HIT DRAFT - Baseball is in the air

One of the strongest trends seen internally at PSA in the past year-plus is the dominant rise in submission volume in our TCG categories, with Pokémon strongly leading the way. This comes at a time where pop culture collectibles – and not just cards – are also catching the hearts and minds of collectors like never before. To dive in deeper and discuss new ways in which PSA is meeting this customer demand, Elizabeth Gruene (GM of Pop Culture) and Roxanne Ghezzi (Senior TCG Specialist) join us for the latest installment of Guest Submissions.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has become a legitimate NBA MVP candidate, and is the leading man on one of the league's top young rosters. Has the Oklahoma City Thunder star's growth in the hobby during the 2023-24 season matched what we've seen on the floor? From what the ⁠Card Ladder⁠ and PSA submission data shows, to some good places to start if you're looking to get into his cards, Chris McGill and Ryan Greene deep dive on SGA in the latest installment of The Index.

As we come out of the long winter, baseball is in the air. And in the hobby community, on the heels of the annual Topps Series 1 release, it officially means baseball card season is here. Who were you stocking up on this offseason? Which trending Spring Training performers are you maybe wishing you'd picked up more of during the past few months? Ryan Greene, Jack Archer and Ryan Porter dig in on those questions, then will draft modern grails from a cardboard pool featuring some of the game's hottest names.

Did you ever wonder exactly what happens while your PSA submission is showing up as in the "Research & ID" stage while at our facilities? Well, we dive in a bit in the latest installment of Guest Submissions, as PSA Research Manager Tim Wong joins the show to share his collecting story and discuss the research process with a bit of a look behind the curtains. Tim also discusses the depth of expertise within our internal research team, and which areas are focuses of continuous improvement in 2024 and beyond.

In the year's first installment of The Index, it's a deep dive on the hobby relevance of the 2022 NFL Draft's "Mr. Irrelevant" – San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy. From the story told by the advanced stats and the eye test on the field, to what the Card Ladder and PSA submission data says from the collector POV, Ryan Greene and Chris McGill explore it all. Will Sunday's Super Bowl 58 result have any real impact on Purdy's hobby prowess? If you're looking to get into Purdy cards, where is a good place to start? The guys cover that and much more in the debut of The Index's new 2024 format.

As a big year both in the hobby comes to close, PSA President Ryan Hoge drops by for our final episode of 2023. Along with taking a look back at key milestones, metrics and moments from the year that was, Ryan shares some of what lies ahead for PSA and our customers in 2024.

In the latest installment of Guest Submissions, we're diving in on one of the hobby's most fascinating niches – graded tickets. For this in-depth conversation, we bring in Principal Ticket Authenticator Matt Fuller, whose years as a learning and growing collector in the space led him to his current role at PSA. Matt discusses his own ticket collecting journey, what he's added to his expertise about tickets since joining PSA and much more.

As we look at some of the hobby's most notable movement in October 2023, an incredible, rarely seen Ichiro rookie card from 2001 turned heads by producing a record sale. We take a deeper look at the card, the sale and its significance. Also, Card Ladder's Chris McGill brings the data to highlight some interesting movers from the last month, including two major MLB postseason stars whose cards are headed in opposite directions following the World Series and two NFL quarterbacks showing similar trends.

The 2023-24 NBA campaign is upon us, so it's the perfect time for Hit Draft to return. As one of the most-anticipated seasons in recent history gets underway, the guys take a look at the hobby forecasts for some of the game's brightest stars the best way we know how – with cards. This draft includes grail pieces of the top eight names in ESPN's preseason player rankings, plus four top Player Index risers to date in 2023 per Card Ladder.

Taking a look back at the hobby's biggest movers in September 2023, the San Francisco 49ers' rising star QB continues to cement himself as a legitimate force, both on the field and in the eyes of collectors. And the data backs it up. Card Ladder's Chris McGill brings insights on Brock Purdy's surge and more, including a head-turning Triple Logoman sale ahead of the 2023-24 NBA season.