Best Pichu Cards to Grade
The Pichu 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: Pichu (Expedition Base Set) at an expected +$3,219.
Ranked by expected profit 10
| # | Card | Raw | PSA 9 | PSA 10 | Cost | Best case | Gem rate | Expected | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Expected +$3,219 per submission: 4.1% of 910 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($42,804), and a PSA 9 ($6,333) still clears the $2,754 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $307 | $6,333 | $42,804 | $2,447 | +$40,050 | 4.1% | +$3,219 | 910 high |
| 2 | Expected +$1,747 per submission: 30.5% of 275 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($5,600), and a PSA 9 ($820) still clears the $720 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $45 | $820 | $5,600 | $675 | +$4,880 | 30.5% | +$1,747 | 275 high |
| 3 | Expected +$478 per submission: 18.9% of 534 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($2,589), and a PSA 9 ($400) still clears the $480 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $85 | $400 | $2,589 | $395 | +$2,109 | 18.9% | +$478 | 534 high |
| 4 | Expected +$163 per submission: 0.6% of 3,349 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($30,000), and a PSA 9 ($699) still clears the $2,454 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $135 | $699 | $30,000 | $2,319 | +$27,546 | 0.6% | +$163 | 3,349 high |
| 5 | Expected +$24 per submission: 17.3% of 179 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($405), and only a PSA 10 covers the $94 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $10 | $74 | $405 | $84 | +$311 | 17.3% | +$24 | 179 high |
| 6 | Expected +$7 per submission: 29.3% of 116 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($267), and only a PSA 10 covers the $91 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $8 | $28 | $267 | $83 | +$176 | 29.3% | +$7 | 116 high |
| 7 | Expected loss −$27 per submission: 12.7% of 63 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($212), and only a PSA 10 covers the $92 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence medium on that sample. | $10 | $68 | $212 | $82 | +$119 | 12.7% | −$27 | 63 medium |
| 8 | Expected loss −$29 per submission: 10.8% of 37 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($117), and only a PSA 10 covers the $88 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence medium on that sample. | $7 | $76 | $117 | $81 | +$29 | 10.8% | −$29 | 37 medium |
| 9 | Expected loss −$42 per submission: 6.8% of 59 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($253), and only a PSA 10 covers the $95 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence medium on that sample. | $12 | $84 | $253 | $83 | +$158 | 6.8% | −$42 | 59 medium |
| 10 | Expected loss −$55 per submission: 7.3% of 41 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($109), and only a PSA 10 covers the $99 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence medium on that sample. | $18 | $72 | $109 | $81 | +$10 | 7.3% | −$55 | 41 medium |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | $90 | — | $35,041 | $2,369 | +$32,582 | — | — | 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 Pichu ranking
Every Pichu card listed here clears one bar: its PSA 10 price beats its raw price by more than the cost of grading it. 11 Pichu printings pass. 10 of them (91%) have a gem-rate sample of at least ten graded copies in the population reports, and 6 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 Pichu from Expedition Base Set, gems 4.1% of the time across 910 graded copies: +$3,219 is what a long run of submissions would average, $40,050 is what one lucky copy returns.
The median gem rate across the sampled Pichu cards is 12.7%. Roughly one submitted copy in 8 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 10 ranked cards, 4 still cover raw price plus fee at PSA 9, 6 need a 10 to break even and 4 lose money on expectation. 6 rest on a hundred or more graded copies.
1 card sits below the ranking with a best case only, fewer than ten graded copies.
Before you submit a Pichu 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 Pichu card list, or see how gem-mint premiums run across the whole catalogue on the PSA premium index.