Literally exactly what happened and there are examples of this everywhere
You can’t assume that the cards currently available for sale are representative of the average condition for a grade. It’s logical that the cards that people are willing to part with are the ones that are on the weaker end of a grade, and the stronger copies are in collections.
It probably feels like you’re stating the obvious and we’re all overly defensive over PSA and their system, but it really is just trying to explain the observations you’re seeing based on PSAs standards, and the fact many of the members here have been around long enough to see this discussion occur 50x over.
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Also LMAO @tidaldreams buy one get one 13% off with code TAYTAY1989 
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I’ll paraphrase this and I hopefully won’t pull any of this out of context. These are direct quotes from Nat Turner, CEO of Collectors (PSA’s parent company) in an interview when he address centering at PSA.
“You do not technically have to have 50/50 centering top, bottom, left, right, front and back to qualify as a 10 at PSAs grading standards.”
“Centering, you know like we have, we do already automate the measurement calculation of centering. People don’t really realise that. You know, yes we have graders looking at it confirming but you know, we do have an ai system if you will that detects centering. And you know that’s something I could see us putting on the, you know as meta data on a verification page.”
“Tech assisted human grading.” is a phrase that Nat Turner kept on referring to that PSA is and will be.
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I note you didn’t respond at all to my point about the statistics and just attempted to justify your position with more unrepresentative anecdotes. Two can play at that game.
With pleasure. Here is a PSA 10 Rayquaza ex from Japanese Dragon Frontiers, which just sold on PWCC for 4k this past weekend. The card has visible wear on the edges and corners. I’m sure you’ll say that this doesn’t count for some reason, but as long as we’re dealing in anecdotes, here’s your “proof.”
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i think I saw the interview it was earlier in the year that they switched to ai grading the centering?
I actually like this
maybe they dont have the grader even look at centering anymore maybe they have a max grade the card can achieve by the time it arrives at graders desk?
i like it this way honestly. measure it and take the grader out of this equation at least
AI makes mistakes too. One of the projects I worked on was a human detection project and the model capped at 90% accuracy.
AI is more a buzz word than a silver bullet
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rep tv hasnt been announced yet so it is still 1989 era 
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I agree
for now
but technology is improving and psa is trying to incorporate a lot of tech into their systems
most recently, they said going forward they will only accept cards that are in card savers
this is presumably because they are automating the research and id portion to be done by machines and need a common denominator for card entry. They said they will actually penalize and fine ppl who dont send the cards in card savers
yes ai training models can be all over the place, for now.
But, I can see a scenario where they train with rules in place for ai to study, as opposed to actually studying past grades given by humans. They can then tweak data and ratios
this would be a long and expensive undertaking, and would have to look at specific genres and era separately, but i can see it happening. I doubt by 2040 we will have our cards being graded by humans.
AI can probably grade the card fully and accurately in 5-7 seconds. PSA wants fast turnover
maybe in QA cards need to be quickly eyed by a human for abnormalities, so its not like humans need to be 100% removed, but in large part humans wouldnt be the defacto graders
Appreciate the tag but I want no part of this lmao
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@pokebeast I think not getting a 10 on that LC Reverse Charizard is your joker origin story.
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Im genuinely curious if your wrote this with a serious face
What makes more sense for 0.005% psa 10 rate
Bad cards being available or psa grading harshly. When psa 7s, 8, and 9 pops have absolutely exploded and whatnot box breaks daily for pack fresh cards. Literally more cards were graded in the past 3 years than the entire 20 year period from 2002 to 2022
Okay…
But your response, because there is literally nothing left
Is that oh the card quality must be bad
Pretty much anything but admitting a 1,300% difference has anything to do wifh psa…
Ill be honest, listening to some of you guys is like arguing with a lawyer for tobacco companies in the 1980s and 1990s
Well sir, you can clearly see the statistics say smokers are dieing early and getting cancer
Lawyer… “WELL ACTUALLY, IF YOU LOOK AT IT THIS WAY YOU WILL SEE ITS NOTHING”
Wut?
Ill be honest, it will forever be difficult to respect some of the opinions due to conflicts of interest
A disproportionate percentage of users in the community are holding old certs
But dont come at me like this is a crazy opinion and single me out as such. This forum doesnt reflect the community at large, and they have spoken, overwhelmingly, that psa grades harsher now.
Why did i sell psa10 blastoise for $2500 when nobody else could even sniff anything close to that this year? Because of the 9 cert thats why. Buyers lining up telling me they will pay more for the cert, and i have receipts. Thats the theme for me all year long, not only a premium, but a significantly faster sale vs anything old.
The community shares my opinion, even if thats not shared on this forum. Coming after me wont change the market
Its never been so lopsided before as it is now, why would the Pokemon community be acting this way if there was no difference?
Because when there is smoke there is usually fire. And the community knows this
Good day to you Sir
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To the point of fewer 10s being “handed out” and there being more 9s and 8s being graded:
- cards that were worth grading pre-2020 had to be 10 candidates.
- Value of 8s and 9s went up post 2020, so binder copies from mint sets can now financially make sense.
- It is increasingly difficult to find mint raw as time goes on. This changed like crazy for Japanese recently as well.
WOTC cards right out of the box is a range of 7-10. Breakers opening boxes isn’t near enough to make the 10 count go up.
If I had 2 PSA 10s of the same card and wanted to keep one, sell one, the worst copy is going on the market. As others stated, you will find the worst 10s on the market because the best 10s are in collections for a long time.
Hope this helps
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i can sell u pristine if u want surely those r better than psa 10 i got alot of those as well
i did sell psa 10 blasty for 2300 i think the other day old cert as well
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This you are correct on. This forum does not represent instagram, whatnot, and reddit. Most of the people on E4 are serious collectors who have been collecting for time measured in years to decades, not months. Maybe this sounds elitist, but the average E4 user is more experienced, more informed, and more involved in the hobby than the rest of the ““community”” on these other sites.
We’ve also played this game over and over again. If we listened to the ““community opinion,”” PSA has consistently been getting harsher and harsher since the 4xxx certs back in 2020. And I have the old threads to prove it.
So, what is it? Has PSA consistently been getting harsher on every card since early 2020? Or maybe since 2020 there’s been a fundamental shift in the Pokemon hobby that makes mint cards much harder to find, incentivizes people to grade lower condition copies of high-value set cards, and encourages people to resubmit their PSA 8s/9s in hopes of a 10, thereby increasing the 7/8/9 pop report even more. Does anyone remember anything big that happened in 2020 that might have led to this? I might have to go ask whatnot for their opinion.
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I swear I’m not trying to shitpost but I think this is the “nobody wants to work anymore” of Pokémon
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I voted that my cards were graded more strictly than before, because that has been my small, individual experience this year.
Notice that 45% say cards have been consistent, 34% say that cards are more harshly graded, and 21% say that cards are less harshly graded. To me, that sounds pretty good. Most people should be getting “average” service (i.e., cards were graded similarly to years prior). Some will have worse experiences (34%), while others will have better experiences (21%). At a population level, these things even out.
Yes, some of us got poor luck this year while others had great luck. This is inherent in card grading. Your cards aren’t graded by “PSA,” but by individual graders. There is variability between individual graders and within one grader over time because we are human and grading microscopic damage on trading cards is largely subjective.
Regarding “gatekeeping 10s,” it is probably true that higher-end cards receive increased scrutiny. Anyone with a basic understanding of actuarial science or loss prevention would know that high-risk, high-value assets (i.e., PSA 10 cards with massive premiums) should be treated carefully, as PSA is liable for compensating future buyers under the Grade Guarantee.
Long story short, things may have shifted slightly over time, but I would not call it purposeful or particularly strong at a population level. Individual experiences will vary. Grading companies must be more vigilant for high-risk, high-value cards to prevent loss. PSA hired tons of new graders in the past few years and has multiple locations now. Most Pokemon submissions are for near-perfect modern cards that set unrealistic expectations for vintage cards with factory damage.
All of these factors and more come together to create a messy, somewhat unpredictable individual experience. But at a population level, things look fairly consistent, and that’s what these companies are aiming for when they grade millions of cards per year.
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I voted for “more strict” because I want more 10’s.
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