Pop Report: TCG Takes Top Spot From Basketball For 2nd Straight Week

PSA’s grading volume declined by 19% last week, ending a three-week stretch of positive growth.

TCG also claimed the top spot for the second straight week with over 50,000 cards graded last week (down 9% compared to last week).

The main five sports continue to be impacted by TCG and slower activity in general, and were down 24% compared to last week.

Read this week’s Pop Report with GemRate for the latest news and notes on PSA’s graded population.

From a category perspective:

• Only football was able to post a positive increase compared to last week.

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

19 – Basketball

15 – Baseball

8 – Football

7 – TCG

1 – Hockey

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: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, RJ Barrett
• DOWN: Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, Coby White 
• OUT OF TOP 10: Trae Young

BASEBALL

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Ken Griffey Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Bo Jackson, Derek Jeter, Shohei Ohtani, Barry Bonds 
• DOWN: Luis Robert, Mike Trout, Bo Bichette, Kyle Lewis 
• OUT: Yordan Alvarez, Ronald Acuna Jr., Juan Soto

FOOTBALL

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, Deion Sanders, Barry Sanders, Peyton Manning
• DOWN: Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes II, Tua Tagovailoa, Josh Allen 
• OUT OF TOP 10:  Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray

SOCCER

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Erling Haaland, Robert Lewadowski, Jude Bellingham, Jadon Sancho, Kevin de Bruyne, Kai Havertz
• DOWN: Ansu Fati
• OUT OF TOP 10: Christian Pulisic, Alphonso Davies, Jamal Musiala, Youssoufa Moukoko

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:  Joe Sakic, Pavel Bure, Eric Lindros, Ed Belfour, Bobby Orr
• DOWN: Sidney Crosby 
• OUT: Connor McDavid, Alexis Lafreniere, Ray Borque, Mark Messier, Brayden Point

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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