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.

eBay Now Offers, "Seamless," Grading by PSA

PSA is a big grading company who are making major moves in 2025. They plan to start grading comics (as I've discussed) and now have an intriguing partnership with eBay. If you buy a, "Raw," card for $250 or more from someone, you can have it shipped directly to PSA--as long as it is not autographed. You don't need a PSA account or anything, as it can all happen within eBay for you, the buyer of the card. Your ungraded card that you bought goes to PSA, gets graded, and then is shipped to you.

One interesting wrinkle is that any card that passes PSA grading will be considered a final sale and not eligible for return. What happens if you buy a card that the seller promises is going to grade wonderfully if you send it to PSA, and once graded, it receives a mediocre score? That would be a bit messy, for sure. That concern aside, this is a snazzy feature that makes it easier for folks who are buying an expensive card with the intention of getting it graded to have it just go directly to PSA without a bunch of steps in between. 

The price point of $250 means only the most notable cards will have this service utilized, but one wonders, with successful results, will that number go down? Will other companies try to partner with eBay as well--CGC with grading comics, for example, in an effort to combat PSA? It will be interesting to see how this all develops.

CGC is Embroiled in a New Scandal with Pokémon Cards

CGC has had it rough. They had a huge scandal early last year when scam artists took advantage of a lack of oversight to have regular comics graded as being special editions (Mark Jewelers and such) but the company seemed to weather the fiasco okay. This probably was due to how in regards to comics, CGC is still the big dog. When it comes to cards they are relatively less popular, with PSA and other companies getting more love for grading sports cards or non-sport stuff such as Magic, Pokemon, and the like. PSA is actually getting into comic grading too this year, interestingly enough. One wonders if the timing will work well for PSA as CGC now has suffered a huge hit to their credibility with a Pokemon card forgery scandal. 

Cards worth millions of dollars that had been certified as legit by CGC and slabbed were supposedly prototypes of Pokemon cards from 1996. A number of these cards were examined with professional forensic equipment by individuals who then determined a large amount of the cards were, in fact, printed in 2024 and elaborate forgeries. This is extremely bad for CGC and could cause their reputation to take a massive hit. Comic fans will stick with them almost no matter what because they're a huge name in comic-books. When it comes to cards they have a lot of stiff competition--competition who can take advantage of this fiasco. I'm not going to jump to extreme conclusions such as stating this will lead to the downfall of CGC or something equally dramatic, but this is without a doubt going to hurt them, severely.

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.

PSA Plans to Expand into Grading Comic-Books

PSA is extremely well known for its grading of sports cards and non-sport trading cards/game cards too. They are arguably the, "Big dog," of card grading although other companies do it too from Beckett to CGC--although CGC is best known for being the top company in comic-book grading. Well, now CGC has some more competition as PSA plans to get into grading comics in early 2025.

CGC has had a number of professional crises in late 2023/early 2024. It didn't seem to hurt their business too badly as besides CBCS they have little competition when it comes to grading comics (I mean, PGX exists, but nobody uses it). One thing CBCS had over CGC was offering the grading of signatures that were not directly witnessed, but CGC acquired James Spence Authentication and now does that as well. CGC is the reigning champ, but here comes PSA, and one wonders if they could pose a real challenge to CGC's comic-grading supremacy. I see three ways this can shake out:

1. PSA starts grading comics, and takes up a chunk of the market but CGC maintains a, "Majority," of its control. This seems most likely.

2. PSA starts grading comics, it goes horribly and they either quit or keep doing it but having barely any market presence in regards to assign comics grades. This is less likely but possible.

3. PSA makes a huge splash with comic grading and puts CGC on the metaphorical ropes. This is the least likely occurrence but would be the most interesting to witness with CGC having been relatively unbothered by all the fiascos they've been a part of. After all, if you, "Own," the market who care if you have a scandal or two?

Whatever happens during 2025 with comic grading, I am intrigued to see how it all shakes out.