Pop Report: PSA Grading Volume Drops 10% as TCG Regains Top Spot

After having its three-week stretch as the most graded category snapped by basketball, TCG regained the No. 1 spot last week. TCG was also the only major category to see an increase in volume as PSA’s overall number of graded items dropped 10% to just 148,946.

Read this week’s Pop Report for the latest news and notes on PSA’s grading trends.

From a category perspective:

• Continuing the up and down trend seen during October, all the major sports declined compared to the week prior.

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

18 – Basketball

14 – Baseball

10 – Football

8 – 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: LeBron James, Zion Williamson, Luka Doncic, Tyler Herro, RJ Barrett
• DOWN: Michael Jordan, Ja Morant, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal
• OUT OF TOP 10: Trae Young

BASEBALL

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Bo Bichette, Randy Arozarena, Kyle Lewis, Yordan Alvarez, Ronald Acuna Jr.
• DOWN: Mike Trout, Ken Grifffey Jr.
• OUT: Derek Jeter

FOOTBALL

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Tua Tagovailoa, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Jordan Love
• DOWN: Patrick Mahomes II, Tom Brady
• OUT:  Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers

SOCCER

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

Noteworthy moves:

• UP: Lionel Messi, Giovanni Reyna, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Christian Pulisic, Neymar Jr.
• DOWN: Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland
• OUT: Kevin de Bruyne, Kai Havertz

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: Alexis Lafreniere, Steve Yzerman, Jaromir Jagr, Sergei Fedorov, Sidney Crosby, Nick Suzuki, Patrick Roy, Elias Pettersson
• DOWN: Mario Lemieux
• OUT: Connor McDavid, Alexander Ovechkin, Martin Brodeur, Henrik Lundqvist, Jack Eichel, Charlie McAvoy

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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