Hello!
I’m not as seasoned as some of you guys here, but I am considering grabbing some PSA 10 base 1st ed cards that are non holo to hold onto for a while. But I’m wondering what exactly is forcing these high prices on cards like Lass Ivysaur and wartortle? I understand supply and demand, but maybe somebody could explain where the seemingly super high demand comes from for these non holo (not super special looking to me) cards. They’re non holo just like the rest but I dont know what makes them hard to grade. It seems to me that these non holo psa 10 pop would be much more likely to grow than a psa 10 pop for a holo base card.
If you’re asking why some non-holo cards are less likely to grade as 10s than others (why are there nearly 3 times as many Wartortles as Poliwhirls?), the only thing I can think of is that it relates to the positioning of the cards when they were still on the sheets. Some cards may have been in a better position for a clean cut compared to others.
Also depends on where in the pack they are positioned. I know Wartortle was always placed as the last card in the pack therefore it’s notorious for edge and corner wear on the back due to rubbing against the pack, therefore making it hard to grade a 10. No idea what the story with Lass is though.