I am adding this card to my collection. I’ve read many times to buy the card not the slab but it’s hard with just pics. I’ve narrowed down to these two. I think the CGC one looks better and is 600.00 cheaper.
I think eventually I’d submit it to PSA as the others in this collection are all PSA.
Which would you get.
cgc is slightly better but i’d personally get the psa 9 one
I don’t think the cgc is an auto PSA 9. The white corner would probably drop it to an 8.
I get the buy the card not the grade but PSA just updated their centering and as a species collector that means the aim of an all 10 collection is likely impossible. Some of my older cert cards aren’t well enough centered to get a 2025 10.
Psa color saturation is what sways me to them
I’m a simple man, thick over thin
Considering that you’re already a PSA collector and still have some doubts between the two slabs, I would go with PSA Blastoise.
I’ve personally experienced this struggle a couple times, and 2/3 I went with PSA (the simple, conservative, no-brainer move).
Can you make offers on the 9.5 to try to get it even cheaper? I think that would have a decent chance at crossing to a PSA 9. It certainly looks better than my PSA 8 1st ed Blastoise
Nope, no offers possible on either unfortunately. The CGC card is being sold by PSA. (little word LOL) This is a very hard decision. The one thing that bothers me about the PSA card is the bottom left corner white DOT.
Mike
Mike
Damn! Honestly, I know most people said go PSA but if you think the cgc looks better, and you save $600, that seems the route. Maybe if it sits longer the consignor will drop the price, too. If it’s for resale eventually, cgc is much less liquid and less recommended
Chances are if the CGC one is cheaper, maybe the seller thinks it wouldn’t get a PSA 9 if cracked out or cross graded (or maybe they already tried?). It’s still a great option as a collector, depending on what you’re after or your long term goals. If you’re building a PSA 9 set, I’d probably opt for the PSA 9 and save the hassle/risk of attempting to re-grade the CGC one. If that’s not the case, then the CGC one is a better value and will allow you to get the card still in nice condition for a good savings compared to PSA.
If you have not noticed, the CGC card is a thick stamp and the PSA card is a thin stamp. Thick stamps are considered more desirable by some collectors and may provide a slight premium in price. Both are very nice cards though.
I would determine if you want to cross grade it prior to purchasing.
If you are set on trying to cross it to PSA I would just buy the PSA 9 or hold out for a PSA copy you will be happy with. The cost to grade it would be $300 alone + shipping/insurance and it’s unlikely to cross unless you crack it and submit it as raw and even then there is no guarantee.
IMO that’s a lot of risk for a $300 price difference.
If you would be happy with keeping it in the CGC slab and like that copy better then I’d buy that and pocket the $600.
Is there not an alternative option of buying it raw, and getting it graded through PSA for cheaper?
Looking at them if I didn’t know the 600 dollar gap I would say the psa card as I do enjoy looking at thick stamps more and it would save me the hassle of regrading a card but with the 600 dollar gap getting the cgc one and then use the extra money to get it graded and keep the rest, the biggest flaw though with regrading it in my opinion is your not guaranteed a 9 it might come back as 8> in the end it just depends what you want with your collection
Maybe I’m just crazy here but I think the PSA copy looks better.
Yeah, cleaner edges but the white dot would bother me too
I would just wait for a card and price you’re happy with. There’s no shortage of these…
My assumption is they want a 9+ (I could be incorrect though).
Finding a 9+ quality Base 1st ed Blastoise raw in 2025 is nearly impossible. If they do it will likely be more expensive than the already graded copy with a lot more risk.
IMO the bird in hand approach to buying 1st ed wotc (in todays market) is to just buy the 9.
There are still buy raw & grade opportunities on the lower end of the grading scale though.
Why not wait around for a PSA 9 that really speaks to you? It’s better to be patient and strike when the iron is hot than to compromise and buy a copy that doesn’t fit with your collection or is perceptually weaker than what you would prefer.
Thanks for all the replies. The only other wrinkle is that I’m in Canada and we have a stupidly thought out tax break (trying to buy voters) lasting until middle of February. So I’m trying to push ahead a couple purchases. At this price point it’s a significant savings. (13%)
I’ll take advice above and wait a bit longer and see if anything else pops up. There are not that many of these. I think only 700 PSA9 but do pop up here and there.
