Behind The Slab #2: Risky Cards, Large Profits, and a PSA 6
Card grading results broken down with pregrade notes and closeup pictures of the defects that affected the grading.
We’ve done well on our submissions so far in 2026. We’ve graded over 200 cards and received over 150 PSA 10s, good for a 68.4% gem rate. And this is in spite of the fact that we regularly submit imperfect cards to PSA, because we are willing to take risks when we calculate that it is profitable to do so. This will show some of these risks, and walk you through what actually happened and what we can learn from it.
For each card, we’ll show pictures of the card, closeups of the defects we’ve identified, our pregrade notes, and a short breakdown of what we can learn.
And before we get started, here are some helpful resources for anyone who’s new here:
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1. 2022 Topps Chrome Cal Raleigh Auto PSA 10
Defects:
Pregrade:
Notes: Bunch of tiny marks on the front. They look like lint, but they’re not. Clean otherwise.
Expected Gem Probability: 40%
Thoughts:
I’m actually surprised at how clearly these marks showed up in the PSA scans. The light hit the card just right to show the defects, but outside of the case, they’re not as easy to see.
I think this is a great example of surface marks that do not kill a card’s chances at grading as a 10. This is something you get a feel for as you grade a lot of cards, but the key thing to note here is that these marks were not very deep and were not easy to see without perfect lighting.
2. 2021 Gengar Fusion Strike #271 PSA 10
Defects:
Pregrade:
Notes: Front left/right centering is borderline. Measured at about 55/45. Other than that, back borders have a couple white dots and minor print issues.
Expected Gem Probability: 40%
Thoughts:
I didn’t show all the marks on the back that are referenced in the pregrade, but the others are all super minor. Honestly, this is not a surprising 10 but I still think it’s worth showing. The front centering was fringe but technically still within PSA guidelines, and as we’ve noted in past posts, it’s very common for Pokémon cards with minor back surface issues to 10 (see Behind the Slab #1).
That said, this one is a big win for us since this is a high value PSA 10.
3. 1998 Roy Halladay Bowman Auto #54 PSA 9
Defects:
Pregrade:
Notes: Very clean card except for cluster of white dots on the back surface.
Expected Gem Probability: 10%
Thoughts:
We generally find that PSA is tough on older cards so we didn’t really expect a PSA 10 on this one. Really, I wouldn’t have been surprised with anything from a PSA 6 to PSA 8. I’m pretty happy with a 9, even though I feel as though an Ultra Modern card with similar flaws easily could gem. Note that we bought this card at a price where a PSA 9 would make us profit, so this is a win.
4. 2016 Rayquaza JPN XY Promo #232 PSA 6
Defects:
Pregrade:
Notes: Back top edge has a bit of white.
Expected Gem Probability: 40%
Thoughts:
This grade feels harsh, although I will say that we know PSA is very picky about these edge issues at times. It’s also possible that we missed a defect on the surface of the card that caused this. In general though, I do think just based on the edge this is something that we shouldn’t have submitted.
I’ll also note that while we don’t often get grades below PSA 9 and the occasional PSA 8, it does happen. The rest of the cards make sufficient profitability to cover the occasional bad grade.