Grading usually makes sense when a card is worth $100+ raw or looks close to gem mint, since PSA, BGS, and CGC fees typically run $15-$75+ per card
Your money is under your jurisdiction, and Im only here to make your choice of deck a little easier
Ongoing schemes are a little different
A PSA 10 Base Set Charizard has sold for six figures on multiple occasions, and the population data explains exactly why: when fewer than five hundred copies exist at that grade out of a pool of nearly ninety-five thousand, you are looking at genuine, mathematically verifiable scarcity
The presence or absence of a 1st Edition stamp can move a card from affordable to elite, since first-run printings were produced in smaller numbers before wider releases followed
Green Chocobos and Cactuars abound in green, with one of the most noteworthy giving itself an eye-watering +9999/+0 buff whenever it attacks