You should not crack a Beckett 5 Tag Team Arcanine card to attempt a TAG 6. The financial math simply doesn’t work in your favor. Beckett grading costs between $15 and $100 depending on turnaround time, and even if you successfully upgrade to a 6, the value increase rarely justifies the fee and the risk of receiving an equal or worse grade on resubmission. A Tag Team Arcanine in Beckett 5 might sell for $80 to $150 depending on condition and which specific set variant you own, but a Beckett 6 of the same card typically commands only $120 to $200—a marginal gain that evaporates after paying Beckett’s regrading fee.
The real danger lies in the unpredictability of the regrading process. Professional graders can assign different grades on subsequent submissions due to variation in assessment or the card’s exposure to handling between removal and resubmission. A card you crack from a Beckett 5 slab could come back as a 4, 5, or 6. If it returns as a 4, you’ve paid to devalue your asset while gaining nothing. Even if you’re optimistic about hitting a 6, you’re gambling money on a low-probability upgrade attempt.
Table of Contents
- What Does Cracking a Card Involve and Why Collectors Consider It?
- The Real Costs of Regrading and Grade Inflation Risk
- Comparing Beckett 5 and Beckett 6 Values for Tag Team Cards
- When Regrading Single Cards Actually Makes Financial Sense
- The Physical Risks of Cracking and Resubmitting Your Card
- Alternative Strategies for Maximizing Your Beckett 5 Card’s Value
- The Future of Grading Standards and Card Values
- Conclusion
What Does Cracking a Card Involve and Why Collectors Consider It?
Cracking refers to the physical removal of a graded card from its protective holder, or “slab,” which allows you to resubmit it to the same grading company or send it elsewhere. The process is straightforward in execution but carries real consequences. You carefully pry open the acrylic case, extract the card, and then decide whether to resubmit it to Beckett for regrading or try another grading company like PSA or CGC. For a Tag Team Arcanine, this might happen if the collector believes the card was undergraded initially, perhaps due to a harsh reviewing session or suboptimal lighting during the assessment.
Collectors crack cards for legitimate reasons in some scenarios. If a card in a particular set has seen a significant jump in market demand, or if grading standards have shifted favorably, regrading could make sense. However, single-grade upgrades represent a much lower-return scenario than multi-grade jumps. When someone cracks a Beckett 4 hoping for a 7 or 8, the potential return might justify the risk. When you’re chasing a 6 from a 5, you’re betting small to gain small.
The Real Costs of Regrading and Grade Inflation Risk
Beckett’s regrading fees create a hidden floor beneath your potential profits. A standard resubmission costs $30 to $100 depending on turnaround time, and you must factor in shipping costs in both directions. For a card valued at $100 to $150, a $60 investment represents a significant percentage of your potential upside. If you crack the card and it comes back as another 5, you’ve spent $60 to own an unslabbed card, which now requires buying new grading services just to return it to market-ready condition.
You’re essentially out the regrading fee plus the cost of a new slab. A critical limitation of this strategy is the possibility of grade compression or divergence between grading sessions. Beckett’s internal standards can shift slightly over time, or individual graders may assess the same card differently. A card you believe is clearly a 6 based on surface condition and corners might be assigned a 5 again if the second grader is stricter about centering, print quality, or wear patterns that weren’t as obvious on first inspection. Many collectors have cracked cards hoping for upgrades only to receive the same grade or worse.
Comparing Beckett 5 and Beckett 6 Values for Tag Team Cards
The market value difference between a Beckett 5 and Beckett 6 for a Tag Team Arcanine is modest, typically ranging from $30 to $80 depending on the card‘s rarity and current demand. For a standard Tag Team Arcanine variant, you might see a Beckett 5 listed at $95 to $130, while a Beckett 6 of the same card asks $140 to $180. The gap exists, but it’s narrow enough that even a successful upgrade barely covers your regrading costs, let alone provides meaningful profit.
Compare this to the scenario where you’re jumping from a Beckett 3 to a 5 or 6. That multi-grade improvement can represent a $50 to $150+ increase in value, which gives you actual leverage to overcome the regrading fee. With a one-grade jump, you’re relying on a combination of successful upgrade, favorable market conditions at resale, and minimal holding time to come out ahead. Many collectors who crack Beckett 5 cards find they’ve spent time and money just to break even at best.
When Regrading Single Cards Actually Makes Financial Sense
There are narrow circumstances where cracking a Beckett 5 becomes defensible. If you own a particularly special variant—perhaps a first edition, shadowless, or extremely rare promotional Tag Team Arcanine that appears in only a handful of collections—the incremental value boost from a higher grade might be meaningful in absolute dollars. A Beckett 5 of a truly rare card might sell for $400, and a Beckett 6 could command $550 or more, making the regrading investment proportionally sensible.
Another scenario involves cards that have appreciated sharply in market value since you first had them graded. If you cracked and slabbed a Tag Team Arcanine years ago when the set was less collectible, and recent price spikes have made the market much hotter, you have slightly better odds of justifying a resubmission. Even then, your success depends on the card actually deserving a higher grade upon re-examination. The safer approach in a rising market is to sell your Beckett 5 card as-is to capitalize on the current price surge rather than risk a regrading that might lower its grade.
The Physical Risks of Cracking and Resubmitting Your Card
Beyond the financial argument, cracking introduces tangible physical risks to your card. Even careful extraction can cause minor damage: edge wear from the sliver tool, slight bending of the card stock, or microscopic surface contact that wasn’t present in the sealed slab. A Beckett 5 already reflects some handling and wear; the moment you crack it, you’re adding new wear that graders will detect on resubmission. This is one of the most frequently overlooked warnings—graders don’t give a “benefit of the doubt” to cards that have been previously slabbed and cracked.
They’ll assess the current condition, including any new damage incurred during the cracking process. Additionally, cards stored outside of graded slabs lose their protected status. Even for a brief period between cracking and resubmission, your card is vulnerable to environmental factors: humidity, temperature swings, dust, and accidental handling. If you crack a card and then wait a week for a Beckett submission window or to arrange shipping, you’re increasing the risk that the card’s condition will deteriorate slightly. Professional storage and protective measures matter, but nothing replaces the controlled environment of a slab.
Alternative Strategies for Maximizing Your Beckett 5 Card’s Value
Rather than chasing an upgrade, consider selling your Beckett 5 Tag Team Arcanine at the current market rate and reinvesting the proceeds into a different card or variant. If you believe the card is underpriced, you can list it and let the market determine its value. Serious collectors and dealers often find better returns by moving capital into cards with stronger growth trends or lower grades that have more room to appreciate. A Beckett 5 is a perfectly legitimate grade for many collectors’ collections—it represents a card with visible wear but no major damage, and plenty of buyers accept this condition.
Alternatively, if you genuinely believe the card was misgraded and have compelling photographic evidence, you can contact Beckett directly with an appeal or request a review before cracking. Beckett does consider appeals in cases where graders appear to have made clear errors. This approach costs nothing and gives you a potential grade bump without the risk of new damage to the card. However, appeals have a low success rate; graders stand by their initial assessments unless there’s obvious evidence of a mistake.
The Future of Grading Standards and Card Values
Card grading standards and market dynamics continue to shift. PSA’s recent reentering of the market and CGC’s strong reputation have introduced more competition, which may eventually affect how other grading companies assign grades. If Beckett becomes less dominant in the market or if collector preference shifts toward other slabbing companies, a Beckett 5 Tag Team Arcanine might become harder to resell at premium prices.
Future-proofing your investment means holding cards in strong slabs and accepting their current grades rather than chasing marginal upgrades that might seem valuable today but prove less relevant in a few years. Looking forward, the Pokémon card market will likely see continued consolidation around a few trusted grading providers. Collectors who crack cards hoping for grade improvements may find they’re fighting against broader market trends that favor stability and authenticity. The smart move is to embrace your Beckett 5, price it competitively, and let it sell to a buyer who views the grade as appropriate for their collection.
Conclusion
The decision to crack a Beckett 5 Tag Team Arcanine for a TAG 6 attempt is a poor financial bet in almost all scenarios. The regrading costs, combined with the low probability of a successful one-grade upgrade, minimal value gain, and real physical risks to your card make this an unattractive gamble. You’re more likely to break even or lose money than to gain meaningful profit.
Your best course of action is to accept the Beckett 5 grade, price your card competitively based on current market rates, and move on. If you’re genuinely confident the card was misgraded, pursue an appeal with Beckett rather than cracking and resubmitting. For most collectors and investors, the time and money spent on regrading single-grade improvements are better directed toward acquiring new cards or holding onto assets that already reflect fair market value.
