IrishPrince

Thank you. Yes, I can't think of a valid reason why the quality of the submissions (the raw cards) wouldn't be same between what gets submitted to CGC and PSA. And if that is the case, objectively, PSA has much looser grading standards. Something to be aware of if you are buying and collecting cards.

I recently received back from CGC my 25 card Confetti Holo collection of the McDonalds 25th Anniversary Pokemon Collection. Generally, I'm very happy with the grades. Just for fun I did a comparison of grading between CGC and PSA; and I found some very interesting differences. Here's my observations and conclusions upfront, and then I'll list some of the data below. If we assume that the population of submitters are roughly the same (meaning they submit cards of equal raw quality) between those that submit to CGC and those that submit to PSA then the following seems to be true: PSA gives out Gem Mint 10s like candy on Halloween. On the other hand, it is very difficult (in comparison) to get a CGC 9.5 Gem Mint. The McDonald's set is a perfect set to perform this analysis as the cards were released in 2021 so we are looking at recent grading standards between the two companies. Here's what the data says... Total cards graded: CGC 16,793; PSA 7,647. Percent of cards graded Gem Mint or better: CGC 6.1%, PSA 41.8% !!! A few samples of the Holos: Bulbasaur - CGC 6.2%, PSA 34% Charmander - CGC 6.3%, PSA 38.8% Squirtle - CGC 5.4%, PSA 38% Pikachu - CGC 6.1%, PSA 43.9% Wow. Just wow. So... the conclusion is unmistakable -- why in the world would you prefer a PSA 10 slab to a CGC 9.5 slab? With PSA there are many, many cards that they grade as Gem Mint that clearly don't meet the same standards as CGC is using. So, for me as a collector, I prefer CGC since I can be confident that a Gem Mint graded card is truly Gem Mint.

Would love to see: Celebrations - Classic Collection - English. (15K cards) McDonalds Collection 2021 - English. (16.8K cards) Southern Islands - Japanese. (2.2K cards)

So maybe we should be thinking about a careful wipe of cards with something like a microfiber cloth? I thought the surface grade was for something more permanent to the card -- like holo print lines, for example?

Does CGC expect that the price of Bulk card submissions will go down from the current $15 per card? There are a lot of cards I would like to get slabbed (Celebrations, McDonalds, etc.) that just don't make sense at $15 per card but would be worthwhile at $7 to $8 per card.

Ok, I guess I didn't see the third entry where it added the Charmander score back in. D'oh! Sorry for the faulty report!

Sorry... posting this here as I just saw this new forum.... (posted originally to Ask CGC). Hi, just want to report that you have a math logic error in your set registry calculations. You can confirm by checking out my Set History for the Team Rocket Master set: https://www.cgccards.com/registry/competitive-sets/7078/?page=2 The error occurs when I add a second card of the same type. For example, I add Charmander 9.5 the score goes from 4768 to 4969. All good so far. I add another Charmander 9.5 and the total score goes from 4969 to 4768 -- thereby wiping out the original Charmander point value.

Hi, just want to report that you have a math logic error in your set registry calculations. You can confirm by checking out my Set History for the Team Rocket Master set: https://www.cgccards.com/registry/competitive-sets/7078/?page=2 The error occurs when I add a second card of the same type. For example, I add Charmander 9.5 the score goes from 4768 to 4969. All good so far. I add another Charmander 9.5 and the total score goes from 4969 to 4768 -- thereby wiping out the original Charmander point value.

I would have preferred that Gem Mint be considered a 10, and 9.5 be considered Mint+. I'm hoping that CGC tweaks their label so that it would support a Gem Mint 10. And for a fee, we could send in our 9.5s to get them in a new slab with the GM 10 grade.

I don't see the 25th Anniversary Celebrations set in the POP Report. Anyone figure out how to find that yet?

Original Pokemon Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, and Team Rocket seem to have pretty limited 9.5 Gem Mints. The manufacturing process on these original sets left a lot to be desired.

Working well for me. Used the POP report to grab some 9.5 WOTC cards that were undervalued on ebay.

I noticed that CSG has revised their grading scale so that Gem Mint is now a 10 instead of 9.5 (which becomes Mint+). https://www.csgcards.com/card-grading/grading-scale/ When will CGC revise the scale for TCG graded cards?

Always seems to be about a month away. Been in that status for about a year it seems.

Yeah, Pikachu's centering is better -- should be graded at least a 9 for centering.

The Alakazam looks to have a top-bottom centering issues. 8.5 for that level of top-bottom seems about right, IMO.

They do reholdering for free and the shipping is free also. On my last order one of my cases had a large scratch on it. It's still at CGC waiting for a new holder (waiting over a month now)...

Team Rocket is in the House!!

I have no issue with their current grading standards as long as they are consistent across the board. What I would have preferred CGC to do is to add the MINT+ as a 9.5; in that way they could have called GEM MINT at 10. Meaning: 10 Gem Mint 9.5 Mint+ 9 Mint That is what the CGC scale should look like.

In this case, the bulk order was sent out on 7/22/21 while the economy tier is still in the G/E/I stage. It's fine... I'll be patient. You guys are still light years ahead of BGS. I'll never grade with them again. Still waiting for orders delivered to them in October for 'standard' service tier.

I have a 45-card order (no subs) that entered Grading / Encapsulation / Imaging on 7/9/2021. Is it normal for it to be 26+ calendar days in this state? I had a second order that entered Grading / Encapsulation / Imaging at the same time (7/9/2021) and it was shipped out on 7/22/2021. Wondering if there is a problem with this order?

I'm just guessing here, but they may have renamed 'Grading / Quality Control' to 'Grading/Encapsulation/Imaging' to be more transparent.

I would think you should be popping soon. Mine: Economy, no subs Received 2/12/2021 Scheduled for Grading 6/29/2021.

My TGC - Economy 45 cards, was received on 2/12/2021. So, hopefully it will be Scheduled for Grading soon.

Received: 2/12/21 Cards: 45 Service: TCG - ECONOMY Status: Received Received: 2/10/21 Cards: 88 Service: TCG - BULK Status: Received