The year 2025 has firmly planted its flag in the annals of collectible history, marking a seismic shift in the landscape of card grading. Pokémon cards have not just overshadowed their sporting counterparts; they’ve squashed them like a Snorlax on an afternoon nap spree. According to eyebrow-raising data from GemRate, the grading of Pokémon cards has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels, now making up a colossal majority of submissions to third-party grading companies.
For those not clued into the serious business of card grading, these figures illustrate a Pokémon evolution of a different kind. As we stand in 2025, 97 out of the top 100 most-graded cards at PSA—the kingpin of the card grading realm—bear the unmistakable insignia of the Pokémon franchise. This report isn’t just a footnote in the annals of trading cards; it’s a full-page spread detailing a coup d’état of the quaint world of sports card grading by the ferocious and fantastical characters of Pokémon.
Delving deeper, non-sports and Trading Card Game (TCG) cards have muscled their way to account for an astounding 59% of all graded submissions across the four titan-like authenticators during the initial half of the year. A mind-boggling 7.2 million TCG and non-sports cards were ushered through the grading process from January to June, a jaw-dropping 70% surge from the previous year. If you’re wondering where that leaves sports cards, their data tells a quieter tale of decline—an almost gentle wane—with a total of 5.1 million submissions representing a 9% drop in the same timeframe.
Riding this wave is the Japanese Iono’s Wattrel Battle Partners Promo No. 232, currently the most graded single card of the year with over 45,600 copies making their way to grading. However, Pikachu, the pint-sized powerhouse of the Pokémon pantheon, unwaveringly retains its status at the franchise’s forefront. Having spawned more than 345,000 graded examples just this year, leading the charge is the “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat,” a breakout star from Pokémon’s partnership with the Van Gogh Museum. Nearly 84,000 graded copies of this now-iconic card have found their way into PSA’s ledgers, solidifying its status as PSA’s top-submitted Pokémon card in recorded history. With PSA 10 examples commanding prices upwards of $900, it’s a golden age for Pikachu collectors.
Amongst this tsunami of Pokémon frenzy, sports cards have struggled to carve out any semblance of significant presence. A mere trio managed to penetrate the top 100 submissions at PSA: the 2024 Panini Prizm Jayden Daniels rookie card, the 2024 Panini Instant Caitlin Clark WNBA ROY card, and yet another of Jayden Daniels’ cards from Donruss. Each of these notable yet outnumbered exemplars found itself between 8,800 and 10,500 submission counterparts.
June’s numbers further sealed the fate of sports cards for the moment, with TCG and non-sports cards dominating 63% of submissions, and PSA alone grading an impressive 911,000 in this category—a figure that neatly dwarfs the consolidated sports card total of 743,000 across the entire industry’s top four grades.
Notably, CGC Cards has also embraced the Pokémon revolution with voracious zeal, grading a cool 2.18 million cards, an amount so staggering that it almost equals their tally from 2024. Astonishingly, over 1.8 million of those were TCG or non-sports-related, demonstrating the influence and allure of these fantastical creatures.
Beckett, on the other hand, has seen their fortunes wane significantly, now slipping to fourth place among the upper echelons of graded card companies. Out of over 366,000 cards they’ve graded in 2025, TCG and Pokémon-related cards constitute roughly 214,000 of them—an emphatic signal of the changing tides in card submissions.
PSA’s success story can also be attributed in part to its strategic alliance with GameStop, which launched back in October. This collaboration hasn’t just met expectations; it has razed them, leading to an influx of more than a million grading submissions—a formidable feat.
Pokémon’s stratospheric ascent hasn’t just impacted grading companies; it’s sent shockwaves through retail as well. Widespread sellouts, endless queues, and stringent limits per customer have become commonplace. With new releases vanishing from shelves faster than a speeding Rapidash and demand reaching dizzying heights, it seems the Pokémon phenomenon shows no sign of slowing. So, whether you’re an old-school aficionado or a new-age enthusiast, one thing’s clear: Pokémon’s grip on the grading world is tighter than ever, and its unprecedented reign seems poised to endure well beyond 2025.
