like 96xxx, 97xxx etc
It’s unfortunately not that simple. There’s likely a large supply of the “previous” slab that will be used along with the newer slabs. I have seen 93xx certs with it however.
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i see, thanks for the reply though!
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The slabs I received 12/27 are 9 digits…they start 1011xxxxx
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Yeah they touched on it already, but any cert can have the new slab as PSA offers their reslab feature on their website.
I cracked an early 9 cert that was the new material and also cracked a really late 9 cert that was the old material.
As others eluded to, it is probably several months of submissions where the material was used interchangeably. You know right away after trying to crack it when the new material just kind of bends instead of cracks. It sucks to crack out the new slabs. Like really sucks
I have a 78xx in a new slab… Because I submitted it for a reholder lol
So the thing is you will definitely get the new slab for any standard-sized Pokémon cards - regardless of Grading or Reholder - if you submitted to their office in Japan after July 2024. This was officially announced by their Japan office at the time so not a speculation.
This also means that you may get new slabs for any valid cert if someone out there reholdered the card in Japan. In addition, you should not assume all cards in new slabs are graded in Japan since that someone could also reholder cards which are originally graded in US.
I’m not sure when the US office will make the switch but all my submissions last year (with last one returned in November) are still in old slabs.
If you’ve been handling slabs a lot you just need to tap it once and you’ll immediately know it’s new since the sound from tapping one will be dull. For cracking one… I suggest tile nippers lol
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Still not been rolled out in the US.
Anything from around 93xxxx that was graded in Japan will be in a new holder.
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Exactly, add to the fact that someone can easily submit to PSA-us from Japan.
I found that completely breaking off the top edge is the bare minimum for cracking using tie wire cutters. Not sure if its the same as tile nippers lol
I had a submission in USA where it was the new material. I cracked out 4 cards from it, so it’s probably being implemented over time and not a “on this day we switch over”
The basic idea is that you don’t try to crack the slab’s surface but by pinching all 4 edges and bending them outwards so that the welded edges are “peeled off”. The difficulty between these approaches can be more significant on new slabs since the material is more flexible and easier to bend than to crack.
Here’s a YouTube video showing how to do it (you don’t need to understand the Japanese, just watch how they did it):
Tile nippers are recommended because ones without wheels are shaped like pinchers which make pinching edges easier.
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Is there any defining characteristic to tell a new slab vs old one other than weight? Or crack attempts
This is weird but I recently got some superior fit sleeves for my slabs and they were re-done for the new slab size but there seems to be more extra space in the sleeve whereas before it was basically glove fitting.
I’m holding some for sure old slabs 500xxx range and trying to compare it stuff I just got and I cant figure it out lol. Maybe I’m just being dense?
This is the most recent discussion I could on this so Id figure id comment here instead of a whole new thread. Thanks!
Yeah I also have thought and wondered about this as I recently acquired a newer cert 92++ and I can’t tell if it’s the newer slab or not either lol It would be nice too see if there was a visual difference we could look for compared to the older slabs
If you can’t tell, you definitely don’t have one.
First new holder i had was significantly heavier, much thicker on the back too. Let me take a couple pics.
The biggest giveaway to the eye is the pictureframe like border around the card
The clarity of the plastic is massively improved too. Just look at the colour difference between the two cards!
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Ah and in response to this, dimensions are p much identical. PSA Graded guards, slab sleeves etc will all fit as usual
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Thanks, this is super helpful. Ill have to look over my slabs. I just thought I got like 40 back and thought some would be new ones lol.
And yeah me trying to figure this out kind of stems from having bought the Premium PSA Sleeves from Superior Fit. He says they are sized for the new PSA slabs- but when I put my slabs in there it is no longer “glove fit”. There’s extra space. So I wasnt sure if it was the slab had or his new sizing. It annoys my OCD and it seems he stopping making Premium of the old size so I cant get them if I’m still receiving the old size from PSA
Its possible the new iteration of sports holders are slightly larger…
My VaultX perfect fit sleeves are perfect on the Pokemon holders.
thanks to your pics I was able to find 2 out of 20 slabs I just got are the new one. Have some TCG ones to go through later. In hindsight I feel dumb for not seeing the picture frame border myself lol.
I sent an email off to superior fit to see if that is the intended sizing or maybe I got a bad batch.
If you’re insisting on perfect fits, one thing you might have to look out for is that the thickness of (old) PSA slabs did vary - 7xx (IIRC) slabs and older are a little bit thicker than non-reholdered 65xx slabs.