1st edition base Dragonair yes if you think it could get a decent grade and you like it. the others, and this will apply to most non-holos after 1st edition base, no.
Grading is more of an art than a science. as soon as you know what to look for and see a bunch of graded examples it gets much easier
Getting ready to send these cards to PSA I ended up cutting a few cards from what I originally posted (skarmory, scizor, and politoed), I can’t for the life of me get the light to show as many scratches as the pictures I took I even have a magnifying light I really think the macro pictures my camera took really just sharpens the scratches and makes it look more dramatic or something. There are definitely light scratches on some but I am thinking that Blastoise has a real shot at a 9 but if I had to guess it would come back a 8. The Charizard is likely an 9 or 8 depending on the grader maybe a 7 but I heard 7s only happen with white on the back? Sabrinas Gengar literally only has a hairline scratch so im hoping that it comes back a 10 but I think 9 or 8 is more realistic. Venusaur promo im guessing is a 9 its so clean slight hairline scratch nothing big. and Venusaur EX is likely a 8 or 7 im really debating if I should send it in if I know the ceiling for the card is probably just an 8?
Backs on most seem good to the point where the backs shouldn’t subtract them for being a 8 or 9.
I can post more pictures if your curious to what im sending in here’s the full list. (499 is the declared value on each card) I was told by someone thats what I should put for all for the $20 per card submission is that correct?
Also will they care if I mix in one sports card? My brother asked me to get it graded for him.
I really think the 1st edition Gym Trainers (Brock, misty, surge, and erika) will have a big chance at being 10s at the very least 9s they are super clean!
Thank you since you helped me out over the time I made this thread I bought a few PSA cards to help me understand a bit more what they look for I’ve also been doing a ton of research I still do have some questions though as I get ready to prepare my first PSA submission
I hope so and yeah I definitely am sending these cards in I really like them and would love to have them encapsulated at the very least!
Thank you! seriously thank you so much for your help!
Also am I doing the declared value thing correctly by listing them $499 in case some hit a 10 or 9?
and any tips for shipping an order of 15 they are all in card savers the website suggests putting them all together in order and putting the whole order in between cardboard and then rubber banding the cardboard is this typically what you’d wanna do? Regardless I plan on using a priority flat rate box and a ton of bubble protection inside the box.
I’m comfortable with grading but when it comes to actually submitting to PSA, I have almost no experience. It strikes me your declared values are a bit high though. But I have to defer to another forum member to help you with that
Purely from the perspective of maximizing value, it doesn’t make sense to send the Venusaur ex in. I usually buy PSA 8s to crack because they are basically the same price as raw. The PSA premium really starts at PSA 9.
Additionally, from the photos, the Venusaur ex looks like it could be a 7. The back edgewear will automatically make it an 8 max, and if the holo is very scratched then it will probably be a 7.
Not to be overly negative, but unless the grader is blind, the Blastoise won’t get a 9. It’s a beautiful card, don’t get me wrong, and you got an amazing deal on it for $50…but it’s definitely an 8 maximum with the holo scratches and minor edge wear on the back. Probably won’t be a 7 unless there are other flaws that aren’t visible in the photos.
Ultimately, you should get the cards graded if YOU want them graded. In all likelihood, none of them (from what I’ve seen) will get 9s. So if you just want to maximize what they’re worth, honestly just skip getting them graded. If you put that Blastoise on eBay auction with the same photos as you posted here, you should get PSA 8 prices for it pretty easily. Same with the Charizard. The Venusaur ex should do pretty well, too. All of these are super high-demand cards — they won’t undersell assuming the pictures are decent. If you want them slabbed for personal collecting purposes, though, then go for it. Best of luck either way!
First of all thank you so much for your response it is really helpful and yeah I kind of agree about the Venusaur EX I’m leaning towards not grading it right now.
Your point about buying and cracking 8s because their the same price as raw I currently don’t see this with how the market is for most cards 8s are starting to soar up and be more coveted
I am really not too interested in selling the Blastoise to be honest I really want it slabbed because I think a shadowless blastoise in this condition or better is really hard to come by so I really wanna preserve that and hold onto it for a long time.
If you think that Charizard could get PSA 8 prices raw I think I would definitely sell that as im not super attached to my non first edition Gym cards same thing with that Venusaur EX.
I think I will take more pictures of the rest of what im sending because all of you guys have been really helpful in the process.
You could definitely get PSA 8 prices (or within 10% of them) on the Charizard by selling it raw. If you don’t mind waiting a year for it to come back from PSA, you might make slightly more selling it graded. But grading it will cost you $15-$20 and you’re at the whims of however strong the market is when it arrives back to you. I personally wouldn’t bother. With the holo scratches, the chance that it gets higher than an 8 is really low. And there’s a chance it will get a 7, in which case you’d definitely be better off selling it raw.
Really happy with the grades! Ive graded about 60 cards so far and I am definitely starting to get more confident in my pre-grading ability as most of the ones lately I’ve been pretty spot on with.
