This is apparently a Japanese-based grading company named ARS that specifically caters to TCGs. The OP of the Umbreon claims that they used a middle-man service and the company accepts submissions based on a lottery system to keep workload manageable.
According to the ARS official website, the case is designed to have the grade on the back and the title on the front to emphasize the card as opposed to the grade. Each graded card can come with an appraisal certificate (upon submission request) and the language on case is dictated by the language on the card (Japanese and English currently).
Most importantly, here is the Google Translated version of their grading scale.
If this company manages to extend their services internationally and you begin seeing more graded examples from this company when you purchase from Japanese markets, would you consider sending in your Japanese cards to this company?
I should disclose that I am not affiliated with the company in anyone nor have I ever used their service. I learned about the company today and thought the design of their cases were interesting. Personally, I do like the placement of the label on the bottom; however, I’m not a fan of their logo placement and the text overlaying the logo.
Edit: I forgot to include the fine print on their grading scale. They are only concerned with the condition of the card and not printing defects such as misalignment. I’m guessing the “etc” means that there are other printing defects that they ignore too.
That’s completely fair. Is your reasoning more to do with the grading service being too far or more with you being satisfied with the grading scales of the companies you normally use/buy?
Probably both of those points. At this point, I don’t see a specific reason to use their services when I can buy/grade similar cards locally. I would need them to offer something that PSA or CGC can’t offer for me to be interested.
But if I lived in Japan, I would be very excited to learn more.
They look ehhh alright I guess, but I think I’ll be staying far away from grading through them or picking up any slabs by them. Best wishes to those who chose to do so though!
Yeah, international grading may not sound appealing to those with established local options. They can technically eliminate that hassle by setting up a US base or other international bases but there is no current demand (and may never be enough demand) to warrant that.
Plus I would need more graded examples to see if I like their standards. I am curious to see if more of these cases will pop up in Japanese markets. For now, all graded cases I see are from PSA.
I looked around Japanese Mercari to see some sold listings of popular cards. The cards here were sold around 11 days ago (Munch Pikachu) to 5 months ago (Umbreon)
It’s worth noting that the CoroCoro Mew is greatly off-center and would not be a PSA 10. and is probably too severe for a PSA 9. However, it received the highest ARS grade because they only consider condition and not centering. It still sold for about 2k above PSA 9 copies.
That is the “play” for using ARS imo to send them otherwise mint cards that have messed up centering but would basically need a middleman in Japan as im sure there is little to no liquidity for them outside of japan.
I honestly think it’s the best Grading Company thus far in my personal opinion. It hits all of the markers for me:
Puts the emphasis on the card and not the grade or label.
Label is professional yet simple in design (something I liked about BGS)
Case is crystal clear quality (something I liked about CGC)
Provides a certificate of authentication (just an added bonus).
Provides ample protection: I knocked my AGS 10+ by accident out of the second shelf of my display onto the floor. I’ve had that happen to me once before with a BGS case and it shattered on the bottom. But I couldn’t find literally ANY damage on the AGS slab.
Sure, if you care about resale, I haven’t really seen them get the premium that PSA has established. But as far as professional look, protection, and clarity go alongside presentation. I think AGS is the best we’ve ever seen.
If they went international (as of now they only accept lottery submissions via Japan) and I wasn’t paranoid about shipping nowadays in the US, I’d be happy to use their services.
I may buy from a seller but not send any in. I do like that the focus it seems to be the card, not grade and gives it the protection. I am all about displaying. I think it would be nice for Japanese specific cards that I plan on keeping. Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you for your insights! Aren’t the cases also perfect fit for the modern Japanese TCG? I’m curious if they have a case for older, smaller Japanese cards such as e-series. My cards have a lot of space in the PSA slabs.
I’ve seen it a bit here and there on reddit, I was told by Viral there’s been tons of interest and a lottery system had been implemented due to how popular they were getting in Japan.
I’m not sure why culturally they love a lottery instead of a queueing system where the business gets the full revenue potential and all customers get their desired services.
My personal take, they have the best looking slabs, but psa will still retain the #1 spot amongst grading companies for value.
You’ll probably see it gain more of a premium from Japanese collectors due to… Cultural preferences.
I would be very interested for more of these cards to hit the secondary market and how they compete with the PSA cards that are already there in terms of pricing. To be very honest I was a bit surprised with how many PSA cards there are on Mercari JP and with premium pricing of course due to the grades. I also wonder whether the Japanese people will prefer already established brands like PSA or start using this home brand with Japanese labelling etc. Eithercase, I am pretty optimistic that this competiton will help a binder collector like me who can get a possibly cheaper graded card and crack it for my binder.
