{"id":1975766,"date":"2026-06-06T15:21:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T12:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1975766"},"modified":"2026-06-06T15:21:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T12:21:36","slug":"wemby-tops-michael-jordan-and-the-impact-of-psas-pause-may-sports-card-market-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1975766","title":{"rendered":"Wemby tops Michael Jordan, and the impact of PSA\u2019s pause: May sports card market recap"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Five sales topped $1 million in May as the sports card market continues to experience unprecedented price growth and sales volume. The $5.11 million private sale<\/a> for one of Victor Wembanyama\u2019s most important cards was the highlight of May, landing just days before the San Antonio Spurs secured a spot in the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. Trading card grading leader Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) also shook up the industry by announcing pauses to popular service levels at the start of June in an attempt to cut into what has become a more than 10 million card backlog that will impact the industry for months to come.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an overview of what happened across the hobby throughout the month of May.<\/p>\n

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Top sports card sales in May<\/h2>\n
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  1. 2023-24 Prizm Victor Wembanyama Black 1\/1, PSA 10: $5,110,000<\/li>\n
  2. 2025 Topps Chrome Josh Allen Honors MVP Gold NFL Shield 1\/1 Patch Autograph<\/a>: $1,350,000<\/li>\n
  3. 2018 Panini Cristiano Ronaldo Kaboom Green 1\/1<\/a>, PSA 10: $1,350,000<\/li>\n
  4. 2025 Topps Chrome LeBron James Superfractor Autograph 1\/1: $1,260,000<\/li>\n
  5. 2015-16 Panini Immaculate Nikola Jokic Rookie Patch Autograph 1\/1, PSA 8\/DNA 10: $1,102,600<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Source: Card Ladder (May 1 to May 31)<\/em><\/p>\n

    Of the five cards to top $1 million in May, four \u2014 Wembanyama, Allen, Ronaldo and Jokic \u2014 set all-time records for the player featured. The most notable sale was the 2023 Panini Prizm Victor Wembanyama Black one-of-one card, graded a Gem-Mint PSA 10 for $5.11 million in a private transaction brokered by Fanatics Collect. That sale easily toppled the previous high for Wembanyama of $860,100 for his 2023 Prizm Nebula Choice one-of-one while becoming the most expensive basketball card without an autograph.<\/p>\n

    Despite lacking a signature, the Wembanyama rookie is considered arguably the best card in existence for the Spurs superstar due to its one-of-a-kind Black parallel design, which is highly regarded among collectors. Wembanyama doesn\u2019t have any licensed autograph rookie cards with Panini America, holder of the exclusive NBA card license at the time, due to a personal exclusive deal with Fanatics.<\/p>\n

    Best-selling athletes in May: It\u2019s Wembanyama\u2019s world<\/h2>\n
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    1. Victor Wembanyama<\/a> (50.9k)<\/li>\n
    2. Michael Jordan<\/a> (39.2k)<\/li>\n
    3. Cooper Flagg<\/a> (26.6k)<\/li>\n
    4. Jaxson Dart<\/a> (16.4k)<\/li>\n
    5. Shohei Ohtani<\/a> (15.5k)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Source: Market Movers<\/em><\/p>\n

      Interest in Wembanyama cards has spread across the hobby from the ultra high-end to the low end of the secondary market. Trading card sales tracker Market Movers logged more than 50,000 sales for Wembanyama in May, easily outpacing NBA legend Michael Jordan, who often sits atop the sales volume rankings.<\/p>\n

      Of the data points supporting Wembanyama\u2019s current hobby supremacy, none may be more stunning to everyday collectors than the roughly 700,000 cards that have already been graded for the French star. According to grading tracker GemRate<\/a>, Wembanyama is already the sixth most graded athlete of all time, behind only Jordan, Shohei Ohtani, Ken Griffey Jr., LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. At the current submission velocity, he could realistically pass Bryant, James and Griffey Jr. by the end of the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n

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      Victor Wembanyama cards<\/div>\n

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      Notable rises in value: Trio of Spurs stars surge<\/h2>\n
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      1. Victor Wembanyama (+22.1 percent)<\/li>\n
      2. Dylan Harper<\/a> (+17.8 percent)<\/li>\n
      3. Stephon Castle<\/a> (+10.9 percent)<\/li>\n
      4. Michael Jordan (+7.5 percent)<\/li>\n
      5. Kobe Bryant<\/a> (+2.5 percent)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Source: Market Movers (minimum 5,000 sales)<\/em><\/p>\n

        The data presented above probably made Wembanyama\u2019s place here feel expected, but it\u2019s worth noting that high sales volume can sometimes make positive price growth difficult across an individual player\u2019s entire market. With each market made up of a mix of high-end, low-end, graded and ungraded cards all transacting with different volume and price points, there\u2019s a certain amount of price volatility involved over any timeframe. The basketball card market \u2014 and really the entire market as a whole \u2014is trending up, however. Card Ladder\u2019s Basketball Index, which attempts to gauge the strength of the basketball market through price movement for its key cards, is up nearly 57 percent over the last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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        Overall market health, postseason success and lofty expectations for a pair of top-five picks has also helped push Wembanyama\u2019s teammates Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle into this space. Interest in Castle remained steady through his Rookie of the Year campaign last season while Harper is considered among the hobby\u2019s favorite rookies from the 2025 NBA Draft class.<\/p>\n

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        What\u2019s fascinating is the total absence of New York Knicks from these two lists, given how the team has excited one of the NBA\u2019s largest fan bases. With the Knicks now up 2-0 in the NBA Finals, standout performers like Jalen Brunson<\/a> and Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> seem likely additions in June. Certain cards of theirs are already climbing in a big way, with Brunson\u2019s 2018 Prizm Silver parallel rookie card in a PSA 10 grade<\/a> (population 639) rising from $400 to $1,550 in the last month, according to Card Ladder.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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        Going down: Offseason dropoff hits 2025 NBA Draft class<\/h2>\n
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        1. Kon Knueppel (-18.6 percent)<\/li>\n
        2. Cooper Flagg (-17.6 percent)<\/li>\n
        3. VJ Edgecombe (-16.3 percent)<\/li>\n
        4. Cam Skattebo (-12.5 percent)<\/li>\n
        5. Jaxson Dart (-12.3 percent)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Source: Market Movers (minimum 5,000 sales)<\/em><\/p>\n

          It\u2019s common for hobbyists to narrow their collecting focus or shift away from specific players completely when the offseason arrives, and that\u2019s likely what we\u2019re seeing with Flagg, Knueppel and Edgecombe. Don\u2019t be surprised if these prices continue to dip as collectors turn to baseball and eventually the NFL in the coming months, potentially creating a good buying opportunity for three standout rookies ahead of their second season in the NBA.<\/p>\n

          For Dart and Skattebo, the offseason lull is likely coming to an end sometime soon. Expect prices for that pair to begin rebounding in the coming weeks and when teams begin preseason games.<\/p>\n

          Best-selling cards: Buyback program drives Stafford sales<\/h2>\n
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          1. 2025 Topps Cooper Flagg Base #201 (1.4k)<\/li>\n
          2. 2025 Bowman Cooper Flagg Base #1 (1.4k)<\/li>\n
          3. 2025 Topps Chrome Jaxson Dart #306 (1.3k)<\/li>\n
          4. 2025 Topps Chrome Matthew Stafford #169 (1.2k)<\/li>\n
          5. 2023 Prizm Victor Wembanyama #136 (1.2k)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Source: Market Movers<\/em><\/p>\n

            One of these cards is not like the others. Surrounded by flagship rookies for some of the most popular players in the hobby, you\u2019re probably wondering why a card from Matthew Stafford\u2019s 17th season has been so coveted lately. Well it has everything to do with Topps\u2019 MVP Buyback program<\/a>, which allows collectors to trade in cards of the most recent NFL MVP to participating card shops for store credit.<\/p>\n

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            Stafford\u2019s cards from 2025 Topps Chrome Football can be redeemed for anywhere between $20 and $200 depending on the card\u2019s rarity. Some hobbyists sell these cards for less than redemption value because they don\u2019t want to be bothered trading them in while others are willing to do the legwork of buying and redeeming in-person or through the mail for a profit. According to Market Movers, Stafford\u2019s 2025 Topps Chrome Base #169 is trending around $14 on the secondary market over the last 30 days with a redemption value of $20.<\/p>\n

            Grading recap: PSA\u2019s backlog forces service pauses<\/h2>\n
              \n
            1. PSA (2.07 million total cards, 625k sports cards)<\/li>\n
            2. CGC (641k total cards, 114k sports cards)<\/li>\n
            3. BGS (145k total cards, 44k sports cards)<\/li>\n
            4. TAG (52k total cards, 2k sports cards)<\/li>\n
            5. SGC (48k total cards, 45k sports cards)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Source: GemRate (May 1 to May 31)<\/em><\/p>\n

              One of the biggest stories in the collectibles industry so far this year has been PSA announcing a temporary pause to multiple card grading service levels<\/a> in order to trim what has become a more than 10 million-item backlog. PSA originally estimated it could reopen the impacted value service levels, which are the company\u2019s cheapest and most popular tiers, when the backlog is eventually cut down to about five million cards. Early projections placed that timeline at up to four months, but a surge in submissions<\/a> between the announcement and the final cutoff for orders of those service tiers has likely extended that timeline significantly.<\/p>\n

              Overall grading activity in May was down five percent compared to April but up 20 percent year-over-year. The most notable change was a 49 percent increase in output from Beckett, which has recently benefited from hiring more graders and operational upgrades. According to GemRate, Beckett\u2019s 145,000 graded cards in May was a single-month high for the grader. Beckett general manager Colin Hudson says the goal is to expand the company\u2019s grading team by more than 20 percent in 2026<\/a> and eventually reach 200,000 cards per month by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

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              What sellers are saying<\/h2>\n

              Card prices are way up for DCSports87<\/a>, one of the largest sellers of trading cards on eBay, so far in 2026. According to DCSports87 vice president Tory Hermens, the company has already topped $100 million in gross merchandise value (GMV) for the year after totaling $92 million in 2025. Through May, Hermens says the company\u2019s sales volume is up 80 percent compared to last year \u2014 the current goal is to list about 450,000 items for auction each month \u2014 and the average price per item is up 96 percent. That mix of volume and price increase has DCSports87\u2019s sales up 249 percent year-over-year with between 55,000 and 60,000 unique buyers each month.<\/p>\n

              \u201cName of the game has just adding as much technology as we can,\u201d Hermens told The Athletic<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019re chasing a lot of automation projects for our listing flow and our fulfillment process because we have to find ways to move faster. The entire hobby is, and we\u2019re certainly not exempt from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

              Hermens believes the secondary market will see collectors moving to sell cards faster after they are pulled from packs due to PSA\u2019s value service pause.<\/p>\n

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              \u201cIn the past, when there was an available $25 to $30 value submission level, there was a chance to make a lot of profit by grading bulk, getting those back and then selling graded,\u201d Hermens said. \u201cNow that\u2019s taken away and the cheapest service at PSA is $80, collectors and dealers have to be a lot more sensitive to where there\u2019s still value in using that service. As a result, I think we\u2019ll see people chasing liquidity faster with just selling right away on the secondary market rather than kind of waiting to grade first and then move it.\u201d<\/p>\n

              According to Hermens, Wembanyama has had the most buzz among DCSports87\u2019s customers, but people haven\u2019t known when to buy or sell with his market surging.<\/p>\n

              \u201cI think the thing we find the most interesting right now is watching the market try to decide when to act,\u201d Hermens said. \u201cEverybody knows that it\u2019s (Wembanyama), a huge gap and then everybody else as far as demand and buzz in the hobby. But that doesn\u2019t always align to when people should be selling.<\/p>\n

              \u201cCommon things we see people asking now are, \u2018I know he\u2019s skyrocketing right now. Should I be buying him right now or should I wait? Should I be selling him right now or should I wait?\u2019 it\u2019s really an interesting thing in a market with so many data sources \u2026 yet nobody really knows where the exact peak is and where the valley is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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              The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Five sales topped $1 million in May as the sports card market continues to experience unprecedented price growth and sales volume. The $5.11 million private sale for one of Victor Wembanyama\u2019s most important cards was the highlight of May, landing just days before the San Antonio Spurs secured a spot in the NBA Finals against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1975766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1975766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1975766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1975766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1975766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}