Pop Report: TCG Surge Lifts PSA Grading Output to Another Record

PSA graded 241,638 cards last week for a 37% increase compared to the prior week and new record for weekly output. In category specific news, hobby favorites like Zion Williamson, Luis Robert and Joe Burrow maintained the top spots in their respective sports while Youssoufa Moukoko slid into soccer’s top position.

Read this week’s Pop Report from GemRate for more news on PSA’s latest grading trends.

From a category perspective:

• TCG was up significantly (+83%) fueling the record week for PSA; however, all major categories were up with soccer having the largest increase for the second week in a row.

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

21 – Basketball

13 – Baseball

8 – Football

7 – TCG

1 – Soccer

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: Michael Jordan, Lamelo Ball
• DOWN: LeBron James, Tyler Herro

BASEBALL

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Mike Trout, Randy Arozarena, Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani
• DOWN: Kyle Lewis, Yordan Alvarez, Ronald Acuna Jr
• OUT: Ken Griffey Jr.

FOOTBALL

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Tom Brady
• DOWN: Patrick Mahomes II 
• OUT: Kyler Murray

SOCCER

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Youssoufa Moukoko, Cristian Pulisic, Phil Foden, Pedri
• DOWN: Lionel Messi
• OUT: Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix

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: Alexander Ovechkin, Mario Lemieux, Sindey Crosby, Adam Fox, Auston Matthews
• DOWN: Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, Cale Makar, 
• OUT: Eric Lindros, Jack 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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