I’m having a bit of a tough time deciding g how to go about with my collection.
I am trying to collect shadowless base set holos. I started with charizard in a PSA 8. Which I really enjoy because it’s a great clean copy.
Now what I’m having trouble deciding is should I get the remaining holos in a PSA 8. 8.5 or 9?
Compared to charizard the 9s are still cheap compared to the price of the 8 or 9 charizard. So I can definitely get 9s but then the line outlier would be charizard in the 8.
Now the other option is 8 or 8.5. But would it be a waste because I could have done the 9s/better copy of the cards the whole time?
A lot of collectors like uniformity in their collection, and so some people may only collect 8s, 9s, 10s, etc and not other grades. It really depends on the collector and the goals they have. Some people collect a mix of grades. As I mentioned in your other thread, I’ve collected anything from 5s to 10s for my WOTC collection. The reason being is mainly costs savings but also the value I place on my collection and certain cards.
I like having a mix of high grade slabs and low to mid grade binder copies. I find this to be the best mix for me. If I only focused on 10s or other high grades, I’d probably have a far smaller collection at this point. At the same time, having some 10s gives me some more ‘special’ cards in my collection that I don’t always see for sale every time I go looking around and gives me a sense of accomplishment and added satisfaction.
A PSA 8 is really a solid grade from PSA for WOTC cards. I think people sometimes forget these cards are 20+ years old now and many were handled poorly or not stored well and had manufacturing issues back then. Even a pack fresh card may only get a PSA 8 and not 9 or 10 necessarily. So I see nothing wrong with focusing on 8s compared to higher grades. There are a wide range of collectors for all grades of these cards, so I don’t see anything wrong with your current direction.
Just curious, do you have any favorites out of the base set holos? I’ve collected sets before and I burnt out because I would end up on a card I didn’t really care about, but it completed the collection.
In other words, would you rather have 4 zards or a complete set of shadowless holos?
As for grades, you can always upgrade down the road. I like 8s and 8.5s
Are you a set collector, a species collector, an artist collector, or none of the above? I think that is the first question to ask yourself.
If you’re a set collector, you’ll then have to determine whether you want uniformity in your graded cards as @jabby mentioned. Are you OK with PSA 8s or do you want PSA 9s to feel more satisfied with your collection? There really is no “right” answer. PSA 9s tend to hold their value better than PSA 8s, but if you’re never going to sell then it really doesn’t matter in the end.
8-9 range is totally fine. When you learn that it’s pack fresh condition more or less, you shouldn’t be disappointed with that ever really. Obviously 10s can be extra special and harder to get (hence the value), you can still find lots of enjoyment in slightly lower grades.
The other thing is you can always upgrade/downgrade down the road. I think the most important thing is getting the card in your collection to begin with. When I bought my 1st Ed Base Charizard even in a low grade it was a huge accomplishment for me and it looks really good for its grade overall. I just didn’t feel a need to spend 2-3x more for a slight upgrade in condition, I just really wanted the card in my collection no matter what.
That’s true, I think just having the set is important to me. I always choose 8 as a minimum because I’ve been told that an 8 is still considered park fresh
Do you want a graded collection only or is there a possibility to crack them and binder them? This basically eliminates the need for having uniform grades and even adds the flexibility to choose different grading companies. This will help stretch the budget a lot more than just going to PSA.
Also binders are super easy to store and very handy to look through your collection.
I would also think about how much you want to spend on this endevour and does this stop you from other goals you have?
Money is unfortunately finite and a very important resource especially for the specific promos you could enjoy as Mr Bubbles can attest to with his fantastic promo collection.
I would make a list of cards you remotely want to buy and see what is the most difficult to find and go from there (as best as possible) because the more available stuff will still be here, some in a lower grade but I have a PSA 5 Natta wake psyduck that I love because it looks super clean! But it has an indent or such somewhere.