Pop Report: PSA Grading Volume Crosses 200K For First Time

PSA graded 209,404 cards last week (a 23% increase over the week prior) and crossed 200,000 items for the first time. 

TCG and basketball both had more than 60,000 cards graded last week.

From a category perspective:

• Given the record week, it is no surprise to see all categories up week-over-week; however, football was only up a very modest 6%.

The mix of the top 50 players (and characters) graded during the period were as follows

22 – Basketball

11 – Football

8 – Baseball

6 – TCG

1 – Hockey

1 – Soccer

1 – Golf

Below you’ll find a list of the top players graded for each category:

An important consideration is what to make of this list. In the current situation where fears of junk slabs dominate the hobby, ranking high on this list likely is negatively correlated with price as that signals a meaningful number of slabs could move into the market in the near future. However, under normal circumstances, it could potentially be a leading indicator of positive price correlation as the list more accurately represents forward looking activity (i.e. bets being placed on players) and price potential.

BASKETBALL

Top 10 Most Graded Players & Top Graded Card (during the 1-week period)

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: LeBron James, RJ Barrett, Shaquille O’Neal, Coby White
• DOWN: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson
• OUT OF TOP 10: Jayson Tatum

BASEBALL

Top 10 Most Graded Players & Top Graded Card (during the 1-week period)

Noteworthy moves:

• UP:  Luis Robert, Fernando Tatis Jr., Randy Arozarena, Gavin Lux, Jasson Dominguez
• DOWN: Ken Grifffey Jr., 
• OUT: Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna Jr.

FOOTBALL

Top 10 Most Graded Players & Top Graded Card (during the 1-week period)

Noteworthy moves:

• UP:  Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes II, Tom Brady, Tua Tagovailoa, Dan Marino, Jalen Hurts, Jordan Love, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen
• OUT: Kyler Murray, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning

SOCCER

Top 10 Most Graded Players & Top Graded Card (during the 1-week period)

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Erling Haaland, Christian Pulisic, Youssoufa Moukoko, Neymar Jr., Giovanni Reyna
• DOWN: Ansu Fati, Jadon Sancho
• OUT: Jude Bellingham, Robert Lewandowski,  Kevin de Bruyne

Note: Hockey and soccer lists are more volatile because grading activity is lower. Much smaller moves in grading activity can have a big impact on these lists.

HOCKEY

Top 10 Most Graded Players & Top Graded Card (during the 1-week period)

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Martin Brodeur, Mario Lemieux, Jarai Kurri, Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr, Patrick Roy, Bobby Orr, Evgeni Malkin
• DOWN: Connor McDavid 
• OUT: Joe Sakic, Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes, Alexis Lafreniere

Note: Hockey and soccer lists are more volatile because grading activity is lower. Much smaller moves in grading activity can have a big impact on these lists.

Data in the Sports Card Investor Pop Report series is provided by GemRate. Follow GemRate on Instagram and Twitter for more on the latest cards graded by PSA.

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