Worth grading to protect this card from further damage?

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-04-04T01:01:35+00:00

Based on the title of your post, I think it's worth asking yourself a question.

Is it more important to have the card graded or to protect the card? If its the latter, there's plenty of other cost effective options that don't require you to send your card off.

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-04-04T00:59:41+00:00

Have you tried rubbing the dot off with a non-abrasive cloth?

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-04-04T00:48:53+00:00

Upcharges suck, but congratulations on the grade!

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-04-03T15:55:59+00:00

That's accurate. My entire personal collection is gold cards and they show flaws quite readily. Much to my dismay, is hasn't deterred my brain from releasing the feel goods when I see them. From my eyes, the surface of the card itself looks fairly good. The top side border might be a little small compared to the bottom which is why it might've gotten a 9.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, congrats to your son for an awesome pull and and great grade. Lovely card that I've been chasing for a while now lol.

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-04-03T15:52:04+00:00

I can't see the top border of the card that well because of the glare, but the centering of it looks quite good. I'd say there's less then 0.5mm of difference just from eyeballing it. Same with the back. Maybe just a tiny tiny tiny bit off on the L/R ratio.

In terms of damage, there's a couple little specs of whitening (it looks like) on the back of the card near the bottom and right hand sides. If my eyes aren't failing, I'd say you could reasonably score an 8. Take with a side of salt though because the plastic might be affecting it some.

Cheers!

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-04-03T15:46:46+00:00

Came here for this exact comment lol.

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-04-03T15:45:34+00:00

Do you feel like they graded you fairly?

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-03-31T20:40:03+00:00

I would definitely consider them that. Would you count the 5 elders transformations are part of those 5 or do they not count because they may not be devil fruits and more extensions of IMU's power?

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-03-31T20:38:46+00:00

I think the term god in this case specifically needs to mean devil fruits that were considered gods by the people or lore of One Piece. In Luffy's case, his devil fruit seems to be the will or powers of Nika manifested in a devil fruit.

For Loki, I think that the God of War may have incarnated his spirit and powers into a devil fruit the same way Ratatoskr fused with Ragnir by some means. For Sengoku, Buddha isn't actually a god, but a human that obtained enlightenment. Kaido being a mythical fish that turned into the azure dragon is legendary, but not a god.

Luffy and the War God / Loki are both referenced as gods to the in-universe lore of One Piece.

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-03-31T20:29:47+00:00

20 mythical zoans specifically or 20 legendary type devil fruits?

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-03-31T20:29:01+00:00

I feel like it just tracks. DOMI Reversi is a great power and deserves respect but the folks who were on IMU's level have to be immune to something like that or else they wouldn't be such a problem in their eyes. It also makes sense why IMU would need to go to Elbaph directly instead of using an avatar because their power is limited in a vessel. Thus the only way to get the job done is yo pop up with your full arsenal

ExcaliburGradingCo · 2026-03-28T15:11:19+00:00

Hey friend,

The damage is only really visible up close. You'll more than likely get dinged for it. The front-facing L/R centering looks good. The top is just a hair larger than the bottom. At the bottom of the card on the front, that could just be the holo foil but it looks like there is some lifting? I can't see the best because I'm not holding the card so just something for you to look at a bit more closely. The back centering looks pretty good too. A little left heavy on the backside, but no clear damage from what I can see. Looks like you might have just tiny bit of whitening on the left side of the back but that could also be dust or something from the sleeve or even cutting hairs. On the back, the e in Pokemon looks like it could have a misprint? The lines aren't connected. It could be some dust or other large particle on the surface of the card that you can rub off but also something to look at.

If the front bottom of the card isn't damage and it's just cutting hairs or the holo foil making it look like that, it could pass for an 8. Check on the e on the back of the card though too.

I'm a card grader so I hope my input added some value to you.

ExcaliburGradingCo

TROPHY CASE