Go with what you love, ignore everyone else. They make some really great hard cases/displays now that look great!
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I’ve always thought buying graded cards is a terrible idea for pure collectors, because you’re unnecessarily paying hundreds/thousands more for…someone to “officiate” your card’s condition? Bro I have eyes too! Just make sure you ask the seller for good photos. But if you’re investing, that’s a different story…
I’m a casual collector who prizes condition, raw cards, and swirls. It can be a pain sometimes finding a NM+ raw card but it’s worth it because there is no way I am paying 4-10x for the same card slabbed. That’s absolute insanity. Some of my nicest cards are easily mint but I would never get them graded. I would never sell them and I hate how slabs look and I love binders, but that’s just me.
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If you like the card and want a slabbed version (better protection/resale typically), buy the grade from a reputable Grading Company. Many of the top grading companies have professional graders on staff that offer grading services and their grading consideration is typically better then those that have not worked as a professional grader.
Don’t be the person asking for a refund because the graded card is overly graded to you, slight mark or centering that does not fit your ideal of what the grade is (even if you are not a professional grader). Take those issues up with the grading company.
If you don’t mind having cards from multiple grading companies, then buying the card not the grade could apply, but you will have a various differences in grading considerations from different companies (centering, edges etc).
To me Its been a rollercoaster, I think I have OCD to some extent and its been a nightmare for wanting to throw in the towel if I cannot collect something the way I wanted. Started with a good number of PSA 10s self graded or low cost, soon became not possible to keep it up, now what do I do, sell them all and buy lower or have a mixed collection.
Started buying binder cards to make up sets, ended up grading a lot that came in good condition leaving patchy binders.
I wish I had my original childhood cards as something with sentimental value would be everything. Whatever you do just dont go in buying to invest, you will likely not be in it long enough to succeed. Id suggest buying mixed cards for a binder and see if you even enjoy looking at them.
I dont think it really sinks in but you are not likely to have a complete set of 1st edition base anytime soon if you are starting now. As others have said, the most accomplished collectors here were buying a lot of their collections long time ago. It sucks but its true
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PSA 10s are over-rated. I held a 9 that was flawless and a 10 that had a white corner spot and wasn’t centered perfectly. What’s the point in paying 2x, 5x, 20x for a 10 when a 9 is basically the same.
Better yet, look at NM/Mint raw copies. You will have a much larger collection going this route.
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From my end, I would NEVER spend any amount of money on a collectible that I couldn’t afford to lose. If I had a significant amount of cash to put into something, and it would hurt my pockets if, say, I lost it somehow, it would undoubtedly be going into traditional retirement investments or something like paying down mortgage debt. Overall, if you ARE going to spend a significant amount of money on collectibles without any real investment or selling plans for the item(s), definitely be sure it’s something you truly enjoy. There’s a true reason that most folks on E4 recommend to buy what you love, because at the end of the day, you have to live with your decisions. And who gives a crap what anyone else thinks anyway? Haha I’m over here collecting Girafarigs, man.
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As someone said before, only buy and collect what you truly want and have a passion for, not what someone else thinks is cool, or whats hype in the moment. Also the difference between a psa 9 or 10 is so small that unless you are shopping for the 10 only, just to have it say 10, id get a 9 any day of the week over it. The price difference is not worth it from a collecting point, you are just paying for the 10 label
It’s worth noting that for some of the cards that you’re after (Art Academies / Illustration Contest Arceus), the raw vs graded price won’t have a huge % difference. Those cards are rare enough that a PSA 9 and a raw mint will cost the same.
A PSA 10 will garner a small premium, but for rare cards, the grade is far less relevant than actually being able to find the card in the first place.
I have a nice collection of rare cards, but most are ungraded and just sit in cardsavers. I don’t think anyone here will tell me my collection is worse because it’s raw. Graded just makes them easier to sell later.
I believe if I graded all these, the fees would be multiple thousands $ alone. Right now I think I’d rather just buy more cards with that money 
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You can enjoy collecting very specific cards that are all under 100 dollars too. They may not be trophies with that level of exclusivity, but you still would have some level of history behind specific Japanese promos.
Buying high end trophies allows you to keep money in a collectible and allows you to sell later if you want to, but it is super fulfilling to own a few items you really like than more items you like less.
Give it some more time and continue to research unique personal items.
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As others have stated, a lot of the highest end cards were obtained by early/long term collectors or people who have come in with much deeper pockets than the average person. When it comes to graded Pokemon, from a strict collector perspective you would probably be quite happy with a PSA 8 or PSA 9 graded card and they often will be a fraction of the PSA 10 price while still being in very respectable condition. Even a PSA 7 can be a very solid binder card as well and can honestly look really good. In the end of the day, we’re all just collecting cards here and the 10s are more for the hardcore collector or investor type who wants what is considered to be a ‘virtually perfect’ card.
Myself personally when it comes to graded cards I mainly buy 9s and 10s and I try to measure downside risk of each card when doing so. I usually only buy 10s of my absolute favourite cards while I’ll settle for 9s of cards that I personally don’t enjoy as much or when I see the 9 being a much better overall value than the 10. For example, I personally couldn’t stomach paying like $2500+ for a Jungle 1st Ed Kangaskhan PSA 10 while I got the PSA 9 for like $150. I understand the reasoning why it fetches that big price but it just wasn’t for me even though I can afford it.
Another example for the 9 vs 10 thing is when collecting my 1st Edition Base Set, I don’t think most people get particularly intrigued by cards like Metapod or some of the Trainer cards, so for me I don’t actively seek out PSA 10s of these cards and usually will go for a 9 instead to save money for other cards that I fully enjoy and fill the gaps of the set. All of these little things add up for letting me achieve my collecting goals.
I still collect raw cards as well and fill up binders of my favourite sets (mostly vintage WOTC stuff). Most of the old sets are still very affordable raw especially compared to buying stacks of graded cards.
If you were purely in it for “collecting” you wouldn’t be looking for anyone’s opinion on their ideas on raw cards. Raw cards are the foundation of REAL collectors in my opinion.
I like slabs and have a few pretty expensive cards, but I also know there is an added attachment in my mind due to their costs. If you truly do not care about the cost addition, raw is WAAAY better in my opinion, or go for PSA 7 and down as you will always appreciate the artwork and aesthetics regardless of condition. If you’re like me and understand you care about the future cost increase on your bigger cards, I would recommend being patient and hunting a good condition raw card to grade yourself.
There is nothing wrong with looking at the money aspect when collecting cards as we’re all trying to better our lives. I do not know the cards you’re looking at, but that kind of cost would be considered a substantial “investment”.
90% of my collection is in binders. Up until the top of the pokemon hype I would crack out psa7-9 cards just to put in a binder for completion sake. Never let others determine what makes you happy! There’s a lot of hype around PSA cards now because it’s became the norm in the last two years. It used to be kind of rare for casual collectors to grade cards. Now our binder collections don’t count? I have multiple binders more in worth and sentimental value than alot of my new collector friends PSA collections. They think they have “caught up” in just two years. It’s not about what you have in the end. Having more of a psa collection doesn’t make anything better except maybe the ability to be more fluid in selling. If you take them to your grave that doesn’t matter either!
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As a longtime ungraded collector who’s lost out on a fortune by not grading the extras from his collection, I couldn’t possibly recommend collecting ungraded.
But if it is the only option, there is not much of a decision to make, is it? Either collect raw/near mint or don’t collect?
Raw gem mint is no cheaper than buying strong 10 copies in todays market (one could argue that it never was, for certain things at least.)
Every card begins it’s life raw then becomes graded after. It’s strange that you think collecting raw cards doesn’t provide a high status as a collector.
I’d suggest buying raw, if you want it graded you can do this later. Cards don’t come out the factory graded so buying raw instead of graded doesn’t make you miss out on anything.
Fun fact, the cards you want were once raw lol.
www.youtube.com/c/DavidPersinPokemon
this person is a very successful collector who does not grade his cards
No one collects only graded cards, even if they like to say so.
Also, a lot of Graded Collectors also keep binder sets and only grade their most expensive cards.
If someone tells you you are not a collector because you don’t collect graded cards, tell them to go sit on a chair and wait for the Jamboree set to come out