Newer PSA slabs/cert #'s command a premium over "old" slabs/certs?

[BoSoxFan1999]

Interesting article from the Athletic about how they found newer slabs/certs have shown to bring a premium over old (pre 2017) slabs with the older label, sometimes as much as 15-20%.

My question is: what about old certs that have been reholdered with new slabs/labels? Do those get a bump or no since they still have the old cert #?

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/687...s-cards-value/

[oddstuff]

If a buyer is actively looking for newer certs, then they will notice reslabbed cards with older certs and not pay any premium. Reslabbed cards with old cert/new label are trying to catch the uninformed buyers...and there are a lot of those out there.

[Bob Ross]

My favorite quote from this article:
"PSA said it has no opinion on secondary market pricing. A PSA spokesperson added: “Our grading standards are established with the intention of being timeless, being as objective and consistent as possible. I recognize there’s been conversation about PSA’s grading standards being updated, but in reality, the scale did not change." Allow me to break this down piece by piece:

1) "PSA said it has no opinion on secondary market pricing":



2) “Our grading standards are established with the intention of being timeless, being as objective and consistent as possible.":



3) "I recognize there’s been conversation about PSA’s grading standards being updated, but in reality, the scale did not change.":

[towerymt]

I'd like to see the exact sales they used to come up with the numbers. I skimmed the article but didn't see mention of auction or fixed price sales. And the card matters especially with those lower grades for some of the cards mentioned.

One example of extremes I found pretty quickly while browsing '79 Topps Gretzky in PSA-6 (one of the cards they mentioned)

The new cert sold fixed price for $2899 (Oct 7, 2025). This appears to be a big outlier. (Shows up in terapeak...I expected it to have sold for less or not be paid)

The old cert sold $1675 auction (Oct 8, 2025)

New cert looks more like an 8(oc) knocked down to a 6.
Old cert looks like a typical 6, touch of corner wear, nice centering though.

I'd rather have the old cert between these two.

[KhalDrogo]

For cards that have any degree of importance, the scrutiny has increased over time. I’m building the 1954 Topps baseball set. The difference between a post-pandemic and pre-pandemic PSA 8 is astounding. On average, I would wager the grade difference would be 1-1.5 points if regraded today. And the grades today are closer to technically correct than they have ever been. This gives you tremendous eye appeal for the grade, leading to higher prices.

[KeltonB]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

My favorite quote from this article:
"PSA said it has no opinion on secondary market pricing. A PSA spokesperson added: “Our grading standards are established with the intention of being timeless, being as objective and consistent as possible. I recognize there’s been conversation about PSA’s grading standards being updated, but in reality, the scale did not change."

This certainly seems like an opinion on secondary market pricing. (Facebook ad from today)

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by KeltonB

This certainly seems like an opinion on secondary market pricing. (Facebook ad from today)

Incredible.

[SLGSports]

PSA only adds value to your collection if it's a PSA 10... everything else is a loss.

[inaka]

For those that only care about the $$$, you'll be playing a game of catch-up until the end of time, and that's exactly how PSA likes it. Most think that grading with PSA is required for maintaining value and that's why they have a stranglehold on the hobby.

However, 10 years ago if you graded with PSA, and you now have PSA graded cards in non-lighthouse slabs under older grading standards, those older PSA graded cards don't hold as much value as newer PSA graded slabs, even with the same grade. This is by design from PSA. They want you to feel the need to "upgrade" or feel the need to reholder everything, which means people grading the same card, multiple times for ascetics, OCD, value, whatever. (Think buying the movie Terminator 2 on VHS, the LaserDisc, then DVD, the Blu-ray, etc.) It's the collector's equivalent of that. Sell the same thing multiple times over.

So 10 years from now when PSA openly introduces AI or something, they will change their grading standards again, and change the design of the label/slab, all then the cards graded currently will likely not be as valuable as those "newer" PSA slabs that were encapsulated under the 2030's grading standards, and so on, and so on, and so on. So people thinking they need to grade with PSA today because they will hold value long-term, are both correct by comparison to other grading companies (short-term) but foolish (long term) since the system is designed to make your cards devalued and need a reholder or regrade in the years to come. Think Apple. Then minute you buy a new phone, they'll then tell you in a couple of months how that amazing new phone you just bought is crap compared to the new one being released in 6 months, and your current phone is now "obsolete", etc. Same methodology with PSA, in my opinion.

So go with the grading company you like, or care less about the slab, because it's about the card inside the slab, not the soon-to-be-obsolete slab itself. Just my take.

[Gary]

Originally Posted by SLGSports

PSA only adds value to your collection if it's a PSA 10... everything else is a loss.

Ultra modern thats probably true,Its not even close to true for vintage.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by inaka

For those that only care about the $$$, you'll be playing a game of catch-up until the end of time, and that's exactly how PSA likes it. Most think that grading with PSA is required for maintaining value and that's why they have a stranglehold on the hobby.

However, 10 years ago if you graded with PSA, and you now have PSA graded cards in non-lighthouse slabs under older grading standards, those older PSA graded cards don't hold as much value as newer PSA graded slabs, even with the same grade. This is by design from PSA. They want you to feel the need to "upgrade" or feel the need to reholder everything, which means people grading the same card, multiple times for ascetics, OCD, value, whatever. (Think buying the movie Terminator 2 on VHS, the LaserDisc, then DVD, the Blu-ray, etc.) It's the collector's equivalent of that. Sell the same thing multiple times over.

So 10 years from now when PSA openly introduces AI or something, they will change their grading standards again, and change the design of the label/slab, all then the cards graded currently will likely not be as valuable as those "newer" PSA slabs that were encapsulated under the 2030's grading standards, and so on, and so on, and so on. So people thinking they need to grade with PSA today because they will hold value long-term, are both correct by comparison to other grading companies (short-term) but foolish (long term) since the system is designed to make your cards devalued and need a reholder or regrade in the years to come. Think Apple. Then minute you buy a new phone, they'll then tell you in a couple of months how that amazing new phone you just bought is crap compared to the new one being released in 6 months, and your current phone is now "obsolete", etc. Same methodology with PSA, in my opinion.

So go with the grading company you like, or care less about the slab, because it's about the card inside the slab, not the soon-to-be-obsolete slab itself. Just my take.

This is true.

People with OCD will continue to seek out the new slabs. If 9 of their slabs are Lighthouse, but 1 is not, they are not going to be happy until they convert that 1 into a Lighthouse.

Same for any other business though, like Apple you mentioned. And also, that's how companies like PSA will keep a customer for life, because they become dependent on everything new that comes out of PSA, and they want their collection to reflect that.

It only becomes an issue is when a customer decides that it is more risky for him to re-holder than it is to keep it in the old slab. Example would be a card that is extremely valuable, vintage Mantle or something, that was graded by PSA in the old slab as a PSA 10. In this scenario, no person in his right mind, would decide to re-holder, because the minimal risk of damage during a re-holder, is extremely multiplied in the potential loss of value between a 10 and a 9. Even people with the extremist OCD would think twice before re-holdering in this situation.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by Gary

Ultra modern thats probably true,Its not even close to true for vintage.

For vintage... yeah, I could buy a new car with a PSA 1 Poor 52 Mantle!

For junk wax and later/ultra modern cards, it's become really difficult in the hobby for people to appreciate anything other than a PSA 10. It's understandable though, because the card companies themselves ruined the hobby in the modern era by flooding the market with mass production of cards. The junk wax era was hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of cards per a few brands, whereas in the later/ultra modern era, the copies are much less but the amount of different brands out there has exploded.

So, what's a collector to do if they want scarcity in their collection? A PSA 10 is one way to shrink the best from the rest. RPAs, and serial numbered cards, is another way to seek scarcity in the collection. So, I really don't blame people if all they want are 10s... because that's like the only way they feel their collection can have any value, if and when, they decide to sell later down the road.

[Gary]

Originally Posted by rnocards

For vintage... yeah, I could buy a new car with a PSA 1 Poor 52 Mantle!

For junk wax and later/ultra modern cards, it's become really difficult in the hobby for people to appreciate anything other than a PSA 10. It's understandable though, because the card companies themselves ruined the hobby in the modern era by flooding the market with mass production of cards. The junk wax era was hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of cards per a few brands, whereas in the later/ultra modern era, the copies are much less but the amount of different brands out there has exploded.

So, what's a collector to do if they want scarcity in their collection? A PSA 10 is one way to shrink the best from the rest. RPAs, and serial numbered cards, is another way to seek scarcity in the collection. So, I really don't blame people if all they want are 10s... because that's like the only way they feel their collection can have any value, if and when, they decide to sell later down the road.

Agreed on your points......it was the blanket statement that was made that i wanted to address.....and just fyi....junk wax was produced at several million per card.......to be honest even vintage cards were made at alarming numbers....difference being back then they were add ons to get you to buy the gum.....nobody ever thought someday the cards would be worth anything so most were thrown away,put on bike spokes,pitched or other wise destroyed.

By the junk wax era Dr Beckett changed the whole hobby with price guides and the rest was history.everyone thought because everything before the price guides were worth money that everything after would be also.problem wasn't just production numbers as it was people didn't destroy them anymore.though production was up also.it was a 2 pronged problem.

Even cards like 86 Fleer basketball was almost a million print run......one of the unspoken but known dirty secrets of the hobby.

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by Gary

Agreed on your points......it was the blanket statement that was made that i wanted to address.....and just fyi....junk wax was produced at several million per card.......to be honest even vintage cards were made at alarming numbers....difference being back then they were add ons to get you to buy the gum.....nobody ever thought someday the cards would be worth anything so most were thrown away,put on bike spokes,pitched or other wise destroyed.

By the junk wax era Dr Beckett changed the whole hobby with price guides and the rest was history.everyone thought because everything before the price guides were worth money that everything after would be also.problem wasn't just production numbers as it was people didn't destroy them anymore.though production was up also.it was a 2 pronged problem.

Even cards like 86 Fleer basketball was almost a million print run......one of the unspoken but known dirty secrets of the hobby.

Yes, you're right on the millions per copy. It's unfortunate that card companies weren't thinking ahead or down the road on collectibility value, but I guess it didnt really matter, as long as they were selling them brand new through retail and wholesale and were making money right there and then. And you're right, it's 2 pronged, because everyone learned to keep them, which is why you find them now so readily available in the market.

I've strayed from the thread topic a bit, but I suppose in due time, the same will happen to PSA slabs, when many of these slabbed low/mid grade cards will saturate the market, and cause their value to plummit even further, making the drive to wanting to reholder everything a moot point.

[fabiani12333]

Buy the card -- not the grade. If an older PSA 10-graded card doesn't look gem mint condition, value it less. On the flip side, if a modern PSA 9-graded card looks gem mint, value it higher.

There are inconsistencies in PSA grades no matter the era. Yes, PSA was more lax in grading back in the day, but that doesn't mean every card was over-graded. And it doesn't mean that PSA 10-graded cards are automatically better condition.

I haven't read the article, but I just assume The Athletic is trying to craft a narrative that helps boost modern PSA-graded cards. You can't trust the media in the hobby -- they all seem corrupt. Always follow the money.

[Gary]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

Buy the card -- not the grade. If an older PSA 10-graded card doesn't look gem mint condition, value it less. On the flip side, if a modern PSA 9-graded card looks gem mint, value it higher.

While i agree with you logically... the hobby in general doesn't agree,you see it on here all the time.......i have bought several older slabs at really discounted prices over the past few years so for myself it seems its not a premium for newer slabs as much as a discount for older slabs.

2 moths ago i bought a lot of 82 LT rc's in PSA 8.....all lighthouse original holders but not newer grades..$45 per.same for a lot of Pippen RC's in PSA 8 with a similar discount.ifirc they were $25 per.theses were not re holders but original lighthouse holders also....seems like anything graded before the perceived tightening is discounted.

[Gary]

Originally Posted by rnocards

I've strayed from the thread topic a bit, but I suppose in due time, the same will happen to PSA slabs, when many of these slabbed low/mid grade cards will saturate the market, and cause their value to plummit even further, making the drive to wanting to reholder everything a moot point.

I believe your right on here....Further i think its already happening.