Episode 50 drops June 5th at 530am Central time!

https://linktr.ee/picklethepodcast

For years, collectors were told that massive pop counts would eventually crush card values.

And yet… here we are.

A PSA 10 Ohtani rookie with a pop over 15,000 still commands massive prices.

A Pikachu Grey Felt Hat with a PSA 10 pop nearing 50,000 continues climbing.

Even Wemby Prizm Silvers with thousands of PSA 10s are still seeing strong demand.

Why? Because demand, culture, player relevance, nostalgia, and collector confidence often matter more than raw pop reports alone.

What’s even more interesting is what’s happening outside PSA. Lower-pop BGS Pristines and other premium grades are quietly gaining traction because collectors are starting to look beyond the label and ask deeper questions:

• How rare is this specific grade really?

• How difficult is it to gem?

• How iconic is the player or card?

• Does the market trust the eye appeal and scarcity?

The hobby is evolving.

At Hobbycomp, we believe the future of collecting is less about blindly following one slab and more about understanding the full picture through transparency, education, real market data, and collector behavior.

Because in the end, a great card is still a great card. The market is just becoming smarter about how it values them.

#SportsCards #Pokemon #PSA #BGS #Wembanyama #ShoheiOhtani #TradingCards #SportsCardInvesting #CardCollector #TheHobby #Hobbycomp

With the most recent increase to PSA turn around times I decided to try AGS and TAG. I sent 10 cards to AGS and 10 cards to TAG on 4/30. I received my completed AGS order back on 5/23/26. TAG is still in step 1 - “Order Prep”.

AGS is an AI grading company. I’m happy with the slabs. They feel sturdy and are basically the same size as a PSA slab. It also includes sub-grades and the laser imaging.The only complaint I have would be that they seemed more tailored to the TCG side. When completing my submission form the database did not have many of the cards and they had to be entered manually, which takes a little time. Hopefully they grow, and their database does as well.

We’ll see how anything does for resale, but over all I’m happy and will grade with them again.

If anyone wants to give AGS a try, use

https://app.agscard.com/referral/OYPLB for your first submission and save!

There are plenty of reasons to get a card graded!

I know I’ve seen posters and other things larger than a standard card get graded, is there a company that will grade six cards in a collage set and then grade the set on top of it all and do a combination slab? Would that even make sense or would having each card graded and kept as a set still make it more valuable?

Context, these cards are a Lord of the wrong Magic the Gathering foil set worth ~$80 raw according to Collectr as combined individual prices.