Hello,
I have a couple Pokemon For Position Only and Match Print cards and I was wondering if PSA still either grade or authenticate them at all, if not, does anyone know the reason why?
Thanks
PSA do not grade either but they will add custom encapsulation for those cards. They don’t grade them simply because their authenticity is questionable and they were never intended to be released by TPCi (although that’s a bit of a lousy excuse as we see Sample cards still being graded).
Somewhat off topic: PM me if you have a Pichu Matchprint card and would be interested in parting ways with it.
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Thank you for the reply!
I’ve never dealt with PSA before, but i was looking at getting a bunch of my cards graded/ encapsulated, which leads onto my next question;
Does this forum offer any reputable PSA middle men?
Also to answer your question, I don’t have the Pichu Matchprint card unfortunately.
I don’t think they will even custom encapsulate the FPO cards anymore but you could email them to find out.
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www.ludkinscollectables.com/psa-grading
@churlocker on here
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PSA will no longer accept FPO cards, even for custom encapsulation.
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PSA logic: if you make a card in your basement we’ll do a custom encapsulation for it, but not FPO cards!
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They don’t want to cause confusion. Unfortunately, their brand is generically associated with authentication. No one is going to think your kid’s baseball card is actually from Topps. But for FPOs, it is a legitimate concern.
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These high 5-figure cards are pretty much 99.69% extras and I was surprised it was first graded by PSA.
I don’t see the point of offering custom encapsulation then to be honest.
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I mean, their website description seems fair.
Birth announcements, wedding invitations, and youth sports cards are all special items to a lot of people. And they’re things that degrade with time, usually. 
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I get why they do it and its value, I just don’t like the idea of offering an explicitly non-authenticated service and then arbitrarily rejecting certain cards because of “controversy.”
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Very good argument here.
That’s a bummer, but thank you for the info.
But it is by definition not arbitrary.
Can disagree with it, but it is a perfectly logical decision.
My argument was more that “controversy” is arbitrary. There’s nothing quantifiable that PSA can point to and say that it’s why they aren’t custom encapsulating those cards. It’s logical that they want to avoid all risk, but I personally disagree with the decision.
I suppose I would be happier if PSA rejected all mainstream trading cards from the custom encapsulation service. That would make much more sense to me.
I think they already do. The FPO cards’ custom encapsulation was done so as an apology for a mistake on their end. I’m not sure how/why the matchprint cards were done, but they were all encapsulated by the same person so maybe he knows.
With the custom encapsulation, could I cover a pokemon card in white out on both sides so its indistinguishable but still the right size, draw my own picture on one or both wides and then have then encapsulate it? Doesn’t have to be white out, but just something to completely cover the surface.
They won’t for the same reason they don’t encapsulate other “custom” (and otherwise fake) cards. It’s literally intended for the three items they mentioned; personal milestones and youth sports photo cards (like the ones they make for the little leagues so feel like they have their own “real” baseball card, I had one when I was younger too).
I was told by a PSA employee on the phone that they don’t want to put liscenced products like Pokemon cards in a green label. That was maybe a year or year and a half ago. Since then, I can’t think of an example where they have custom encapsulated a card.
So I guess that is their general policy but we all know that sometimes things can slip through I guess