Best Bulbasaur Cards to Grade
The Bulbasaur cards worth grading, ranked by expected profit per submission — every grade outcome weighted by how often the card actually receives it — after current grading fees. The PSA 10 best case is shown on every row but does not decide the order. Top pick: Bulbasaur (Team Magma vs Team Aqua) at an expected +$397.
Ranked by expected profit 13
| # | Card | Raw | PSA 9 | PSA 10 | Cost | Best case | Gem rate | Expected | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Expected +$397 per submission: 33.6% of 143 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($1,400), and only a PSA 10 covers the $137 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $23 | $69 | $1,400 | $114 | +$1,263 | 33.6% | +$397 | 143 high |
| 2 | Expected +$234 per submission: 34.7% of 268 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($840), and a PSA 9 ($123) still clears the $128 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $40 | $123 | $840 | $88 | +$712 | 34.7% | +$234 | 268 high |
| 3 | Expected +$203 per submission: 33.5% of 603 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($760), and a PSA 9 ($132) still clears the $128 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $40 | $132 | $760 | $88 | +$632 | 33.5% | +$203 | 603 high |
| 4 | Expected +$195 per submission: 3.8% of 625 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($2,000), and a PSA 9 ($800) still clears the $316 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $77 | $800 | $2,000 | $239 | +$1,684 | 3.8% | +$195 | 625 high |
| 5 | Expected +$140 per submission: 32.3% of 421 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($645), and only a PSA 10 covers the $143 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $57 | $125 | $645 | $86 | +$502 | 32.3% | +$140 | 421 high |
| 6 | Expected +$123 per submission: 18.9% of 212 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($900), and a PSA 9 ($100) still clears the $99 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $10 | $100 | $900 | $89 | +$801 | 18.9% | +$123 | 212 high |
| 7 | Expected +$76 per submission: 36.8% of 348 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($400), and only a PSA 10 covers the $92 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $8 | $35 | $400 | $84 | +$308 | 36.8% | +$76 | 348 high |
| 8 | Expected +$18 per submission: 35.1% of 208 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($279), and only a PSA 10 covers the $103 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $20 | $37 | $279 | $83 | +$176 | 35.1% | +$18 | 208 high |
| 9 | Expected +$16 per submission: 28.6% of 29,152 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($320), and only a PSA 10 covers the $156 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $73 | $128 | $320 | $83 | +$164 | 28.6% | +$16 | 29,152 high |
| 10 | Expected loss −$1 per submission: 38.4% of 33,045 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($288), and only a PSA 10 covers the $173 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $90 | $100 | $288 | $83 | +$116 | 38.4% | −$1 | 33,045 high |
| 11 | Expected loss −$4 per submission: 20.2% of 282 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($355), and only a PSA 10 covers the $99 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $15 | $32 | $355 | $84 | +$257 | 20.2% | −$4 | 282 high |
| 12 | Expected loss −$10 per submission: 37% of 297 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($159), and only a PSA 10 covers the $87 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $5 | $31 | $159 | $82 | +$73 | 37% | −$10 | 297 high |
| 13 | Expected loss −$57 per submission: 9.3% of 247 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($97), and only a PSA 10 covers the $96 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $15 | $41 | $97 | $81 | +$2 | 9.3% | −$57 | 247 high |
Best case only — no gem-rate evidence 1
Fewer than 10 graded copies in the PSA and CGC population reports. They clear the grading cost if they gem — that is all the numbers support.
| # | Card | Raw | PSA 9 | PSA 10 | Cost | Best case | Gem rate | Expected | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | $20 | — | $106 | $81 | +$5 | — | — | none <10 |
Expected = every grade outcome weighted by its share of the card's graded population, minus the raw price and the grading cost (PSA tier fee for the graded value plus ~$20 round-trip shipping, fees as of 2026-09-26). Best case is the PSA 10 leg alone. Gem rates come from a self-selected population — collectors grade their cleanest copies — so read them as an upper bound. Raw is a blended market price, not a sale of your copy. Full method and filters on the grading index.
How to read the Bulbasaur ranking
Every Bulbasaur card listed here clears one bar: its PSA 10 price beats its raw price by more than the cost of grading it. 14 Bulbasaur printings pass. 13 of them (93%) have a gem-rate sample of at least ten graded copies in the population reports, and 9 of those keep a positive expected value once every grade outcome is weighted by how often the card actually receives it.
The order is expected profit, not the PSA 10 best case, which rewards the widest raw-to-gem gap whether the card gems one time in two or one in fifty. Here the top row, the Bulbasaur from Team Magma vs Team Aqua, gems 33.6% of the time across 143 graded copies: +$397 is what a long run of submissions would average, $1,263 is what one lucky copy returns.
The median gem rate across the sampled Bulbasaur cards is 33.5%. Roughly one submitted copy in 3 came back PSA 10, and most rows here need that PSA 10 to cover raw price plus fee, so the gem rate decides whether a submission pays. Of the 13 ranked cards, 4 still cover raw price plus fee at PSA 9, 9 need a 10 to break even and 4 lose money on expectation. 13 rest on a hundred or more graded copies.
1 card sits below the ranking with a best case only, fewer than ten graded copies. The largest best case among them is the Bulbasaur from Mega Evolution at +$5.
Before you submit a Bulbasaur card
Grading pays on condition. The four things every grader scores — centering, corners, edges and surface — can be checked at home before paying a fee, and a copy that is visibly off-centre or has a whitened corner will not gem whatever the population says. Those gem rates come from a self-selected population of clean copies, so a random copy does worse.
The cost column assumes a PSA submission at the tier covering the card's PSA 10 value, fees as of 2026-09-26, and raw is CardTrack's blended near-mint price, not a sale of your copy: pay more, or hold a lighter copy, and the break-even moves against you. Test a card with your own numbers in the ROI calculator, see the printings that fail the bar on the Bulbasaur card list, or see how gem-mint premiums run across the whole catalogue on the PSA premium index.