I agree that it looks good, I just think PSA has been extra harsh lately on especially desirable cards which has caused conservative grades rather than hopeful ones. (PSA 9 versus 10, 8 versus 9 ect.) but yeah looking forward to how it turns out and whenever you can provide more photos 
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if the back is perfect, you have a good chance at psa
although its off center, psa is likely to ignore if the back is perfect.
with that said, there are many times i said my card was perfect from the back and psa strongly disagreed.
Looking at my vintage cards
This was a base set blastoise that psa deemed worthy of a 10
And this is the back of a card that psa says is a 9 back
Both look good to me, but the Blastoise was sold for $2,500 and the other would be worth 10x that if psa gifted the ten…
Point is you better prep the heck out of that card. Because you have a card worth $22k in a 10 and psa will look at anything to give you a 9 sadly
Good luck! Please update us with your score. Really pulling for you
55-45 is not a strict measure with PSA. I noticed the centering from eye alone, it’s probably on the 9/10 boundary and can go either way.
if you’re going to clean it, keep all liquids away from the edge which will absorb it and swell
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yes be careful with liquids. Your a chemist though you dont need a lesson.
Once i used water and it caused a part of the card to bubble. when it dried I assumed it would go back to normal but it actually damaged the stock and created a tiny bit of whitening.
since then i stopped using anything at all and just wipe with a cloth and thats the extent i go for cleaning
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Thanks for the advice guys, this is all great info for someone who is new to the grading world. My #1 fear is damaging the card or getting a no grade in trying to clean it. Any resources yall would recommend for further research into the subject of cleaning? Not going to attempt anything until I feel like I’ve done extensive DD.
If the splotch is straight from the pack then most likely it can’t be removed without removing the actual ink from the card (because it’s the same ink lol)
You can try a very tiny amount of water on a q-tip. Don’t touch the edge. Practice on a bulk card first. If it doesn’t work you can then try something like rubbing alcohol or pure ethanol if you have access to it? Just ALWAYS test on another card first. But I have a feeling in the end you won’t be able to take it off without damaging the card.
Will definitely practice on bulk first. Looking at it under a microscope when applying UV it seems like the splotch is on top of the layer of gloss applied to the card, as though ink got on the card after the printing process had finished rather than during, so I think it’ll either come off easily or it’s not worth risking at all. Think I’ll use a mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol so as to not risk overapplication. Have fresh penny sleeves and semi ridgid protectors arriving later this week so I’ll test out cleaning once those arrive.
dont use acetone on the ink blot either
if you rub slightly, likely nothing will happen and the ink will still be there.
If you come in with a harder stroke, you will be looking at a blotch of silver instead which will be an even bigger eye sore.
dont overly focus on the ink if it doesnt come off easily
I wouldnt worry about a no grade unless you insist on using foreign chemicals and that leaves a residue
whats much more likely is you lowering the overall score by messing with the card too much.
Remember, if the grade comes back unfavorable, you can always crack and resend
what i recommend is using the express tier. You will most likely have an upchage to a higher tier no matter what so you might as well start with express since this way you get grading notes.
THEN look at what psa has to say. If they 9’d or 8’d your card, they will list all the issues they take with it
you can then figure out whats needed. For instance, if they mention surface, and under various lighting and magnification you found no scratches or print lines, you can then assume they didnt like the ink blot. for now i wouldnt worry about it or overthink anything and go for a grade
Sounds good, you just reminded me of another question I had, which is what service level I should use. Is express okay, or should I submit as Premium 1 ‘assuming’ the full value of the card will be realized?
thats your call.
But unless you think psa will damage or lose the card (very unlikely) I would use express
The grader doesnt see the tier level your using so there is no reward for paying more. express does go through a more optimized (quicker) process but they wont know which express + tier that your exactly using
if they deemed your card a 10, you will get an email asking for approval to upcharge.
If you pay for premium 1 and they give you a 9, there will be no refund you just lose hundreds of dollars for no reason
premium 1 is $800 plus they will add on shipping. That could be an incredibly expensive price to pay for a card that could easily come back as a ps8 which is only worth ~4k
definitely go with express
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Conversely, you embrace the splotch and send to CGC as an Additional Ink Error! Now it’s a 1/1! (;
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