Recent PSA grading results
JimMeant
Posts: 360 ✭✭✭
Hey guys, I don’t post often but just looking for a chance to hear back from some of you that send off submissions to PSA.
I’ve been sending off cards to PSA for over 10 years and I must say I’ve never seen any grades like the ones that I’ve been getting over the past calendar year. Vintage, junk wax era, even modern…it doesn’t matter. Disappointing result after disappointing result.
Most of these results are coming from PSA slabbed cards that I have purchased, cracked out to get autographed, and then re-submitted. Risky, I know…but I just can’t understand what has changed recently.
Here’s just a sampling of what I have sent off over the past year and the results
1960 Topps Yaz rookie PSA 6 —-> PSA 4
1969 Topps Johnny Bench PSA 7 —-> PSA 5
1985 Topps Tiffany Roger Clemens PSA 9 —-> PSA 6
1986 Fleer Patrick Ewing PSA 9 —-> PSA 6
1986 Fleer Larry Bird PSA 9 —-> PSA 8
1986 Fleer Julius Erving PSA 9 —-> PSA 8
1986 Fleer Chris Mullin PSA 9 —-> Altered, and then minisized (submitted twice)
Almost all of these cards submitted have outstanding eye appeal, colorful surface, and are high end centered copies. All except 1 were in newer PSA lighthouse flips when purchased.
And is there a chance the card could get damaged at the autograph event while being handled? I’m sure that it happens occasionally but in the case of those submissions above, each card was closely inspected upon return and deemed to be in the same satisfactory condition as when the card was originally cracked out. No visible change in condition before sending off.
Not looking for sympathy or pity. Just wondered if other collectors are seeing similarly low grades/results on their submissions as of late.
Comments
The cracking out game is officially over...higher grading standards today than just a few years ago. Todays 8s...look like yesterdays 9s.
i have been grading for 20 years, this is my opinion of what changed. the surface/cardboard issues. i have some really nice 10's and 9's from the past, but you can see the cardboard has issues. when cohen took over, he changed that. this is the main reason why psa has thousands of 10's and sgc has very few. and my take is that cohen/psa took some clues from sgc about the surface.
so psa went from giving you 9 to a 6 or 7 based on the surface wrinkle or divit. i brought up the 1980 rickey henderson on a post years ago. many of the 9's and 10's have a small circular divit on the upper left side of card. psa gave me a 9 on one that has one but and an 8 on one that didn't. it would interesting to know how many 9's or 10's the henderson has received since cohen took over.
sgc and beckett favor the look over the surface issues to a degree. and i agree with that type of grading. psa in my opinion gave out way too many 10's up to 2020. and now probably rarely give in from 1986 and back.
I don’t disagree at all.
But by that logic, shouldn’t older flips (even lighthouse flips from 2+ years ago) carry considerably lesser value on the market today knowing that these grades wouldn’t be accurate and don’t measure up due to current PSA and their stricter grading standards?
I’ve been to many national and regional shows. At least in my years of experience, never have I seen a buyer comment on the PSA serial number and the year in which it was graded as a precursor to negotiations.
Good question, Jim. I think investors buy the slab, not the card. I will say that there are old flip cards that would hold up to the stricter grading standards of today.
2 cards that went from a PSA 9 to A PSA 6 and others that lost 2 grades is just crazy .
That could knock you from a top spot on the PSA SET REGISTRY.
Yeah, doesn't that discount the registry to some degree? Someone had like the #3 or #4 registry set of the Dark Shadows green border set (yes, obscure set from 1969) up on ebay within the last year. I contemplated buying it, but couldn't help but to think that many of the cards in the offering are not representative of the grades, based on today's standards, so I passed. I do kind of regret not buying it because I love Dark Shadows and it would have been cool to have something on the registry that I could try to improve. However, the prospect of improving the set was going to prove difficult, based on today's standards.
If they're grading honestly, cracking out modern 9s and getting 10s will be a thing till the end of time.
I do watch videos of guys cracking out cards sometimes. Watching these guys do this makes me cringe because they're obviously not getting the card out without hurting it. Then they're surprised when the grade is lower after they resub.
I miss the crack out/resub days so much. I used to have so much fun searching for the right ones to do that. It was a cool way to get into the vintage collection-building.
The grading changes were bad enough but the turnaround times was the final straw for me on that.
Opinions, opinions....Much as we love to discuss the reasoning behind the grades we've all known and loved, the sad truth is that a group of people who were paid to have opinions many years ago are found to be rather irrelevant today. The group of people who are contracted to offer their opinions today are an entirely different group of people. It seems that quite a few submitters have very strong feelings about the current opinions. Whether they be good or bad.
Hell hath no fury like a Northside slump.
To the original poster; census medians will be maintained
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
To those that are unaware PSA has introduced a new holder material it seems about 6- 8 months ago... Holders with 2 little letter like characters on the lower bottom left of the holder are the old crack able type holders... A new holder with 3 little characters in the lower bottom left has some type of flexible rubber compound infused with the plastic such that cracking out the card is nearly impossible without damaging the card. It just bends the holder if one tries to crackout a card. However, it seems only about 20% of new holders are like this so not sure if it will get to 100%. Has anyone else noticed this change...
This is not my card, it's currently on Ebay but I'm confused as to why this card got a 2 and am I wrong that this is a new flip?
I see the psa sticker so I'm thinking this is a new grade but imo it absolutely does not look like a 2 compared to the many other cards I've seen in PSA 2 slabs that look far better.
So my question was this card graded under the newer stricter guidelines?
It's PSA ensuring you will keep the low grade for your high grade card. You will not be allowed to crack it out and enjoy it raw. The stank of the unfair low grade will stick to you forever.
The Mass Four folks however thank you for your sacrifice contributing to the lower end of the scale so that census medians are properly maintained for the top end
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
I think there are a couple of other factors playing in here as well. I truly believe pop control is a thing. I also think that handing out lower grades, especially on vintage keeps the re-sub train moving.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Does the more lenient older graders spoil the whole medium. The difference is rediculously obvious between the new hard-asses and the old crew that were more reasonable.
@perkdog The '54T Teddy was graded several years ago, not recent. The grade was probably assigned because it didn't have a hole punched in it or a mustache on his face. And it's relatively well centered.
Hell hath no fury like a Northside slump.
From what I've noticed on non modern; old school 1s,2s,3s,4s are still those same games however old school 7,8,9,10s are 2s,3s,4s,5s,6s.
I speculate the reason is census medians maintence is not required on lower grades. In fact the higher the lower grade pops are the more scarce higher grades are perceived.
Certain submitting contingents salute you for your sacrifice in contributing to the success of their business model. They could not do it without the rest of you.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
Thank you for the responses
I think what has happened in the last 5 years is that there weren't as many "vintage" newbie submitters , i.e. those sending in their childhood cards and PSA's vintage business became primarily experienced dealers or collectors who where reluctant to send in cards less than what they thought was a 7 NM... thus, you can hopefully imagine the rest if you guys believe in pop control...however, this is just an idea which may or may not be real... Rock on!
The sensibility of assuming that there isn't very much available for the graders to see compared to years ago is pretty strong. Old vintage used to be all we discussed when the grades were pumping and the cards were trading hands on a daily basis. The large bulk orders probably happen less frequently these days, unless it's one of the big submitters. Then, it's up to the grading department to decide what they see. But, for some people like us, hustling up a hoard of cards to get graded just isn't so easy anymore. The good old days are just that. Sending in cards that we might think are special wouldn't flicker a light with them. Unless you stumble across an old "childhood collection" with cards virtually untouched by humans, or chancing unopened vintage packs, you won't find anymore gems out there. PSA won't let you. This I've learned over the course of time. I migrated many years ago from being exclusively a graded card dealer to buying and selling raw. It's wonderful not to worry about anything associated with grading anymore.
Hell hath no fury like a Northside slump.
Yes Mr. StrikeZone you are quite the thinker on this board (in top 3 I would say). I agree the rate of vintage both quality and lesser grade has slowed down from the bustling hustling days 2000-2020 or so. Have a great day!
They shouldn't unless the card was obviously overgraded upon inspection. In my opinion, cards graded from the late 90s through early 2020's were properly graded per the published grading standards that were broadly accepted in the hobby. The new holder cards are a good opportunity to pick up NM-MT or MINT cards for the cheap in PSA 5 or 6 holders and crack them out to have blazing nice raw cards. Is it even possible to get a PSA 8 or higher on 1950s Bowman cards these days due to the natural texture of that paper stock?
Could be that they want to move the older grading to SGC? just a thought.
Sadly Ted Williams cards have been elusive for me. Vintage card are enjoyed raw. And in lower states of preservation, like the ‘54 Williams featured in this thread, are these cards really worth the effort to grade?
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
This is exactly what I did when i was finishing some 70s sets a year or so ago. You can get some beautiful cards in 5/6 holders that look amazing without paying through the nose. Kind of silly it's come to this...
I'd generally agree that grading vintage cards is tougher today vs years ago but I still see weak cards for the grade in new holders as well as razor sharp cards for the grade in old holders. As someone once wisely said, buy the card bot the holder. It's foolish to discount older flips or to blindly assume the newer ones are better.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.