If you were to tell sports enthusiasts a decade ago that their beloved sportscards would be overshadowed by mythical pocket monsters, they’d likely chuckle and continue browsing their cherished collections. Fast forward to the sensational, card-flipping year of 2025, where the dominance of Pokémon cards in the grading realm reads like an evolution story that would feel right at home in a Pokédex entry.
The backbone of this extraordinary shift is underscored by new figures from GemRate, which report that a staggering 97 of the top 100 most-graded cards at PSA, one of the leading card grading companies, are of Pokémon lineage. With incredible zeal, Pokémon cards have collected the highest stats, leapfrogging over not just single sports eras but entire leagues as they snag the spotlight away from traditional sportscards.
The raw data supports an undeniable truth: trading card games (TCGs) and other non-sports cards have taken the lead, constituting 59% of all graded submissions across the four major authenticators in the first half of 2025. The numbers tell the tale of a bell curve in hyperdrive; 7.2 million non-sports and TCG cards were graded from January through June, representing a mind-boggling 70% year-over-year surge. Meanwhile, sports cards, once the heavy-hitters in the hobby, came in second with just 5.1 million submissions—a 9% slip.
Allow me to introduce the real stars of the Pokémon School of Charismatic Collectibles: the Japanese Iono’s Wattrel Battle Partners Promo No. 232 card, reigning supreme as the most graded single whose submission count surpasses 45,600 copies. However, it’s our favorite plump yellow friend who continues to charm collectors across generations. Pikachu, handsomely leading the pack with over 345,000 graded examples just this year, has notably driven grading hysteria to dizzying heights. Most notably, the “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat,” a cultural mash-up from the Van Gogh Museum collaboration, has been submitted nearly 84,000 times—making it PSA’s most-submitted Pokémon card and a curio in its own right, with pristine PSA 10 versions still fetching over $900.
As for our sporty players, the once unconquerable giants now feel a touch of Grimer’s own muck. Only three sports cards have muscled their way into PSA’s top 100: the 2024 Panini Prizm Jayden Daniels rookie, the Panini Instant Caitlin Clark WNBA ROY card, and yet another Jayden Daniels card from Donruss. With each counting between 8,800 and 10,500 submissions, they seem almost cameo-like compared to their Pokémon counterparts.
Looking deeper into the monthly stats, June continued to trumpet the trend with flourish: TCG and non-sports cards commanded 63% of submissions. PSA, the workhorse of this cadre, graded an eye-popping 911,000 cards in this category, again outpacing the total sports card submissions by a healthy margin, which eked out 743,000 across all four primary grading institutions.
Because every royal show of force deserves a suitable entourage, CGC Cards has lept into a high-register crescendo with Pokémon at its forefront. Grading 2.18 million cards so far this year, with over 1.8 million of them in the TCG or non-sports kingdom, they’re a whisper away from matching their entire 2024 output. Meanwhile, Beckett, dragged back by slumping volume and now in a lowly rank-four position, has evaluated just 366,000 cards in 2025—where approximately 214,000 bore Pokémon’s snazzy insignia.
Not to be outdone, PSA’s significant surge for supremacy is partially credited to its alliance with GameStop. This wizardly collaboration, inaugurated in October, has already ushered in over 1 million grading submissions—a magical nod to the Pokémon allure fueling this fervor.
This Pokémon popularity isn’t limited to card graders; the ripple effects are felt retail-wide. Storefronts recount tales of sellouts that sound like the stuff of legends, where lines of fans extending far beyond shelves bear witness to Pokémon’s unyielding grip. Restrictive purchase limits are set as new releases are whisked from shelves quicker than you can say “Thunderbolt!”
As the dust of 2025 settles on this analytical battlefield, it’s evident Pokémon has not only entered the ring—it’s claimed the title with an unparalleled Pikachu-powered punch. Whether this trend will hold or evolve into a new stage remains unwritten, but for now, the world can’t seem to get enough of these electric adventures.
