PSA Grading Results: Japanese Pokémon Promos — Five 10s, Three 9s
Last month we featured a collection of ten Japanese Pokémon promotional cards that had arrived at CardHawk for PSA grading. The first eight have come back, and the results are in.
Five PSA 10 GEM MINT. Three PSA 9 MINT. Eight for eight on a 9 or above.
For those of you who follow the grading market closely, you’ll know exactly what those numbers mean. For everyone else: this is a stunning return on a single submission. The difference between PSA 9 and PSA 10 on modern Japanese promos is often the difference between a strong card and a market-defining one. Five GEM MT grades on cards of this calibre is the kind of result that makes the case for professional grading more eloquently than any sales pitch ever could.
The Grading Results
Magikarp Poncho Pikachu — 150/XY-P (2015) — PSA 10 GEM MT
PSA cert 156134576. Hiroshima Pokémon Center promo. Illustrated by Kouki Saitou.
Gyarados Poncho Pikachu — 151/XY-P (2015) — PSA 10 GEM MT
PSA cert 156134574. Companion to the Magikarp card, also from the Hiroshima Pokémon Center release. Illustrated by Kouki Saitou.
Poncho Pikachu (Mega Charizard Y) — 208/XY-P (2016) — PSA 10 GEM MT
PSA cert 156035254. The M.C. Y Pikachu Special Box promo. Illustrated by Kouki Saitou.
Poncho Pikachu (Mega Rayquaza) — 230/XY-P (2016) — PSA 10 GEM MT
PSA cert 156134575. The Rayquaza Poncho-Wearing Pikachu Box promo. Illustrated by Kouki Saitou.
Team Skull Pikachu (Cosplay) — 013/SM-P (2016) — PSA 10 GEM MT
PSA cert 156134573. Full Art Special Box P.G.P. promo. Illustrated by Kouki Saitou.
Poncho Pikachu (Shiny Mega Rayquaza) — 231/XY-P (2016) — PSA 9 MINT
PSA cert 156134571. The shiny variant of the Mega Rayquaza poncho. Illustrated by Kouki Saitou.
Pikachu “The Scream” — 288/SM-P (2018) — PSA 9 MINT
PSA cert 156134572. The 2018 Munch: A Retrospective collaboration with the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. Illustrated by You Iribi.
Mimikyu “The Scream” — 289/SM-P (2018) — PSA 9 MINT
PSA cert 156035255. The Mimikyu version of the Munch collaboration. Illustrated by Hasuno.
What this tells you about CardHawk grading submissions
An eight-card submission returning five PSA 10s and three PSA 9s is, by any measure, an exceptional outcome. It speaks to the quality of the cards themselves — clearly stored and handled with care from the moment they were acquired — but it also reflects the importance of professional submission.
Centring, surface, edges, corners. PSA examines all four with the kind of forensic attention that determines whether a card is graded a 9 or a 10. At CardHawk we inspect every card before submission, document its condition in detail, and ensure it reaches PSA in the same state in which it left the owner. We don’t take chances with cards of this value, and the results speak for themselves.
If you have Pokémon, sports, or other trading cards you would like submitted to PSA — whether one card or an entire collection — we handle the process from end to end. Visit cardhawkgrading.com for details.
Now Available to Serious Collectors
The owner of this collection has now instructed us to facilitate sales of these cards on their behalf, subject to acceptable offers. All eight cards are available individually.
If you are a serious collector interested in any of these cards, please get in touch directly. We will discuss your interest, the owner’s minimum acceptable price for the card in question, and arrange a private transaction. We expect significant interest in the PSA 10 examples in particular, and cards will be allocated on a first-serious-offer basis rather than auction.
Those of you who joined our notification list following last month’s post will be contacted directly with first refusal before any wider listing.
The Two Cards Still at PSA
For completeness: the original submission consisted of ten cards, of which two are still at PSA awaiting grading — the Eevee Munch “The Scream” (287/SM-P) and the Team Skull Grunt Pikachu group card (014/SM-P). We will publish their results as soon as they return.
A note to collectors
If you have vintage sports cards, photographs, or ephemera — particularly pre-World War I material — and might be interested in selling, we’d love to hear from you. Items from this era often turn up in inherited collections, old scrapbooks, and attics, and their owners are frequently unaware of their significance. We are always interested and always buying. We are also keen buyers of high-grade Japanese Pokémon promos.