Has anyone seen this video? The new PSAs are easier to crack than you might think…
Very scary! Surprised no one is talking about it.
I assume if scammers were to do this, frosting would be evident all around the slab?
Those clams look pretty clean in 2160p 4k at least. Definitely scary.
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Cant reuse it like this
I cracked a BGS slab with my fingers, it was incredibly easy to do so.
Haven’t tried cracking a CGC yet.
PSA slabs you can use metal snips and cut along the seam and then dab a little glue and they look pretty darn close to factory welded. There are signs but might be a solvable problem. I did this one for science / to display it after ripping.
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Wow, this is crazy!
@rtas I know that you mentioned that several different types of new slab exist based on the ‘21’ size/position. Some seem to be used more often in PSA Japanese and others were used in the U.S. I would expect that these cert numbers point to one specific slab type.
But when I looked up some of the cert numbers, this is what I got. These intentional deactivations suggest that PSA is deactivating some of this guy’s orders (or he put the request in himself).
He mentioned that the back popped off a while back with an 8x or 9x cert when he put it in the graded guard wrong. This would align with PSA’s silent rollout of the new slabs in the U.S.
Seems as there is only one version of the new tcg slabs (both US and Japan). Previous versions had the slight differences I noted before. I think folks were reporting them here in the US a few months ago? But anyways, in the video he is clearly opening the new version with his bare hands. I’m sure they will look into it.
I just tried this on the edge of a PSA slab I don’t care much about and he’s right. Definitely scary
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This whole situation seemed a little fishy to me at first. My initial thought was maybe these were fakes that he purchased but he claims he graded them himself. I’ve included his post from the comment section below in case anyone missed it because it adds some context.
Assuming what he’s saying is true (only the mews were in the soft slabs and all the others were the older style) my only theory is that the person responsible for sealing them didn’t adjust the ultra sonic welder to the appropriate setting for the new slab.
As far as cards getting damaged inside the slab, both the examples he showed were in graded guards. Given how flexible the new slabs are, maybe the tension the guard puts on the slab is enough to slightly contort the slab and damage to the card.
Just a theory but because the slab and the guard are dissimilar plastics, changes in temperature would exacerbate this as they would expand and contract at different rates.
Concerning either way.
"I wanted to clarify a few things since I rushed to get this video out.
- The Gyarados ex was graded by me and had no damage before sending it in or after getting it back, the damage occurred while the slab was in my possession. Similarly the M scizor I purchased a while ago and at time of purchase there was no damage on the card. My point for showing those two is your cards can sustain damage even inside psa slabs.
- All the ancient mews in the video were graded by me and directly through psa.
- Upon further testing it may just have been a small batch (or only my batch) that are super easy to open. Out if my ~200 card sub only the ancient mews were in the new soft slabs while the rest were in the older brittle ones. I was able to purchase a decent amount of the newer softer slabs at a local show and none had the issue."
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So it seems it was a bad batch, poor welds (or lack of) I assume.
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Not a bad thought, but the difference in coefficient of thermal expansions from one plastic to the next is negligible. Even in an oven the dT from expansion between the two plastics will move the same distance. I’d be more concerned about the force used to pry the graded guard off the slab, which is essentially the same problem as prying it with a tool or your hands by grabbing the exposed lip and lifting.
I cracked a 10XXX cert or whatever we call them. It will remain in my personal collection so I’m unbothered, but I’m sure I could completely tear the card out if I wanted to.
PSA has increased their production rate, and when things speed up, often times quality drops. When I started the hobby I was amazed how quickly we blew through 4XXX certs all the way to 10XXX or 11XXX certs in just in a matter of a few years.
Unless someone wants to join me in sac’ing a card (which I don’t recommend honestly), it’s going to be difficult to figure out what slabs pass this test.
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Just to clarify, the theory I proposed was related to how the cards he showed at the beginning of the video got damaged in the slab, not how easy the slabs are to crack.
The thought process being that the guard is putting compressive force on the slab. Let’s say the glass transition temp for the slab is 60C and the glass transition temp for the guard is 80C.
If the slab were to be left in a car on a hot summer day and the temp reached 60C then it would start to soften/flex & become less resistant to the compressive force. Since the guard hasn’t reached its glass transition temp it would still be applying the same/or similar amount of compressive force to the slab causing it to deform and potentially damaging the card.
I’m certainly no material scientist though so maybe I’m completely off base with this theory 
Seems so.
The fella who posted the video mentioned he had the same issue with a card from an earlier submission and smokemon was able to replicate the issue on one of his cards. At about 6min into the vid when he compares two cards from the same submission it appears that the one he can’t crack with his hands has visible welds whereas the other one doesn’t.
Based on that I’m leaning toward a process/QA issue with the welds
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I just tried this with a new PSA case, but was unsuccessful in cracking it with my bare hands. Maybe I’m just weak lol, but I was putting my full force into it. Honestly kind of embarrassed that I couldn’t crack it like he did in the video. Guess it’s time to hit the gym.
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I hear ya. Out of simplicity of design, it’s more than likely the graded guard case is acrylic as is the PSA case, so they’ll deform together in any scenario and won’t ‘banana’. There isn’t too much force from the graded guard as it’s a press fit on the slab.
It’s easier to say the cards were damaged in grading or the video OP may have missed something. The card is pretty safe inside the slab
Unless I’m just going blind the cards themselves look to be the same cards in the original scans.
those marks on the cards almost look like polishing residue that eventually dried out. But I don’t know how that wouldn’t have happened way before grading or how that much wouldn’t have just been noticeable.
I tried the same thing on an 11x but I was too embarrassed to share my results 
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I have had many XY era full arts that have this weird, cloudy, streaks on the edge of the cards like in the video. If you tap the card in the case, you’ll find that the card moves, but the marks will remain where they are, so it is on the case rather than the card.
It is my belief that due to the easy warping that occurs with XY full arts, the edges of the card will rub against the back slab, creating these marks over time. These marks did not exist when I first purchased the card in Nov 2024.
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Hi there, if I’m not mistaken, by “new case” he means the slabs with the 1LR serial number. You can clearly see that at 3:41. In your video, however, you’re trying to open an old slab with the 21 serial number.
Geez, how many new cases are there? I assumed “New Case” referred to the new slightly heavier plastic cases that PSA started to use. Guess I’ll check to see if I have a New New Case that I’m okay with attempting to crack.
Edit: I have zero cases with a 1LR serial so guess I can’t test it. I’ve got some cards that are due back from PSA either this week or next so guess we’ll see what case those come back in.
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