In sports cards, Pop 1 is short for “Population of 1”.
It describes the number of graded examples that exist for that particular card. So, a Pop 1 card is a graded card that is unique in the sense that it’s the only graded card in that particular condition as assessed by that particular grading company.
Here’s a real example:
In the above picture showing pop counts for different Victor Wembanyama cards from 2023-24 Panini Prizm Basketball:
- The Black 1/1 in PSA 10 is Pop 1
- The Blue Prizm in PSA 9 is Pop 44
- The Blue Choice Prizm in PSA 6 is Pop 1
You’ll often see Pop count followed by a phrase that describes how many cards exist in a better grade. For example, for the Victor Wembanyama Blue Choice Prizm PSA 6 example, you would say “Pop 1, 17 higher.”
