So I’ve recently been trying to upgrade some copies of holos from my Base Set binder collection with better condition cards after I noticed how subpar certain pieces of it were. Is it just me, or does it seem like it’s practically impossible to find actual near mint Base Set cards? The listings are plentiful, but 95% of them are garbage; even if its listed as near mint, all it takes is one quick glance at the pictures to realize its far from. Either that, or it’d be a stock photo from a card store that supposedly has 20 near mint copies in stock; you just know that buying these is a losing gamble.
I can’t help but think that this is a consequence of PSA grading. Not that I have anything against PSA, but it seems like sooner or later, it is actually going to be impossible to find raw ungraded cards in a collectible condition. It’d be funny if raw cards eventually become more valuable than their graded counterparts, you guys think that may ever be a possibility?
That being said, if anyone has an unlimited near mint base set Gyarados, hook me up.
Maybe that’s another thing worth mentioning: the subjectivity of grading. To me, a near mint card should be pretty darn close to mint. Normally I’d say any immediately noticeable scratch on a holofoil card should instantly disqualify a card from being near mint.
Since Base Set cards are as old as it gets, I’d even be willing to be a bit more forgiving with the grades, but more often than not, the condition is just nowhere close to NM/M. Take for example this Gyarados I just got:
Severe scratches on the bottom left hand corner, pinpoint dents/silvering on the edges, edgewear all over the back as well as stains on the card. I’d be very surprised if this card could get higher than a 6 on the PSA scale.
I’m having trouble with the same thing, actually. And funny enough, with the same card. I’ve had two extra copies of Gyarados, but my Original 5 collection has a Base Set Gyarados better than most, and I had that as a child.
Been looking for a while for a replacement, but nothing is set to my standards of Near Mint-Mint.
Looking for near mint or better old school holo’s on eBay is an endeavor rivaled by only a few other things in the world.
One thing to do is message sellers with a question about the condition and await their reply. No reply? Move on or take a gamble. Reply that looks like it was written by a toddler? Move on. Eloquent and friendly reply? Start chatting and see if they can help you out. Many sellers don’t have all the cards listed they want to sell. You most likely won’t find a bargain this way, but that is the price collectors sometimes have to pay to get their minty cards.
You can also buy complete or near complete sets listed as mint/near mint (again make sure to ask about the condition). This will be more cash intensive, but usually when bought from experienced sellers there are a fair few holo’s which are up to par with how the standards should be. The rest you can then sell on separately to get some of the cost back or keep to make the set complete again (by buying some more complete sets) and then sell on. The advantage here is that you will be able to pick the best cards from the sets and create a new set consisting of those cards.
In any case, I agree that it won’t get any easier to find old school cards in minty condition (wherever you look). I can see ungraded mint sets become highly sought after. However, as acebren mentioned the market would make sure they don’t become more expensive than their graded counterparts.
I was very patient when completing my PokéDex file recently. Completed Base, Jungle & Fossil while I was at it, all with Mint Cards. You just have to know where to look. Note: I only Purchased 4 cards off ebay, 1 (Haunter Holo) was listed as NM but came in Mint. So my best advice is to go with your gut feeling when it comes to ebay or go to Pokeorder.com, MTGdeals.com, Collectorscache.com or ask around here im sure the mintiest cards recide in the hands of these guys.
In short, no, ungraded cards will not be worth more than graded cards.
This pattern already exists in other hobbies. In Sports cards, it is already a standard. Graded cards are less subjective, and have more defined values. Also, the chance of finding a vintage ungraded Mint or even Near Mint card is impossible. Even if one appeared to be in Near Mint condition, the subjectivity is not worth the risk.
With pokemon, as you said, there are plenty of falsely advertised “Near Mint” or “Mint” cards online. Hell, even a large reputable retailer like Troll and Toad define cards in Excellent condition as “Near Mint”. As much as people love to bash PSA, they do a solid job of rating cards.
The ultimate answer to your question is already stated in your post; the 95% of listings that are falsely advertised as NM-Mint are why actual NM-Mint raw cars won’t have a higher value than their graded counterpart. It is not worth the risk of buying a raw copy that is most likely not NM or Mint, when one can pay a bit more for a higher guarantee.
Lol, I have had luck on ebay with some people and near mint and then I have been unfortunate with others. I wanted a gengar real bad earlier this year, first edition fossil set, and a girl swore up and down it was near mint, and on a low res camera, some times its hard to spot holo scratches, well it arrived and looked like it had been cleaned with a steel wool brush. Then again, one time there was a storage collector and he had a 1st edition holo umbreon and I literally got him to sell it to me for $10, from crossing the ruins. Later found out he bought a storage unit and the previous owner collected and had unopened boosters and he opened them all. Wasnt one flaw at all with it. Ended up selling it for $60 to someone who wanted it really badly.
It seems most are objecting to what are known as pack scratches. Those are the ultra thin lines you can see on the holo portion. These are extremely common on the early sets where the sheets were fed sideways.
A giant percentage of these cards have them right out of the pack. If all else on one of these pack fresh cards is fine they can get 9s. Even occasional 10s.
legendary collection holos are notorious for this. They normally get psa 8 with the factory scratches on it. On the blastoise LC holo i pulled it didn’t have perfectly straight line scratches. The scratches were like a child’s scribble. I’ve never seen pacm fresh cards with scratches like that since.
I’ve never pulled a base set holo so I add my experience to that.
Trust me Gary I’m well aware that pack scratches exist and cards often come with damage right off the press but the type of damage that most advertised near mint cards come with are *not* that. I’d be perfectly okay with it if that were the case.
i have come to the conclusion though that you basically do get exactly what you pay for at the end of the day. An extra premium on a card from what I’ve seen so far is more likely than not justified and I’m no longer afraid to go with a more expensive listing if it means buying from a more reputable seller or a listing with way better pictures for example.
That being said, I still haven’t drank the PSA Kool-Aid yet though and am refraining for as long as possible as I’m not ready to open that can of worms just yet.
I did the same thing as you. Inspected my master gen 1 binder. And had to remove a bunch of excellent cards. And luck has it I got a base set set for $85 and all the cards were MINT
Would you mind sharing which eBay seller it was? I am looking for a couple of the less valuable cards from base, jungle and rocket as well and would like to avoid purchasing them 10 times before I am happy with their condition, lol
and all the cards were MINT
