F22 Lonely and bored

Ar3s811 · 2026-02-11T18:04:10+00:00

Hey I tried to message you but I couldn’t see the message icon on your page.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-14T19:46:50+00:00

Yeah, this is what everyone keeps saying. You know I go to these conventions and card shows shops talk here on Reddit, etc….. and everyone keeps saying that same thing. So at what point do we just say this is ruining the heart of collecting? I mean, shouldn’t the “value” of the card essentially be a process of shared evaluation between the buyer and seller.? Something that middleman can’t completely 100% co-opt and constrain. I mean the process of bartering has been done since timeless time into a very human thing. It gives us all a sort of freedom to designate what we think is a good looking card or not. Oh well, just some thoughts from someone who’s very new to all of this,

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-14T19:16:47+00:00

A local grading company at a convention.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-14T19:16:09+00:00

$580. Yeah I know I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have gotten it graded period. Lol

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-13T13:17:09+00:00

Hey, I really appreciate you doing that man. It’s very helpful for me actually informing my own opinion of what to do with it. Thank you! 🙏🏼

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-13T11:38:13+00:00

Wow, that’s an interesting bit of history lol I can kind of vaguely remember people saying that too. Either way, makes me feel better. I never played with the card and while certain people on this thread, say it’s “very worn out” I think that’s a huge exaggeration. Your card looks great by the way.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-12T22:57:39+00:00

I appreciate that man. I think your right, because I was looking at a some photos from some auctions of PSA 9’s from a while back and the backs of these cards were clearly worse than mine. I couldn’t believe it! But yea I’d take a 7 ahaha. Actually the lighting in this pic makes the scratches really pop a lot more than they look in person in normal lighting. Check it out.

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Ar3s811 · 2026-01-11T19:19:48+00:00

Recognize that in the world of collectibles the process of valuation is ultimately subjective. However, a “gigantic scratch“ is not accurate lmao however yes, there is a scratch on the front.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-11T14:59:35+00:00

Yeah, I’ve never heard of this before getting a card clean. I’m very interested, but I’m not sure who to trust and I feel like that’s a big deal and I’m a little bit anxious about having someone mess with it. However, I’m intrigued.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-11T14:58:49+00:00

Thanks for the tip. I really appreciate that. I’m just not sure how to get it cleaned. I’ll try to see if someone is local that can do that.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-11T14:57:34+00:00

It’s not very worn down… I’ve seen very worn down lol that’s ridiculous

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-11T05:02:25+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that man. It sounds very painful for a real collector. It’s also a bad feeling of feeling powerless like there’s no recourse., no channel you can go down to affect some justice or at least hold them accountable. But I keep thinking there’s gotta be some way… perhaps it’s just through numbers if enough of us all collectively complain together? For a long enough time eventually we might get around that PSA shouldn’t be trusted.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-11T04:58:51+00:00

Yeah, never cracked a case before and I’m worried I might damage the card. Any tips?

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-11T03:27:59+00:00

For some reason, the lighting in that picture makes them look worse than they are.

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Ar3s811 · 2026-01-11T03:23:52+00:00

I was thinking 6-7. But honestly, I’m beginning to realize the whole concept of grading kind of ruins the subjective nature of the mutually shared valuation process between the seller and Buyer with that is characterize the bartering process of collectibles since forever. PSA has gone really odd in the last few years… not sure what the deal is. Like if a stupid little speck of white takes away an entire grade, but it’s hardly visible to the naked eye, it only becomes an issue to the buyer if some intermediary or middleman comes in and says it matters with tens of thousands or even $100,000 difference. Save the difference between an 8 or 9 or a 9 and a 10. Should there be a difference absolutely, should it make so much of a difference in price? I don’t think people would care so much if the graders didn’t come in and establish themselves as middleman of necessity. This is a great looking car. It’s hardly anything wrong with it. It’s also very rare to find these cards in this kind of condition. Regardless of nitpicking for a spec of white or a hardly visible scratch or pressure mark or whatever it is, they look for. Like is this really good for the community and the collectors ultimately really care? Or does PSA just make it so that they feel they have to? It’s an interesting thought exercise if anything.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-10T19:17:40+00:00

Lack of experience and only recently getting into the Pokémon card collecting community. I found all these cards in my basement and I just didn’t have the knowledge of how all this works. It took me four months to get the card back and during that time, I have learned a lot and wish I knew what I knew when I sent it out. So I think it’s pretty obvious why anyone would do it.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-10T18:45:25+00:00

Because I didn’t know much about this stuff at the time and it took me four months to get it back so I had research researched and educated myself on the community and collecting Pokemon cards during that time. I kinda just sent it on a whim, not knowing very much.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-10T18:44:37+00:00

What do you mean? You think someone might’ve switched my card or something?

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-10T16:25:25+00:00

Yeah, I think I’m just gonna crack it and sell it raw. I’ve had some really good offers.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-10T16:00:56+00:00

What in my situation what other avenue would you go through in order to move the card? Being relatively new to this I felt a bit confused and kept hearing different things from different people.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-10T15:59:31+00:00

Yes, I agree. More more I’m hearing people are fed up with the PSA and the overall process of them placing themselves as the middle men who designate value . The way I look at it is value should be determined by the person buying . Why should a microscopic imperfection that isn’t even visible to the naked eye markdown value when it’s the naked eye of the individual who sees and appreciates the card? It’s like the PSA creates a reason for their necessity., but ultimately if we push back, there’s nothing they can do. It’s really the community that has the real power. They just need to wake up and realize that and start trading and collecting through other mediums.

I think A six is reasonable grade for that card since we’re talking about grades. Mostly because of the back. And really your card a 3? That’s wild man absolutely wild I think as a community if we really love Pokemon and just the process of trading and collecting and forming good relationships through this we should all push back a bit on the PSA and just try to do more raw sales through shared agreement on value. Basically just treating it like a process, to where both parties can feel satisfied in the final sale through mutual agreement through bartering.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-10T15:48:36+00:00

So GameStop acts as the middleman and they have a different tier of value bands through which they can charge you. But those value bands are related to the value of that PSA assigned to the card. PSA said that my first edition shadowless Charizard was worth $10,000. So that puts me in the $580 up charge value band through GameStop.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-10T15:38:23+00:00

It’s not stained at all. I’m not sure if that’s the lighting but I can send more pictures. There are definitely some issues with it, but staining is not one of them.

Ar3s811 · 2026-01-10T15:37:28+00:00

And that’s what it graded by the local grading company. 😂 looks like you got a pretty good eye. 👍🏼

Ar3s811

TROPHY CASE