Trending in Cards

How the score works

Every morning the collector takes one reading per category from three places, then compares this week with last week.

• YouTube: views on the week’s hundred most-watched videos that match the category, plus the video count for the smaller categories (the count is capped at a hundred, so it is only shown where it can move). Rip videos and break recaps spike before prices do.
• Google Trends: US search interest for the category this week against its own 90-day average, so 100 is a normal week and 130 is a hot one. Searches are the widest net: people who do not make videos or list cards still look things up.
• eBay: live listings in the category and the median asking price of a 200-listing sample. More listings means more supply chasing the attention; a rising ask means sellers think it will hold. Only the week-over-week change is shown for every signal, because the levels mean little on their own (the median ask is dominated by base cards, and eBay counts every listing that mentions the category); hover a signal for the raw numbers.

Each signal’s week-over-week change is scored against every other category, so a move the whole hobby made together (a holiday weekend, an eBay promotion) cancels out and only relative movement counts. The five signals are weighted and summed. 50 means moving with the market; 75 is a full standard deviation ahead of it, 25 a full one behind. The 8-week line is the score’s own history.

What it is not: sold prices. eBay does not give those away, so a category can top this table on attention while its cards sell for less. Check comps before spending. For Topps drops in the next two weeks, the release calendar has dates, prices and configurations.