Yes! That photo was just taken. Ill take any excuse to break out my cards and look at them 
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Buy the hype, not the card.
SocialMediaPrattecharizardballer69ScuMbagPratte
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10s are more for appropriate for people that prefer the challenge and chase of cardboard hunting. They’re also for people that prefer a narrower range of errors across their cards and more stringent uniformity in their collections.
If you’re just looking for pack-fresh cards in PSA slabs, you can search for strong 8s and get by most of the time.
To some degree, I agree with the notion - Buy the card (Eye Appeal), not the grade. It’s just convenient and less stressful. Do you want good centerings and very minor flaw(s) on cards that are not easily or nearly visible, plus protection and authenticity? Easy answer. Choose choose PSA 9s or in some case (strong 8s). Plenty of em out there. Affordable as well.
To me I normally check the prices of the individual card, and if the psa 10 is less than double the price of the 9 to me it’s a no brainer, unless it starts to get into the hundreds $ difference - for example a psa 9 1st edition holo goldbat is around 30-50 AUD but you can get a PSA 10 variant for 60-100 AUD. I feel I’d be far more satisfied paying $30 more for the best of the best grade, then pay very little less and receive a lesser card. Or if I love the card enough I’d buy a PSA 10 no matter the difference, like my crystal Lugia.
I totally agree with this. When I buy graded cards I go for the 9 most of the time. If I find a 10 for a great price, as you said, I’ll probably pick it up. And when I grade myself of course I hope to get as many 10s as possible, but I’ll keep the possible 9s and even 8s in my collection. 9s and 10s are sometimes very close and a card being a tiny bit off center or having a tiny bit of whitening on corners doesn’t take the appeal away from me.
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Just the fact your asking the question bodes well for you, and the likelihood you’ll make a good decision.
I’d add one more thought to all the great answers above. Don’t make a decision based only on what’s best for you today. Take the future into account too. What might you prefer you’d done 5 years from now?
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Im a buyer of 9s unless the 10 is affordable or its a real special card.If I grade a 10 then I’m keeping that bad boy.
I didn’t choose the cheapskate life, it choose me.
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Can I grade hype though??? 
9s go to the collection, 10s get sold. To some, that very minor difference is worth it. But I’ve seen some 10s that should not have been 10s so I stick with my 9s and avoid that 200-1,000% price difference.
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Personally I could get to say that more than half of any psa 10 is actually a 9.5 and nothing more is the difference is thin compared to 9. The very clean psa 10 or pristine bgs are really rare indeed unique if not on certain even non-existent cards . The difference is light years and the price is rightly 10 times higher than a 10 and infinitely higher than 9. Even a pristine rattata looking at you say “wow is beautiful”. Of course on certain cards it is like finding the sagro graal.
xzini joins the battle @pkmnflyingmaster :pikaemoji:
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My personal preference is the following:
old english: psa 9
modern english (XY+): psa 10
Japanese: psa 10
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I usually prefer to buy the 9’s personally since they are 40-75% cheaper then the 10s. The one extra white spot etc doesnt bother me on the 9s. Just make sure you look at the card you are buying, and not just the grade!
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I have had multiple PSA 9’s of each wotc card pass through my hands and I keep the very best examples of each. I fairly often sell 10’s that upon close inspection don’t appear any cleaner than my 9’s and even when they do it’s usually a back defect that makes the distinction. It’s always been a no brainer for me as long as you are looking for quality in your 9’s that you are happy with that is all that matters.
I’ve always thought there was way too much overlap between PSA grades to justify the price difference especially between “weak 10’s” and “strong 9’s”.
I personally collect 9s. So many people put 10’s on such a pedestal, its the same card people.
For people that buy and sell cards for a living I can see why they put such an importance on grade, but if you are collecting just for the sake of it a PSA 8 or 9 is still a near mint card. what more do you need?
This is it right here. If you want the card in pack fresh condition, a 9 is ideal.
If you want to go for the highest tier version of the card and add that extra layer of rarity - 10 is where it’s at.
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I like a mix of 9’s and 10’s. I love my 9’s, but I have to admit the 10’s are special, especially the strong examples.
My PSA collection is on the smaller side, and in the long view I see myself buying mostly 9’s for money’s sake.
I think there’s a bit more to it than just rarity. Plenty of cards have far more PSA 10s than 9s, 1st ed Shining Charizard is one I can recall right now. But I agree with the general sentiment of this post that theres an extra level of challenge or difficulty in finding a 10 copy, be it in scarcity or price.
@pkmnflyingmaster , I’ll clarify what I meant in terms of rarity. It’s not about comparing the PSA 9 and 10 pop, but comparing the pop below.
For the 1st edition shining Charizard example:
PSA 10 is in the top 175/417, or the top 42% of PSA graded examples
PSA 9 is in the top 328/417, or the top 79% of PSA graded examples (sum of PSA 9 and 10 pop)
PSA 8 is in the top 361/417, or the top 87% of PSA graded examples (sum of PSA 8, 9 and 10 pop)
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