I recently got a batch of around 20ish WOTC cards back from PSA (yea shinings and crystals that i collected a couple of years ago before this grading trend started haha) and it turns out the cards I thought looked really good all came back as 9-10. (beyond those that have obvious scratches on holos etc that came back as 6-8)
1 question came to my mind - before sending these cards over I took the chance to scrutinize them and now that they are back - i realize the difference between a 9 and a 10 can sometimes be crazy hard to spot. Judging from the forever-existent price difference between a 9 and 10 - I start to wonder if there are people like me who do not aim for 10s but go for 9s? I am strictly doing this for collection and to me - graded cards at 9 (even if they go to as low as 7) are already very appealing!
This is definitely a case of subjectivity but I would love to hear from more collectors/sellers regarding this!
*disclaimer* I do not discriminate against any other grades! I stand by the belief that a card is a card and no matter the condition, as long as you see value in owning and it makes you happy - its good
If you are sending to PSA I would expect everyone to hope for a 10, unless of course the cards really wouldnt.
If you are a 9 collector, and get a 10âŚyou can sell that 10 and buy several 9s for your collection. There are plenty of 9 collectors as certain sets just cost too much for 10s.
I think everyone hopes for a 10, but they may be a 9 collector. If that makes sense? Im sure people send cards off and hope for a 10 9 8 7 etc but we all want a 10 to come back aha! If you check youtube submissions to psa some do hope for a 9 from a strong 8 candidate and so on and I guess it is possible to hope for 9s aswell due to the huge price differences, as you stated.
10âS will always be the dreamâŚeven if shooting for a 9âŚif a 10 comes backâŚoh boy
Amen to that. I just canât justify it. If I had millions to throw at Pokemon it probably wouldnât matter, but there are cases where you can legit buy 10+ PSA 9 cards for the price of a 10. Youâll probably end up with 1-2 10 worthy cards in the process as well.
Sometimes the difference is quite noticeable, but it is very subtle. Other times, I just donât see it. Itâs really subjective, but at the end of the day some people are really picky and have been spoiled with Mint cards for so many years they wonât touch anything that doesnât have a 10 printed on the label.
That will change eventually. Some sets are already near impossible to complete in PSA 10 anyway.
This Strong 9 vs Weak 10 is such an argument that pisses me off.
A PSA 9 hits all the boxes but not the box that qualifies it as a 10. A 10, no matter what if someone sees it as a weak or strong one, does tick all the boxes to be a 10. If this was really a thing we, the collectors, should make a stand and demand PSA is going to extend itâs grading system into a half grade thus giving Gem MT 9.5 totally eliminating the strong 9 vs weak 10 decision.
Also, I have yet to see the majority of people sending back their âstrongâ PSA9âs to PSA to be regraded, they either crack or resell as 9. This sending back to regrade would signal PSA that they are making mistakes. Yet this will not eliminate the fact that there are PSA10âs out there that shouldnât be any, but nobody is going to regrade a weak 10, because a 10 is a 10.
No personal attack towards you, but people questioning the grade is something that annoys me greatly. If you going to question the grade, stop grading and grow up.[EDIT]
And indeed, I agree; always sell the 10âs it keeps your cashflow and collection healthy!
I think this is a very negative and unproductive view on a process that is inherently subjective. Collecting is a very personal behavior, so perception of condition is really more important than whether or not the card alignâs with PSAâs subjective grading scale.
I get the point and yes I see myself that there are weak 10âs out there and 9âs of which I question why they arenât 10âs. But we cannot do anything about this because PSA is just missing the 0.5 scale. The strong 9âs should be 9.5s like weak 10âs. In the end it is your personal decision to keep the 9, the 10, both or neither. But questioning the grade giving by PSA after two trained proffesionals have given it a grade that is in line with all pre-set parameters is something that annoys me in general.
In my experience people buy the grade, not the card. I am guilty of this too, something about perfection is very alluring. Looking at my Pokemon card display I have about equal 10s to 9s. mint is mint.
In my opinion the 9 and 10 discussion is a bit misleading. To me it all depends on the availability of a certain card.
To give you an extreme example, thereâs only a single PSA 10 illustrator in the world. If all of a sudden we had five PSA 6 illustrators showing up in the pop report and they went on sale, people would still buy them. Not because they are happy to have PSA 6s, but because those would be the only available copies in the market.
Another great example which is a bit less extreme is the vending machine series which, as Scott explained in one of his vidoes, is hard to get a 10 on, because the grip of the actual machine slightly creased the corners of the cards, so even if I would like a 10, and even if I can afford a 10, if none is available I will have to settle for the 9 or 8 to complete my collection.
I have to admit I am slightly OCD on grading, and would prefer to either have a full set of 10s or a full set of 9s, rather than a mix of both, so if I know availability is scarce, I will not chase the only 2 or 3 existing PSA 10 cards from a set, as I already know all the other cards I want will only be available as 9s.
Now for newer cards I do not buy anything under 10, but again, I do so because I know they are readily available and also at their lowest price point in history. From both a financial and a collectorâs perspective it is realistic for me to go after PSA 10s on most cards printed after 2006.
Then again, I believe âmodernâ, mass printed PSA graded cards are incredibly cheap at the moment, even though they are not likely to rise in value anytime soon as the market is currently flooded with them, so a great time to complete those PSA 10 collections.
Im sure people send cards off and hope for a 10 9 8 7 etc but we all want a 10 to come back aha! If you check youtube submissions to psa some do hope for a 9 from a strong 8 candidate and so on and I guess it is possible to hope for 9s aswell due to the huge price differences, as you stated.
