In a world where the nostalgia of childhood trading card games collides with adult collectors' ambitions, Pokémon has officially thrown a Poké Ball at the face of reality. As 2025 unfolds, it’s not Charizards or Blastoises that are burning up the charts, but rather the staggering volume of Pokémon cards submitted to grading companies. Move aside, sports cards—the boxing gloves of Pikachu are ready to rumble.
GemRate's fresh statistics reveal this tectonic shift. A whopping 97 out of the top 100 cards gracing PSA's grading submissions bear the Pokémon branding, making this trading card franchise the clear heavyweight champion in the hobby. As if channeling the unstoppable energy of a Thunderbolt move, non-sports and TCG (Trading Card Game) cards have claimed 59% of all graded submissions between the four titans of card authentication during the year's first half.
Let’s wrap our trainers around some numbers. Since January, an impressive 7.2 million TCG and non-sports cards stood under the grading limelight—a surge of 70% compared to last year. Sports cards, on the other hand, saw a measly 5.1 million submissions, sliding down by 9%. Clearly, sports fans are getting benched while card flippers, collectors, and enthusiasts of fantastic creatures play front and center.
The crown jewel in this collector's deluge? A delightful Japanese Iono's Wattrel Battle Partners Promo No. 232 holds the title of the year's most-graded card with over 45,600 copies sent in. But fear not, Pikachu hasn’t vacated his throne. Over 345,000 Pikachu cards have been graded in 2025 alone, led by the ethereal “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” from that charming Van Gogh Museum collaboration. With nearly 84,000 graded copies, this version of Pikachu seduces buyers despite its abundance, fetching over $900 for each pristine PSA 10 example. Who knew a felt hat could be so fetching?
As sports cards lie in Pokémon’s shadow, only three have managed to infiltrate PSA’s top 100. The contestants? Jayden Daniels makes a double appearance with his 2024 Panini Prizm rookie card (#347) and a Donruss card (#389), both sharing the stage with Caitlin Clark's WNBA ROY card from 2024 Panini Instant. Their submission numbers flutter between 8,800 and 10,500—a trifling count next to Pokémon’s mass invasion.
June's figures hammer this point home with gusto. Trading card games and non-sports cards formed 63% of that month’s grading pie. PSA alone handled 911,000 in this category, a titan's leap over the 743,000 sports cards combed through by all major companies combined.
Riding this Pokémon tidal wave robustly is CGC Cards, boasting 2.18 million cards graded this year, a figure that nearly eclipses its entire 2024 output. Within that, Pokémon and TCG cards comprise a lion's share with over 1.8 million eagerly assessed. Meanwhile, Beckett limps along, battling a significant slump in volume as it clings to the fourth spot in grading circles. Their Pokémon and TCG-related submissions reached a comparatively diminutive 214,000 out of 366,000.
PSA’s meteoric rise can partly be traced back to its ongoing bromance with GameStop, which has been showering it with over a million submissions since their collaboration kicked off in October last year. It seems even the trainers at GameStop know where the real value lies in those pocket monsters.
If the grading battlegrounds weren’t enough, Pokémon’s influence cloaks the retail world as well. Shelves are not safe from its charm. Limited supply, exhaustive queues, and rigid customer restrictions are as commonplace as a Rattata encounter. New releases vanish faster than a Zapdos on a rainless field. Demand for Pokémon cards is blazing like a Moltres about to use Flamethrower, with no signs of it flickering out soon.
In a narrative fit for a journey from Pallet Town to Indigo Plateau, these beloved cards have defied expectations, grinned at trends, and overtaken the pastime passions of many. In this world of dollars, sense, and endless collecting quests, Pokémon reigns supreme—a title earned, it seems, through both their enduring nostalgia and the ceaseless ambition of collectors the world over.
Pokemon Cards Dominate Grading
Comments