New PSA Case (My Cracking Experience 2025)

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So recently my newest submission came back with some unfortunate PSA 7’s. Out comes the pliers! :hammer:

After getting this newest submission in, something seemed different about the cases. I know there was information that was put out about new designs of PSA cases, but I didn’t think they were going to be noticable at all… Boy was I wrong.

Immediately after handling my cards I noticed the drastic weight of my cases. They felt about x2 heavier than normal. That as well as they felt a lot sturdier…

I noticed them to be slightly off and was wondering if I was just misremembering the case strength. I went downstairs and grabbed a good bit of other slabs I had.

Yup! These new cases are heavier, sturdier, and they make a different noise when staking them, a more clunker noise.

When after noticing the differences, I decided to break open the PSA 7’s I had in the submission by my old method… Welp, it did not behave like normal:

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The whole case just bent like it was normal. No break, no shatter, just BEND.

I thought I would have to take out my Dremel, but I just ended up bending up and down about 10 times each way and pulled a little to break off the edge. Then stuck my nail remover in the slab and started to ply away. The case did end up separating, but it looks a lot of force…

The case doesn’t splinter anymore, but just breaks at it’s weakest points which are the sonically sealed edges.

The flexibility of this new case knows no bounds:

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It bends almost 90° without breaking… Very impressive. You will probably see videos coming in the future of people talking about this new case, but for my overall feelings, I like the extra sturdiness when slabbing a card I really like, but it is extra annoying when cracking a ton of slab. Lots of effort now.

Have you guys received this new slab design?

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I have not but it’s cool to see. I wonder if the difficulty in cracking was an intentional feature design or a byproduct

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That is interesting, were all your returns this case design? I say that because this slab is not the tcg “21” version but “1LR” which I believe is for sports cards.

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You don’t take sharp needle-nose or side cutters and crack first, but just bend it with those locking grip pliers?

Would probably work just as well as in the past with cutter pliers — crack the plastic at the same angle you do, then yank and it should come off, but would definitely suck if that became much harder. I’ve always taken needle nose and “cut” crack it first, then yank the cracked joint off, then continue with the flathead.

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I’m curious too. I just compared a 106xxx…cert to my older ones and the weight/feel is the same. Maybe they implemented the case design after my most recent submission. Interesting nonetheless

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Plenty now to be honest:

Also posted a video showing how to crack them with tile nippers:

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I dislike cracking the new slabs too. The material feels gummier and pliable, which makes for a very difficult job. But if you’re not cracking, I have no complaints.

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I have found the best way personally is to chisel the border off of it…

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I enjoy the new case. For cracking I use these tile cutters I got at home depot. They snip corners well, but as a warning they can shoot plastic everywhere when used.

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I use the tile cutters and trim the outside perimeter then pull the two halves apart, works every time

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