This card30d 90d 1y All-time
Swell Mel #20a 1985 Garbage Pail Kids Series 1 · Glossy · PSA 9
Glossy
ScarcityPSA has graded 2.9x more base copies
PSA has graded 515 of the base card and 176 of this parallel (all grades). Graded counts are not print runs.
PSA pop38
All grades · value and PSA population
SWELL MEL ACTIVE🟢 lowest on eBay: $255.94 all-in
🛒 1 listing on eBay now PSA 9 SLAB
RAW (UNGRADED) — NOT A GRADED VALUE
$8
26 raw sales used for this value
view raw sales →
Front
Back
Price history · PSA 9
On-the-record sales go back as far as PSA reports them — late 2017 for GPK — plus eBay-tracked and raw sales as they land.
🗑️ The Garbologist says…
Steady
Straight from the Garbologist's clipboard:
- 10 recorded sales · 1 in the last year · trades only a few times a year · moderate-confidence sample.
- Following the trash: $53 → $48 → $207 → $121 → $247 — choppy but broadly rangebound.
- Census check: PSA has graded 173 of this card, and only 8.1% come back a 10 — tough to gem.
- Net-net, it's holding its ground — steady demand, no fireworks either way.
Automated analysis generated from this card’s real recorded sales and PSA population data — no opinions, no predictions guaranteed. Entertainment and research only, not financial advice.
Swell Mel — across every card
Subject page →Every Swell Mel card we track — how the character is moving, not just this one grade.
🧬 Should I slab it?
Grade itOnly about 1 in 13 copies of this card get a 10; across every grade, a graded copy should be worth about $182, more than the $92 it costs to grade plus the $8 raw copy you give up.
Expected value if graded$90 (after $92 all-in cost)
Raw value today$8 (from 26 raw sales)
VerdictGrade it
Break-even: you need about a 0% chance of a PSA 10 (this card: 8%).
Chance of a PSA 10
8%
this card · 176 graded
PSA 10 value
$1,189
today · ~$1,189 by Feb 12, 2027
PSA 9 value
$217
today · ~$217 by Feb 12, 2027
All-in cost
$92
PSA fee $60 + shipping both ways $32
How these numbers work
All-in cost $92: PSA Standard tier fee $60 per card, insured shipping to PSA ~$12, PSA insured return shipping ~$20. Sending it to your PSA Vault instead skips return shipping (vault intake and storage are free): ~$72 all-in, so a graded copy would net ~$110.
Grade odds (this card, 176 PSA-graded): 10 · 8%, 9 · 22%, 8 · 31%, 7 or lower · 40%. People send their best copies, so a random raw copy usually grades a bit lower.
Values when it comes back (~95 days, about Feb 12, 2027): today's values (the set has no clear 3-month trend).
Expected value if graded = each grade's chance × its value, minus the all-in cost. A guide, not a guarantee — centering and corners on your copy decide the grade.
Grade odds (this card, 176 PSA-graded): 10 · 8%, 9 · 22%, 8 · 31%, 7 or lower · 40%. People send their best copies, so a random raw copy usually grades a bit lower.
Values when it comes back (~95 days, about Feb 12, 2027): today's values (the set has no clear 3-month trend).
Expected value if graded = each grade's chance × its value, minus the all-in cost. A guide, not a guarantee — centering and corners on your copy decide the grade.
Swell Mel #20a Glossy 1985 Garbage Pail Kids Series 1 value by grade
| Grade | Value | Sales | PSA pop |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSA 10 | $1,189 | 4 | 14 |
| PSA 9 | $217 | 10 | 38 |
| PSA 8 | $77 | 17 | 54 |
| SGC 7.5 | $28 est. | 0 | — |
| PSA 7 | $50 | 5 | 39 |
| PSA 6 | $37 | 4 | 18 |
| PSA 5 | $31 est. | 0 | 8 |
| PSA 4 | $30 est. | 0 | 1 |
| PSA 3 | $29 est. | 0 | 2 |
| PSA 2 | $21 est. | 0 | 1 |
| PSA 1 | $8 | 1 | 1 |
Every grade of this card on one page. Est. = no sale at that grade yet. Tap a grade above to switch the whole page to it.
