There was a time when getting a card graded was about preservation. Authentication. Making sure your Mantle or MJ was sealed, slabbed, and ready to be admired. But now?

Now we’re drowning in base cards that cost more to grade than they’ll ever be worth.

Welcome to the Junk Slab Era.

If you’ve been in the hobby for more than five minutes, you’ve seen it—endless PSA 9s of mass-produced Prizm rookies, bulk subs of Topps base, and ultra-modern cards that never should’ve seen the inside of a grading sleeve. The problem? We’ve confused plastic with value.

💬 The Community Is Over It

Collectors are speaking up:

“Why grade a $2 card with a $25 fee?”

“Raw sells higher than PSA 9s now.”

“Grading used to mean something.”

You’re not alone if you’ve questioned your last submission. And if you’ve canceled your PSA membership this year, welcome to the growing club.

📉 The ROI Might Not Be There Anymore

Grading was once about increasing value. Today, the margins are slim unless you hit a gem (which is harder than ever with gem rates dropping across the board). PSA 10s? Great—if you’re one of the lucky few. PSA 9s? Often worth less than the card raw. Add in 3–5 month turnaround times and $28+ fees, and it’s no surprise collectors are pulling back.

🧠 A Shift in Strategy

Veterans are pivoting:

Buying raw, low-pop, serial-numbered cards

Slabbing only true rookies, autos, or vintage

Sending high-end cards to Beckett, SGC, or CGC instead

There’s a movement brewing. A return to intentional grading and actual collecting.

So before your next submission, ask yourself:

Am I protecting a card I love, or chasing a grade that won’t matter in a year?

🔚 Final Thought:

The slab isn’t the flex—it’s what’s inside. Maybe it’s time to stop grading junk and start collecting with purpose again.

📣 Call-To-Actions:

💬 What’s the worst card you’ve ever seen in a PSA slab? Drop it in the comments.

📦 Thinking about submitting to PSA this month? Read this first.

🛑 Stop grading trash. Start collecting smarter.

#sportsCards #PSA #junkslab #collectsmarter

#cardcollectng #sportscardinvesting

Pop 1 on card in a gorgeous slab. For sale

With hobby boxes topping $3K and grading fees ranging from $28 to $80 with 5-month wait times, is collecting still fun for anyone who doesn’t own a PayPal business account?

Remember when card collecting was about joy, trading, and hoarding base rookies like they meant something?

Now it’s a luxury flex.

Want to rip a hobby box with your kid? That’ll be $500, a background check, and a co-signer.

Grading?

Starts at $28. Want subgrades? $80.

Want it back this year? LOL.

Estimated return: somewhere between Christmas and the next Topps lawsuit.

“My 8-year-old saved up allowance for a hobby pack. We’re now entering year 2 of waiting for the redemption to come back.”

“Letting kids collect today feels like onboarding them to crypto.”

“Back in my day, ‘collecting’ didn’t involve a spreadsheet and a reseller license.”

The hobby has gone full Wall Street.

We’re not collecting cards — we’re applying for mortgages on them.

And yes, the prices are wild:

Hobby boxes: $400–$3,200

Grading a single card: $28–$80

Slabs worth keeping: 🤷‍♂

Even base cards — once the gateway drug to collecting — are considered cardboard trash unless serial-numbered, shiny, or auto’d by someone with a blue check.

So how’s a kid supposed to collect without a parent who runs a slab hustle on eBay?

🧠 The Big Picture

If kids can’t afford to join the hobby, the hobby eventually dies.

No new collectors = no future nostalgia = no long-term value.

We’re not building a community — we’re building a flipping economy with cardboard NFTs.

🛠 What Can We Do?

• Bring back affordable hobby products with actual value

• Design kid-focused sets that don’t feel like rejects from Panini Sticker Books

• Give base cards meaning again — tradeability, gamification, story

• And maybe, just maybe… grade what you love, not just what comps

🧃 Final Thought:

If your kid needs to Venmo you just to open a pack…

we’ve officially priced fun out of the

#CardCollecting #TheHobby #DadCollector #KidsInTheHobby #RetailRage #GradedCards #SlabTalk #SportsCards #BaseCardsMatter #CollectingNotFlipping #HobbyBurnout #RipResponsibly

** NOT A PUFF PIECE** TLDR 😉

Let’s play a game.

One grading company gives you:

✅ AI-powered scans

✅ 2-3 sets of human eyes

✅ Free subgrades

✅ A full digital report

✅ A slab that actually looks good

✅ And your card back in under 28 days.

Sounds amazing, right?

Well, that company is Arena Club.

And most collectors still respond with:

“Eh… does PSA take Klarna?”

“Arena Club gives the hobby what it needs… but not what it wants.”

— Someone who just got a tough 9.0 and cried into a one-touch.

Arena Club offers AI-powered grading, subgrades, and fast turnarounds—yet collectors still worship PSA. Is it the label, the hype, or are we just scared of a real grade?

Let’s be honest: Arena Club grades tough. Their 10s aren’t giveaways—they’re earned. Which is why most flippers avoid them like a redemption card from 2020.

Meanwhile, over at PSA:

• No subgrades

• No transparency

• No clue why your card got a 6

• But hey! That label is red and white and everyone on YouTube has one, so it must be good.

Oh—and PSA slabs?

Let’s just say they’ve got the same visual appeal as a DMV receipt.

Arena Club, CGC, BGS, even TAG? They all look better. It’s not even close.

🤖 But Wait—Where’s Beckett?

Remember BGS? The slab with the legendary Black Label?

It used to mean something. Now it’s collecting dust on showcase tables across the country.

You can also grab a BGS slab, with subgrades and a 28 day TAT for $35. Still better than PSA!

Collectors forgot about Beckett…

But Fanatics didn’t. 👀

If the rumors are true, Fanatics may scoop up BGS—and if they do, PSA might finally have a real competitor. Beckett still has the brand power. Fanatics has the ammo. Together? That’s a problem PSA can’t ignore.

🔥 Meanwhile at CGC…

You may have seen the wild spike in CGC slabs lately. But spoiler alert: it’s probably not due to a sudden wave of trust in their grading.

Nope. It might just be GameStop, quietly pumping out Pokémon “Power Packs” that include CGC slabs.

Yup—bulk-graded, mystery-slotted slabs inside blister packs.

So sure, CGC’s numbers are up… but it might be a cardboard sugar high.

😬 The Hobby’s Grading Crisis

We say we want:

• Transparency

• Consistency

• Reasonable turnarounds

• Modern tech

But we keep rewarding:

• Hype labels

• Influencer bias

• PSA 10 tunnel vision

Collectors won’t touch an Arena Club 9.5, but they’ll pay 3x for a PSA 10 with no explanation behind it. 🤔

🧠 Final Thought:

We’ve reached a point where the toughest grades get punished, and the meh labels get paid.

So here’s the real question:

Are we collecting cards… or collecting brand loyalty points?

#ArenaClub #GradingTruth #PSA #SlabBias #CGC #FanaticsWatch #CardCollector #SGC #BGS #DadCollectorVibes #JunkSlabEra #TheHobby #TransparentGrading #sportscardcollector #sportscardinvestor

Check us out on YouTube for some dad collector vibes, controversial takes, and ridiculous NFL predictions

https://youtube.com/@brewsandbreaks?si=APSvAxd6c3Ac3A9H