The clearest grading candidate from Vivid Voltage is the Pikachu VMAX Secret Rainbow Rare (#188/185), the set's headline chase card, with raw Near Mint prices running roughly $138 to $201 as of late 2026 across trackers, according to Scrydex and PokeInvesting. Most other cards in the set, including the non-secret holo rares and even the popular Pikachu V Full Art, don't clear grading fees often enough to make submitting them worthwhile. Vivid Voltage, Sword & Shield's fourth main set, is best known for its Pikachu-themed chase cards. Deciding what to grade from it comes down to one question: does the card's raw value, after a PSA 10 bump, cover what grading actually costs today.
Table of Contents
- Why Pikachu VMAX #188/185 Is the Set's Top Grading Pick
- How Common Is a PSA 10 of This Card?
- Which Vivid Voltage Cards Aren't Worth Grading?
- What Does Grading Actually Cost Right Now?
- The Bottom Line for Collectors
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why Pikachu VMAX #188/185 Is the Set's Top Grading Pick
Pikachu VMAX #188/185 is a secret rare, meaning it falls outside the set's numbered 185-card base and carries a rainbow foil treatment that collectors specifically chase. Its raw price range of roughly $138 to $201, as tracked by Scrydex and PokeInvesting, puts it well above any PSA grading tier's break-even point.
That gap between raw value and fees is what makes a card worth submitting in the first place. No other card in Vivid Voltage reaches this price level consistently. That scarcity of high-value options is why #188/185 dominates discussion of this set's grading potential, rather than any single V or VMAX holo.
How Common Is a PSA 10 of This Card?
Population data complicates the picture. Third-party population counts show roughly 11,840 to 11,974 PSA 10 copies of #188/185, which is about 61% of every PSA-graded copy of the card, according to Card Codex and population data referenced in an eBay listing. A gem rate above 60% means most submissions already come back a perfect 10.
That caps how much a PSA 10 premium reflects true rarity, since the card isn't hard to grade well. Card Codex's population and price data note that the premium over raw is real but driven by demand for the card itself, not by grading difficulty — unlike vintage cards where a 10 is genuinely scarce. Readers submitting this card should expect a solid but not dramatic return relative to raw value.
Which Vivid Voltage Cards Aren't Worth Grading?
Two commonly cited chase cards from this set fall short once grading costs are factored in. Even in a PSA 10, #44's sale prices leave little room for profit once fees and shipping are subtracted.
#170's raw value is low enough that single-card grading doesn't make sense at all unless a bulk or discounted tier applies. These two cards illustrate the broader pattern in this set: most V and VMAX holo rares simply don't carry enough raw value to justify grading individually.
- Pikachu VMAX #44 (Holo Rare, non-secret): recent sales run around $92 to $112, with a tracked listing near $109, according to Scrydex and Dittobase.
- Pikachu V Full Art (#170): raw price sits near $34.72 per Card Codex's chase-card ranking, well under most graders' per-card fee.
What Does Grading Actually Cost Right Now?
PSA's cheapest currently active single-card option is its Regular tier at $79.99, after the company paused its lower-cost Value tiers on June 2, 2026 to clear a backlog, according to reporting via allvintagecards.com. Regular tier turnaround runs roughly 40 to 60 business days as of mid-2026. Faster service costs considerably more.
Express runs about $149 with a 20-to-30 business day turnaround, and Super Express runs roughly $299 to $349 with a 7-to-10 business day turnaround, per allvintagecards.com and eyevotcg.com. Anyone grading for a quick flip rather than long-term holding needs to weigh that added cost against how much faster they can sell. With an $80 floor on even the slowest tier, a card has to clear that bar by a meaningful margin before grading makes financial sense.
- Regular: $79.99, 40–60 business days
- Express: ~$149, 20–30 business days
- Super Express: ~$299–$349, 7–10 business days
The Bottom Line for Collectors
Given the roughly $80-and-up cost of grading a single card, Vivid Voltage cards worth grading are effectively limited to the set's rainbow and secret rares, led by Pikachu VMAX #188/185 in near-perfect raw condition. Mid-tier V and VMAX holos and common pulls from this set rarely return enough value to cover the fee, based on the pricing data from Scrydex and Card Codex.
Before submitting any card, check its current raw price against the grading tier being considered, since Regular tier alone is $79.99. A card priced near or below that line isn't a grading candidate regardless of condition — the fee itself erases any potential gain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a PSA 10 Pikachu VMAX #188/185 rare?
No. Population counts show roughly 11,840–11,974 PSA 10 copies, about 61% of all graded copies, according to Card Codex, so a 10 reflects demand for the card more than grading difficulty.
Why isn't the Pikachu V Full Art worth grading?
Its raw price sits near $34.72 per Card Codex's chase-card ranking, below PSA's $79.99 Regular tier fee, so grading a single copy doesn't cover the cost.
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