>>42829925PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) is a grading service. They grade trading and sports cards of all kinds. They are not the only grading service available, but they are the most well known.
A card that is graded GEM MT is a perfect card, or as close to a perfect card that you can get. Even pack fresh cards can and often do have small flaws, like edge wear, scratches, and poor centering. So a card that is rated PSA 10 or GEM MT is going to be worth more because it is in exceptional condition.
It makes sense that most serious collectors would want perfect cards. Lot's of people have a beat up old base set Charizard kicking around, and lots of people have near mint copies in their casual collections. But not many people have perfect copies, and when you're talking about a card like, say, first edition shadowless base set 'Zard, that's pretty special. If you're a person who cares about Pokemon cards, that is.
I have very strong feelings about early Pokemon, and just like any cultural phenomenon as all encompassing as Pokemon was and is, I feel like it is important to preserve it's history. Pokemon's history is my history, in a small way. I'm glad that there are people out there who have graded and protected collections, so that that part of Pokemon history can be preserved.
The grading system of course isn't perfect, because the people grading the cards are not going to have the exact same idea of what qualifies a card as an 8 or a 10 or a GEM. I have heard of collectors sending cards off to be graded, getting one grade, and then sending the same cards back at a later time and getting different, albeit similar, results.
And of course the pricing is outrageous, but the value is determined by what people will pay. The value of Pokemon cards fluctuates over time, like everything else. I knew of a card collector who took a loan out on her home to buy a card, I think it was Pikachu Illustrator. I would never go that far, but hey, you do you I guess.
