Let’s be real here, no one wants some jacked up looking card! Oh yeah.. appreciating assets too.

BGS Graded Cards

Welcome to my first blog post about getting your precious collectible cards graded! This is my first time receiving graded cards, so I’m a total noob and still only a few months into this whole collectible card world. However, I thought it would be a good idea to journal and document my experience. I have been completely enamored with the whole CCG industry coming from mainly anime figure collecting. From plastic to cardboard, I want to be a valuable member to both communities anyway I can. I know how hard it was to kind of get the gist of collecting anime figures, so I hope to provide my own experience in helping others in collecting cards like Weiss Schwarz, Weiss Schwarz Blau and Rebirth for you.

In collecting anime figures, there isn’t so much a “graders” market for anime figures. I know that Japanese people love being anal about marking the condition of the boxes, but the condition of most figures naturally come with a few minor errors. Even though that is acceptable to value anime figures in a not so pristine condition similarly in the world of plastic, the world of cardboard takes card quality to a completely different level using the biggest grading card companies like Beckett Grading Services (BGS) and Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). Another big company known for comics that’s on the rise for grading cards is Certified Guaranty Company (CGC).

Although the raw cards themselves freshly opened from the pack are fine, there are some cases where some raw cards freshly unpacked come in a more pristine and sometimes perfect condition. That perfect condition is what most collectors are seeking out. The rarity and high demand of the card on top of being perfectly mint condition, creates ANOTHER layer of added value and that’s how graded cards come about.

So what is the best of the best graded cards and by what company? Like most markets, it depends on what most consumers think. As of right now for anime cards like of Weiss Schwarz, it is easily the BGS BLACK LABEL PRISTINE (10). If you guys want to know how they grade cards, check out BGS’s post about it here. Essentially, there are 4 subgrades where they grade the centering, corners, edges and surface. If all 4 categories are a perfect 10, you get that nice black slab.

There are various reasons the market may prefer the BGS 10 Black Label over the PSA 10. The preference over the slab that covers the card, the stricter grading process, etc. No matter what preference the market prefers having any card graded 9 or higher from any of the top grading services puts a premium price on the card. Beyond the potential boost to the value of the card, it gives legitimacy and actually makes it easier for collectors to not get scammed.

The Process to Get it Graded

To get the card graded, I started a BGS account and wen to their submission page.

Basically, the faster you want your cards graded, the more you’ll have to pay. Here, I chose the “Standard.” It costs $40 per card (2 card submission) and should get done within 10-20 business days. On top of the $40, you’ll incur costs to ship to BGS. That cost me $12.75 w/ insurance added using USPS Priority Mail to get to Beckett. I also paid $32 during the submission for insurance (combined value of cards) + $26 to ship it back to me. Overall, it cost me a whopping $138 + $12.75 to ship them.

Yikes! You can see how much money you can lose if your cards don’t come back with a graded premium. Check out my timeline below

Timeline

• Graded Submission sent 05/07/2023
• Arrived for grading on 05/11/2023
• Shipped after grading 06/08/2023
• Arrived 06/10/2023

The Results

[CSM/S96-T02SSP] 2023 Weiss Schwarz Chainsaw Man Devil Hunter Power SSP「デビルハンター パワー」

Yuyu-Tei Raw Price 79800円 = Est. $573

Last sold price for BGS 10 Devil Hunter Power SSP on eBay was $860

[CNN/01B-041SSP] 2023 Weiss Schwarz Blau Detective Conan Silver Bullet Shuichi Akai SSP 「シルバーブレット 赤井秀一」

Yuyu-Tei Raw Price – 9980円 = Est. $72

• The initial prices during release were closer to ¥17980, but dropped along with many other cards

eBay Raw Prices – $122+

• None have been sold

Last Thoughts

Both cards did not receive the perfect Black Label I was looking for, but a BGS 10 with only one 9.5 subgrade is literally the next best thing. With the SSP Power card, it’s hard to judge what her true value will be since eBay literally has 35 listings of her as of June 10th, 2023. However, that BGS 10 that sold for $860 gives us an indicator of how high her price can be.

With Weiss Schwarz Blau and Detective Conan, it’s hard to gauge what they are really worth in the western world. Even on my eBay listings (even though I’m a new seller), I’m not really gaining much traction on many of their cards. Right now, I think people are just waiting for reprints to come as there are still cards that not even Yuyu-Tei have in stock right now. I might be the only person right now at least in the west that has a Gin SSP.

Was it Worth it?

Overall, this has been a positive experience for the “Standard” grading process. Being worth it comes down to many varying factors and it’s a lot easier after seeing other graded cards sell on public platforms like eBay. It really just comes down to market sentiment, IP popularity, and the amount of supply printed. If a card is worth $100+ raw, I think you can justify doing the “Standard” grading process for $40 per card for the chance of a 9.5 grade or higher. Anything below a card worth $100 would just cancel out the premium price of a high grade of the card. At least, that’s my opinion thus far.

For SSP Silver Bullet Akai Shuichi, his initial value was $130 and it dropped to $70. With it being graded, would it still warrant a $130+ price tag? I’ll follow up if I ever sell the card.

For SSP Devil Hunter Power, the BGS 10 Power sold when most of her cards were selling for $600+ and supply wasn’t well into the double digits of quantity. This is a card I would love to wait until after Chainsaw Man season 2 drops to consider selling for a more optimum selling point. However, I am a big fan of Chainsaw Man and am collecting some of her anime figures. In this case, she might be in my possession for quite some time.

In the end, my goal was to get a grade to allow myself to put a premium price on the cards and make my current collection feel even more legitimate. Both goals were accomplished and the SSP Power card alone would cover the $138 expense that it cost me to get both cards graded, if we’re going by that $860 eBay BGS 10 sell price. With that said, I think I made the right decision.

Misc.

I do have a bunch of cards in the “Base” grading process, which would take 60+ business days. This is the “forget and hopefully get surprised down the line time frame.” I will cover the outcome of those whenever I get those back.

For Sale

Check out my TCG Player store!

Check out my eBay Listings if you are interested in any Detective Conan singles or bulk cards!

Price Guide

YuYu-Tei – Listings are Japanese prices, but requires proxy (cost more than listed price)

TCG Republic – Prices are higher, but can buy directly

Other References

For all other information regarding how to play the Weiss Schwarz Blau game and about this series in particular, go to their official site here.

For information about how to play Weiss Schwarz and about future releases, go here.