July 2021 Update

  • PSA grading volume has been roughly flat in July (+1%) compared to June
  • 1990s basketball activity has slowed following the June surge as the spotlight shifts back to ultra modern
  • Kevin Durant cards have seen the biggest spike in grading activity during July
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    Published July 26th, 2021

    Welcome to this late July update from GemRate. This report is being published ahead of our typical month end schedule (using partial July data) in hopes of providing an up-to-date look at the PSA backlog prior to the National in Chicago beginning on 7/28/21. Please note that all July data mentioned in this report is through 7/23/21. For reference, here are the June and May recaps.

    PSA output through 7/23/21 is up an average of 1% per day during July - with 599,000 items graded - compared to the same time frame in June ‘21.

    1990s basketball activity has slowed as the spotlight shifts back to ultra modern

    Category Summary

    Basketball holds onto the top spot but the gap with baseball continues to narrow

    Set Summary

    Ultra modern basketball sees large increases in July

    Player Summary

    The top 3 [Jordan, LeBron, Kobe] remain unchanged despite declines; Kevin Durant activity doubles

    Card Summary

    Kevin Durant takes the top two spots in July; Bo Jackson, Luis Robert also occupy multiple spots

    What's Next?

    We'll release a final July recap and a deeper dive on these trends early in August.