PSA parent company Collectors acquires Beckett
 

Holy smokes!

So there's no viable option that isn't owned by some giant private equity group. Yay.

CGC is the only non-PSA affiliated grader standing.

Orders at PSA and Beckett are expected to be processed normally and there are expected to be no changes in pricing as part of the acquisition.

Sources told cllct PSA and Beckett will not share staff for grading operations.

Grading at the two companies will remain separate processes, and crossover grading will not be impacted.

This part is interesting, as SGC and PSA do share staff.

Time to go back to a raw card hobby and make it fun again.

Natural Sequence of Events:

1. "Nothing will change."
2. "OK, things will change a little."
3. "Beckett will become a boutique brand."
4. R.I.P.

#LetsGoCGC

CGC really does look better and better to me every day. That is said as a SGC diehard.

I sold off 99% of my slabs years ago and it honestly is a LOT more fun now.

I sent SGC a 3 card submission using their "immediate" 1-2 day service. They received it last Monday the 8th by UPS and it's still not shown as received. Good 'ol Tyler says it's in the cue.

I mostly use CGC now for my vintage Japanese baseball cards.
I can't imagine SGC being around much longer.

I will go early with every thread needs a card picture. My favorite Beckett graded cards. These are 2 of the 12 cards Beckett graded in testing before they graded a single card for the public. I bought one directly from Mark Anderson and the other from Leon who bought it from Mark.

….
 

To me, it should no brainer that the hobby moves into a brand like TAG, completely unbiased AI grading to eliminate the subjective human element but I’m afraid there’s way too much money tied up in PSA for people to switch over….

Exactly. Not good news at all. Here’s hoping CGC can hold out and grow.

CGC is owned by Blackstone, the largest private equity firm in the world. So if you're anti-private equity ownership, CGC isn't going to make you feel better.

But if you like the idea of a well funded alternative to PSA, then CGC certainly fits the bill.

Unless another TPG can truly compete on the registry front, no one will be able to compete with PSA.

and they're owned by private equity giant Blackstone

I was told Tyler isn't there anymore, so that's interesting.

I got an email from this guy. I think there was a Tyler Grady before.

Tyler Eve
Collector Support
Tyler.Eve@gosgc.com

Cgc does have a registry which is growing but granted far smaller. Then again PSA has a pretty long head start.
The CGC slab is solid imo and they certainly wont be going anywhere.

I thought the overall Beckett brand was to strong to be bought out. Guess not.

James G

Personally, I always like it when my competitors take private equity money. Usually means a lot of their clients are going to be coming my way soon, since they usually let a lot of people go and their service and quality drops dramatically. But I'm guessing we've already seen that dynamic play out with TPGs.

I wonder if this aligns with PSA saying they were moving some facilities to Dallas.

Maybe not immediately, but makes sense for Beckett and PSA to utilize the same resources.

There is TAG also. AI grader. They are right behind SGC in volume.


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Collectivus, Beckett's parent company, was bought a year ago by a private equity shop that focuses on distressed assets. So flipping it relatively quickly shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

One of Blackstone's Tactical Opportunities Funds bought CGC. They typically have a 4-5 year investment horizon and purchased CGC in the summer of 2021. So don't be surprised if their sale is announced in 2026.

Collector's Universe card grading market share is now just under 80% across their three brands. Across all grading companies the share of sports cards to TCG/Pokemon cards has dropped to 33%. Nearly 90% of what CGC grades is TCG/Pokemon. So expect CGC to continue to optimize the card grading business around the modern TCG business, unless/until that markets starts to deflate.

I don't disagree if I was competing with grading companies, but as someone who needs the service it's not helpful.

not in sports they're not, and certainly not in pre war.

I believe TAG only grades back to 1989.

Never used TAG. Just saw the numbers


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I checked out Tag few weeks back and it’s a shame they don’t grade vintage and charge 30.00 per card !

From their website :

“cards must be standard sized, 2.5" x 3.5". The cards must be from the year 1989 - Present and can be no thicker than 50pt Stock. TAG is currently focusing on modern era but will be moving back in time as capacity allows.”


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Seems like a nice business model. Start a grader, run it for a few years, and sell it to Collectors.

I hate ai grading. Cards shouldn't be graded with insane harshness under a microscope. Vintage ones at least..

Sure beats blatant corruption and incompetence, though.

PSA parent company Collectors acquires Beckett
 

TAG has done one thing intelligently and that’s their onsite grading gimmick at the National of creating customs for your pets…

They know their role in this game

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9921ea4caf.jpg

We need a museum of defunct slabs.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...k%20Jordan.jpg

IIRC. Rob Veres at Burbank has a collection of slabs from all the grading companies active, kind of active and long gone

Maybe PSA can grade larger sized premiums now that Beckett does like M101-1s?

GameStop will be next as the outlet for both these players. GameStops will be hubs across the country for submissions.


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I think over time, all non PSA slabs will be worth a tiny fraction of their PSA versions. in 10 years when SGC and beckett are long gone, the prices of those slabs will plummet. Nobody will want to buy them. Sort of like a GAI slab now.

And if you want to get your money out of your cards, you will be forced to submit to to PSA and deal with the outrageous new grading standards.

Sucks for me, as two of my favorite cards are in SGC slabs - my 54 Aaron and 50B Jackie.

SGC and Beckett have enough high-end cards slabbed to withstand the wind-down. I imagine Beckett for the basketball/football people and SGC for the vintage people should be fine going forward given the saturation of examples in those slabs known by the collector communities.

However, there could be an opposite effect. Since SGC hasn't suffered the same loss of credibility that slayed GAI, supply and demand could cause their slabs to become even more desirable once they aren't being manufactured any more. I think this is a likely outcome, especially due to the tuxedo look many of us prefer over the other brands.

I think the value degradation begins when you can no longer reholder a card in the same company's slab and essentially be guaranteed the grade is retained. Then you are really faced with "what would this grade in today's environment with the current available options?"

I think the whole grading debacle is just that, a debacle.
What a Sh%$ show....

That said, with the eminent announcement of CGC's larger holders, I am rooting for them. And they are the only grading company that supports the forum. I have a bias, but regardless of that, I think they are the best grading company out today.

I won't say a fraction, but I would say less if both companies go defunct.

For those that think SGC and Beckett brands continue, I ask why would Collectors run 3 separate grading companies?

I think it's been five years since PSA/Collectors was acquired. Is there a single person left on the planet who thinks this was good for the hobby?

Curious where you are pulling this data from. Especially the percentage of TCG cards a company is grading? To me Beckett was only surviving on TCG Black Label and Magic the Gathering as that is all I ever saw people grade. I know CGC does a lot of TCG as well but also does a ton of non sport and sports submissions are on the rise. I would expect this to continue as SGC fades away.

I also would not expect Blackstone to sell CGC as it should be extremely profitable since they are the main comic grading company by far.

James G

I think Beckett does a lot of basketball. They were the only people grading Star Co. for a long time and they do a much better job grading those cards than PSA. I've done a lot of auto authentication slabs with them.

The question brought up in my mind when I saw this hit the news is what am I missing? The pandemic brought on the junk slab era at a lightning pace, cards were in the negative value to submitters after costs if they did not get 10s on 96% of modern. The increased pricing has near eliminated the availability of slabbed commons.

They have a far too saturated market and business analysts have likely forecast to them that the bubble is real. The companies are selling while they still hold value and Collectors is buying to work toward a monopoly and possibly circle the wagons by becoming the only game in town.

I can’t see more unfettered growth in the card market with monopoly strategy going both in sports card production and in grading. The opportunity for corporate shams is too large. People ripping 1500 in boxes for a 87 dollar return is unsustainable to retail success.

These constant acquisitions are a canary in a coal mine of rough times ahead in the next 5 years. I would hold your ankles and put your head between your knees.

My immediate thought as well. Should they manage to acquire CGC, what company are they going to cite in an attempt to prove they're not a monopoly? Tag (who I just heard of a month ago)?!

Gemrate tracks all of this. You can see details on their website and they summarize in a couple of emails they send out each month. You can signup by clicking the newsletter button at the bottom of their site.

Nah. I’ll just keep collecting.

You wonder what Nat's endgame is. A new IPO? Sell to Fanatics or another major player?