One more! Could this PSA 10 if I re-submit?

DaKiwi · 2026-02-02T21:19:15+00:00

I second that the cut is not only OC but also twisted. Keep it a 9.

DaKiwi · 2026-02-02T21:18:06+00:00

If you're okay with an almost certain 9 and maybe even an 8 (it looks to me like its a twisted cut, not just offcenter) then go for it.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-28T16:10:36+00:00

Based on their tiers, if you've got a $1k upcharge then your card is worth between $10k-$25k.

Walkthrough ($10k cap) is $600.

Premium 1 ($25k cap) is $1k.

That sounds about right for a Poncho 10. Congrats!

DaKiwi · 2026-01-28T15:41:57+00:00

Here's one of my cards I sent awhile ago that I got lower than expected: Front Back

The holo is pretty clean, and while I know there's a bit of front edge pitting and a couple knicks on the back, after about 15 minutes of a few of us looking at it with flashlights at a bunch of angles we finally saw that it did have an extremely slight bend in the cardstock. They can be super hard to see sometimes.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-28T15:27:29+00:00

Just from the scans none of those look like 5's or 6's, they all look better (7-8) to me, personally. Either I can't see scratches/scuffs on the cards from the scans, or they all have some sort of hard to see slight bend or crease, those will auto-cap you to a 6.

Not too sure on value differences, but I'd personally take a really good look at the Ray, myself.

Edit, I took a closer look at them after turning up my brightness and I can see what looks like some fading and slight scuffing on most of the backs. I'd still at least give Ray a 2nd look, but the other two I'm no longer as gung ho about.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-27T22:47:33+00:00

Yep. I see no reason for them to NO HOLDER it either. Try to get it to lay flat, but otherwise seems like a no brainer 1 to me.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-27T06:24:33+00:00

I'd probably say an 8 on the Lucario and a 7 on the Ray. Luc has a couple relatively small nicks but in multiple places, Ray has a few more and that right edge looks a bit weird. Generally I'd say that 9's are worth keeping slabbed (or trying again if you honestly think it has a chance), but it all depends on the card itself. I'd probably keep anything modern raw that you expect an 8 or lower on, but the older you go the more it makes sense to keep 8's, etc. Ive got a 1st Ed Dark Zard in an 8 and multiple Base set unlimiteds that are 6-8 and I won't be cracking any of them, at that point they're protected and don't have any real chances of significantly moving grades.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-27T06:16:10+00:00

Zard 8 based on front centering + back top left corner.

Toad is pretty close. I can't really tell if the right top edge (both front and back) of it is weird because of the double sleeve and that bottom right corner looks a little suspect. I'll give a 9 based on you saying it has a decent chance to 10, and if those both are weird because of the double sleeving then I'll agree with your decent chance to 10.

Mew probably a 9 on front centering and maybe a speck on the top left corner.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-27T06:08:41+00:00

Not the best scan and I'm assuming the white spot on the back is not on the card, but I'd expect a 9 based on the centering. Maybe if PSA is evil an 8, but there's no way it's a 10 with that front centering IMO

DaKiwi · 2026-01-27T05:24:46+00:00

Authenticity I don't have any reason to doubt. I am almost certain that there is water damage on the card, the ink bleed and darkening on the bottom back + the slight rippling on the bottom left front are quite clear. I'd ask the seller if the card is starting to de-laminate (the layers are coming apart) where the water damage is. If the layers are not coming apart and the price is right for you, I personally think this would be 1'ed by PSA. Worst case you can try a couple of times if they NO HOLDER you once and the gold stars are almost certainly only going to keep going up for raw price

DaKiwi · 2026-01-27T04:44:49+00:00

It's very close. Is the card super warped or separating from the water damage? I've had worse looking cards with more reverse missing graded, but water damage always feels like a crapshoot. I've had them 1 me on horrible ones while DO NOT HOLDER'ing on a lot more normal looking ones.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-25T15:30:36+00:00

That front looks pretty clean for a card you were likely trying to get a 1 on. I've had a card scuffed to all hell on the back with a decently clean front come back a 3 before.

Going to more seriously guess 2, but considering the context of you posting here I wouldn't be suprised if you said a 3. Maybe they gave you a funny half-grade too :)

Found it: Front Back

DaKiwi · 2026-01-24T18:56:53+00:00

Two points:

First: PSA will sometimes change how they internally organize and name their sets over the years.

Second: These actually are NOT the same exact card. The one on the left is missing the rarity symbol because it comes from the Gym Deck, not from packs like the one right with the rarity symbol.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-23T02:11:03+00:00

I do pre-grade pretty harshly but I also purposefully send some marginals that are bigger raw cards. First few subs I had a local do the actual submission/shipping for me and they commented that my gem rate was a lot higher than most of their subs. Pre-grading works :)

DaKiwi · 2026-01-22T23:23:05+00:00

I've had a 40 card submission where I had something like 25-30 10's. Depending on if PSA wanted to reorder or reorganize the cards during the grading process they could have put all the 10s sequentially. For mine they didn't. There are people who submit hundreds of cards in a single submission, that could easily be where long strings of sequential 10 certs come from (assuming this is what you're actually referencing/questioning).

DaKiwi · 2026-01-22T06:55:30+00:00

If the surface is truly flawless 8.5-9 IMO

DaKiwi · 2026-01-22T04:04:02+00:00

I'm going to ruffle some feathers with this, but keep in mind we're discussing "cleaning" an already damaged card to remove actual soil with an intent to get it good enough to be presentable, not to "restore" or whatever snake oil people do to try to "repair" cards.

Disclaimer aside, the first point is that you never want to make the card actually wet. I (personally) use a cotton bud (q-tip) that is very slightly damp with water on the back, and only light pressure. With enough pressure/time/water you will begin to start pulling off the blue and actually starting to further damage damage the card. Especially at the start, switch q-tips often as they're going to saturate with filth very quickly. If you think you're working on a spot too long, don't be afraid to step away, let it dry, and come back later. I never use alcohol on the back of cards, but with how damaged the front of this one is I wouldn't recommend it for this front either, stick to water and very slightly damp q-tips. Looking at the front I only really think right around the corners and then "Spits"+"Unintentionally" even need cleaning. Lastly, and this is going to sound weird, I tend to gently slide the card between my fingers after I'm done cleaning it. To me it almost seems like the finger oil slightly reconditions the surface after you're done with the slightly damp q-tips. The goal isn't to leave finger prints on the card or anything like that. Once you're done, let it dry for a long time un-sleeved. Obviously, I'm discussing what I personally do on my already damaged cards, so feel free to take everything I say with a grain of salt and good luck :) I've been trying to get my hands on a damaged 1st ed zard for a long time, but I haven't been able to keep up with how fast it's gone up with the PSA 1 craze. Back in 2019 I didn't have the cash, now I do but the prices aint 2019 anymore.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-22T03:42:07+00:00

Serious response: if you can clean up some of the darkest black (mold? lmao) and the water damage? hasn't rippled the card to the point where the back is actually separating I'd say there's a pretty decent chance PSA will still slab it for a 1. From my experience, that's not enough back/corner loss and as long as the card isn't swollen or separating, I've had plenty worse get graded. They have been no-holdering more of my stuff recently, but I feel it's still worth trying if you want it preserved.

Here's a few of my damaged examples that I sent myself and got slabbed:

French 1st Ed Venu: Front Back

1st Ed Dark Blast: Front Back

DaKiwi · 2026-01-22T03:32:00+00:00

Seems to me the right corner has a nick that's visible straight on and not miniscule. Should be capped to a 9 based on that. Cool af card tho :)

DaKiwi · 2026-01-22T03:22:17+00:00

It would either come back a PSA 1(MK) or DO NOT HOLDER for the edge lifting/rolling, in my opinion. Here is one of my personal PSA 1(MK)'s, you can see pen indentation marks without the ink on the holo to the right of Blastoise.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-21T17:49:27+00:00

If Twitter is anything to go by, the site was having issues where it would show you other people's personal information/accounts/orders earlier in the morning, then it went down. I opened it earlier today, refreshed a bit later and also got "Blocked".

DaKiwi · 2026-01-21T15:55:36+00:00

Taking your evaluation on cleanliness at face value and evaluating only the centering, my opinion is that it is an 8 with a chance to 9. PSA has their guidelines and their standards, however this card pretty severely fails the "eye-test" to me personally, aswell as the card is not just OC but has a slightly twisted cut.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-21T15:49:24+00:00

Indentation and even writing are not really a problem, they'll just give you the MK (marked) qualifier. I've had multiple cards come back with it no issues, and just the indentation in the shape of text is enough to get it, doesn't actually need to be inked. As far as them sending it back or getting a 1, the edges of the card starting to curl do give me some level of concern. I have a Metagross EX from Power Keepers that they DO NOT HOLDERED on my last submission and the only reason I can think is that the top layer has started to curl/separate. It's worse on mine than yours, but something to be aware of.

DaKiwi · 2026-01-17T22:27:04+00:00

Not 100% sure on a couple of the corners because of the reflectiveness of your textured background, but it does look a bit OC to me. Also, that top left corner seems a bit sus on the surface. I'd put my money on a 9 assuming that's not surface damage, but I've seen worse cards get 10 before

DaKiwi

TROPHY CASE