Pop Report: PSA Grading Volume Dips After Record Week

PSA graded 188,875 cards last week for an 11% decrease compared to the prior week (which was a record high).

From a category perspective:

• Only football increased compared to last week, while the other four sports declined with hockey and soccer having the largest drops.

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

22 – Basketball

12 – Baseball

12 – Football

4 – TCG

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: Luka Doncic, Coby White, RJ Barrett
• DOWN: LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Trae Young

BASEBALL

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Fernando Tatis Jr., Mike Trout, Juan Soto, Jasson Dominguez, Ronald Acuna Jr.
• DOWN: Bo Bichette, Randy Arozarena, Yordan Alvarez
• OUT: Gavin Lux, Ken Griffey Jr.

FOOTBALL

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Josh Allen
• OUT: Kyler Murray

SOCCER

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Lionel Messi, Christian Pulisic, Julian Weigl, Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, Weston McKinnie, Jadon Sancho, Kevin de Bruyne
• DOWN: Kylian Mbappe, Youssoufa Moukoko
• OUT: Jude Bellingham, Giovanni Reyna, 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: Eric Lindros, Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux, Jack Hughes, Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Sundin
• DOWN: Wayne Gretzky, Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid 
• OUT: Carey Price, Pavel Bure, Sergei Fedorov, Mark Messier

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.

Track your collection and maximize your profit with Market Movers, the hobby’s most powerful sports card pricing platform! Learn more here.

Note to readers: If you purchase something through one of our affiliates, we may earn a commission.