{
  "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/the-numbers-we-do-not-print",
  "slug": "the-numbers-we-do-not-print",
  "title": "The Numbers We Do Not Print: 4,250 Withheld Populations",
  "summary": "We track 24,200 PSA registry lines and publish a population for 19,950 of them. The rest are measured and deliberately withheld, because the feed re-points product ids at different registry lines and sometimes serves one line to two cards at once. Base Set Venusaur read 314 graded copies one week and 46,802 the next. Four different Arceus cards read the same 36,048 on the same day. This is what those failures look like and what refusing to print them costs.",
  "section": "Methodology",
  "published": "2026-09-17",
  "readMinutes": 7,
  "publisher": "moonstone",
  "findings": [
    {
      "value": "24,200",
      "measures": "registry lines we track",
      "basis": "one per product id the population feed answers for"
    },
    {
      "value": "19,950",
      "measures": "publish a population figure",
      "basis": "82.4% of what we track"
    },
    {
      "value": "3,476",
      "measures": "withheld: the line changed identity",
      "basis": "and the new line has one reading behind it"
    },
    {
      "value": "774",
      "measures": "withheld: the line is claimed twice",
      "basis": "two product ids, one registry line, same day"
    }
  ],
  "tables": [
    {
      "title": "One product id, two registry lines: Base Set Venusaur as we read it",
      "columns": [
        "Day",
        "Total graded",
        "PSA 10"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Day": "Aug 8",
          "Total graded": "311",
          "PSA 10": "7"
        },
        {
          "Day": "Aug 12",
          "Total graded": "311",
          "PSA 10": "7"
        },
        {
          "Day": "Aug 21",
          "Total graded": "312",
          "PSA 10": "7"
        },
        {
          "Day": "Sep 8",
          "Total graded": "314",
          "PSA 10": "8"
        },
        {
          "Day": "Sep 15",
          "Total graded": "46,802",
          "PSA 10": "588"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Identical readings served against two product ids",
      "columns": [
        "Card",
        "Reading",
        "Also served to"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Card": "[Mew ex, 151](/card/sv03.5-205)",
          "Reading": "27,400 graded / 13,948 PSA 10",
          "Also served to": "product 519481"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[_____'s Pikachu, Celebrations](/card/cel25cc-CC008)",
          "Reading": "42,958 / 26,645",
          "Also served to": "product 161750"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Charizard SWSH066](/card/swshp-SWSH066)",
          "Reading": "9,003 / 4,985",
          "Also served to": "product 224366"
        },
        {
          "Card": "[Jungle Pikachu](/card/base2-60)",
          "Reading": "11,792 / 1,435",
          "Also served to": "product 161751"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "charts": [],
  "sections": [
    "Why a population can go down",
    "Why two cards can report one population",
    "What withholding costs",
    "Why the same rule protects the studies"
  ],
  "method": [
    "Read from moonstone production on September 17, 2026, over the 400-day population snapshot window, which holds 24,200 distinct registry keys with a positive total. Publishable means the key survives both rules: the continuity rule (cut the series at any reading that falls by more than 1% or multiplies by 3 or more, then require at least two readings on the surviving segment) and the shared-line rule (readings of 500 or more graded copies matching another key within 2% on total and 0.02% on gem rate are withheld on both sides). Counts are 19,950 publishable, 3,476 withheld for identity change, 774 withheld as shared, and 0 withheld for any other reason. The priced-row figure counts the 21,974 rows of our report feature table carrying a positive raw price, of which 4,689 carry no population, averaging $17.22 raw. Example series are the stored daily readings for those product ids, quoted unmodified. We hold no information from PSA beyond these readings, so which card truly owns a contested line is not a question we can answer, only one we can detect. RECHECKED 2026-09-22: replaying both rules over the stored snapshots as of September 17 returns 24,205 keys, 19,962 publishable, 3,468 withheld for identity change and 775 shared, against the 24,200 / 19,950 / 3,476 / 774 printed here, and the shared keys cover 702 catalogue cards against the 701 printed. One label was wrong and is fixed: the fourth row of the shared-line table is Jungle Pikachu, product 45163, not Base Set 2 Pikachu; its readings and the id it shares a line with are as published. The priced-row figures cannot be rechecked at their date, because the report feature table is rebuilt nightly and holds one day: today it carries 25,670 priced rows of which 4,799 have no population, averaging $19.11 raw, against the 21,974 / 4,689 / $17.22 printed here."
  ],
  "terms": "Figures are moonstone's own recorded measurements, dated as published. Quote them with the population stated beside them. The article at `url` is the human form of this file."
}