Easiest / Hardest WOTC Cards to Grade

Articles
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Hardest Cards to grade a PSA 10

Using PSA Pop Report
Data found using % of 10’s out of 9 + 10 pop
Disregarding Unlimited if 1st ed exists
Cracking and regrading could make this data slightly off for expensive cards

  1. Neo Genesis 1st Edition Slowking Holo - 4.2%
    Pop 10: 10 / Pop 9: 226

  2. Base II Wigglytuff Holo - 5%

    Pop 10: 7 / Pop 9: 132

  3. Neo Genesis 1st Edition Typhlosion 17 - 5.2%

    Pop 10: 9 / Pop 9: 163

  4. Legendary Collection Charizard Holo - 5.3%

    Pop 10: 12 / Pop 9: 213

  5. Neo Revelation 1st Edition Ampharos Holo - 5.7%

    Pop 10: 8 / Pop 9: 131

Easiest Cards to grade a PSA 10

  1. Skyridge Machamp Holo - 66.8%

    Pop 10: 113 / Pop 9: 56

  2. Skyridge Rhydon Holo - 66.3%

    Pop 10: 116 / Pop 9: 59

  3. Skyridge Kabutops Holo - 61.4%

    PSA 10: 113 / PSA 9: 71

  4. Skyridge Jolteon Holo - 60.7%

    PSA 10: 105 / PSA 9: 68

  5. Skyridge Steelix Holo - 59.3%

    PSA 10: 92 / PSA 9: 63

10 Likes
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Skyridge PSA Pop might be weird and wrong, all of its Holos came as the easiest to grade on my calcs.

If I remove Skyridge, the 5 easiest to grade are:

  1. Gym Challenge 1st Giovanni’s Machamp Holo
  2. Team Rocket 1st Team Rocket Holo
  3. Gym Challenge 1st Sabrina Holo
  4. Expedition Golem Holo
  5. Aquapolis Magneton Holo

ps. photos taken from pokemonprice.com pages

1 Like
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Interesting stats! Out of curiousity why only include WOTC?

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Had to set the limit somewhere, because lots of newer sets have pops of 0 in PSA 10 and the whole list would be super modern cards.

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@admiral, very interesting data, is there a more extensive version in your spreadsheet somewhere?

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Sure, I’ll PM you cus the data is very ugly

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slowking is king i guess. Glad I got my nine, probably will never get the 10.

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Unlimited Neo Rev Blissey would be dunking on all of these fools if she were included

4 Likes
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Interesting, my Slowking is at PSA, but I think it just adds the PSA 9 pop!

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You’re too humble, my friend. I found the sheet pretty easy to digest, thanks!

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This is basically the ratio of PSA 10s to PSA 10s and 9s combined, correct?

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Yes.

Im sure someone could run a formula weighing playability, holofoil area %, binder location, location on uncut sheet, but that person is not me, hehe.

3 Likes
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Good job putting this together!

If anyone’s interested back in 2019 I made a tool to take all Pokémon entries from PSA’s pop report and give each card a ‘difficulty’ score by comparing the number of number of PSA 10s for each card against the number of PSA 9s, PSA 9s with qualifiers (i.e OC) and PSA 8.5s. This is what I used to create my PichuFan’s End of Year 2019 PSA Report (with Charts!) thread.

Using up-to-date PSA data here are the top 100 most difficult-to-grade cards using this metric (the % represents the percentage of PSA 10s compared to 9(Q), 9 and 8.5 grades and the number in brackets represents the overall sample size (the total number of PSA 10, 9(Q), 9 and 8.5 grades) - sample size is factored in to the order below):

3.2% (6277) #11 Charizard (Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 7.26% (6008) #4 Charizard (Holofoil) - Base Set 2.07% (725) #11 Eevee (Holofoil) - Promo Black Star 6.81% (793) #4 Charizard (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 7.23% (747) #4 Charizard (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 7.53% (770) #1 Aerodactyl (Prerelease stamp, Holofoil) - Fossil (1st Edition) 6.46% (418) #53 Mew (Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 8.09% (618) #11 Dark Magneton (Holofoil) - Team Rocket (1st Edition) 8.96% (859) #9 Misty's Seadra (Holofoil, Prerelease stamp) - Gym Heroes 4.7% (362) #5 Kangaskhan (Holofoil) - Jungle 9.98% (3508) #8 Machamp (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 7.82% (499) #2 Blastoise (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 8.3% (530) #4 Dragonite (Holofoil) - Fossil 8.2% (500) #2 Blastoise (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 6.44% (326) #83 Dark Raichu (Holofoil) - Team Rocket 7.27% (344) #12 Vaporeon (Holofoil) - Jungle 8.72% (447) #10 Lapras (Holofoil) - Fossil 10.35% (1034) #24 Birthday Pikachu (Holofoil) - Promo Black Star 5.38% (279) #6 Heracross (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 9.55% (440) #9 Lugia (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 11.26% (924) #10 Lapras (Holofoil) - Fossil (1st Edition) 8.9% (326) #14 Suicune (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation (1st Edition) 8.39% (298) #5 Dark Dragonite (Holofoil) - Team Rocket 11.99% (2685) #2 Blastoise (Holofoil) - Base Set 11.68% (1216) #5 Clefairy (Holofoil) - Base Set 10.29% (447) #12 Ninetales (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 8.45% (284) #12 Pichu (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 10.81% (546) #6 Gyarados (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 9.26% (324) #1 Alakazam (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 5.86% (239) #7 Hitmonlee (Holofoil) - Fossil 7.35% (245) #5 Feraligatr (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 11.86% (1113) #3 Chansey (Holofoil) - Base Set 9.21% (304) #8 Houndoom (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation (1st Edition) 4.98% (241) #3 Charizard (Holofoil) - Legendary Collection 5.53% (235) #9 Lugia (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis 9.73% (329) #9 Kabutops (Holofoil) - Fossil 3.79% (264) #14 Slowking (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 11.11% (486) #66 Shining Magikarp (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation 9.09% (275) #11 Snorlax (Holofoil) - Jungle 10.26% (351) #5 Gengar (Holofoil) - Fossil 9.74% (308) #13 Raikou (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation (1st Edition) 9.8% (306) #2 Azumarill (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 10.98% (428) #3 Chansey (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 10.03% (299) #6 Entei (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation (1st Edition) 12.44% (965) #4 Dark Charizard (Holofoil) - Team Rocket 8.94% (246) #15 Vileplume (Holofoil) - Jungle 9.47% (264) #14 Raichu (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 12.13% (610) #136 Charizard - Black & White Plasma Storm 11.39% (395) #13 Poliwrath (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 8.64% (220) #12 PORYGON2 (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation (1st Edition) 12.06% (514) #1 Clefable (Holofoil) - Jungle (1st Edition) 12.24% (539) #5 Kangaskhan (Holofoil) - Jungle (1st Edition) 12.29% (537) #12 Vaporeon (Holofoil) - Jungle (1st Edition) 7.58% (198) #142 Blastoise EX (Full art, Holofoil) - XY 11.61% (379) #11 Nidoking (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 12.43% (555) #11 Snorlax (Holofoil) - Jungle (1st Edition) 8.61% (209) #10 Magneton (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation (1st Edition) 7.22% (194) #11 Misdreavus (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation (1st Edition) 13.28% (1197) #9 Magneton (Holofoil) - Base Set 10.71% (280) #7 Jumpluff (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 13.17% (972) #2 Articuno (Holofoil) - Fossil (1st Edition) 8.46% (201) #10 Meganium (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 10.2% (245) #13 Venomoth (Holofoil) - Jungle 7.45% (188) #14 Sabrina's Gengar (Holofoil) - Gym Heroes 12.39% (452) #12 Misty's Golduck (Holofoil) - Gym Challenge (1st Edition) 10.17% (236) #2 Dark Arbok (Holofoil) - Team Rocket 8.29% (193) #12 Nidoqueen (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 11.62% (327) #14 Raichu (Holofoil) - Fossil 12.19% (402) #4 Glurak (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 10.76% (251) #1 Clefable (Holofoil) - Jungle 11.95% (343) #13 Skarmory (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 12.98% (547) #18 Venusaur (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 11.15% (269) #1 Blaine's Arcanine (Holofoil) - Gym Challenge 7.73% (181) #5 Clefable (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 11.98% (334) #7 Hitmonchan (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 13.86% (1255) #9 Mew (Holofoil) - Promo Black Star 5.35% (187) #2 Blissey (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation (1st Edition) 12.36% (364) #3 Dark Blastoise (Holofoil) - Team Rocket 13.33% (615) #17 Rainbow Energy (Holofoil) - Team Rocket (1st Edition) 6.21% (177) #9 Magneton (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 11.02% (245) #2 Turtok (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 6.94% (173) #17 Yanma (Holofoil) - Neo Discovery (1st Edition) 13.05% (475) #3 Flareon (Holofoil) - Jungle 11.86% (295) #6 Charizard (Holofoil) - Expedition Base Set 14.06% (1216) #5 Dark Dragonite (Holofoil) - Team Rocket (1st Edition) 11.7% (282) #34 Gyarados (Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 13.33% (555) #11 Charizard (Prerelease stamp, Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 10.5% (219) #11 Nidoking (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 4.69% (192) #17 Typhlosion (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 13.51% (570) #17 Dark Persian (Nintendo Magazine, 60 HP, Holofoil) - WotC Black Star Promo 9.9% (192) #8 Machamp (Cosmos holofoil, Holofoil) - 2-Player CD-Rom Starter Set (1st Edition) 8.67% (173) #14 Pidgeot (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 12.79% (344) #137 Blastoise - Black & White Plasma Storm 12.23% (278) #6 Mr. Mime (Holofoil) - Jungle 12.18% (271) #8 Pidgeot (Holofoil) - Jungle 13.3% (406) #8 Giovanni's Persian (Holofoil) - Gym Challenge (1st Edition) 11.31% (221) #17 Scyther (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 10.16% (187) #1 Mew (Holofoil) - Southern Islands Promo 14.61% (1177) #3 Dark Blastoise (Holofoil) - Team Rocket (1st Edition) 10.47% (191) #6 Clefairy (Holofoil) - Base Set 2

Not included in the above list are cards with no PSA 10 grades (as their percentage would be 0%). For fun, here are the 100 cards with the lowest ratio of PSA 10s to all other grades (0:10 means there are 0 PSA 10 grades out of 10 cards graded in total). I factored in sample size into this as well by determining what would happen if 1 new PSA 10 was graded, this means Eevee near the top of the list at 15:1682 is above Entei at 0:104 as 16:1683 (or 1:105.1875) is a lower ratio than 1:105.

0:313 #1 Clefable (Prerelease stamp, Holofoil) - Jungle 0:168 #70 Chansey (Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 0:152 #4 Charizard (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 2:356 #8 Machamp (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:108 #2 Blissey (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation 0:105 #38 Magneton (Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 15:1682 #11 Eevee (Holofoil) - Promo Black Star 0:104 #HGSS20 Entei (Holofoil) - Heartgold & Soulsilver Promo 6:683 #13 Venusaur (Holofoil) - Promo Black Star 0:90 Psychic Energy - League Energize Your Game Cycle 0:88 #4 Charizard (Holofoil) - Base Set 2:257 #14 Slowking (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis 0:82 Lightning Energy - League Energize Your Game Cycle 1:161 #XY87 M Swampert EX - XY Black Star Promos 1:158 #4 Glurak (Holofoil) - Base Set 9:783 #17 Typhlosion (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 0:77 Grass Energy - League Energize Your Game Cycle 54:4200 #4 Charizard (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 0:74 #7 Treecko (European Pop Tournament, Holofoil) - Black Star Promo 4:370 #17 Typhlosion (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis 10:801 #14 Slowking (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 3:285 #11 Dark Magneton (Holofoil) - Team Rocket 0:69 #2 Blastoise (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 13:949 #9 Lugia (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis 0:63 #9 Magneton (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:63 #2 Blastoise (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set 54:3458 #4 Charizard (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 1:124 #HGSS21 Suicune (Holofoil) - Heartgold & Soulsilver Promo 1:121 #62 Hitmonchan (Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 7:485 #19 Wigglytuff (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 0:59 #XY98 M Aerodactyl EX (M Aerodactlyl EX Premium Collection, Holofoil) - XY Black Star Promo 1:115 #1 Ampharos (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation 15:923 #3 Chansey (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 2:168 #6 Heracross (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis 1:109 #17 Dark Persian (Nintendo Mag., No 60 HP, Holofoil) - WotC Black Star Promo 0:54 #XY176 Champions Festival (Worlds 16 -Staff) - XY Black Star Promo 1:107 #4 Charizard (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 12:686 #3 Charizard (Holofoil) - Legendary Collection 0:51 #14 Raichu (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 201:9739 #11 Charizard (Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 1:94 #63 Clefairy (Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 0:46 #4 Dracaufeu (Holofoil) - Base Set 2:138 #4 Charizard (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set 436:20160 #4 Charizard (Holofoil) - Base Set 0:45 #3 Chansey (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:45 #9 Magneton (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:45 #11 Nidoking (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 3:183 #36 Raichu (Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 17:815 #5 Kangaskhan (Holofoil) - Jungle 0:44 #7 Hitmonchan (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 1:89 Water Energy - League Energize Your Game Cycle 41:1886 #2 Blastoise (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 4:219 #5 Feraligatr (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis 0:42 #5 Clefairy (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:41 #10 Mewtu (Holofoil) - Base Set 0:41 #8 Machamp (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:41 #6 Torchic (European Pop Tournament, Holofoil) - Black Star Promo 0:41 #BW95 Champions Festival (Worlds 13, Staff stamp) - Black & White Promo 25:1074 #12 Vaporeon (Holofoil) - Jungle 1:81 #4 Charizard (Holofoil) - Base Set 0:40 #12 Ninetales (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:39 #3 Chansey (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:39 #DP24 Darkrai - Diamond & Pearl Black Star Promo 15:638 #6 Heracross (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 0:38 #109 Teddiursa (Reverse holofoil) - Skyridge 0:37 #1 Alakazam (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:37 #6 Gyarados (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:37 #DP27 Palkia (Holofoil) - Diamond & Pearl Black Star Promo 8:337 #1 Ampharos (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation (1st Edition) 1:72 #93 Fighting Energy (Holofoil) - Call of Legends 42:1541 #9 Lugia (Holofoil) - Neo Genesis (1st Edition) 0:34 #7 Hitmonchan (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 25:902 #14 Raichu (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 3:137 #59 Machamp (Holofoil) - XY Evolutions 14:514 #7 Hitmonlee (Holofoil) - Fossil 0:33 #5 Clefairy (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 1:67 Rainbow Energy - League Energize Your Game Cycle 30:1052 #1 Alakazam (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 39:1354 #2 Blastoise (Holofoil) - Base Set 2 1:66 #14 Raichu (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 0:32 Charizard (Holofoil) - Meiji Promo 0:32 #22 Mewtwo (Prism holofoil) - Meiji Promo 6:228 #6 Charizard (Holofoil) - Base Set (No Rarity Symbol) 21:707 #83 Dark Raichu (Holofoil) - Team Rocket 3:126 #11 Smeargle (Holofoil) - Neo Discovery 6:217 #4 Dark Blastoise (Holofoil) - Legendary Collection 1:61 #2 Turtok (Holofoil) - Base Set 0:30 #7 Nockchan (Holofoil) - Base Set 0:30 #12 Pikachu (Holofoil) - Pop Series 5 10:334 #2 Blissey (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation (1st Edition) 0:29 #94 Metal Energy (Reverse holofoil) - EX Ruby & Sapphire 4:149 #144 Yveltal EX (Full art, Holofoil) - XY 1:58 #15 Venusaur (Italian, Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 9:292 #6 Entei (Holofoil) - Neo Revelation 0:28 #1 Bulbasaur - Topsun (Green Back) 1:57 #35 Clefairy (Holofoil) - Base Set (No Rarity Symbol) 46:1352 #12 Ninetales (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 40:1171 #7 Hitmonchan (Holofoil) - Base Set (Shadowless) 1:56 #3 Chansey (Holofoil) - Base Set (1st Edition) 1:56 #17 HO-Oh EX (Holofoil) - Pop Series 3

Remember that this is all very subjective however and PSA 9s (and in my case PSA 8.5s as well) are not all from cards which have been submitted pack-fresh - a lot will have also been graded with the full knowledge that they aren’t PSA 10-worthy, so take this all with a pinch of salt. That is to say that the reason Charizard cards appear at the top of the list isn’t because they are the hardest to grade, but rather that a lot of people knowingly submit PSA 9 and 8.5 grade cards because they’re very much worth grading in those conditions.

1 Like
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Not a standard set, but I bet the Venusaur black star promo has a low % of 10s. Pretty sure it’s 6-8 10s of that card exist and that’s it? I would have also mentioned the Eevee from that set but the 10s doubled in a day near the end of last year for that card.