Best Celebrations: Classic Collection Cards to Grade
The Celebrations: Classic Collection 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: Charizard at an expected +$156.
Ranked by expected profit 11
| # | Card | Raw | PSA 9 | PSA 10 | Cost | Best case | Gem rate | Expected | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Expected +$156 per submission: 59.8% of 57,758 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($500), and a PSA 9 ($312) still clears the $261 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $176 | $312 | $500 | $85 | +$239 | 59.8% | +$156 | 57,758 high |
| 2 | Expected +$88 per submission: 59% of 5,332 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($380), and only a PSA 10 covers the $182 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $98 | $113 | $380 | $84 | +$199 | 59% | +$88 | 5,332 high |
| 3 | Expected +$38 per submission: 69.2% of 17,077 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($210), and only a PSA 10 covers the $127 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $45 | $65 | $210 | $82 | +$83 | 69.2% | +$38 | 17,077 high |
| 4 | Expected +$32 per submission: 58.3% of 7,588 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($211), and only a PSA 10 covers the $117 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $35 | $75 | $211 | $82 | +$94 | 58.3% | +$32 | 7,588 high |
| 5 | Expected +$10 per submission: 60.3% of 11,716 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($159), and only a PSA 10 covers the $102 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $20 | $41 | $159 | $82 | +$57 | 60.3% | +$10 | 11,716 high |
| 6 | Expected loss −$2 per submission: 65.1% of 13,096 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($125), and only a PSA 10 covers the $97 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $16 | $41 | $125 | $81 | +$28 | 65.1% | −$2 | 13,096 high |
| 7 | Expected loss −$4 per submission: 61.3% of 43,795 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($124), and only a PSA 10 covers the $97 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $16 | $44 | $124 | $81 | +$27 | 61.3% | −$4 | 43,795 high |
| 8 | Expected loss −$5 per submission: 61.1% of 37,238 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($119), and only a PSA 10 covers the $93 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $12 | $40 | $119 | $81 | +$26 | 61.1% | −$5 | 37,238 high |
| 9 | Expected loss −$6 per submission: 65.9% of 16,215 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($150), and only a PSA 10 covers the $121 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $40 | $50 | $150 | $81 | +$29 | 65.9% | −$6 | 16,215 high |
| 10 | Expected loss −$16 per submission: 62.2% of 5,413 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($107), and only a PSA 10 covers the $95 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $14 | $34 | $107 | $81 | +$12 | 62.2% | −$16 | 5,413 high |
| 11 | Expected loss −$21 per submission: 61.6% of 12,102 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($103), and only a PSA 10 covers the $98 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $17 | $35 | $103 | $81 | +$6 | 61.6% | −$21 | 12,102 high |
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 Celebrations: Classic Collection ranking
Every Celebrations: Classic Collection card listed here clears one bar: its PSA 10 price beats its raw price by more than the cost of grading it. 11 cards from the set pass. 11 of them (100%) have a gem-rate sample of at least ten graded copies in the population reports, and 5 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 Charizard from Celebrations: Classic Collection, gems 59.8% of the time across 57,758 graded copies: +$156 is what a long run of submissions would average, $239 is what one lucky copy returns.
The median gem rate across the sampled Celebrations: Classic Collection cards is 61.3%. More than half of submitted copies 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 11 ranked cards, 1 still covers raw price plus fee at PSA 9, 10 need a 10 to break even and 6 lose money on expectation. 11 rest on a hundred or more graded copies.
Before you submit a Celebrations: Classic Collection 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 Celebrations: Classic Collection card list, or see how gem-mint premiums run across the whole catalogue on the PSA premium index.