If you have a little free time:
Interesting OLD THREAD ALERT!!
Super bored obviously.
Makes for a good read imo.
www.elitefourum.com/t/psa/10269/1
Perspective between then and now have changed so much.
Pretty much From the beginnings to now…
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this is a great time capsule. I can’t believe that conversation was happening in pokemon in 2011. this hobby is still so young. by comparison the MtG market at that time was certainly in a very different place…
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Only 9 years ago and no one wanted graded cards. Fascinating !
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Keep in mind pretty much everything except the top trophy cards was under a thousand dollars around that time so there was much less incentive / money on the line to grade cards. IIRC PSA 10 BASE 1ST Zard was around $700 a decade ago.
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Not sure what you’re talking about. 
pokegym.net/community/index.php?threads/700-for-a-psa-10-1st-edition-base-set-charizard.111691/
(I’m hyruleguardian)
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I was using PSA back then, but not punctuation. 
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It was almost unheard of at that time for Pokémon cards lol. Crazy how time changes.
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700 is a great price, I apparently couldn’t find any under a thousand LOL
pokegym.net/community/index.php?threads/please-close.95698/#post-1352230
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That’s crazy. So sounds like collectors years ago sound like my mindset currently. I only buy graded for certain situations. Usually when ungraded is very close to graded cost. Or I go ahead and pay the premium if I truly love the card that much that I double mind paying double or triple etc but that’s a rare case for me. I generally just go ungraded all day and collect more cards. I do respect PSA. Mistakes would seem annoying to anyone from any decade. I feel like anyone just about to sell their collections should grade their cards to get the extra money. But while collecting there is no need unless it’s simply for protection or specific goals or if you simply like the cards displayed by PSa better. To each their own tho. That was a great old read I’m glad you brought it up :-). It also just tells me I have a old school mindset haha
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Pokémon wasn’t on my radar in 2011. But I actually remember taking note of the pokemon 1st edition Charizard price at some point in 2013. I was always scouring ebay for alpha magic cards at the time and the 1st ed Charizard kept popping up at some of the price levels for some of the alpha cards. I debated whether to buy the card a few times to keep as “my one pokemon card”, but thought that’s a lot of money for a Pokémon card and talked myself out of it.
I *almost* went to my closet to check the box of cards I had bought and opened back in 1999 to see if I had a Charizard but didn’t. I finally checked that box in the winter of 2019 when my son started really getting into pokemon. the box did not have a Charizard and the whole box was unlimited. except for machamp of course.
how times have changed
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My question is would PSA graded Pokémon cards be where they are currently if YouTube was out of the question?
YouTube to me is a HUGE platform for PSA cards. All cards in general, but PSA cards for sure.
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People were grading well before youtube. Keep in mind this was just one thread. At that point I was grading with Psa for a few years. YouTube definitely provides exposure, but Psa was happening before poketubers.
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Ya I’m guessing PSa or a similar grading company was inevitable to determine mint from heavy played to light played etc. YouTube brought more collectors into the hobby and more business to PSa but not the soul factor. I just really wish I didn’t lose my childhood collection but it is what it is Edit: looks like as I was typing this scott said close to the same thing haha
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For what it’s worth, the way I discovered that graded Pokémon cards were a thing (in 2009, during my college years on a day when I was feeling a bit homesick and nostalgic) was literally just randomly searching for Pokémon cards on eBay and sorting by highest price.
The YouTube space for graded Pokémon cards back then was extremely limited. So much so that when I showed my PSA 10 1st ed Charizard on YouTube that same year I believe it was the first one to be shown on YouTube (at the very least I remember not being able to find any others at the time).
But there’s no doubt that YouTube and social media were huge factors in the increasing popularity of graded Pokémon cards in the years that followed.
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@enlightenedbulbasaur That’s amazing that you and Scott were in that thread and there were haters talking down a PSa 10 zard haha. Glad you drowned out the noise and decided to buy it 
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Great read, thanks!
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I wonder what common opinions we have now that will be completely frowned apon in another 10 years. Great read!
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PSA 7 Unlimited Clefables for $20 aren’t the steal of a lifetime
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Dark Blastoise will be worth $1 as PSa 10. $0.50 as a 9. $0.25 8 and a penny ungraded haha
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