100% agree. It’s nice to have that gem mint for specific cards you really enjoy, but yeah, I’d feel so much more uninvested with the hobby if I was a perfectionist. I think it would just stress me out too much.
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This is actually a weird opinion I do hold. There’s just something that’s aesthetically very unappealing about “NM-MT” on the label.
Tbh, in 99% of cases I’d rather just get a raw card if I can’t afford a 9.
But, in some fantasy scenario where I was being gifted one of two identical condition cards that had been graded differently, (and not allowed to crack or sell), I’d take the PSA 7 over the 8.
Welcome to the fourum!
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I thought about buying 7s for cracking to get nice NM binder copies but the first one I bought was really bad. Neo Genesis Heracross holo and it was so, so scratched…long ugly scratches too and not print lines. Plus a scuffed patch.
Rest of the card was pretty much perfect but even so, I didn’t think the card should have had the 7 classification of NM for that amount of scuffing.
Obviously I AM aware of how notorious Heracross is to grade highly but this was too much even for my binder. Ended up just flipping it back on ebay for a little less than I paid just to get rid of it.
Now I don’t have experience actually grading cards so I don’t know what the difference between a 7 and an 8 would have been.
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My recommendation is to buy the card, not the grade. If the card looks like what you want or expect, buy it. PSA 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s can look shockingly similar, and I would take advantage of that grade variability if you’re on a budget.
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Some PSA 10s are bad quality. Instead of a PSA 10 with a mediocre surface, I’d rather have a PSA 9 with a perfect surface and maybe a borked corner.
Some PSA 9s are bad quality. Instead of a PSA 9 with a dozen surface scratches, I’d rather have a PSA 8 with 1-2 scratches and 4 white corners.
Etc.
Same story for having a good CGC “X” over a bad PSA “X”
I generally prefer 8s, especially WOTC era holos. But, 7s can be a tremendous value at times and in some cases can be better than expected condition depending on how fussy you are. I feel most people don’t pay as much attention to them over 8s and 9s. They can make solid binder copies almost every time as well, which is what I’ve mainly purchased them for over the years. On re-grades, in some cases I’ve seen them become PSA 8 or even BGS 9.
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A lot of wotc PSA 8-9-10 grades are more or less the same level of condition… grading arbitrage is a real positive/negative feature of the hobby.
PSA 7s are usually superb binder cards and are great value options, especially for big hitters.
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