Pokemon Card Grader PSA Finally Opening New Tier

You'll Be Able To Grade Pokemon Cards Cheaper Soon, As PSA Opens New Tier Published Oct 28, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 3,000 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, provided context on some AI drama, and revealed that Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on three occasions. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. You'll soon be able to grade your Pokemon Trading Card Game cards on PSA's Value tiers, as the company is ready to reopen some of them after an almost six-month absence. Starting tomorrow, collectors will be able to submit their cards on the Value tier once again, and while it has seen a price increase, it's still significantly cheaper than the next available option. PSA Is Reopening Its Value Tier, Starting Tomorrow In June, collectible card grader PSA closed all four of its Value tiers: Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus, and Value Max. It had a backlog of over ten million cards, much of it from Pokemon's boom, and had no choice but to shut them down and play catch-up. It announced the closure on May 28, just days after increasing its turnaround times, and in the few days between the announcement and closure, two million more cards were submitted. PSA made the pledge that once the backlog dropped to five million, it would begin to reopen its value tiers. Today, while the backlog is still at 7.2 million, it said it would reopen its Value service. “Pausing service levels gave us an opportunity to evaluate and streamline the services we offer, while also steadily moving toward both faster options for those customers who need expedited service and, as of this week, Value service that will open grading to the many customers awaiting lower-priced options," said Ryan Hoge, president of PSA and Grading at Collectors. “We have added an incredible amount of capacity, but we still have work to do, both on existing orders and ensuring our estimated turnaround times are accurate. Feedback from collectors is heard and directly informs how we are reopening our value services.” The service will reopen on October 29, 8 am PT in all of PSA's territories: USA, Canada, Europe, and Japan. When it closed, Value-tier services cost $32.99 per card. They will now cost $39.99. Cards submitted on this tier will only be insured for $500, so it's still worth submitting on the correct tier, especially given the recent spate of TCG heists. It shared a new graphic of its currently available services. While it's not the news every Pokemon TCG fan was hoping for, with many awaiting the cheapest Value Bulk tier, it's still good news. PSA is investing heavily in increasing its capacity, with its European branch opening recently, and hopefully, if its grading consistency improves, things will be looking up. My advice: just don't submit trash cards. Franchise Pokemon Original Release Date October 20, 1996 Player Count 2 Age Recommendation 6+ Length per Game Variable Franchise Name Pokemon