Comics Grading Company CBCS is Shutting Down

Comic grading company CBCS is shutting down and will no longer be accepting comics for grading as of April 17th. Apparently, this news is, "Hot off the presses," as people are getting emails, but I have not seen an official release to comic news outlets. Many are not surprised (and predicted this) as the parent company of CBCS is Beckett, and Beckett was bought out by the company known as Collectors...who also own PSA. If you haven't connected the dots yet, PSA moved into comic book grading somewhat recently. Hence, I guess Collectors looked at CBCS versus PSA, and the conclusion was made to shutter CBCS and avoid redundancy, considering how PSA may be newer at comic grading, but is the big name in card grading. 

All of this makes me think that Beckett's card grading service probably has its days numbered as well and results in CGC and PSA being the two big names in comic grading, as of today (PGX still exists, but isn't especially popular). CBCS was often considered the second-place underdog to CGC, but it had some hardcore fans, and it is always good to have a degree of competition in the marketplace. With all these mergers and acquisitions, however, more and more power gets consolidated in fewer hands (this applies to lots of industries, honestly). There will undoubtedly be more discussion and thoughts on this as the news spreads.

PSA's Parent Company (Collectors) Wants to Buy Beckett

PSA is the biggest name in trading card grading and has been trying to make inroads with comic-book grading. They have some competitors, in regard to cards, with Beckett and CGC being the bigger names that serve as other options. When it comes to comics, Beckett has CBCS for comic grading and it has always been the smaller company compared to CGC. Things are getting interesting, however, with PSA's parent company, "Collectors," wanting to buy Beckett (and Beckett only too happy to oblige).

If Collectors/PSA purchases Beckett, they claim that the Beckett card grading and CBS comic grading will continue to operate independently, but I doubt it that will be the case for long. Mergers are all about cutting extra stuff, and having two card grading companies and two comic grading companies is textbook redundancy. Something/s will probably be eliminated, and competition will continue to shrink, which isn't that great for the consumer. It is an era of mergers, however, with companies acquiring others every other week, lately (look at Netflix with Warner Bros. Discovery). The current Trump administration and the in-power GOP care little about monopolies or oligopolies as long as they get their cut through donations from wealthy backers or straight-up paid through questionable business deals. 

It'll basically be PSA versus CGC for cards and comics.

A Democratic Congressman named Pat Ryan has called for the sale of Beckett to be investigated by the FTC, and that's good! I doubt much will come of it, however, in this era of Trump and his cronies doing whatever they want, whenever they want, with little repercussions. As long as somebody at Collectors says something nice to stroke Trump's ego while also stuffing his wallet with a nice and fat check, this deal will probably happen. So it goes.

"Beckett's Non-Sport Update," Magazine Was Canceled With No Warning, Thankfully Other Fun Reading Options Exist

As many of you know, I like magazines, newsprint, and so forth. I mean, even with the rise of digital technology and such I will always prefer my comic-books/graphic novels/prose books/etc. in physical form. I do know those who like physical media are a shrinking demographic and besides mini-resurgences such as with vinyl records, digital generally wins the day. I subscribe to some magaiznes about various interesting subjects from, "Rolling Stone," to, "Beckett's Non-Sport Update." Beckett does magazines about baseball cards, hockey, basketball, and so forth, and they used to do one about interesting trading cards that dealt in non-sport subjects. Every two months the magazine would have snazzy articles about old trading cards that dealt with dinosaurs, famous wars, historical flags, and pieces about what was currently trending. Without much fanfare, however, Beckett killed their nonsport mag.

The second-to-last issue (October/November 2025) was a big celebration of the publication achieving 35 years in print. Who knew it would turn into more of a wake than a birthday party as the final issue came out (December 2025/January 2026) and as soon as it was done printing, Beckett seems to have shut-down almost any websites relating to the magazine's existence outside of a nonsport price guide you can access online for a period of time double however much subscription length you had left (so two bimonhtly issues equals four months). How generous, I say as my voice drips with sarcasm.

So, is that it for publications about trading cards that are not sports-related? Well, PSA apparently puts out a pop-culture magazine, but you get it with an expensive membership (which does entitle you to a grading discount if you grade a lot of cards) to get that magazine. Don't despair if you want a print publication about non-sport, however, as there is a great option. Called, "The Wrapper," it is a cool newspaper-style publication with fun articles and classifieds dedicated to non-sport cards. I became aware of its existence not too long ago, got a sample issue for only three bucks, and you can subscribe for a year (a new issue comes out every six weeks) for just 32 smackers. I would encourage anyone who likes to read fun news pieces about non-sport trading cards to check The Wrapper out and offer it their support--Lord knows we don't want another cool publication folding anytime soon.

Beckett (and Therefore CBCS) are Under New Ownership

Beckett Media & Collectibles does everything from price guides to monthly collecting magazines and grading. They've been having some financial troubles (not much interest in their assorted grading services, for example) and have been acquired by a company known as, "Collēctīvus," which has weirdly enough emphasized this is not per se an acquisition, just that they'll be a new parent company. They acquired Beckett, but supposedly plan to keep it independent and be, "Hands off," for now. 

All this is notable if you like to collect comic books as Beckett has owned CBCS since 2017. Therefore, CBCS is now owned by Collēctīvus as well. The exact impact this may have on CBCS remains to be seen, but they've always been a distant second to CGC in regards to comics and with PSA entering the comic grading biz in 2025 I am quite curious how CBCS and CGC will pivot as needed--with this latest business news only complicating things in further unpredictable ways. 2025 is going to be an interesting time for comic grading.

The Latest Beckett Hockey Card Price Guide is Extremely Useful!

I am someone who is fully aware that we can use the Internet to find the price of items. I use many apps to help me keep on top of comic-book trends and prices, after all. That said, I always write about having a fondness for big paperback price guides. My soft spot for the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide has often been discussed on the blog so considering I have been getting into hockey cards, why not try out a price guide for those? Enter, the, "2024 Beckett Hockey Card Price Guide."

I didn't have a lot of hockey cards so I had minimal need for the price guide, but when a friend gifted me a massive box full of random hockey cards I needed something concise and clear to help me out. This big ol' book by Beckett says how it is great for pros or, "Curious beginners," and I'm definitely the latter. While hockey cards can fluctuate in value just like comics, it is always good to have a reference guide and the, "Beckett Hockey Card Price Guide," seems to be the gold standard. I also have been enjoying the monthly, "Beckett Hockey," magazine which discusses trends with the newest hockey cards so between that for fresh stuff and this massive guide for older stuff, I'm set anytime I get some hockey cards that are newer or older.

The guide itself is quite straightforward and easy to navigate. It separates listings alphabetically by the card line and then the years within said line. So, the 2021-2022 Artifacts cards are earlier in the book than any 1990-1991 O-Pee-Chee cards if that makes sense. I also appreciate how many card lines have a little picture to show you what that brand of card looks like. The price guide does not have any fun articles or such unlike Overstreet, so I kind of miss that, but I suppose when you have over 800 pages dedicated to listings anything else would feel like filler. I did notice that the Four Sport line--which did include hockey along with basketball, football, and baseball--is not in this guidebook, which I understand as hockey only made up a fourth of it, but that absence is noted (even if most of those cards are basically, "Junk wax," as people say). Minor quibbles aside, this is a stellar book and very handy to have when you want to look up a hockey card. If you dabble in hockey cards at all, I'd highly recommend the, "Beckett Hockey Card Price Guide," with the 2024 edition having come out pretty recently. You can get it on Beckett's official website or from various retailers--I'm pleased I picked up a copy!

5 out of 5 Stars.