Hoping to draw upon everyone’s wisdom. I was wondering what kind of PSA grade this Charizard would get, it’s pretty clean but there’s some major issues I will expand upon below.
The front is really nice, the 2 issues is the scratch on the bottom border and the spec of exposed foil right above the 100.
Back is where it gets ugly. There’s a binder dent, combined with some obviously whitening on the right corner.
Wondering if Beckett would yield a better grade? Is it even worth grading it if it’s below a 5? I don’t ever plan on selling the card.
Maximum of a PSA 6. You might do better with Beckett - they are super inconsistent with anything under a 9. Leonhart recently had a creased Charizard that got a BGS 7 – and yours is nicer than his lol. Still, that was a bit of an anomaly, but might be worth seeing what Beckett gives it anyway.
With the whitening it will probably get a 4, maybe 5 if you’re lucky. I’ve personally cracked a lot of PSA 5s & 6s that had less noticeable dents with almost 0 whitening.
Grade it with PSA, don’t worry about the grade so much. It doesn’t really matter what it gets, your better off grading it so it doesn’t get anymore binder dents haha.
Will likely get less than a 6-I see edge/corner wear on top of the dents. Definitely still get it graded through PSA though. You want to prevent any more damage. Also, you will likely still get the most value from having it graded by PSA which is more consistent than Beckett. I don’t trust any grades below a BGS 9.5 and even then I am skeptical. I think a lot of people would prefer to buy a PSA Zard over a BGS one if you ever decide to sell it. Just my two cents though.
Yep get it graded! If anything even though you know it’s authentic, in the case you do decide to sell it the card will already be authenticated by PSA. If you don’t want to see the low grade number (like a 4 or 5) you could just opt to have the card Authenticated. That’s what I would probably do.
It looks like a clean PSA 6 to me. Traditional PSA standards should not grade it higher than a 6 if graded to their defined standards. Always have to throw that disclaimer in there because you know, there’s always the chance it comes back a carelessly graded PSA 9.
Why does the grade matter if you don’t plan on selling it? Genuine question. I don’t see the point of grade hacking and optimizing the number on the label if resale value is irrelevant. Whether the card is labelled psa 4 or psa 7 or BGS 5.5 or CGC 6.9, the card is still the same card with the same damage.
No intention of resale today doesn’t mean no intention in the future. This is one of the main talking point that used to get brought up in old grading company debates. Essentially if you even need the money/decide you don’t want the card anymore it’s more work to regrade the card through the higher potential label than it is to already have it in that label.
With today’s market I don’t see that challenge anymore as most labels will sell. Back when BGS was nearly impossible to sell, it did matter.
I only raised the point because the OP specifically mentioned they don’t ever plan on selling the card. Just trying to better understand the goal/intention here if this is actually the case
Again, I understand the idea that certain labels will yield better prices but this perspective that finance is the top priority has been projected onto OP instead of OP actually telling us what their priorities are.
If you genuinely never want to sell this card and just value it being slabbed with a grade, I would even potentially recommend looking into CGC since their turnaround time and prices are currently far more competitive than PSA. OP has already expressed concern about the turnaround time with PSA and it will also cost probably $200-500 with PSA vs $30 with CGC. If their goal is to flex the highest grade from a reputable company, maybe BGS is a better choice. If the dollar value after grading is of pure concern then I agree with most people here to go with PSA, but that perspective is assuming a lot about the priorities of the OP which is why I simply asked for clarification.
I believe you have guessed my intentions with the card. Currently my idea is to grade it for the purposes of ‘flexing’. It’s appealing to me to have the card potentially grade as a 7 with Beckett versus 5 with PSA, even though at the end of the day it’s the same card. I guess it’s some sort of ingrained psychological desire to always obtain the highest number, plus it looks more impressive when someone outside the hobby sees it.
cullers makes a good point that although i don’t ever plan on selling it, it’s really really hard to predict where I will be in 20 years. I want to grade it to not only protect the card, but give me the option/liquidity in the distant future.
Thanks for suggesting an alternative grading company, but I think I will be stick with PSA or Backett, since these 2 companies have the most momentum with Pokemon and appears to be most respected by even people outside the hobby.
