I’ve recently adjusted my goals to fit my budget and create a cute displayable collection in my room!
I’m trying to keep this collection affordable generally but luckily each card I want is between $10-40 PSA graded. In moments like this, would you go for PSA 10 or any graded card that’s affordable?
Not really for some cards. I’ll buy a strong 8 if the price is right.
PSA 10 is too expensive for minimal gain, so I go exclusively for PSA 9s. The number matters to me, I need them to all be uniform 
If I grade cards on my own and get a PSA 10 then I sell the card and get a PSA 9 + whatever else with the extra money.
Congrats, it’ll feel good seeing them all together!
I have a Snorunt collection that’s mostly PSA 10s and some PSA 9s. Right now I’m content with getting 9s but ideally I would like to get all 10s as an end goal.
I agree with this. I have a PSA 7 rev holo DPP era card though because realistically who knows if I’ll ever see a 9 or 10 of a card that’s not highly sought out with a tiny (if any) pop.
It’s obviously all up to preference but there’s just something monkey brain that likes seeing all of the same numbers. So I guess for me, yeah, the number does matter.
For mine, I am going to all 10s on cards that are attainable. There are just some cards that are either so rare/expensive that the grade doesn’t matter. Or some cards that there are no 10s of. I will keep hunting for 10 candidates, but until I luck into one, I am happy with the 8-9s that I have of those cards.
I’m going for all 10s, because that challenge sounds ridiculous and I like the idea of having a goal I honestly may never complete.
The good thing is that everyone is different so it’s completely up to you. That being said, if the aim is a mix of affordability & card condition then PSA 9s seem like they fit the bill for you (depending on the species of course)! There’s no right or wrong answer, as long as you’re enjoying the journey you choose.
I think English vintage and mid-era PSA 10s are overpriced for what they are, so I tend to get PSA 9s. For very specific English cards that I love and for vintage Japanese cards, I will buy the 10. But the majority of my English species collections are in PSA 9.
If the cards are relatively cheap though, PSA 10 would be fine.
Same. I collect PSA 9s except on the rare occasion I buy something modern.
I’ve been thinking lately about upgrading some of my PSA 9 sets to 10s but I just can’t bring myself to pay the massive increase in price when it comes to WOTC/vintage. I usually end up chickening out.
I collect salamence 10s but theres nothing crazy out of reach to collect. Im toying with the idea of a bulbasaur collection starting january also and ill just aim for 9+, and be happy to even have damaged copies of certain cards - print(“hello snapbulba”)
I only aim for mint so 9 or higher for the raichus. I was doing quite well but the final 15 or so are now becoming a total bore when they are nothing cards that no one cared about.
Like my Mr Stone’s Project from EX Dragon Frontiers, it’s one of the oldest cards I still need for the set, I sent 3 in for grading and only got 2 at 8.5 (mean) and 1 that they say was altered, not by me anyway.
You’re telling me. Almost two years later I’m still chipping away at my PSA 9 English Gyarados Master Set and the last 20 cards or so have been tedious. I’ve ended up having to grade a lot of them myself because they’re not popular/valuable cards and have almost nonexistent pops because, well, they’re not worth grading unless you’re doing a master set.
I’ve been at this two years and I’m at like 94% so I’m determined to finish what I started, but if I had to do it over again I wouldn’t have done this. Or would’ve stuck to just WOTC Gyarados and done PSA 10s.
Haha I wish I’d asked here for advice before starting because I’m probably saying the same thing now. I’m going to keep trying but I really don’t see where I’ll get at least 4 of the cards. Two are cosmos holo blister only where the card rattled about in the blister and get damaged easily and two are just cards no one cared enough about to grade.
I had high hopes for that last sub so I’m a bit down about my chances now. I’ve got a PSA one that’ll be finished soon and if that comes back with bad news then I’ll need to have a think and considering doing 8+ rather than 9+ so I can get it done.
People dont seem to realise how difficult ex dragon frontiers (especially 1st ediition jp) can be to a species collector who only wants 10s hehe
There really isn’t a Lopunny that is rare or hard to get outside really specific language variants. Even a PSA 10 Lopunny is a junk slab, so might as well get the best junk I can. I wouldn’t buy a PSA 9 unless it was like $7 or less
I’m in the same boat. A few of these I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to find, or get in a high grade.
Seems like 9-10 is most of peoples preference. I’m in a similar situation to you @pfm . I think I’ll go for the 10 and adjust for some of the rare cards