 10. There are plenty of PSA 10s that are low quality.
While I absolutely agree that BGS 9.5s with subgrades provide added value in the form of information, it’s another question entirely as to whether that information is accurate. On the whole, subgrades are mostly meaningless and arbitrary. There are plenty of quad plus cards that have glaring issues.
The only meaningful difference between PSA 9s and BGS 9.5s are the subgrades. There are plenty of PSA 9s that can easily match or surpass BGS 9.5s. It’s practically a meme around here that many 9.5s are regraded PSA 9s.
And it’s not so much that ‘buyers appreciate the objective assessment that subgrades provide’, as much as it is that buyers prefer to opt for something more affordable, sensible, and within reach that’s still (seemingly) a step up from the PSA 9.
Yes, the gap between BGS 9.5s and PSA 9s will grow. But this isn’t due to 9.5s being inherently superior as much as it’s due to BGS being very clever in product design.
At the end of the day it’s best to focus on the buying the card instead of the grade, regardless of what you prefer.
“And it’s not so much that ‘buyers appreciate the objective assessment that subgrades provide’, as much as it is that buyers prefer to opt for something more affordable, sensible, and within reach that’s still (seemingly) a step up from the PSA 9.
Yes, the gap between BGS 9.5s and PSA 9s will grow. But this isn’t due to 9.5s being inherently superior as much as it’s due to BGS being very clever in product design.
At the end of the day it’s best to focus on the buying the card instead of the grade, regardless of what you prefer.”
Very true indeed.
I know of about 15 cracked bgs 9.5s that were sent to psa. 3 of them came back 10s. So yes it is possible unlike people commenting straight “no” and sarcastic answers when there is certainly a gray area that should be mentioned. This is a pokemon community thread in which answers should be answered correctly imo and not with sarcasm misleading a potential serious investor. A potential investor is asking if a gem mint card can pass as a higher gem mint card lol. The educated and correct answer is “its depends on the subgrades”. If people say flat out “no” then theyre flat out lying to you. Ive seen people get 10s back who sent in all 9.5 subgrades when they cracked it which is pretty insane because I would say anything with a subgrade of 10s has a chance. A 9.5 GEM MINT is labeled gem mint for reason. According to psa graders, apples can be oranges, who knew though? Cracked regrades happen and will continue to happen and sometimes they will come back with higher grades, whether someone likes the idea of that or not. I can debate on that with facts, evidence and proof, three pretty useful things when coming to a conclusion. Its definitely not a straight “no” as if its unheard of. Its very known that people do this and sometimes get the bump in grades. Again, the subgrades are a strong indicator of where the card stands. Hope this helped a little more!
Cracked 9s can become PSA 10s too, sure.
Even if graders were perfect (which obviously they are not) it would be inevitable that the “borderline” cards can go either way depending on the grader and the day.
And I don’t think anyone disputes that BGS 9.5s that have all the grades at least 9.5 or higher have a much better chance of grading as a PSA 10 than a BGS 9.5 that has at least one sub-grade of 9.0 (Not to say that a BGS card with a 9.0 sub-grade *couldn’t* become a PSA 10, it’s just significantly less likely)
Well said and I agree. You also brought up a good point I didnt want to mention above in fear getting jumped lol but yes, even a subgrade of a 9 has a chance. I was just speaking to everyone who is answering with flat out “no” basically and sarcastic remarks to a legitimate question.
the BGS 9.5 vs PSA 10 value debate starts to lose merit once psa 10s disappear and aren’t replaced in the market. You’ll see 9.5s start to drift up to PSA 10 prices when fewer options exist for collectors to own a gem mint copy of x card
Not sure why I read all this, but I did. Now I have a headache