No grading company publishes Charizard CGC to PSA crossover pass rates, so any odds you see are someone’s estimate. Ours, built from both companies’ population reports for the Unlimited Base Set Charizard, points the opposite way from the usual hunch: a CGC grade tends to line up with the same or a lower PSA number, not a higher one. A CGC 8.5 Unlimited Charizard sits in the slice of the population that PSA fills with 8s, and roughly a quarter of CGC 10s fall inside PSA’s 10 slice.
As of October 23, 2026: CGC’s live report lists 14,779 numerically graded Unlimited Charizards; PSA’s archived page from March 2026 lists 93,488 numeric grades with 487 at PSA 10. PSA’s crossover service charges the full grading fee whether the card crosses or not, the lowest-priced tier taking new cards is the $59.99 Standard level, and Goldin sales from 2025 and 2026 put an Unlimited PSA 10 at $34,770 against $4,964 to $5,616 for CGC Gem Mint 10s.
Why nobody can tell you the real Charizard CGC to PSA pass rate
PSA, CGC, Beckett, SGC and TAG all keep their crossover results to themselves. What PSA does publish is the rule: the card is graded in its current holder, cracked out only if it reaches the minimum grade you asked for, and billed in full regardless. In PSA’s own words, “Full grading fee is charged even if item does not meet minimum grade.”
That leaves two kinds of public evidence. The first is the population reports, which show how many Charizards each company has put at each grade. The second is auction results, which show what a given grade in a given holder sold for. Neither is a crossover record. Population reports describe everything ever graded, not the pre-screened copies people actually send in for a cross, and auction results are single sales on single nights. Used carefully, though, they answer the question a Charizard owner really has: is this cross plausible, and does the money work if it fails?
Charizard is also the card where the stakes are least forgiving. The gap between a CGC Gem Mint 10 and a PSA 10 Unlimited is tens of thousands of dollars, and PSA bills by value, so a big result also means a bigger fee. If you want the general mechanics first, our crossover grading hub covers every grader; this page stays on the three Base Set Charizards.
Three Base Set Charizards, three different census pictures
The Unlimited Charizard (no stamp, shadow beside the art box) is the only one of the three where we have full per-grade counts from both companies. CGC’s report was read live on October 23, 2026. PSA’s population is behind a login now, so its counts come from PSA’s own price page as captured by the Wayback Machine in March 2026, which prints a population and a “pop higher” figure for each whole grade.
| Unlimited Charizard 4/102 | CGC (live, Oct 23, 2026) | PSA (archived Mar 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Top grade | 1 Perfect 10, 11 Pristine 10, 285 Gem Mint 10 | 487 PSA 10 |
| 9.5 | 150 Mint+ 9.5 | PSA has no 9.5 |
| 9 | 1,016 | 8,424 |
| 8.5 | 1,672 | 530 (worked out from the pop-higher column) |
| 8 | 1,726 | 15,407 |
| Numeric slabs in all | 14,779 | 93,488 |
| Share at a 10 of any kind | 2.0% | 0.5% |
Two things jump out. PSA has graded about six times as many Unlimited Charizards as CGC, and PSA’s 10 rate on this card is a fraction of CGC’s. PSA’s 8.5 bucket is tiny because PSA half-grades are rare on this card; CGC’s 8.5 bucket is one of its largest.
For Shadowless and 1st Edition we did not capture full per-grade counts from either company, so the only census figures are the ones Goldin printed in its lot descriptions at listing time. For 1st Edition, Goldin said CGC’s census held more than 590 copies with just under 6 percent at Gem Mint 10 and three higher, while PSA’s held more than 5,300 with fewer than 3 percent at PSA 10. For Shadowless it was more than 1,500 CGC copies with fewer than 2 percent at Gem Mint 10 (two higher) against more than 10,300 PSA copies with fewer than 1 percent at PSA 10. The pattern matches Unlimited: CGC’s top tier covers a wider slice of its population than PSA’s does. For every graded version combined, see our Charizard population report across all graders.
Our estimate: where each CGC grade lands on PSA’s Charizard report
This is Pokemon Pricing’s estimate, not a published rate. The method is a population-percentile comparison. Rank every numerically graded Unlimited Charizard at CGC from best to worst, and note which slice each grade occupies. CGC Gem Mint 10 and above, for example, covers the top 2.0%. Then lay the same slice over PSA’s ranking and see which PSA grades fill it. Authentic-only and altered slabs are left out on both sides.
| CGC grade | Its slice of CGC’s numeric slabs | PSA grades filling that same slice | Pop-implied share at the next PSA grade up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any 10 | the very top down to 2.0% | PSA 10 then PSA 9 | 26% reach PSA 10 |
| Mint+ 9.5 | 2.0% to 3.0% | PSA 9 only | none reach PSA 10 |
| 9 | 3.0% to 9.9% | mostly PSA 9, a sliver of 8.5 | 95% hold PSA 9 |
| 8.5 | 9.9% to 21.2% | almost all PSA 8 | 2% reach PSA 8.5; none reach PSA 9 |
| 8 | 21.2% to 32.9% | PSA 8, then PSA 7 | 46% hold PSA 8 |
PSA’s cumulative shares behind those numbers: 0.5% of its numeric Unlimited Charizards are PSA 10, 9.5% are PSA 9 or better, 10.1% are 8.5 or better and 26.6% are 8 or better. Read across, a CGC 8.5 Unlimited Charizard ranks where PSA has its 8s. A CGC 9 ranks with PSA 9s. A CGC Gem Mint 10 has about 1 in 4 odds of sitting in PSA’s 10 slice on this arithmetic, and a Mint+ 9.5 has none.
A common collector assumption is that a CGC grade usually matches or trails the PSA grade the same card would get. That assumption does not hold for this card. On the Unlimited Charizard the population math says CGC is the more generous of the two at the top: CGC numbers land on the same or a lower PSA number. It is the reverse on the 1996 Japanese Base Set Charizard, which is why we treat the result as card-specific; our Japanese CGC to PSA crossover page shows that card’s bands.
Assumptions behind the estimate, and why real odds will differ
- Same cards, same mix. The method assumes both companies graded a similar spread of Charizards. They did not. Owners send their best-looking copies to PSA because PSA 10s sell for more, so PSA’s pool is likely to be stronger on average, which would make PSA’s grades look harsher here than they are card for card.
- Crossover submitters pre-screen. Nobody crosses a random CGC 8.5. People send the 8.5 with clean corners and good centering, which lifts the real pass rate above a population average.
- Centering rules differ in what is published. PSA 10 allows about 55/45 on the front, PSA 9 about 60/40 and PSA 8 about 65/35. CGC’s Gem Mint 10 matches PSA 10 at 55/45, but CGC publishes no centering numbers for trading card games below 10; its 60/40 and 65/35 figures apply to sports and non-sports cards. A Charizard centred 58/42 could carry a CGC 9.5 and still miss PSA 10 on centering alone.
- Different dates. The CGC counts are from October 23, 2026 and the PSA counts from March 2026.
The 2023 relabel: an old CGC 9.5 Charizard is a 10 now
Before July 11, 2023, CGC’s top regular grade was Gem Mint 9.5. At the point its card arm and CSG were folded together under the CGC Cards name, the company said “Cards previously graded Gem Mint 9.5 are exactly equivalent to Gem Mint 10 under the updated grading scale”, and older slabs sent in for a reholder convert to the Gem Mint 10 label. That matters for Charizard more than almost any card because so many high-grade copies were slabbed in 2021 and 2022.
Take the Thin Stamp 1st Edition Charizard Goldin sold on 10/06/22 for $36,600: its slab read Gem Mint 9.5 and it was one of five at that tier, so by CGC’s rule that result is really a Gem Mint 10 sale. CGC also publicised a Shadowless CGC Gem Mint 10 that realized $37,700 on July 23 after the change; that is CGC’s own promotional framing, not a price study. The practical point for a crossover: an old-label Gem Mint 9.5 Charizard belongs in the Any 10 row of the table above, not the Mint+ 9.5 row, and its realistic PSA target is a PSA 10 or a PSA 9.
What each holder sold for at Goldin
All figures below are Goldin all-in prices, which include its buyer’s premium (listed as 22% with a $19 minimum); the hammer price is in brackets. Dates are the auction end as Goldin prints it. Every row is one sale against one sale, so treat the gaps as examples, not market rates. For the longer price record by grade, see our Unlimited Charizard price history, Shadowless Charizard prices and 1st Edition Charizard prices.
| Version | CGC sale | PSA sale |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited | Gem Mint 10: $5,616 ($4,603), 8/09/26; $4,964 ($4,003), 2/15/26 | PSA 10: $34,770 ($28,500), 3/08/26 |
| Unlimited | Gem Mint 10: $4,964, 2/15/26 | PSA 9: $2,480 ($2,000), same 2/15/26 auction; $3,386 ($2,775), 8/16/26 |
| Unlimited | NM/Mint+ 8.5: $808 ($662), 8/16/26 | PSA 8: $1,708 ($1,400), 9/13/26 |
| Shadowless | Gem Mint 10: $9,157 ($7,506), 3/01/25 | PSA 10: $55,293 ($45,322), 2/22/25 |
| Shadowless | Mint 9: $2,566 ($2,103), 6/15/24 | PSA 9: $4,880 ($4,000), 7/14/24 |
| Shadowless | Mint 9: $8,845 ($7,250), 9/27/26 | PSA 8: $5,557 ($4,555), 7/12/26 |
| 1st Edition | Gem Mint 10: $105,400 ($85,000), 2/15/26 | PSA 9: $64,480 ($52,000), same auction; PSA 10: $518,500 ($425,000), 3/08/26 |
| 1st Edition | NM/Mint+ 8.5: $18,605 ($15,250), 10/18/25 | PSA 9: $37,820 ($31,000), same night |
Three patterns repeat. A CGC Gem Mint 10 sold well above a PSA 9 every time, so a Charizard Gem Mint 10 crossed with a minimum of 9 would, on these sales, be swapped into a cheaper holder. A CGC 10 sold for roughly a sixth or a fifth of a PSA 10. And the CGC 8.5 Unlimited sale came in below a PSA 8, the same direction as the population bands. The Shadowless rows also show how noisy single sales are: a CGC 9 was worth about half a PSA 9 in 2024, yet a different CGC 9 outsold a PSA 8 in 2026.
Charizard CGC to PSA fee math, worked through
PSA’s price list, read October 23, 2026, has its Value tiers paused, so the open card tiers run Standard $59.99 (insured to $1,000), Priority $79.99 (to $1,500), Express $199.00 (to $2,500), Super Express $349.00 (to $5,000), Premier $599.00 (to $10,000), then Premium 1, 2, 3 and 5 at $999.00, $1,999.00, $2,999.00 and $4,999.00 for values up to $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 and $250,000. Above that, Premium 10 starts at $9,999 and adds $399 for each $10,000 or part of it beyond $350,000.
The tier follows the card’s value, and PSA judges that after grading: if the graded card is worth more than your level covers, PSA bumps that card to a higher level. For a Charizard that is the trap. You pay for the value of the result you are hoping for, and if the cross fails you still pay it. The worked examples below are our arithmetic on PSA’s published prices and Goldin hammer figures; they leave out selling fees, shipping, insurance and tax.
Unlimited CGC 8.5 crossed at a minimum of PSA 8
The population bands say this is the realistic target, and the sales say it pays: the PSA 8 hammered at $1,400 against $662 for the CGC 8.5, a gap of $738. A PSA 8 at that price sits above Priority’s $1,500 cover once the premium is added, so Express at $199.00 is the tier that fits. That leaves $539 on these two sales if the card makes PSA 8. Most of the band clears PSA 8 on the population math, so this is the one Unlimited crossover where the estimate and the prices point the same way.
Unlimited CGC Gem Mint 10 crossed at a minimum of PSA 10
Hammer prices put the PSA 10 at $28,500 and the August CGC 10 at $4,603, a $23,897 gap. A PSA 10 worth $34,770 all-in falls under Premium 2 at $1,999. Divide the fee by the gap and the break-even chance is 8.4%: below that pass rate the fee loses money on average, above it the cross pays on these sales. Our pop-implied figure is 26%, but that is before pre-screening and pool effects, and a failed attempt still costs the $1,999.
1st Edition: the expensive end
A 1st Edition CGC 8.5 crossed at a minimum of 9 is the same shape at higher stakes. The October 2025 hammers were $15,250 and $31,000, a $15,750 gap, and a PSA 9 near $37,820 falls under Premium 2 at $1,999, so the break-even pass rate is 12.7%. There are no per-grade counts for 1st Edition to build bands from, so we give no pop-implied chance for it.
For a 1st Edition CGC Gem Mint 10, a PSA 10 at the March 2026 price of $518,500 would land in Premium 10 territory. That value is $168,500 over the $350,000 threshold, which is 17 steps of $10,000 or part of one, so the fee works out to $16,782. Against a $340,000 hammer gap between the PSA 10 and the February CGC 10, the break-even pass rate is 4.9%. Goldin’s census wording puts CGC’s 10 tier on this card at roughly twice the share PSA’s 10 tier covers, so on population terms about half of CGC 10s, or fewer, would rank inside PSA’s 10 slice before any adjustment. A minimum grade of 10 is the only one that protects the card: the same February auction priced a PSA 9 at $52,000 hammer against $85,000 for the CGC 10.
For how these numbers compare across other cards and grades, see whether CGC to PSA crossover is worth it. For how many Charizards exist in each print, our Charizard print-run pillar has the figures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you cross a CGC Charizard over to PSA?
Yes. PSA judges the Charizard while it is still sealed in CGC plastic, and breaks the slab open only when the grade reaches the minimum written on your form. A Charizard that misses that floor is returned still sealed, and the grading charge stands regardless. PSA does not publish how often Charizards pass.
What PSA grade does a CGC 8.5 Base Set Charizard get?
Nobody publishes that. On our population-percentile estimate for the Unlimited card, CGC 8.5s sit in the same slice of the population that PSA fills with PSA 8s, so a PSA 9 from a typical CGC 8.5 looks unlikely. A pre-screened copy with strong centering can beat that, which is why the estimate is a starting point only.
Is a CGC 10 Charizard worth more than a PSA 9?
In every Goldin pair we found, yes. Goldin’s 2/15/26 auction priced an Unlimited Gem Mint 10 in CGC plastic at $4,964 and a PSA 9 at $2,480, and a 1st Edition CGC Gem Mint 10 made $105,400 that night against $64,480 for a PSA 9. All four prices include the buyer’s premium.
How much does it cost to cross a Charizard to PSA?
The crossover fee is the PSA grading fee for the service level that matches the card’s value. PSA’s list on October 23, 2026 spanned the $59.99 Standard level for cards worth $1,000 or less through to Premium 10, whose pricing opens at $9,999. If the card is worth more after grading than your tier covers, PSA moves it up a level.
Is an old CGC 9.5 Charizard the same as a CGC 10?
If the label says Gem Mint 9.5 and it was graded before CGC’s 2023 scale change, CGC treats it as a Gem Mint 10 today and converts it on reholder. A current Mint+ 9.5 label is a lower grade.
Can a TAG or BGS Charizard be crossed to PSA instead?
PSA’s crossover page covers cards graded by other companies but publishes no list of accepted holders, so check with PSA before sending a TAG slab. TAG itself does not cross cards from other companies.
Sources
- Crossover Service — PSA, read October 23, 2026
- Trading Card Grading services and prices — PSA, read October 23, 2026
- PSA FAQ — PSA, read October 23, 2026
- Grading Standards — PSA, read October 23, 2026
- CGC Cards Grading Scale — CGC Cards, read October 23, 2026
- CGC Cards merger announcement — CGC Cards, read October 23, 2026
- CGC Cards launch — CGC Cards, read October 23, 2026
- Website updates complete — CGC Cards, read October 23, 2026
- Population Report: Base Set Unlimited — CGC Cards, read October 23, 2026
- Auction Prices Realized: 1999 Pokemon Game Charizard-Holo (with population) — PSA, archived by the Internet Archive, Wayback Machine capture of March 2, 2026
- Does TAG offer a crossover/regrading service for other third-party slabs? — TAG Grading, read October 23, 2026
- About Goldin (buyer’s premium) — Goldin, read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Base Set Charizard CGC Gem Mint 10 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Base Set Charizard CGC Gem Mint 10 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Base Set Charizard CGC NM/Mint+ 8.5 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Base Set Charizard PSA Gem MT 10 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Base Set Charizard PSA Mint 9 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Base Set Charizard PSA Mint 9 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Base Set Charizard PSA NM-MT 8 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: 1st Edition Charizard CGC Gem Mint 10 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: 1st Edition Charizard PSA Mint 9 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: 1st Edition Charizard PSA Gem MT 10 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: 1st Edition Charizard CGC NM/Mint+ 8.5 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: 1st Edition Charizard PSA Mint 9 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: 1st Edition Thin Stamp Charizard CGC Gem Mint 9.5 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Shadowless Charizard CGC Gem Mint 10 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Shadowless Charizard PSA Gem MT 10 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Shadowless Charizard CGC Mint 9 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Shadowless Charizard PSA Mint 9 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Shadowless Charizard CGC Mint 9 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
- Goldin lot: Shadowless Charizard PSA NM-MT 8 — Goldin, lot page read October 23, 2026
No grading company publishes crossover pass rates. Any crossover odds on this page are Pokemon Pricing’s estimate, labelled as one, built from the published grading standards and population reports on the dates shown. Fees, populations and sale prices change; check the grading company’s current price list before submitting. This article is collector information, not investment advice. Pokémon and all card names are trademarks of Nintendo, Creatures Inc. and GAME FREAK inc.; Pokemon Pricing is not affiliated with them or with any grading company.