Modern Pokémon pre-grading checklist

“Modern” here means the two most recent English series. The Sword & Shield expansion, released in English on February 7, 2020, opened the Sword & Shield Series and was the first set with Pokémon V and VMAX cards (Bulbapedia). The Scarlet & Violet set followed on March 31, 2023, and with it English cards dropped the yellow front border for the silver border used in Japan (Nintendo Life, quoting the official Pokémon site); every Scarlet & Violet era card carries a regulation mark G, H or I (Bulbapedia). The graders apply the same standards to these cards as to any other: PSA's grade definitions have no separate rules for trading-card games. The checklist below turns those standards into things you can check at a desk. It cannot predict a grade.

What you need

• One bright light you can tilt the card under, and a clean surface to work on.
• A loupe or magnifier. CGC's scale judges Gem Mint corners as perfect to the naked eye and Mint+ under 10x magnification; Beckett's Pristine 10 corners and edges must be “virtually flawless under intense scrutiny.”
• A ruler or scan for the borders, and the centering calculator to turn the measurements into a ratio.
• Clear penny sleeves and semi-rigid holders (3 5/16 × 4 7/8 in for standard cards, per PSA's shipping guide) for the cards that pass.

The lines you are checking against

The three graders publish slightly different top grades. PSA and CGC use the same centering limits for a 10; Beckett's Pristine 10 is stricter. Where they differ, the table shows each.

PSA adds that its graders reserve the right to judge a card on the strength or weakness of its eye appeal, and that a small centering variance may occasionally be permitted for the same reason. Treat the numbers as the line, not as a promise.

1. Front borders: compare left with right and top with bottom. PSA 10 asks for about 55/45 or better, PSA 9 about 60/40.
2. Corners: all four should be sharp. CGC judges Gem Mint corners as perfect to the naked eye and Mint+ under 10x magnification.
3. Edges: run your eye along every edge, front and back, for white flecks (chipping) or a rough factory cut.
4. One light, tilted: rock the card under a single light so scratches in the foil catch the glare.
5. Print line: a thin line through the foil or artwork is a print flaw; PSA lists print lines, dots and “snow” under its PD qualifier.
6. Back: measure the back borders too (PSA 10 about 75/25, PSA 9 90/10). PSA notes chipping shows most on colored borders.

The checklist

Tick each check the card passes. Checks marked must pass are about authenticity and alteration; checks marked needed for a 10 follow from the PSA 10 definition or its centering limits. The tool runs in your browser and stores nothing.

What to look for on modern cards

Foil and full-art surfaces

CGC's guide to rarity symbols sets out where the foil sits: on a holo only the art box shines, a reverse holo has foil everywhere except the art box, and a full art card carries its artwork across the whole face. It also lists illustration rares (one gold star) and special illustration rares (two gold stars), and warns that scratches on the holofoil and blemishes across the surface “will lower the value of any card.” On a full art or illustration rare, then, the whole front is surface to inspect. Hold the card under one light and rock it slowly in both directions so the glare passes over the whole face.

Print lines and production defects

Not every flaw comes from handling. PSA's PD qualifier covers significant print flaws, which it says can appear as print dots, print “snow” (white patches) or print lines. CGC grades production defects by severity and prevalence: a defect that affects only part of a print run is scrutinised more than one found on every card from that run. Its examples include printer's hickeys, machine roller lines on earlier Pokémon cards and rough edges on the Pokémon Jungle set from dull cutting blades. CGC's error guide adds that off-center cards are among the most common printing anomalies in trading-card games, and it designates miscut and crimped cards separately as errors.

Edges against a colored border

PSA's lingo defines chipping as the condition of a card's edges and notes it is most noticeable on colored borders, where the lighter stock under the ink shows through. It can come from handling, aging or dull blades at the factory. Check each edge on the front and the back, and look closely at the back corners.

If a check fails

Do not try to fix a flaw before sending. PSA's N7 code covers cards where “a whitener is used to whiten borders or a solution is used to remove” stains, and N5 covers stock that shows some form of alteration. When the checklist rules out a 10, compare the price of the grade the card can realistically reach with its raw value: PSA 9 vs PSA 10 shows how wide that gap can be, and is it worth grading? sets out the arithmetic.

Packing the cards that pass

1. Sleeve it. One card per clear penny sleeve; PSA warns that solid or opaque sleeves can cause delays.
2. Holder it. Slide the sleeved card into a semi-rigid holder, 3 5/16 × 4 7/8 in for standard cards, with both sides fully visible.
3. Keep it bare. PSA asks for no toploaders, tape, pull tabs or sticky notes.
4. Submit. PSA's get-started page asks submitters to examine everything from surface to edges and to check centering, folds, creases and staining first. The full process is in how to submit cards for grading; condition terms are defined in the card condition glossary.