how many would you say are in bulk im just curious on people opinions
I have no idea, but I would guess it’s a relatively high percentage of the total distribution.
It is bizarre that thousands of people are getting a pristine, sealed card sent to them in the mail, and then they are sending it in to be graded.
I thought the whole point of grading (well, aside from slabbing to preserve the condition) was to verify condition in order to ascertain value, because after years of exposure to whatever may befall it, there will be some variance in quality of the rare item at hand. Well, the condition is essentially verified as soon as you receive this card–it’s sealed! And the card just came out a few months ago–it isn’t rare, and the seal isn’t collecting dust or dirt or grime. What is there to verify exactly?
It all seems like such a silly game we’re playing.
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do you know how long these were distributed for? I cant seem to get an exact number
Well it’s currently grading less than 14% 10 and is decreasing every week so it seems relatively tough to grade. It’s not like we’re talking mega charizard here.
It makes it easier to sell to someone who wants an especially nice copy and does protect it from the dust dirt and grime you’re talking about better than any other method.
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This is 2021 PSA we’re talking about.
Honestly, a pretty terrible take.
Not everything straight from sealed is PSA 10 condition, and that little plastic wrapping isn’t going to do anything to keep it from getting damaged. As you already said, people want to preserve the condition of the card since it’s one of the very few English exclusive promos, with a cool art/story, and includes Pikachu.
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It pretty much is. And honestly, who really cares if there is a small white chip that you need to be six inches away to see or 61/39 centering? Is this really a critical factor to the aesthetic or happiness value that the card can bring to the owner?
I mean ultimately, that’s why we do all this, right? Those who collect the cards collect them because they bring them some sort of meaning or joy, and those who sell the cards sell them to make money from those people who collect them because they bring them meaning or joy. Is this essentially unnoticeable aesthetic factor worth spending the money to grade the card and put it in a slab with a big company logo slapped upon it, and if you’re the buyer its worth the exorbitant graded premium? This isn’t even a rare item if we’re going to use that justification–by the time the grading company backlog is completed there will be thousands of this card in “10” and “9” and whatever other pristine denomination of condition.
For sellers, it make sense to grade a card if someone is going to pay more for a graded card. But who are these someones paying for the graded card? Well, they’re either another seller who is look to sell the card down the line to a collector who wants the card for the meaning or joy it will bring them, or it is the collector themself who wants the card for the meaning or joy it will bring them.
So let’s get in the head of these collectors, since they are ultimately what should be the driving force of the entire market of this card. The card in the original seal is in essentially pristine condition. Any flaw with the card is going to be infinitesimally small–centering ever so slight off, a teensy weensy white chip in a corner–that’d be about the worst of it. So why even desire the graded copy? You already have the condition pretty much certified right there–its sealed, and it came out only a few months ago! If you are looking at it in-person, there would be no mistaking that the card is in mint condition. The motivation to grade the card might be because you want it protected in a slab–I can understand that, but even then there are ways to do that without paying $20-$XXX to a company and without getting their logo slapped on it like a brand-name clothing store. Other than that, why grade the card if you are a collector? You can see for yourself the condition is plainly obvious. Does the collector have some sort of OCD where that dinky white chip or 61/39 centering is driving them insane? Okay, well then I guess it can’t hurt for them to get a graded 10 copy to ease their worries. But wait–that grade is just a reflection of one (maybe two?) grader’s opinion, and they’re just some guy who probably is making barely above minimum wage, spending maybe a few minutes at most looking at the thing. They could easily end up slapping a 10 on something that has a centering or whitening issue, or throw a 9 on a flawless card–we’ve all seen plenty of this lately going both ways.
So again, what is the motivation of the collector here to get a graded copy of this card? They should be the driving force–not PSA, not The Pokemon Company, and not the sellers. Theoretically, it must be the collector who defines the market as they are the end-recipient of the product. And the collector wants the card because it brings them meaning and/or joy, and odds are that condition factors into that meaning and/or joy. So why is grading necessary for a card that comes sealed in pristine condition? Well, I can find five (plus one) justifications for grading Special Delivery Pikachu:
- You’re a seller who wants to get the most money out of the card possible, and it appears that grading the card will allow you to achieve that, and you are willing to pay money for this service.
- You are a collector with OCD and that miniscule white chip or tiny scratch or 61/39 centering really bothers you, and so you must have a graded 10 copy, AND you completely trust the nigh-minimum wage worker to accurately assess that the card is indeed a flawless 10, and you are willing to pay money for this service.
- You are a seller OR collector who wants the card to be authenticated by a professional company to assure you that it is real (but I don’t think that’s really a concern for this card at this point), and you trust that this company can accurately assess that, and you are willing to pay money for that service.
- You want the card in a slab to protect it and are willing to pay a professional company money for that service.
- You want the card in the company’s slab because you like that particular aesthetic and are willing to pay money for this service.
Sure, five is a good amount of reasons. But for the collectors–the driving force–who are buying these graded copies, does their justification fall into any one of those five categories? I don’t think it does. I can only think of one more justification: a graded copy of a card provides greater veracity of the condition of a card beyond what pictures on the internet can provide.
Basically, what I am trying to say is this: Most collectors buying graded copies of Special Delivery Pikachu do not have a solid justification for doing so. The market for these graded copies has only reached the level that it has for one or two reasons: (1) Sellers are selling to flippers who are selling to investors who will be selling to whoever in X amount of years, and/or (2) Collectors as a whole have a mostly irrational desire to want a graded copy of this card.
And frankly, even though the argument I’m making is much easier to make for Special Delivery Pikachu than any other card, I think the same can apply to just about any other Pokemon card. The only justifications I can think of for wanting a graded card are the 5+1 justifications I listed above, but I honestly don’t believe that many if not most collectors have any of those justifications for purchasing graded cards. I think it is an irrational desire because they have been captured by the insanity of the moment, in which it is currently “cool” to have graded cards and they want to be “in”.
But then again, perhaps that is a justification on its own.
(Probably should’ve posted this in the Unpopular Opinions thread lol.)
Neither am I a fan of the SD Pika nor of the often irrational premiums for PSA 10s, but arguing about whether or not a collector likes an item for the “right” reasons (by your standards) is pretty damn pointless and patronizing.
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I gave many justifiable reasons for why one would collect a graded copy of this card. I don’t think its pointless or patronizing to decipher the justifications for grading / buying a graded copy of this card–I think its important for analyzing why the market is the way it is, and if you’re a prospective buyer of the card its important to think of why you want it.
I gave six total justifications, and I believe many of our fellow collectors fall into the sixth one of simply being caught up in the moment and thus causing an impermanent demand. To some degree, every single person is illogical and cannot fully tap into and understand their subconscious desires–but by improving one’s ability to do so and acting in accordance to it, we become more mentally healthy people with feelings of greater fulfillment.
I don’t want a bunch of people buying grading cards for hundreds or thousands of dollars then looking at them a year or two later and saying “What the heck was I thinking?” I love and care for all people and want all people to have happy, fulfilling lives. By speaking up about the origins and true nature of one’s desires–even regarding expensive cardboard–I believe I am contributing toward people making better choices and not having regrets.
I’ve made plenty of choices in my life that I regret. Of course I moved past them and learned from them. But some of these decisions were so crucial and impactful that I could have had a better life right now if I had acted differently. I wish someone then had spoken to me about why I was doing what I was doing and helping me to make better choices. That someone wouldn’t be doing something pointless or patronizing–they would be doing a caring and considerate act.
I got four and honestly I would deem all four as PSA 8 just from the amount of scratching alone.
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I also got several and sold them all raw when they were going for ~250 as none of them were a 10 even while sealed, between print lines and small chipping on the back. I also know someone whose copy came bent as the packaging was not the best.
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I probably received around 30 of these from the Pokemon Center. I sent 4 to PSA for grading. The other 26 I sold sealed because I didn’t feel they would grade higher than 8.
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Regardless of what people think about the card and it’s prices. It is an undeniable fact that for various reasons, the card has a low chance of becoming a PSA 10 and people have been noticing that. That could be poor handling or the fact that they just threw it in a loose box with other various items. That is why the PSA 10 demands a premium over the other grades and ungraded.
Plus an English exclusive release is pretty cool.
The card has not been out long enough for them to even be coming back from PSA at a steady peace. Way to early to say low chance of PSA 10
but is it not also true that the rate right now should roughly stay the same? 2500 cards have been graded already which isn’t a small number, if we don’t assume anything else like people sending in strong psa 10 contenders through express (which is a possibility) and factors like that, then the distribution curve should look the same with 2500 cards as it does with 10,000 cards. the only difference is that with 10,000 cards ( or any arbitrary number) is that the percentage of grades occurring is more accurate. I doubt if 10,000 more cards are graded the percentage of a PSA 10 won’t change by more than 2%. and While granted while 1400 PSA 10’s is a lot, if that population only makes up 14% of the total pop then that should still demand some sort of premium over the other grades. Another example of this theory is base set unlimited Charizard. Who knows how many are at the PSA funnel right now and we could see over 40,000 graded by the end of this. However, last year and for the past 5 years the chance of getting a PSA 10 of this card was roughly 2%. Over the past year the card has been graded 10,000 times yet the grade distribution has remained the same. I believe the same concept applies here with the SD Pikachu. Purely looking at the numbers, I believe the distributions will stay the same.
Now on a purely opinionated note, I think there is a chance that people who knew the card would be valuable early on sent in their strongest PSA 10 contenders through a higher tier at PSA. As some people in the forum said earlier, they would get over a dozen and maybe 1 or 2 looked better than a PSA 8. The same thought process could have occurred for everyone else submitting a PSA 10. While this is purely skepticism, the falling PSA 10 percentage every week could lend some merit to this theory. But like I said this is all an opinion and maybe you’re right and someone sent 500 PSA 10 contenders to PSA through bulk. But who knows!
sorry if my grammar is bad I kind of just typed without proof reading!
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Time for the new weekly update!!! let me know what y’all think. How about those prices this week what’s the deal with that??? Is the card finally bouncing back or is this just a phase? psa 10 going up in price and lowering in pop % and availability. psa 9 on the other hand is becoming even more abundant and has dipped under the $200 mark finally. General thoughts?
5/31/21 Update
POP.
PSA 9- 1,851 (68.99%) +32
PSA 10- 363 (13.53%) +4
Total POP- 2,683
eBay Data.
PSA 10
Most Recent Sale: $1,200 (5/30/21)
Lowest Currently listed: $1150
PSA 9
Most Recent Sale: $193.50 (5/30/21)
Lowest Current listed: $219
;o
Changes have been made Mr.Admiral I’d hate to bait people to ebay just to be disappointed
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6/6/21 Update. Lets see how our favorite mail carrier is doing this week.
POP.
PSA 9- 1,886 (68.96%) +35
PSA 10- 372 (13.6%) +9
Total POP- 2,735
eBay Data.
PSA 10
Most Recent Sale: $1,100 *best offer* (6/3/21)
Lowest Currently listed: $1150
PSA 9
Most Recent Sale: $185 (6/3/21)
Lowest Current listed: $234