Pop Report: PSA Grading Volume Dips 10% in Latest Returns

PSA graded 185,225 cards last week for a 10% decrease compared to the prior week. In category-specific news, Tom Brady took over the top spot in football while Cristiano Ronaldo did the same in soccer.

Read the Pop Report from GemRate for the latest news on PSA’s grading trends.

From a category perspective:

• Only hockey saw an increase in activity compared to last week.

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

19 – Baseball

18 – Basketball

8 – Football

2 – TCG

1 – Hockey

1 – Golf

1 – Tennis

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: LaMelo Ball, Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards
• DOWN: Zion Williamson, Magic Johnson

BASEBALL

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Ken Griffey Jr, Derek Jeter, Alec Bohm
• DOWN: Fernando Tatis Jr, Mike Trout, Bo Bichette, Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna Jr.
• OUT: Bo Jackson

FOOTBALL

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Tom Brady, Jordan Love
• DOWN: Justin Herbert, Josh Allen

SOCCER

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Cristiano Ronaldo, Jude Bellingham, Pedri, Jamal Musiala
• DOWN: Kylian Mbappe, Youssoufa Moukoko,  Christian Pulisic, Neymar Jr.
• OUT: Ansu Fati

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: Mario Lemieux, Connor McDavid, Mike Modano, Ed Belfour, Eric Lindros 
• DOWN: Jaromir Jagr, Kirill Kaprizov, Sidney Crosby, Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov
• OUT: Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Jari Kurri

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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