If you enjoy collecting Pokemon cards, chances are you’ve grown all too familiar with the sight of empty shelves in big box stores and local card shops alike. Over the last few years, the popularity of the Pokemon TCG has well outpaced available stock. While the Pokemon Company’s acquisition of a massive new printing facility should help eventually, that’s still at least a year or more away. Even with recent sets like Perfect Order having smaller lists of chase cards, the popularity of the TCG continues. And a new report on the status of trading card grading suggests that demand for high-value cards to put on the reseller market isn’t slowing down any time soon.
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There are plenty of reasons why someone might collect Pokemon cards. From actually building a deck to play the Pokemon TCG to filling a binder with your favorite Pokemon, there’s plenty of ways to engage with the game. But for many, collecting cards means grading them either to showcase your high-quality chase cards or fetch a higher price on the resale market. In fact, as the March 2026 GemRate report on trends in TCG grading confirms, the Pokemon TCG continues to be the leading category for major card grading services, with no signs of slowing down.
Pokemon Remains Most-Graded Trading Card Category By a Wide Margin in March 2026
GemRate breaks down trading card grading data from major card grading companies, including PSA and CGC. And their March 2026 breakdown comparing categories proves that Pokemon TCG is still the most-graded type of card for PSA, CGC, and Beckett by a pretty wide margin. Not only are Pokemon cards still holding steady as the most popular cards to send off to grading services, they’re still going up.
PSA, arguably the most popular grading service for Pokemon card collectors, saw an increase of 3% in the Pokemon TCG cards they graded in March compared with February. With the arrival of more Ascended Heroes products last month, along with the late-March release of Perfect Order, that’s not terribly surprising. But despite the popularity of new Mega Evolution releases, it’s actually older cards that continue to lead the charge for the most graded sets.
The Scarlet and Violet era remains strong with grading services. In particular, Terastal Fest (the Japanese name for Prismatic Evolutions) was the most popular for grading last month. That’s quickly followed by English language cards like 2023’s Scarlet & Violet 151, Surging Sparks, and Crown Zenith. Most of these sets are still growing in terms of sheer quantity of cards being sent in for grading, though Surging Sparks and Stellar Crown did see a bit of a drop in March compared with February. Clearly, people are still invested in getting their Scarlet and Violet cards graded, either for their own collection’s sake or to prepare to hit the resale market.
Both Terastral Fest and Prismatic Evolutions continue to boast several of the top 10 most PSA graded cards in March, as well. The ever-coveted Umbreon ex Special Illustration Rare did drop a bit compared to February, but 7 of the top 10 are Eevee or its Evolutions from Terestal Fest o rPrismatic Evolutions. Of course, we also had to save a slot for the infamous Pikachu with GreyFelt Hat promo, which remains among the highest-value cards from the Scarlet and Violet era.
The good news, potentially, is that more cards being graded could potentially push down resale prices. If you’ve had your eye on that Umbreon like I have, a higher quantity of PSA-graded renditions on the market could mean it’ll see a dip in price. Maybe. At any rate, it’s clear that people are still buying and grading Pokemon cards in massive numbers, showing that those empty shelves aren’t likely to fill up any time soon.
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Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
