In a world where legends battle in animated arenas and mystical creatures frolic in the minds of millions, Pokémon cards have assertively pronounced their dominance over the realm of collectible card grading. As we find ourselves in the midst of 2025, a passionate wave swells globally—not only flooding hobbyist hearts but also crashing into the once-unassailable fortresses of sporting card supremacy.
A recent treasure trove of data unveiled by GemRate has revealed a paradigm shift that has left aficionados of baseball, basketball, and football fumbling in their card sleeves. The report highlights a seismic change: out of the pantheon of 100 most-graded cards at PSA, Pokémon’s vivid creatures account for 97. The numbers do not lie; they declare Pokémon as the unchallenged monarch of the grading world. And it’s not even close.
Sifting further through the annals of data, we unearth that, in the first half of this buzzing year, Pokémon and non-sport trading card game (TCG) cards have not only secured their heralded 59% of all submissions but have also visibly outpaced sporting icons. A towering 7.2 million non-sports cards found their way into the hallowed halls of grading during these initial six months—a vivid 70% increase over the previous year’s shadows. Meanwhile, sports cards, reminiscent of a perplexed tortoise caught unawares by the hare’s sudden sprint, muster a humble total of 5.1 million, marking a decline of 9%.
A zenith among these graded treasures is the elusive Japanese Iono’s Wattrel Battle Partners Promo No. 232, whose fame has been heralded through over 45,600 submissions. However, the sovereign of the franchise continues to smile widely—the sage Pikachu. In 2025 alone, this electrifying mascot has seen more than 345,000 of its iterations undergo grading alchemy.
Especially notable is the cultural marvel—“Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat.” Born from a transcendent collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum, this card has conquered hearts and wallets with its nearly 84,000 submissions. Despite the card’s growling population, the majesty of a PSA 10 example enchants collectors into offering no less than $900 for a touch of its magic.
Sports cards, hitherto objects of collectors’ affections, have but managed a meager presence among the top submissions. Valiant crafts featuring athletes like Jayden Daniels and Caitlin Clark sneaked into PSA’s esteemed top 100, yet their volumes—ranging between 8,800 and 10,500—pale beside the Pokémon cavalcade.
When June’s ledger is deciphered, the dominance continues unabated. TCG and non-sports cards formed 63% of submissions, with PSA spearheading the charge—grading a formidable 911,000 within this category; by comparison, the combined sports card submissions from all four grading titans settled at 743,000.
Complementing this Pokémon surge is CGC Cards, which has itself galloped mightily under the franchise’s auspices. Through 2025, the company has breathed life into 2.18 million graded cards, a figure eclipsing nearly all of its prior year’s accomplishments. A breathtaking 1.8 million of these, however, bloom from TCG or related non-sport realms.
Alongside CGC, Beckett now trails behind, with its prominence dimming to a flickering shadow. As it stands, Beckett ranks fourth, having graded only 366,000 cards thus far this year, with Pokémon once again capturing its lion’s share at roughly 214,000.
PSA’s meteoric rise, intertwined with schemes as strategic as a game of Go, owes much to its fruitful alliance with GameStop. Since its inception in October, this partnership alone accounts for a robust influx of over 1 million grading submissions, propelling PSA into the stratosphere of success.
On the retail fronts, Pokémon continue to orchestrate symphonies of commerce, inspiring scenes reminiscent of Black Friday sales on loop. Shelves are stripped, seemingly overnight, and fans navigate long queues as items become the stuff of dreams—hoarded, coveted, yet teasingly ephemeral. Retailers enforce limitations on purchases, fertile proof that Pokémon’s irresistible allure shows no signs of diminishing.
The tale of 2025, then, reads like an epic where mystical creatures vanquish the world of men and sport, with an electric mouse leading the charge. The Pokémon phenomenon, both uncontested and surreal, stands testament to a world far more enchanted than mere mortal games and points scored within painted lines. The cards, after all, are the stuff of legend—they bind our reality with dreams, collectors with nostalgia, and the present with an ever-sparkling promise of adventure anew.
