Signature Grading options Help/Opinions needed

Grading
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I am looking to send away my Arita signed cards to PSA via Ludkins Collectables and wanted to hear peoples opinions on what service I should use.

The default service they offer for signed cards is the Authentication service only.

I am contemplating whether to use this service or upgrade and get the signature authentication and also the cards graded, however this will add a additional cost.

What are peoples thoughts, is it really important to have the grade on a signed card? I think that the cards in question are likely to achieve between a PSA 7-10 grade if I chose that option.

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I’d say go for it. It’s only money;)

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I’d say go with the card grade option. I like that one better :blush:

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Do you plan on grading more autos in the future? If this is a one time kind of thing then you might as well get all the bang for whatever the buck is, it cant be much more then the standard option can it?

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Are you aware if you submit yourself directly to PSA the cost is the same whether you only grade the signature, card or both? In my opinion it’s worth it to have a numerical grade for both.

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@garyis2000, I thought you might say something like that Gary :wink: however my pokemon money pot is a little low at the moment haha

@mikejofthecoast, Yeh I see what you mean! It might be a one off as I would prefer to get my own cards signed in person so it may not happen again if the opportunity does not arise. Probably is better to go for it this time, I am just clarifying the cost now with them.

@pikazard23, Good to know! But I dont think I will be using PSA enough to justify a account at the moment, maybe in the future! Also being in the UK I like using a 3rd party so all I have to do is send it to them and they sort the rest so I dont need to worry about customs etc.

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What kind of cards are we talking here? I’d personally just grade 9-10 worthy cards or high value ones.

If the signature is worth more than the card, the grade really doesn’t matter at all.

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I just sent 8 cards from Arita when I went to Ocala. I opted for just the authentication since these will never go up for sale. However in the future I plan to opt for the graded option.

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Base set charizards and the anniversary reprints and possibly the jungle cubone.

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Aw I wish he drew a little Cubone. Lol Well since they’re all personalized and addressed to you I don’t think it matters at all which way you go. Choose what you prefer.

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Same!! I really wanted one but he was only allowed to do a sketch for the sponsored signing (1 card per person) the signing at his booth was signature only no sketches. Also everyone’s cards had to be addressed to them personally. I didn’t see this before so maybe it’s something new he’s chosen to do in order to try and stop people abusing the signings for a profit?

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Hmm…I have to say…the cards in my opinion are cards that you’re planning to keep permanently right? Frankly, I would not even grade them unless I plan on selling the cards myself, especially if I’m trying to save some pokedollars :wink: Reason being is that the name is on the card, you literally saw him sign it yourself, and if you’re planning to keep it for yourself why not just get a nice plastic case so that the card on display looks better (that’s my opinion though, I’m not a big fan of PSA cases for display purposes). However, if I must grade the card and get it PSA certified, I would go for both options. I think it’ll be better for selling purposes (if you choose to in the future), and usually a pure authentication grade from my experience is when a card is beat up and damaged, whereas your cards look very clean.

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Yes I am planning to keep them in my collection potentially forever or at least for a good amount of time, I know some will never leave my collection for sure. I have decided to send in the four charizards to PSA but I didn’t want to send in the jungle cards as I wanted to keep them in my childhood binder set, I couldn’t bring myself to break that up!

Because the minimum order through Ludkins UK is 5 cards for the authentication and signature service, it looks like they may just go purely for authentication/encapsulation after all. I have asked if anyone else has sent any cards for the authentication and signature service and if mine can be submitted together with theirs to make up the numbers, hopefully its possible to get the grades too. If not no big deal Ill just be happy to have some Arita signed cards encapsulated :grin:

Ditto out of curiosity what display cases do you use if your not using PSA?

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That’s alright, just do what you feel best :blush:

For cards I know I won’t let go, I just put them in casual ultra pro cases like this:

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