In the ever-evolving world of collectibles, 2025 marks a pivotal moment as Pokémon cards ascend to the apex of popularity, surpassing traditional sports cards in both fascination and figures. Thanks to GemRate’s recent revelations, it’s clear that the Pokémon behemoth has well and truly stepped out from the shadow of its sporty counterparts, seizing an indomitable grip on the card-grading cosmos.
The data paints a vivid picture: among PSA’s top 100 most-graded cards, a staggering 97 are associated with the Pokémon franchise. It’s more than a simple trend; it’s practically a Pokémon takeover. Still, the question remains: what precisely has fueled this meteoric rise?
More than just children’s playthings, trading card games (TCGs) and non-sports collectibles have surged to command 59% of all graded submissions across major authentication firms during the first half of the year. Their collective power manifested in an impressive tally of 7.2 million card submissions between January and June—a whopping 70% increase from the previous year. Sporting cards, on the other hand, seem like they’re limping along, with only 5.1 million submissions, reflecting a humbling 9% decline within the same period.
The Japanese Iono’s Wattrel Battle Partners Promo No. 232 currently holds the title for the most-graded single card this year, with a phenomenal 45,600 copies processed. However, the iconic Pikachu reigns supreme as the indisputable mascot of Pokémon’s triumphant expansion. Pikachu proudly populates grading companies’ lists with over 345,000 graded examples in 2025 alone. Among these, the “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” card—born from an imaginative partnership with the Van Gogh Museum—has managed to emerge from the crowd with nearly 84,000 graded copies, becoming the most-submitted Pokémon card ever at PSA. Despite its ubiquity, a pristine PSA 10 grade of this card still demands upwards of $900, proving that rarity isn’t the only driver of value in the Pokémon universe.
Setting sights on sport cards, they scarcely make a blip in the top submissions arena. Only three managed to squeak into PSA’s top 100 listings: two cards featuring Jayden Daniels from the 2024 Panini Prizm and Donruss series, and a single card celebrating Caitlin Clark’s WNBA Rookie of the Year accolade from the 2024 Panini Instant series—each facing submission numbers between 8,800 and 10,500.
June’s grading statistics solidified the ongoing torrential Pokémon wave. TCG and non-sports card submissions composed a dominant 63% of the total, with PSA grading an astounding 911,000 cards just in that category and outpacing the cumulative sports card total of 743,000 across the four leading grading entities.
Companies are riding the crest of this wave—take CGC Cards, for instance. Their output has neared last year’s entire production with 2.18 million cards graded so far, more than 1.8 million of which were TCG or non-sports in nature. Even as CGC thrives, industry giant Beckett suffered a slowdown, currently trailing in fourth place among the top graders. Out of the 366,000 cards they have processed, a significant portion—approximately 214,000—were tied to Pokémon or other TCG affiliation.
PSA’s explosive success narrative is also intertwined with a strategic partnership with GameStop. This collaboration, which blossomed in October, has impressively amassed over 1 million grading submissions. Such partnerships have partially fueled the ongoing boom and further concreted Pokémon’s stronghold over the industry.
On the retail battleground, Pokémon’s seismic popularity continues to upend expectations. Shelves devoid of stock, queues that curl whole city blocks, and stringent per-customer purchase limitations underscore the fevered frenzy surrounding the franchise. As new releases disappear faster than they arrive, fervor for Pokémon cards continues to soar unfettered—indicating that Pokémon’s dominance in the collector’s sphere shows no sign of a cooldown.
As 2025 progresses, the Pokémon phenomenon raises compelling questions about the future landscape of collecting. Can sports cards re-adapt and reclaim their status, or has Pokémon reshaped the playing field indefinitely? Pondering these questions may well become the new pastime of industry insiders and enthusiasts alike, as Pokémon’s narrative keeps expanding within the realms of both nostalgia and new-age fascination.
