Best POP Series 3 Cards to Grade
The POP Series 3 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: Minun at an expected +$2,913.
Ranked by expected profit 12
| # | Card | Raw | PSA 9 | PSA 10 | Cost | Best case | Gem rate | Expected | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Expected +$2,913 per submission: 31.6% of 19 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($10,000), and a PSA 9 ($225) still clears the $761 you have in it. Confidence low on that sample. | $42 | $225 | $10,000 | $719 | +$9,239 | 31.6% | +$2,913 | 19 low |
| 2 | Expected +$492 per submission: 18.9% of 534 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($2,589), and a PSA 9 ($450) still clears the $480 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $85 | $450 | $2,589 | $395 | +$2,109 | 18.9% | +$492 | 534 high |
| 3 | Expected +$206 per submission: 2.5% of 890 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($8,000), and a PSA 9 ($535) still clears the $739 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $40 | $535 | $8,000 | $699 | +$7,261 | 2.5% | +$206 | 890 high |
| 4 | Expected +$152 per submission: 33.3% of 24 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($701), and only a PSA 10 covers the $98 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence low on that sample. | $11 | $20 | $701 | $87 | +$603 | 33.3% | +$152 | 24 low |
| 5 | Expected +$118 per submission: 0.7% of 939 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($7,206), and a PSA 9 ($650) still clears the $729 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $38 | $650 | $7,206 | $691 | +$6,477 | 0.7% | +$118 | 939 high |
| 6 | Expected +$63 per submission: 30% of 230 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($400), and only a PSA 10 covers the $104 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $20 | $95 | $400 | $84 | +$296 | 30% | +$63 | 230 high |
| 7 | Expected +$46 per submission: 43.8% of 16 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($303), and only a PSA 10 covers the $107 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence low on that sample. | $24 | $39 | $303 | $83 | +$196 | 43.8% | +$46 | 16 low |
| 8 | Expected +$44 per submission: 38.8% of 134 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($300), and only a PSA 10 covers the $94 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence high on that sample. | $11 | $42 | $300 | $83 | +$206 | 38.8% | +$44 | 134 high |
| 9 | Expected +$30 per submission: 17.9% of 56 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($526), and only a PSA 10 covers the $95 you have in it — a 9 loses money. Confidence medium on that sample. | $10 | $43 | $526 | $85 | +$431 | 17.9% | +$30 | 56 medium |
| 10 | Expected loss −$1 per submission: 14.5% of 179 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($320), and a PSA 9 ($150) still clears the $138 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $55 | $150 | $320 | $83 | +$182 | 14.5% | −$1 | 179 high |
| 11 | Expected loss −$33 per submission: 16.6% of 163 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($125), and a PSA 9 ($122) still clears the $111 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $30 | $122 | $125 | $81 | +$14 | 16.6% | −$33 | 163 high |
| 12 | Expected loss −$50 per submission: 1.1% of 796 graded copies came back PSA 10 ($539), and a PSA 9 ($155) still clears the $135 you have in it. Confidence high on that sample. | $50 | $155 | $539 | $85 | +$404 | 1.1% | −$50 | 796 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 POP Series 3 ranking
Every POP Series 3 card listed here clears one bar: its PSA 10 price beats its raw price by more than the cost of grading it. 12 cards from the set pass. 12 of them (100%) 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 Minun from POP Series 3, gems 31.6% of the time across 19 graded copies: +$2,913 is what a long run of submissions would average, $9,239 is what one lucky copy returns.
The median gem rate across the sampled POP Series 3 cards is 18.9%. Roughly one submitted copy in 5 came back PSA 10, and most rows here still cover raw price plus fee at PSA 9, so the PSA 9 price does most of the work. Of the 12 ranked cards, 7 still cover raw price plus fee at PSA 9, 5 need a 10 to break even and 3 lose money on expectation. 8 rest on a hundred or more graded copies.
Before you submit a POP Series 3 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 POP Series 3 card list, or see how gem-mint premiums run across the whole catalogue on the PSA premium index.