Quick answer
CardSpicy reads a population report as a count of graded copies rather than as a supply figure, because that is exactly what it is — and misreading it is the most common mistake in the hobby.
A population report is a count of how many copies of a given card a grading company has encapsulated, broken down by the grade each one received. It is the closest thing this hobby has to a supply figure, and it is also the most commonly misread. This page explains what it measures, what it does not, and what the Dragon Ball numbers specifically look like.
What a population report measures
For each card, the report answers two questions: how many copies have been submitted, and how the grades were distributed. The second number is the more useful of the two. A card with 400 submissions and 300 of them graded a 10 is a common card in a hard grade. A card with 400 submissions and 6 of them graded a 10 is a different object entirely, even though the submission count is identical.
The ratio has a name in the hobby: the gem rate, the share of submissions that came back a perfect grade. It is the number that tells you whether a card’s top grade is genuinely hard to achieve or simply the normal outcome.
Why the Dragon Ball population is thin
This is the defining feature of the game’s data, and it is worth stating plainly. In the Dragon Ball catalogue we track, 2,047 card printings carry a PSA 10 value out of 9,828 tracked. Of those 2,047, 1,658 — 81.0% — have no grade 9 sale on record at all.
That last figure is not a gap in the data. It is the normal state of a card that has been graded only a handful of times: a PSA 10 sale exists, so the card has been through a grader, and a grade 9 sale does not, because almost nothing came back a 9 or none of the 9s have changed hands. Where a grade column is blank we print it as blank rather than filling it with the PSA 10 number. The grading article sets out the full shape of the data.
What a gem rate tells you
Three broad bands, and they are rules of thumb rather than thresholds with any official standing.
A gem rate below about 10% means the top grade is genuinely hard to reach and the population at that grade is meaningfully small. Below 5% the card starts to behave differently from its neighbours in the same set. Below 1% you are looking at a card where the top grade is closer to a trophy than a supply.
The complementary figure is the population at the grade rather than the rate. A card with fewer than a few dozen copies at the top grade has a supply that a single collector can move; a card with thousands at that grade behaves like a commodity, and its price tracks the market rather than its own scarcity.
What a population report does not tell you
Four things, and each one matters.
It only counts one company’s submissions. A population report published by a grader counts cards that grader has seen. Copies sitting in another company’s holders, or in raw condition, are not in the number.
It is not the print run. A card can have a huge print run and a tiny population, because nobody submitted it. The reverse is also possible for a card that was popular with submitters.
It changes. A population only rises, but it can rise quickly if a card becomes worth grading. A thin population is a snapshot, not a guarantee.
It says nothing about demand. A scarce card nobody wants is still a scarce card nobody wants. Population answers the supply question; the other half is answered by what the card actually sells for. The value-factors article covers that side.
Frequently asked questions
What is a PSA population report?
A count of how many copies of a card PSA has graded, broken down by the grade each copy received. It covers only cards submitted to PSA.
What is a gem rate?
The share of a card’s submissions that received the top grade. A low gem rate means the top grade is genuinely hard to reach on that card.
Why do so many Dragon Ball cards have no grade 9 price?
Because most have been graded only a handful of times. Of the 2,047 printings in our catalogue with a PSA 10 value, 1,658 — 81.0% — have no grade 9 sale on record, so there is nothing to report.
Does the population include BGS, CGC and SGC?
No. A population report counts the submissions of the company that publishes it, so copies held by other graders are not in that number.
Is a low population the same as a low print run?
No. Population measures how many copies were submitted for grading, which is not the same as how many were printed. A common card can have a small population if few people sent it in.
Sources
Sources and further reading
- Bandai — DRAGON BALL SUPER CARD GAME official rule manuals and product pages for both Masters and Fusion World, including the statements on card types, rarity tiers, deck construction and booster contents.
- PriceCharting — Dragon Ball console and individual card listings. PSA 10 values retrieved 2026-10-04.
- CardSpicy — the Dragon Ball card index, which tracks 9,828 card printings across 101 sets and the graded values attached to them.
Prices quoted are secondary-market observations at the date cited and move quickly; nothing here is a valuation or an investment recommendation. Our own asking prices for the cards we hold are on each product page.
Where to go next
- The CardSpicy card index — every card we track, with its PSA 10 population and market history (195 cards).
- The illustrator index — every artist behind those cards, card by card (110 artists).
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