Does anyone have insight into why EX Emerald EX cards are so hard to grade in PSA 10? What was the main issue with this set compared to other EX sets? The ratio between 10s to 9s is often 4x or more with the milotic being 7 PSA 10s and 57 PSA 9s as one of the worst in the set. I donāt completely understand why this is the case for a few ex sets like Emerald whilst FRLG and TRR is closer to 50/50 for 10s and 9s. I did notice on some of my PSA 10 ex emerald cards, they have quite a lot more scratching on the silver border than other setsā¦
Iāve opened up some boxes and packs in the past when I completed the ex sets in PSA 10. The biggest issue I had was centering. Emerald cards werenāt really that different from other sets except they were always off center.
thatās been my experience with it. I know grading wasnāt as popular with ex emerald due to the lack of popular pokemon. (compared to other ex sets).
I donāt know if this helps - but EX Emerald was probably one of the least popular sets of its era - and for multiple reasons.
It was an english only set, pretty rare as a thing - and the reason it existed was there were a lot of random Japanese promos that hadnāt gotten printed in English prints yet. Most of these Japanese promos were, uh - awful. Poor attacks, poor hp, and overall useless - which made them less desirable for younger kids and the small but emerging TCG competitive and league scene. For collectors as well, it probably didnāt help that there were no gold stars in the set - especially after the release of Ex Deoxys and Ex Team Rocket Returns before it. Coupled with a lack of āinterestingā cards - I still remember talking as a kid to other kids and the small but existing community at local leagues back in the day and it was generally considered a trash set.
This may or may not have influenced what cards ended up surviving in peoples collections and/or peopleās desire to collect said set. But hopefully at least its some interesting context!
Itās actually funny that Ex Emerald was that unpopular because for me Ex Emerald is a nostalgia set and I absolutely loved it. I still do. So much that I have a full reverse holo set of it and Iām thinking about going for a regular full set as well. I loved the art in the set plus I didnāt play TCG seriously so that didnāt matter to me. And the fact that the set had no Gold Stars didnāt matter to me either because I never pulled a Gold Star from any pack ever anyways. But I do see the reasons why others may not like it the way I do.
Justice for Emerald! But, tbh, from the cards Iāve graded from the set, only one has scored a 10. Rest were 9s. So thereās that.
It was one of the weakest sets after introducing the Gold Stars. the set was mostly japanese promos and the half decks they were releasing during the time. in the entire set probably 10-15 cards were actually used in the competitive scene and one of them was Medichamp ex. The energy cards were probably the main reason people liked the set but in general it didnt do much. Lots of players back in the day also didnt care for the ex emerald set after the launch of it past the prerelease.no one really cared for the exās and usually only the kids were the ones that cared a lot since it did have deoxys and rayquaza as pack artworks. Pokemon also did hold a small event for the launch of the game which also were giving out free boosters and theme decks at the time.
I also noticed that many of the collectors that played or collected during the time got rid of many of their bulk exās after the introduction of LvL Xās or stopped playing the game. I messaged some of my friends that did play competitive and they all said that Ex Emerald was just for fun to pull exās from cause of the artwork but nothing major to buy. Hence why many cards like the Milotic ex is a prized card to find
But, tbh, from the cards Iāve graded from the set, only one has scored a 10. Rest were 9s. So thereās that.