PSA Graded a Record 2.5 Million Cards in June. The Queue Is Still 11 Million Deep

PSA is grading more cards than at any point in its history, a record 2.5 million in June alone, and it is still buried. The backlog peaked at 14 million cards, sits around 11 million now, and every grading tier under $80 is paused until the queue clears, projected between November 2026 and January 2027. Here is what happened, what it means if you have cards to grade, and the workarounds that actually make sense.

What PSA Announced

In May, PSA announced upgraded infrastructure and better turnaround times. Collectors responded by flooding it, submissions spiked about 20 percent, adding roughly 1.6 million cards to the queue almost overnight. PSA's answer, effective June 2, was to temporarily pause its four cheapest service levels, Value, Value Bulk, Value Plus, and Value Max, everything under $80 per card. A last-minute surge before the shutdown pushed the backlog to a peak of about 14 million cards.

PSA also extended all paid Collectors Club memberships for free until the pause ends and launched a public backlog tracker so collectors can watch the queue fall in real time. As of mid-July it showed about 11 million cards, with output accelerating.

The Numbers Behind the Jam

The remarkable part is that this is not a slowdown story, it is a demand story:

• PSA graded a record 2.5 million cards in June, up 21 percent from May and 74 percent year over year.
• CGC graded about 763,000 cards, up 78 percent year over year.
• The queue is falling, but the target for reopening the cheap tiers is roughly 5 million cards, and PSA's own projection puts that 5 to 6 months out, a window between November 2026 and January 2027.

The grading industry is running at the fastest pace in its history and still cannot keep up. That is the clearest measure there is of how big the collecting boom has become.

What It Means If You Want Cards Graded

• The cheapest option right now is Regular at $79.99 per card. The casual math changed overnight, a card needs to be worth meaningfully more than that fee for grading to make sense, our is PSA grading worth it guide walks the full calculation
• Turnarounds are the queue. Whatever the published estimate, 11 million cards are in front of yours. For how the process actually works end to end, see our how PSA grading works guide.
• The pause has an end date, roughly. If your cards are worth grading but not $80-per-card worth, the value tiers are projected back between November and January. Waiting is a legitimate strategy, just remember prices move while cards sit, timing risk cuts both ways.
• Budget for the new floor. With Regular at $79.99 as the entry point, the fee math belongs in every grading decision, not as an afterthought.

The Workarounds

• Grade only what clears the bar. At $79.99 minimum, the submit-everything era is on hold. Rank your cards by value and grade the top of the stack only, our most valuable Pokemon cards guide shows where the bar sits.
• Wait for the value tiers if your cards are keepers rather than sales. The queue is public now, watch the tracker and submit when the doors reopen.
• Skip the queue entirely by buying graded. The graded card you want probably already exists in a slab, and buying it has no waitlist. That has always been the quiet alternative to the grading gamble, and with the queue at 11 million it is the fastest route to a graded collection by several months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did PSA pause its Value grading tiers?

Demand outran capacity. After PSA announced infrastructure upgrades in May, submissions spiked about 20 percent, adding roughly 1.6 million cards and pushing the backlog toward 14 million. Effective June 2, PSA paused the Value, Value Bulk, Value Plus, and Value Max tiers, everything under $80 per card, to work the queue down, while extending paid memberships for free and publishing a live backlog tracker.

When will PSA Value tiers come back?

PSA says the paused tiers return when the backlog falls to roughly 5 million cards. It peaked around 14 million and sat near 11 million as of mid-July, with record output of 2.5 million cards graded in June. PSA's projection puts the reopening 5 to 6 months out, a window between November 2026 and January 2027, and the public tracker shows live progress.

Is PSA grading still worth it right now?

Only above a higher bar. With the cheapest open tier at $79.99 per card, grading makes sense for cards whose graded value would exceed the raw value by clearly more than the fee, and the queue adds months of timing risk. For cheaper cards, waiting for the value tiers or buying an already-graded copy of the card you want are the moves that hold up mathematically.

Where to Go From Here

The hobby is growing faster than the grading industry can slab it, that is the real headline behind the pause. Grade selectively at the new floor, watch the tracker if you are waiting, and remember the queue-free option. The Polkastarter marketplace carries graded cards ready to own today, plus Lootboxes that list every card, value, and chance before you open, with your first one free at signup.

News content, backlog figures and projections are PSA's published numbers as of the dateModified shown and change bi-weekly, and nothing here is investment advice.

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Sources

• PSA — the official service-level update (pause, memberships, tracker)
• PSA — the public backlog tracker
• Athlon — PSA's backlog hit 14 million, where things stand
• Sports Collectors Daily — record June grading volume
• Baseball America — PSA pauses all tiers under $80
• cardlines — what the pause means for collectors