Grade only near-mint Black & White secret rares, gold secret rares, and top full-art EX cards with high raw value. Top targets include base-set Reshiram, Zekrom and Pikachu, Plasma Storm Charizard, and Legendary Treasures golds and full arts. Grading means an outside company authenticates a card, scores its condition from 1 to 10, and seals it in a protective slab. Slabbing only pays when the card is clean and valuable enough to beat submission fees.
Table of Contents
- Base-Set Secret Rares That Lead
- Later Sets With the Largest Premiums
- Which Grader Pays More at Resale?
- When Does Grading Make Money?
- How to Prescreen Before You Send?
Base-Set Secret Rares That Lead
The April 2011 Black & White base set holds 115 cards, according to the Card-Codex set list. It introduced the first U.S. full-art secret rares, Reshiram 113/114 and Zekrom 114/114.
Those two ultra-rares remain flagship grading targets because set collectors chase them in top condition. Secret Rare Pikachu 115/114 shows why condition drives the decision. The CardCodex price guide lists it around $180.92 raw versus about $4,513.72 as PSA 10 CardCodex Pikachu price guide. The same guide reports 1,384 PSA-graded copies with only 210 PSA 10s.
Later Sets With the Largest Premiums
The shiny Secret Rare Charizard 136/135 from Plasma Storm is the set standout for grading. TheGamer places it around $500-$650 ungraded, far above every other card in that set TheGamer ranking of Black & White-era expensive cards.
Legendary Treasures adds more targets for high-end submitters. TheGamer points to gold Reshiram 114/113 and Zekrom 115/113 plus full-art Mew EX, Lugia EX, and Radiant cards such as Reshiram RC22.
Which Grader Pays More at Resale?
PSA slabs bring more money than rival slabs for in-demand Black & White hits. The TCGtalk grading guide reports PSA 10 Pokemon cards average about $253.82 versus about $160.76 for CGC 10 TCGtalk grading guide.
The same TCGtalk guide credits PSA with over 70% of graded Pokemon cards. Choose PSA when the goal is resale of a high-demand hit.
When Does Grading Make Money?
Grading fees can erase gains on cheap cards. Grand Screen reports PSA Regular service cost at least $79.99 per card in September 2026 amid a reported 12.4-million-card backlog Grand Screen PSA grading guide.
Cheaper Value tiers were paused. Submit only near-mint cards worth over about $50 raw where PSA 10 sells for 2-3 times raw, according to Cardrake and ZeroPop guides. Those guides warn cards under about $20 generally lose money after fees.
How to Prescreen Before You Send?
Cardrake's grading guide warns over 70% of expected PSA 10s instead return as PSA 8 or 9. Centering, soft edges, and print defects cause most downgrades, while PSA 8 adds little premium. Check each candidate under bright light before paying a fee: Skip commons, played holos, and off-center copies; grading them rarely beats the $79.99-plus fee.
- check centering front and back, corners, edges, surface, and print lines
- compare recent PSA 9 and PSA 10 sales for that exact card number
- send only likely PSA 9-10 copies with 2-3 times gem upside
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