I myself exclusively collect PSA 9 cards because they are typically the same price as the card raw if not sometimes less! And I know that I can crack the slab at anytime to have the raw card and I enjoy knowing that instead of getting ripped off buying a raw card in a different condition than what it was listed for I know I’m buying a copy listed as mint by PSAs grading criteria.

i don't own any slabs but, if i had a psa 10 base set charizard i would put it under my pillow to look at when i can't sleep.

bro i love your videos thank you for sharing your knowledge!

I recently started buying pokemon cards again as I don't have my childhood collection anymore. But I only buy psa slabs because from where I am, I cant grade my cards directly. TBH I really don't care about the grade as long as I get the cards I had while growing up, specially neo and ex era. I commented on your giveaway video about my favourite card being shining gyarados (ironically someone with same answer got the prize, Kudos the winner), that's the grail for me. I buy one card each month as they are very expensive and takes about a month to ship to my place, but I cherish them and psa slabs give me the confidence its not fake and its stored right that's the only reason.

Thank for sharing the excellent Gems .

Great video. I completely agree with your opinions and I collect the exact same way

Man I needed this 2 weeks ago haha, learning from my mistakes but also from this channel, solid content

I agree, PSA 10 for modern is a must. Not so much for vintage.

Nice video - love 9s for my mid-era and wotc collection. I think it's really undervalued for the older cards , especially some middle eras are inherently hard to grade.

You covered everything in this video. It was very thorough. I see a lot of red posts that can learn a lot from your videos especially this one. A lot of people forget it’s not about volume. It’s more about quality and liquidity.

I buy PSA 6s and 7s, free them from their slabs, and sell them raw at 8 and 9 prices 🤫🥰

Your videos are fire brother

Dang this was a very interesting video, I had been sayin the same about collecting and buying PSA 10s, if I can I well buy a 10 if it's a good deal and a card I want, if it's from my own collection and I hit a 7-8 I'm gonna keep it because it's mine n maybe I can find a 10 later, lately I've been buying a lot of 9s of nice cards that a 10 is outta reach as far as cost... Grrrreat video Phillip!!!

have a mindset of an art collector art and Pokémon will determine the value of the card in the future pay attention folks

Pretty much agree with everything you said. One thing i would throw in is that market share of the grading companies may change over time. Its hard to say that Psa will always have most market share. We never really know. Plenty of companies in the past were once thought of as irreplaceable or could not be dethroned until they were. Not saying thats whats going to happen. I for one dont actually dislike the top major grading companies. I like most of them really. But in the end, us, the cards is whats important and just havin fun. Anyways cheers and thanks for the video

i only buy psa 10s because i only buy cards i like and want in my collection so i will only settle for the best quality version of that card

I only started buying cards again like 2 months ago after visiting Japan. It had been like 20 years since I last bought a pack lol but Japan had so many super cool exclusive cards like the stamp box, Yu Nagaba and Yokohama 2023 World Championship Pikachus - I ended up buying a PSA 10 of each plus PSA 10 151 Charizards in English and Japanese cuz they look amazing. I'd say those are for collecting but I do expect them to grow in value😁

Here is why black labels are superior, BGS has a higher standard for card quality then PSA so to get a Black Label the card must be more perfect then a psa 10 and since there is 10,000 psa 10's of many chase cards and only about 100 or less black labels of the same chase card, the black label will be worth much more in the future because they hardly exist on e-bay. The other nice thing is most people can't or won't buy black labels because of the price so it is only for collectors who are willing to put that much money in the hobby

Thank you so much for this video! Follow up question: If I send in a card, lets say charmander pokemon center and it comes back a 9, should I sell that off or just keep the copy?

I did recently buy a PSA 9 Veluza alt art but in this case it was for an absolute steal and it was for my collection rather than investments.

grreat video philip...regarding psa 9 cards..what if there are only 900 of the cards in existence...woiuld a psa9 be a good investement in that case? or still a 10?

I pulled a Burning Shadows Charizard GX pack fresh during covid times. I got a PSA 8 for it and I am thrilled given the poor quality control for that set. Love the card. Doesn't need to be a 10!

Honestly i feel like the difference between 9s and 10s in modern is often extremely arbituary. There are probably many pristine 9s out there that would regrade as 10s, and vice versa 10s that would regrade 9s. I get the logic for cracking and resubbing but personally i dont really care enough. It swings both ways. At the end of the day a grade is based on one persons subjective opinion during a very small window of time. I own many perfectly centred vintage japanese 9s with clear faults (whitening, small chips) that i would never crack or resubmit because if im giving my honest appraisal, they are probably closer to a 7 or 8.

So a PSA 8 vintage card still can be a investment? nice to hear bc i want to get some vintage cards i owned back then, idc about making more money and sell them its more like i dont want to loose money at all

Psychologically, I only want 10s. Just knowing that the card is not "perfect" makes me not want it, haha. So, it's PSA 10 or raw for me.

My bf got me a rayquaza vmax alt art psa 10. It is my first and only psa graded card. It has really made me want to grade my collection but ik some of them will be 9s and maybe even 8s based on the centering.

Psa 8 & 9 for vintage is king, clean old cards for cheap

image paying for grading just so you take an L and get a 9 don't even bother grading at this point because if anything if he buy cards low and sell them high or hold onto them for long term. at some point it will become positive especially for high end cards. some it really doesn't matter what u get if u get them low. u will probably be in the positive just my take.

Modern = PSA 10 only Semi Vintage = PSA 9 or higher Vintage = Whatever you can afford

Would you recommend singles or psa 10s for Pokemon 151?

Every time I watch a KZfaq video of someone showing off their collection there’s always a short explanation of why they have a PSA 9 and not a 10 in a card. I only collect PSA 10 because having a 9 in my opinion is like having a second place trophy and having to explain why you didn’t get gold over and over again. And if you can’t get it today, that’s fine. It should be about the journey of collecting and the stories you remember along the way. This chase wouldn’t be fun if you could just buy it all at a click of a button would it?

Hey. I brougbt up the question last video about overinflated costs and TCG being owned by google. Apsrt from that...i wish you touched a bit more on how much more volume and attention this hobby has gotten, and your thoughts on whst we might see going forward I don't doubt PSA 10 will always get the higher price. That's s fact. But what i wonder is should this bubble hype train slows down, the amount of sealed product being purchased slows, snd the ratio of available PSA 10 product available vs the number of buyers in the market . .how far are these PSA 10s going to fall? Was PSA 10 as importsnt to the core following? Right now so many buyer's are buying invesntments not hobby cards. This will slow. And because of that...saving up and buying an overly inflated PSA 10 to me feels risky as they have the farthest to fall. M and PSA 9s feel like bargin now. I see cards all day where psa 9 is valued the same as raw Why is there no detailed historical data available. Because there wasn't as much interest.

i think this hobby should be treated like the comic book industry. Buy what you want no matter if it's raw or graded if you want a 1st edition charizard and can afford a psa 1 and it has value to you then get it for your personal collection. i would also say don't forget to speculate and see if you can get cards with grades for potential future profit.

I have a Blaziken alternate art from chilling reign and I sent it in and got PSA 10 now how much is it worth I live in Australia 😀🇦🇺

whats your opinion on collecting product vs single cards for an investor?

For me singles are to much risk I don’t want to take on so I keep it simple. Investing I stick to booster boxes and for singles I usually just collect raw or graded if it’s a good deal

I don't know anyone who understands the hobby and cards think they are getting a PSA 10 out the pack.

I don't see her like that friend. Psa 10 is certainly better, but buying psa 10 costs you four times a psa 9. Yet they are both Mint. Buying a card that you hope will go up in price is better to buy it 9 because that way you have more budget for other cards. Then, you never know, if opening a Psa 9 with the naked eye looks like a Psa 10 and you can resell it for such.

Definitely has to be a 10 if not sell as raw

yeah psa 9s def have edge, corner wear + being off centered lol

I just don’t see the point in 10 as a casual enthusiast. Because the 9 will also trail behind it if it goes up. It’s just by what multiplicative you want. The problem with PSA 10 is well your portfolio becomes harder and harder to hedge if you are paying premium all the time. I leave it to the high rollers. The problem with psa 10 prices is that at that price point, you are better off buying shares in a stock market and swing trading.

I collect SGC10s because i like having actually centered cards and they have psa marketing dollars behind them now they will rapidly scale past cgc/beckett. Huge room to gain stonks. Im early to the party

i only go for psa 10s cause bigger number better person 😎 jk but yeah i only have 2 9s and they were gifts. for sets that im collecting now, theres really no point getting anything other than a 10

PSA 10 is bs lots of times lol, not sure why people put any respect on it...seen so many 10's with horrible centering.

Psa 10 or nothing. The vintage d_riders needa let their psa 5 and 6 firrst editions go. 😂. Because again, noone cares about it. Noone cares if the pop is like 25 or something when theres half a person that wants it 😅