Alakazam

What BGS and CGC copies sold for

Sold prices from listings that named the grader and the grade, not asking prices, and not a PSA figure converted across. A CGC 9 runs about 0.44x the PSA 9 on the cards where we hold both, but the spread is wide enough that it is only worth quoting where copies actually traded, which is what these are. The count beside each price is how many.

CGC 9 and 9.5 are one row on purpose. A CGC 9.5 sells for 3% more than a 9 across the corpus and is the cheaper of the two on nearly half of cards, so the market is not pricing them apart and splitting them here would invent a distinction. BGS is left split because there the same test says a 9.5 really is worth about 30% more.

What moves the price of this card

The Alakazam on this page is the Holofoil printing from Base Set, and it trades at $76.15£57.57€68.90 in near mint condition. Only one printing of this card was produced, so there is no cheaper version to confuse it with.

Graded, it runs PSA 2 $28.53£21.57€25.81, PSA 3 $33.50£25.33€30.31, PSA 4 $35£26.46€31.67, PSA 5 $49.95£37.76€45.20, PSA 6 $64.98£49.13€58.79, PSA 7 $82.93£62.70€75.04, PSA 8 $155.75£117.76€140.92, PSA 9 $328.39£248.28€297.13, CGC/BGS 9.5 $361£272.94€326.64, PSA 10 $3,365£2,544€3,045. PSA has graded 20,998 copies of it. 12,769 completed sales are on file.

What is a PSA 10 Alakazam worth?

A PSA 10 Alakazam from Base Set sells for $3,365. 1.2% of the copies PSA has graded came back a 10, so that price is the best case rather than the one a submission should expect.

Is Alakazam from Base Set worth grading?

On the numbers, no. The average submission is worth $162.55 with every grade weighted by how often this card comes back at it, against $40.52 for a raw copy plus $369 to send it through PSA Super Express, so it loses $246.97.

Condition does most of the work below the surface. A copy with soft corners or a print line off centre trades well under the market price shown here, and a copy clean enough to grade trades well above it, which is why the PSA 10 sits at $3,365£2,544€3,045. Before you value your own copy, look at the corners under a light and check the centring on the back, where most cards give themselves away.