IMO 85% of the time PSA are +/- 0.5 and 95% of the time they get within 1.5 grades as they always have. They’re not getting better or worse; they just are what they are, always have been, and always will be.
Buy cards you enjoy and don’t worry so much about their opinion especially if you think yours is better. You know what you like.
The 10 rate was generally good but I was also opening up packs directly from boxes which is no longer cost effective and provides much more consistent condition. I remember opening up a few 1st edition jungle boxes only to get a small handful of 10’s on the Holos but received much better grades on the 1st edition base stuff I graded around 2013.
It does make you wonder with the new modern product being so damn perfect, does that hurt the opinion of an older card? I guess it would not, but it can make some some error stand out more, like a white dot on a corner or silvering. I would say that this would deem a card as a PSA 9 anyway, but just the overall look of a vintage card compared to a modern one does not appear to be as clean, so that might sway an opinion. I’m going to submit an order soon and some are damn near flawless, so I hope I do not get all 9’s.
If you grade 10’s all day, then suddenly have a submission with vintage cards in front of you though, wont that possibly hurt your opinion? Will you look over centering with a higher level of scrutiny after grading so much flawless modern product? This is entirely speculative of course and it won’t stop me from grading. I guess you just need to stop worrying and have fun with it.
Just got back a card. Person selling it said it was an 8 with strong 9 potential. I got it in hand, was a bit disappointed. Light scratching was present on the holofoil, I thought it would be a 7 with an extremely slim chance of pulling the 8. Charlie gave it a 7 in his assessment. Came back a 9. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yea that happens. I also got back cards that graded up from Charlie’s assessment too, so all the worrying can really be for nothing. No point crying over milk that has not been poured yet.