Hi All,
Any preference in your view of buying the same card in PSA 10 with “Label Type”( PSA hologram printed) or without.
Doesn’t matter overall.
I tend to prefer older cards with no lighthouse label. They seem to be graded more accurately. That’s my personal experience though, based on the few hundred cards that have come through my possession.
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Talking to other collectors there seems to be some value between the different labels but not much. Some collectors are picky and want all there label styles to match. I am sort of in this boat but not obsessively. For example my least favorite label from PSA is their second generation label with PSA at the top red border with the colorless hologram logo on the bottom. I personally think the double “PSA” on the front is cluttered and looks sloppy and for some reason the paper that it was printed on tends to warp compared to the much refiner newer style label paper. The first generation label does not have a PSA hologram but at least the design is simple and clean. There was concern with counterfeit labels and such so I understand the progression to battle against that and also to refresh the look from time to time is a good idea.
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I’m on the same boat, I prefer the newer PSA labels because they don’t become as wavy as the other type. It looks kinda bad when the label is waved, this is also a reason why I prefer the BGS cases.
What I really want to know though is if there was a change in the grading standard from PSA, if it’s easier/harder to obtain a PSA10 today then it was back then.
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The new label is the best label they’ve ever made but after discovering plastic polish my desire to send in old scratched up cases was halted because you can make an old case look brand new again with a little time and effort.
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Visually I prefer the newest label. But I collect cards, not PSA labels 
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Yes, there has been a loosening of grading standards this last several years. I’ve had a huge sample of all to compare.
If I have a choice, considering to me card condition is the only consideration, I’ll always pass on the newer labels. I’ll even pay a premium for the older labels.
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Isn’t the majority of your sampling cards you submitted that were close to, if not, gem quality though? I’ve had a much smaller sampling size but I see no indications that older labels are in better condition. In fact, I find the opposite to be true a lot of the time.
Yes, over the past 25 years I’ve seen a drop off across all grades. It used to be that graders had up to 60 seconds per card. They rarely missed anything. Now they are pressured into doing two in that same amount of time so naturally they are more likely to miss something which we’ve seen all too often lately.
Now there’s exceptions to everything and more often than not they’ll be equal.
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I honestly can’t say I’ve noticed any observable difference. Almost all the PSA cards I own from certs 3.5 mill to 41 mill are respectively around the same grade accuracy.
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