With the start of my jungle no symbol collection, I had to resort to buying PSA 8s for the first time.
This got me thinking a bit more about at which grade I consider it a junk slab. I never really thought about it. I just kept it vaguely between 8 and 9. Now, I decided that everything below an 8 might as well be a raw card for me.
At which grade does a junk slab start for you?
I am talking about regular cards that are not super scarce. The rules obviously differ for a Uni Carp and such.
Maybe the mods could do a poll? I think this could be very interesting.
Totally depends on the card itself and the era. Anything below a 10 for most modern seems pointless to me. Anything older Iām pretty happy with an 8 and up. Once it goes below 8 Iād rather just have it in a binder most of the time. This is for specifically set cards, obviously that all goes out the window for something actually scarce or rare.
PSA 7 or lower but if prices go back to their peaks 7s might be with in reason in the future for some people. For sure PSA 6 or lower. But if itās a big card the grade doesnāt matter. Some cards like a random sword and shield Holo even the PSA 9/10 is a junk slab to me but thatās just my unpopular opinion. Also another good rule of thumb is if the grading cost is more then the price of the graded slabs then itās percent a junk slab unless itās something personal. Like a $1 card that you just want slabbed for yourself
For cards that arenāt scarce, anything under PSA 8/BGS 9/CGC 8.5. A lot of those cards would have sold for under grading cost in 2018-2019 before the boom
I also agree with MC above that for almost all moderns, anything under a 10 is junk
Itās too broad a question. It really depends on the card. There are even some PSA 10s that I (and most others) would consider ājunk slabs.ā A poll would be interesting, but it would need to specify a card or a specific sort of card.
PSA 10s on everything or youāre not a tru collector!!!
Joking aside, @jonbo pretty much hit the nail on the head IMO. Iāll define ājunk slabā as something that goes in a storage box for me instead of my main collection organization. For anything released in the past 5-7 years it feels strange to get it in any less than a 10. But once you get older, having something in 9 or lower is fine to me. It also varies by language/era, I try to get all Japanese cards in a 10 but for English BW and older Iām fine with a 9.
I think grades 8 and below have their place for set cards, but probably such grades do not increase the value of the card too much beyond NM raw, even when they should in some cases. So perhaps the most āobjectiveā answer to your question for the majority of vintage set cards (e.g. 1999-2010 excluding shinings, gold stars, crystals etc) would be PSA 8, while for newer cards (e.g. 2010-present) it would be PSA 9.
I wish I had the money and resources to send copies of the same card until I hit a 10
jokes aside, I dont consider anything a junk slab if you just really want to have the card protected / on display. In Spain prices are still inflated after the pandemic, and If I found anything at good price on Ebay or other websites, when I added customs, shipping and all that even a 30$ PSA8 itās a x2 in the final price soā¦ itās not that easy unfortunately. As other users stated before, I guess it depends on the card and for modern I think a 9 for an alternate art FA itās perfectly fine, due to itās high price and everything. If we talk about I dont know, a Sentret common card, I guess collectorās for that specific Pokemon can try to get a 10.
For vintage, im fine with a PSA7 (once again, imo) but of course we all want our PSA10/Becket 9.5. I can understand why we pay a premium for a PSA10 but being honest, most of the times, except for the clearly bad centering or some whitening issues, a PSA8 or 9 itās virtually the same as a PSA10, as its still dependent on how the grader feel that day
It really depends on the card, as some people say, but for vintage cards personally it would be anthing below a 7 BUT not always, for example I sent a crystal set for grading and I am expecting some 6, for me that is not a junk slab
As others have said it depends on the card but for me personally anything below a PSA 9 for vintage (Base - BW) and below a PSA 10 for modern is a ājunk slabā.
I do feel the most expensive set cards and low distribution trophy cards are viable in lower grades but for the vast majority of set cards when you get to an 8 and below the lines start to blur between āRAW NMā and graded slab. In many cases, your graded card no longer carries a sizable premium over an ungraded copy. I see a lot of people purchase lower grade slabs as bargain buys to crack for ācleanā binder copies, which is exactly what I want to avoid if I ever have to liquidate my slabs. Ultimately, Iām a collector who loves minty cards but I also want my collection to retain value as best as it can if push comes to shove.
@pfm Hit it on the head! Anything easily replicable is what creates junk slabs.
Iāve cracked many slabs for my binders, from PSA 8 all the way down to psa 4-5 at times. Especially for my mtg alpha binder. Most of the rares would grade on average psa 5-7. There is something to the quality/demand of the card itself. There were & are too many cards that had no added value being graded.
Im currently saving for a psa4/5 1st ed zard. I dont consider that a junk slab but in most circumstances i try to avoid anything below 9 but there are always times where thats not personally affordable.
percent a junk slab unless itās something personal. Like a $1 card that you just want slabbed for yourself
Ive cracked out PSA 9 gold stars to put in binders before