Hi all, new here. I’ve been offloading my old raw vintage in hopes of buying graded.
In particular, I like all of Giovanni’s cards from the Gym Challenge 1st ed set. Have the Nidoking, Machamp, looking for the Persian now.
PSA 10 is going for 12-20k on Fanatics/Ebay…which is wild to me. There’s a CGC 10 Pristine I have seen for around 10k. From what I know, WOTC era CGC cards carry a premium, am I mistaken ? Would appreciate any insights or experience you can share.
Typically the only cards that carry a premium over PSA 10s is BGS black label. CGC 10 < PSA 10
that card sold for half yesterday. Definitely dont rush into any of this stuff if youre new to grading (which clearly you aren’t since youre asking here so good there)
Thanks, definitely want to spend wisely. Would you say this is a sign the prices will tend downwards and I should wait to buy? or that this was an anomaly…
PSA 10 is the most desired overall due to PSA dominating the grading side of Pokemon. More buyers/sellers and people usually want to stick to PSA for a uniform collection.
CGC 10, even Pristine, will usually not carry a premium as a PSA 10 (even if it’s still a very nice condition card). There might be the odd exception depending on the exact card (maybe no PSA 10 exists, etc), but 99% of the time the PSA 10 will sell for more.
This particular card, like most colorless/white WOTC holos, is extremely hard to grade due to heavy print lines and/or scratches on the holo. This also compounds the value of it.
So, it really comes down to your collecting goals. If you’re trying to build a PSA 10 set or want to maximize value long term, you have to go for the PSA 10. If you just want a very nice copy for a lot less money or are building a CGC 10 set instead, then the CGC 10 is still a fine option.
not really an anomaly, the can sell for psa 10 price and they can go for much less. That example card you posted is a particularly hard to grade card AT PSA. Meaning those who collect PSA sets (a majority of the community) need that specific card to complete a set.
There are relatively few CGC set collectors so the demand isnt the same. There are a lot of examples like this, and its generally a lot easier to get 1:1 prices on things that are relatively higher pop at PSA and CGC
“investor bros” havent discovered that 90% of psa 10s are in trash condition and will prolly get a psa 8 nowadays (coz psa doesnt give 10s to vintage holos esp wotc anymore) 
ironically if vintage psa 10s went up by 20x on average since 2024 then cgc pristine might have gone up by 4-5x coz not only do they sell for way lower than psa 10s now they used to sell for more back when the market was “normal”
FredyCards on youtube frequently cracks 8s/9s and regrades them into CGC pristine. in fact the persian was one he got as an 8 and regraded as a cgc pristine 10
do with that information what you will.
ppl have cracked lower grades at every company and gotten a higher grade at another company thats not really anything new
but does he show all the “misses” where u get a lower grade instead
also if u are specifically cross grading to cgc u pretty much need a pristine because lets say u go from psa 9 → cgc “10” (aka old 9.5) thats pretty much breakeven or maybe even loss after selling/grading fees
he does show a good deal of the misses but its not as grabby
he obviously also cherry picks the misgraded PSA slabs to cross as everyeone would
I have bought from him and he is clearly super open and honest about it. Idk if the thumbnail $$ are super accurate but we definitely dont wanna go down that rabbit hole in this hobby
PSA 10 prices for low pop cards are high because there are set collectors who will pay egregious amounts to complete their PSA 10 1st ed gym challenge set.
That’s why clean PSA 9s and CGC 10s are not undervalued/a good deal in comparison. Its the label that makes it so valuable not that card itself.
Watched a couple of the videos. Seems pretty transparent. Tbh the expedition poli he graded looked pretty good
And what are your thoughs on buying cgc 10s for half the price of a psa 10 and then trying to cross-grade with psa putting a 10 as minimum to break slab?? Especially when the difference between psa 10 and cgc 10 is 4 digits
By no means do I deal with the larger prices, but I’m getting CGC 10s of cards half the price of raw, and I like em anyway. CGC for me when it comes to that. $8 for an Eevolution CGC 10? Please 
CGC 10 (non-pristine) are typically PSA 9 quality or lower. Very very few will cross to PSA 10. Both companies have different standards for what defines a “gem mint”
Yeah if that consistently worked people would do it. They’re just different companies with different grading standard. If you are ok with factory stuff like a print line or corner dot on a 10 then a CGC 10 is 1000% the way to go imo.
Risky. Higher chance you’ll be stuck with a lower valued PSA 9 than a PSA 10
Yeah but if the psa 9 is at the same price as the cgc10, then maybe is not that risky
At that point you’d be better off buying good PSA 9 and trying to regrade it into a 10
