For sets I prefer to stick with the uniformity of PSA slabs as that’s what all my sets are, also it is easier to complete a set using PSA graded cards as more are available.
I actually like the BGS cases personally, they feel solid and are nice display pieces but I wouldn’t buy anything under a BGS 9 as the label looks so tacky and their grading seems inconsistent. (I do own a authentic blue label which also looks pretty cool)
For CGC I haven’t seen the slabs in person yet, but I have heard good things. I would probably buy a card in a CGC slab if it was a individual card and I wasn’t trying to complete a set in CGC slabs as I think again that would be harder to do at the moment with CGC being new to the market. I am definitely against mixing and matching different grading companies for sets it just triggers me. In terms of value wise CGC aren’t provern yet as others have mentioned, need to see a few years down the line how they are getting on.
I feel like we are seeing an uptick in bgs desire for the higher premium cards. The bgs zards that sold today in the PWCC auction were crazy high record sales. The bgs 9 was nice but 60k beats the recent psa 9 prices. People are liking the sub grades I think more lately, especially for high value cards.
Ahhh the old sports collector crossing over into the Pokémon tcg for a slice of the pie. Paying quite the premium but it does keep rising so best of luck to him! I’ll keep my psa 8 safe
People like Sub-grades, especially people new to collecting because knowledge is power and people want to know the reason for their grades and PSA leaves it a mystery.
BGS 9.5 > PSA 9 value wise. Any big collector with lots of graded cards most likely has a PSA 9 that could easily be a 10 on a good day, so cross grading to potentially get a higher valued BGS 9.5 is seen a popular thing to do. Didn’t really matter when the values were closer together, but now the gap has grown where a PSA 9 Charizard vs a BGS 9.5 is a huge deal. Something I noticed personally is that you can get a BGS 9.5 with a small factory line on a card, but will rarely is ver get a PSA 10, so people might want to try cross grading for that reason.
BGS normally grades higher than lower PSA grades. Below BGS 9 the edges can be really bad and the grades seem to jump all over the place. A PSA 6 or PSA 5 can grade a BGS 7 or 8 a lot of the time.
With the cards exploding in value, a lot of people are taking advantage of the second and third reason for sure.
I have mostly bought PSA cards and graded with PSA in the previous years but I am becoming more open to buying BGS and CGC graded cards if the card/s are reasonably priced, is a card I am actively looking for and within my spending budget.
The Beckett slabs have grown on me and I overall love the design of them. The crystal clear slab, the Labels, sub grades and the inner sleeve. They do look a lot nicer to display compared to PSA cards. But they can be a pain to take pictures of though if you want to showcase the card but in person they look awesome.
Most of the Beckett graded cards I own I have sent in via middleman myself, but I did just recently bought one off Ebay which I got for a price I was happy to pay. it is currently in the mail and looking forward to receiving it in the coming days.
For CGC I currently don’t own any CGC slabs or graded my cards with them, but one day in the future I would love try out CGC’s service.I like the look of the large labels, the correct descriptions of cards, subgrades and the crystal clear slabs.
I also like the fact that the service only grades Magic and Pokemon cards.If a card I am after shows up online in a CGC case and is a reasonable price, I will most likely buy it.
Compared to the other two CGC is doing all the right things for Pokemon going off observations, like recognizing different variants, errors cards, common things in certain sets like holo bleed, Texture bleed through, jaggies and corner lips. Some sets have these common flaws. CGC is looking very promising.
For cards that have high value but low personal meaning I always go PSA due to the bigger buyer pool. For cards I plan to keep permanently I’ll go with any of the 3 as long as its above a 9 and I can get detailed pictures. I’d still pay a premium for PSA (for now) due to their proven track record, but I’m liking CGC’s grading more than BGS from what I’ve seen so far.
Purely aesthetically BGS is my favorite, although CGC is great too if they would just shrink the label. PSA’s tinted/speckled plastic reminds me of a 60’s roadside diner.
dude thank you for that amazing explanation haha. I couldn’t agree with you more regarding the differences between PSA and Beckett. I’ve def. seen some psa 10’s go below BGS 9.5 or stay at the 9.5 in other counter examples. However, that example alone shouldnt mean end all be all. I also have noticed that anything below a bgs 9… LAWDDD have mercy on my soul lol
My entire collection is PSA and I don’t want the lack of continuity in having cards from other grading companies. I will likely never own a BGS/CGC card and if I did I would probably crack and send to PSA. Most pokemon cards are graded through PSA and my collection is stored in such a way the other cases wouldn’t work. It’s a shame that PSA is slow at the moment but I’m in this for the long run and I’m hopeful speeds will improve in years to come.
