PSA dropped a bombshell this week — and if you collect, it affects your grading strategy right now.
Effective June 2nd, PSA paused all Value-tier grading submissions. Value Bulk, Value, Value Plus, Value Max — all of them, closed to new submissions. The reason: a backlog that's climbed past 10 million cards, driven in large part by an explosion of TCG submissions (PSA and CGC combined for over 2 million graded Pokémon and other TCG cards in April alone). Their target is to bring that backlog to 5 million before reopening the affordable tiers — which they estimate will take up to four months.
I wrote a full breakdown on what this means for collectors — which services are still open, what the PSA pause does to secondary market pricing, and how to think about your grading queue right now. Worth a read before you make any decisions. Read it here →
There's actually a buy-low angle hiding inside this story — more on that in Market Pulse below. Plus: Hurston Waldrep is throwing 99 mph in a rehab game and his cards don't know it yet. Series 2 drops Wednesday. Let's get into it.
When grading grinds to a halt, raw card prices move. Here's the secondary-market setup.
The PSA Value pause creates two opposing forces in the hobby right now. Understanding both gives you an edge.
Collectors who were sitting on raw stacks earmarked for Value-tier grading now have nowhere to send them for 4+ months. Some will hold. Others will sell the raw copies rather than wait. That increased raw supply softens prices on mid-tier cards — the $10–50 raw market — in the near term. If you've been eyeing raw copies of a specific rookie or prospect card, this is a patient buyer's window. The inventory is there and motivation to sell is higher than usual.
Supply of new PSA slabs tightens over the next 4 months for Value-tier cards. Express and higher tiers stay open, but those are $50+ submissions — only cards worth grading at that price point go through. The result: existing PSA 10s on popular rookies and prospects may hold or inch up as the new slab supply pipeline slows. If you own nice PSA 10s on Braves prospects or hot rookies heading into Series 2 season, holding makes sense.
| Scenario | Short-Term Price Impact | Play |
|---|---|---|
| Raw copies of popular rookies | ↓ Softer (more supply) | Buy window now |
| PSA 10 slabs of same cards | ↑ Firmer (less new supply) | Hold or buy graded |
| Series 2 Series 1 raw RCs | Neutral | Grade only via Express if card warrants it |
Source: PSA Service Level Update, May 2026 · Cardlines analysis
Hurston Waldrep Started His Rehab. His Cards Are Still Priced Like He's on the IL.
If you watched the 2025 Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway, you already know who Hurston Waldrep is. The Braves faced the Reds in the first-ever MLB game played at a professional racetrack — and Waldrep went out and stole the show. He threw 5.2 innings, gave up just one run on three hits, struck out four, and picked up the win in a 4-2 Atlanta victory. In doing so, he became the first pitcher in MLB history to record a win in the state of Tennessee. The moment felt exactly like what it was — a young arm announcing himself on a stage built for it.
Then the elbow flared up. A procedure to remove loose bodies shelved him for all of spring training and the early part of 2026. The hobby noticed — his card prices drifted down and went quiet. But this week, Waldrep started his rehab assignment in Triple-A, throwing 96–99 mph, and the mid-June return timeline is real.
Waldrep started his rehab assignment this week — headed to Triple-A Gwinnett, where the Braves have TBD penciled into the rotation. He's been recovering from an elbow procedure to remove loose bodies, which shelved him for all of spring training and the early season. The important news: he's throwing 96–99 mph in simulated and live game action, and the Braves expect him back in Atlanta's rotation by around mid-June.
His card market has been dead quiet. The 2025 Topps Chrome RA-HW Rookie Autographs — his key cards — are down 3.4% to 8.2% over the past 30 days per Sports Card Investor, with most sitting flat on the 7-day chart. The hobby has priced him as an injury risk. That risk is resolving in real time, on the mound, at 99 mph.
| Card | 30-Day Change | Buy Thesis |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Topps Chrome RA-HW Rookie Auto (base) | −3.4% | Most liquid entry point; best to check eBay comps for current raw vs. PSA 10 spread |
| 2025 Topps Chrome RA-HW Purple Speckle Ref. /299 | Biggest 30-day mover | Numbered parallel with real upside; mid-tier buy |
| 2025 Topps Chrome RA-HW Blue Refractor /150 | Active trading | Low pop numbered auto; strong hold post-return |
| 2025 Topps Chrome Sapphire Black /10 | −8.2% | Premium play for patient capital; tightest pop, highest ceiling if he sticks |
Source: Sports Card Investor — Hurston Waldrep price guide, accessed June 1, 2026 · House That Hank Built — Rehab timeline
Roman Anthony has been baseball's most talked-about prospect for the better part of a year. The left-handed outfielder — Baseball America's #1 overall prospect heading into 2026 — made his MLB debut with the Red Sox this season, and with it came the official Topps Rookie Card clock: his flagship RC appears in 2026 Topps Series 2, dropping Wednesday, June 10.
The window worth understanding is the one right now — before that RC hits shelves and the hobby takes notice at scale. His 2024 Bowman Chrome 1st Auto is the true first Bowman card — printed before the hype fully arrived, available as raw copies and in various parallels. Beckett has had him on their hot list for weeks. His name shows up at the top of every "early 2026 MLB rookies to chase" article. The demand is real; the question is where you're entering.
The dynamics here mirror what happened with other first-round-prospect-turned-quick-debuter profiles: the Bowman 1st auto moves before the flagship RC prints, then there's a normalization period as supply of the official RC hits the market. That normalization is a secondary buy window on the Bowman 1st auto for patient collectors, but the short-term momentum play is pre-Series-2.
Sources: Beckett — Six Early 2026 Rookies to Chase · Baseball America — Series 2 Rookies
Sources: Beckett Release Calendar · Waxstat 2026 · Athlon Sports — Series 2 Pre-Order Guide
Alex Faedo struck out 157 batters for the Florida Gators in 2017 — setting the program's single-season record that Waldrep came within one strikeout of breaking six years later. Faedo was taken 18th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the 2017 draft, making him and Waldrep two of the Gators' most notable first-round pitching picks of their era. For card collectors: Faedo's 2017 Bowman Draft Chrome auto has its own collector history — he missed nearly four seasons to Tommy John surgery, making his cards a patience play that eventually paid off when he returned healthy. Sound familiar? The Waldrep setup rhymes.