As promised, PSA has opened its Population Report for sports cards to free online use. The company announced last month that it would make the data available to visitors on January 1, no longer requiring a membership in the company’s Collectors Club.
The PSA Population Report is a complete listing of every item graded by the company since its inception in 1991. The Pop Report currently contains data on nearly 20 million items including thousands of different sports cards.
The data is valuable for a variety of reasons. The report offers collectors a look at which cards have proven to be difficult to find in higher grades, including vintage commons. Despite grading thousands of cards for a particular set, PSA may not have awarded more than a small number of mint or gem mint grades to a certain card prone to centering concerns or manufacturing defects.
The report includes an exact count of each item processed within each individual grade, from PSA 1-10, as well as general category summaries. Collectors and dealers are able to search the report in a variety of ways whether you are looking for information about a specific set or player. The report is updated each day as more and more items are submitted to PSA.
The Population Report also reveals overall numbers of cards graded from certain sets. For instance, PSA has graded more than 136,000 T206 and just over 58,000 1933 Goudey baseball cards. It also provides an interesting look at items such as vintage unopened packs. For instance, the company has graded and authenticated 322 1958 Topps football packs but only nine ’58 baseball cellos. The information provides a basis of knowledge on which items seem to be more scarce than others and often helps set prices in the market.