Collector Nation - What PSA Hiring 1,000 Graders and Expansion Will Mean For the Hobby

Episode Date: May 22, 2026

Ryan Alford and Brian Ludden are back to break down what is really happening beneath the surface of the hobby right now. This episode covers PSA’s reported hiring push, the challenge of maintaining grading quality at scale, the growing speed of new product releases, and how companies like Ludex are trying to keep up with collector demand in real time. Ryan brings the card-shop and operator perspective, Brian brings the product and data perspective, and together they connect the dots between infrastructure, hype, and what collectors are actually dealing with day to day. They also touch on major sales, market signals, and why so much of the hobby is now building toward one thing: The National. It is a good episode for collectors who want more than product hype and are paying attention to how the business side of the hobby is evolving. Topics Covered PSA growth and grading backlog pressure Whether more graders means better or worse outcomes Ludex’s approach to product launches and scan demand The market meaning behind major card sales Why release cadence is getting harder to track How Ryan and Brian think about hobby infrastructure The road to The National and why it matters Links Collector Nation YouTube: youtube.com/@TheCollectorNation Right About Now / Ryan’s main podcast hub: ryanisright.com Collector Station: thecollectorstation.com Collector Station Instagram: instagram.com/thecollectorstation Ludex: ludex.com or Download the LUDEX app

I'm curious as to how much it will decrease greater reliability. You could send it to them five times and you're probably going to get five different grades. They will hire and train a thousand people, which will take two or three months, and they're going to be fine because they're doubling capacity. We have the eye on the prize as the national. Yeah, I think that's everyone's racing towards the national. Round that corner, he comes. Here it is.

Has international insight. It's coming around the last bend. It's collection management. Pulling ahead. We've got so many products coming out right now. It's hard to keep up. Baseball, Bowman, topped chrome. Now, Pokemon.

Chaos rising. Launch today. The chaos. I keep going back to this voice. I just like, chaos is rising. Coming for you at collector station. Welcome to the Collector Nation podcast here on the Collector Nation Network. Whether you're chasing grails or calling bluffs,

you take you inside a hobby. Here are your host. Ryan Alford and Brian Lut. What's up guys? Welcome to Collector Nation here on the Collector Nation Network. You got Ryan behind the desk here. We are behind the desk today, Brian. What's up, brother?

What is up, my man? You look so professional. I know. I'm like, we had this in my old studio. We're kind of pulling it out. We're going to see how it looks. I feel like I need like packs or something to play with. You know, like some dealer cards to hand out.

Like, I'm a dealer. Play some poker while you're interviewing. Yes. What's happening in Shaitown? Weather's getting nicer. My socks beat the Cubs twice last weekend, which is great. Hey, I told, I was trying to give you the positive outlook before the season. I said, the white socks might surprise.

I said, I was like, can you be positive? What's the upside? And you're like, oh, I could maybe go 30. and 120 or something. I mean, they're sweep the Cubs. I mean, what else does a white socks fan a lot? Yeah, didn't sweep. They're two and one, but still, that's like a sweep to us.

Hey, you got to start somewhere. The White Sox sweep. Yes. What's, are they above 500? Are they 500? Yeah, they're above 500 now. A game or two? Dude.

Get your playoff ticket. it's now. I know. Oh. Who's the hot bat for the White Sox? Just a lot. They got a Japanese player. Yeah. I think he's leading the league in home runs. But yeah, they signed him to do like a two-year deal. I don't know how to pronounce his last name, but he's the first baseman that he had two home runs on Saturday. Wow. So yeah. He's, he owns the town. Is he own the town now? He does. Well, I guess for the White Sox fans. Beyond the South Side. What's the percentage of White Sox versus Cubs fans in Chicago?

You will see that if you come to the city, you'll think it's like 70, 30 Cubs. But just in the city, surrounding city, I mean, it's close to 50-50. Okay. Yeah. So there's like in inner city Chicago's more Cubs and then the suburbs are more Red Sox or not Red Sox, White Sox. It's honestly like you draw a line right through the city. And if you're from the South, the chances are like 80% that you're a Cubs fan or Sox fan. And if you're the North, 80% of the year a Cubs fan. And out west, you're 50. There's it's 50. Gotcha. I mean, the Japanese are taking over MLB. I mean, the show has. dominant. You got this guy or I don't know what his name is. I don't know. I don't keep up with

White Sox players well enough, Brian. But, you know, and I hate butchering people's names if I just see them written. But that's why he's dominant in pitching and hitting and everything else. I mean, the guy just, he walks out of his house dominant. You know, he must dominate everything in his life. He's only had four runs allowed across seven starts. this season. Is that good? Pretty good. I wonder.

Less than one ERA. 0.82. I know you've seen that on paper before, I don't think. Yeah, it must suck getting out every day and just dominating. Dominating everything. Boring. He has a bowl of cereal in the morning and they're just like cowering in the bowl. He's dominating them.

He's like, yeah. Like, I mean, he's doing things that no one never done, pitching and hitting at the highest level. And so that alone, he's on another, like, planet. And so, you know, he's just, there should be a meme or something about, you know, just dominate your day like show hey. Hey, that rhymed. Okay. All right.

It's like you're a marketing guy or something. I don't know. I just kind of made that one up.