In the dazzling realm of trading cards, 2025 marks a seminal year where the underdog has risen to the apex of glory. What began as a humble card series has now metamorphosed into a titan of the hobby industry—this is the resplendent tale of Pokémon trading cards. Once the stuff of schoolyard negotiations, Pokémon cards have leaped past their sports counterparts to become the foremost darling of collectors and graders alike. At the epicenter of this tectonic shift lies GemRate’s illuminating findings, which unequivocally claim that Pokémon cards now reign supreme in the world of third-party grading.
Let’s dive into the numbers for a whirlwind tour. With an impressive 97 out of the top 100 most-graded cards at PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) proudly hailing from the Pokémon franchise, it’s clear where the tide is flowing. Non-sports and Trading Card Game (TCG) cards made a potent statement, comprising a resounding 59% of all graded submissions across the four major authenticating behemoths during the year’s opening half—2025 is truly Pokémon’s year.
Grading submissions have skyrocketed, with the TCG and non-sports realm notching up a colossal 7.2 million cards graded from the crisp mornings of January to the scorching heat of June. This figure represents a staggering 70% increase from the previous year, leaving sports cards eating dust with their 5.1 million tally—a sober 9% slump—and a testament to Pokémon’s newfound supremacy.
Among these coveted treasures, the Japanese Iono’s Wattrel Battle Partners Promo No. 232 card has emerged as the frontrunner of the year, with over 45,600 eager submissions. Still, the perennial spark of charm, Pikachu, remains the heart and soul of every avid collector. Over 345,000 graded Pikachu cards in 2025 stand as a testament to its ageless allure and enduring ambassadorship of the Pokémon franchise. The “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” edition, birthed from a novel collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum, has galloped to an astonishing nearly 84,000 graded copies, clinching the record for PSA’s most-submitted Pokémon card in history. Despite this lush abundance, PSA 10 specimens continue to command prices north of $900, a revealing illustration of their revered status.
In stark contrast, sports cards scrap for crumbs, with only a scant trio nudging their way into PSA’s coveted top 100 list. Notable contenders include the 2024 Panini Prizm Jayden Daniels rookie card, the 2024 Panini Instant Caitlin Clark WNBA ROY card, and another Jayden Daniels card from Donruss. Each card has managed between 8,800 and 10,500 valiant entries, proving instead to be footnotes in an epoch dominated by the esoteric allure of Pokémon.
June bore witness to this undeniable sway, with TCG and non-sports cards claiming 63% of submissions. PSA alone flexed its grading prowess by assessing 911,000 cards in this genre, outstripping and outperforming the total sports card count of 743,000 across all major players. Clearly, the Pokémon wave is no fleeting splash but a tidal bore, overwhelming the terrain of collectible cards.
CGC Cards, a commander in this surging zeitgeist, has gallantly graded 2.18 million cards in 2025, raring towards surpassing its comprehensive output from all of 2024. A hefty 1.8 million of these belong snugly in the TCG or non-sports category, signaling CGC’s formidable stature in fostering Pokémon’s roaring success.
Among this shifting landscape, Beckett, once a stalwart among graders, has felt the squeeze, now humbled to fourth place. Of the 366,000 cards Beckett has assessed, around 214,000 have donned the Pokémon or TCG moniker, reflecting a dwindled dominance in the face of this bewitching Pokémon phenomenon.
Bolstering PSA’s meteoric rise is a snazzy partnership with GameStop. The liaison, forged in October, has enticed more than a million grading submissions into the fold, surging PSA on ahead in the race to grade glory.
Simultaneously, on the bustling retail front, Pokémon’s magnetic pull has birthed chaos and clamor. Retail shelves empty faster than marathon sprinters, with fans lining up in the starlit hours for a shot at the newest releases. Each store seems caught in a perpetual re-run of Black Friday, as demand ignites feverish sellouts and stringent per-customer limitations.
As more cards vanish into the clasp of happy collectors, the Pokémon saga continues to spread its delightful, collectible euphoria, showing no signs of diminishment. Pokémon’s ascendancy is a resonant echo across the collecting universe—a cosmic gathering where cards like Pikachu are not just collected but cherished as precious relics of a vibrant cultural mosaic. Should 2025 be remembered for anything, let it be the year of homage to our cherished card heroes, as Pokémon plants its definitive flag in the mountainous terrain of collecting dominance.