I wonder if the people that care about having 4xxx certs are newer collectors?
Do they own a older cert number or have they graded cards themselves back in the 2xxx era or before then? Because I feel that most collectors that have been around for a while and have experience of owning and grading cards pre the 4xxx cert know that PSA have been on the whole pretty consistent with their grading standards.
You can always point to a few copies in any era where perhaps the grader had a bad day but that certainly doesn’t define a entire wave of cert numbers as invalid or poorly graded.
This kind of thing is so frustrating! Sorry to hear about this Scott!
You’ll miss out on a lot of opportunities if you pay any attention at all to:
Cert numbers
Or
PSA label designs
Any accomplished, veteran collector will just shake their head and giggle under their breath while they watch the ignorant novices (not meant as an insult) scurry around paying attention to anything outside the 4 corners of the card. Then they’ll take full advantage of the opportunity it presents,
Ive had it both ways this week. One wanted the lesser condition smaller security foil and another want the bigger foil but lesser condition card. I happily obliged both.
Is it just me or does this buyer almost make it sound like it’s your fault that he purchased your card because you set a minimum threshold for auto accepting offers?
Isn’t this getting pretty ridiculous? I mean look at what we are discussing here…cert #’s lol.
This hobby is great don’t get me wrong. It just feels like the enjoyment part of it is being counteracted with the technicalities within the grading spectrum…
And I thought the sports cards side had issues lol
I agree that, if one cares about the actual condition of the card inside the case, one shouldn’t focus only on the cert numbers. (The cert numbers are apparently probative—perhaps not that strongly, as you pointed out—and not conclusive.)
But by the same token, one shouldn’t focus only on grades, because there are often 9s prettier than 10s, etc.
I think this may also be a reason to prefer newer labels (including newer certs). Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t PSA changed the labels to be more difficult to counterfeit (e.g., holo or watermarks), so wouldn’t the 4xx labels onward represent PSA’s best to date?
Off topic question: Why are there so few 3xxxxxxx certs? Maybe I just overlooked them constantly, but I think this is the first one I have ever seen: link
Do they have their own little conspiracy theory surrounding them?
Isn’t it funny how you mocked me but now it’s clear I was right? The market determines whether or not it’s true. Not your studies or experience. Adapt or get out of the way.
Haven’t they admitted they grade tougher now anyways?(serious question). Pretty sure someone with PSA said they were.
Not sure this proves you were right just yet. The buyer had the option to pay the same price for old cert and new cert. You were offering 25% more for a new cert than an old one. I’d be willing to say that this buyer (and most buyers) would rather own an old cert than pay up for a 25%+ premium for a newer number on the case…
Until is there is a clear premium established for newer certs vs older with 100s or 1000s of sales to back it up, tough to say “you were right”.
I suppose that’s true. But I’m just getting ahead of the curve and willing to pay a premium to do so. If it only means I have to hold my cards an extra year to be in profit, I’d gladly do it since I plan on holding for a long time.
This is unfortunately normal and not new to pokemon or even trading cards.
A lot of the coin forum I’ve been on in the past is discussing grades and poor job by PCGS (PSA of coins). There are entire threads for people to guess the grade of certain coins and there are conspiracies and ideas that older coins in the old holders are graded differently (easier, harsher, whatever) than the newer stuff.
In fact there is a whole group of people who “cherrypick” strong coins in low graded cases for submission and profit. Easier with coins since access to 1000s of graded coins at a dealer or show is easy and they have many more grades than 1-10 but it brings a whole dynamic to the hobby and I think it exists a little in Pokemon.
And that is totally fine and nothing wrong with your personal thoughts and ideas on the future market but it will take a while before you’re proven right or wrong and everything right now is just speculation at the end of the day.
Once I saw the Sun and Moon era grading data in fourthstartcg’s video this whole argument has officially been put to rest for me. The grading standards have been exactly the same for years and you’re a sheep if you believe otherwise. Bahhhhhh bahhhhh
