So, what’s in store for card grading in 2026? Now that Collectors own PSA, SGC, and Beckett, will the latter 2 survive and thrive going forward? Will antitrust inquiries amount to anything? Can SGC rebuild–and is that even the plan? Who knows, but let’s look at some data and discuss.
As a vintage collector with only SGC slabs, I have of course been following the recent developments. Personally, I’ll be on a grading holiday from SGC until / unless they pull themselves together. With turn times 2x-3x the advertised 15-20 business days, and volume so low, I just don’t have full confidence or trust in the process currently. I’m not defecting to another brand–just pumping the brakes on submissions.
For example, I’m currently on day 5 of a 1-2 day express (expensive) order, and going on 2 months for other orders in process. I know the staff on hand are doing their best, but I just can’t get a read on Collectors’ true intentions for the SGC brand, despite recent statements (below).
Dec. 2025 Grading Stats
And speaking of volume–which has been on decline for months at SGC–the year wrapped up with mixed signals (per Gemrate).
While SGC ramped up a bit from November, the year over year is obviously the major concern. TAG grading and several other alphabet soup names (not tracked by Gemrate) are in the mix for that tiny crumb of market share not owned by PSA or CGC. Granted, most of those lesser names are grading TCG almost entirely–and TAG doesn’t grade vintage at all.
But the month over month gain might suggest the beginning of a gradual rebuild after many SGC graders were reportedly moved over to the PSA side in Boca Raton.
PSA Podcast: The Year Ahead in Grading
The newest episode of the PSA podcast is worth a listen:
While Collectors continues to claim that PSA, SGC, and Beckett will operate as independent brands, excuse some skepticism due to the facts that:
- Hoge is the grading president of all 3 brands and
- We need to listen to the PSA podcast to learn about the futures of SGC and Beckett.
Clearly, the three brands are not on equal footing. It’s PSA and then the other guys–which is maybe defensible. But it would be best if SGC and Beckett got their own podcasts on which to share their own news, yes?
One topic not addressed in the podcast is the potential for antitrust investigation after Congressman Pat Ryan’s (NY) letter to the FTC. I’ll continue to track that story if it evolves beyond the initial letter.
But some takeaways from the podcast might help us predict what 2026 could bring:
- Hoge broadly mentions leveraging information and technology across all 3 brands (brand protection, anti fraud measures).
- Beckett’s black label 10 and SGC’s “vintage prowess” are mentioned as unique and important features of each individual brand.
- Increasing capacity for all 3 units–all of which are currently running behind stated estimates–is a stated focus.
SGC Specifics
Hoge opens the discussion of SGC by saying “awesome brand, awesome team.” He states that vintage is making up a greater percentage of SGC’s submissions (an interesting claim since historically SGC grades mostly vintage and never made serious inroads into TCG or ultramodern). This is cited as the reason for the slowdown–he states that vintage takes longer to grade.
There’s no mention of PSA reportedly taking most of SGC’s staff–which would obviously also slow down turn times. And this is what bugs me about Hoge’s communications: there’s always something that’s a bit disingenuous, and that makes me doubt the sincerity of the entire message. But that’s an aside.
Regarding turnaround times, “Q2 and into summer” is mentioned as a date where we might begin to see faster returns.
SGC “doubling down on vintage” is also mentioned for 2026. But personally I have seen no particular focus on vintage from SGC, and in fact their recent social media still leans mostly modern. For example, 8 of the last 10 SGC posts on Facebook feature modern cards, as does their splash image on Facebook. If there’s going to be a doubling down, that’s future tense. And it would be a welcome move–and curious that they did not clarify this immediately after the acquisition.
2026 Predictions: Optimist’s Version
Admittedly, I don’t do optimism well. But if we take Hoge at his word, here’s what we might see across the Collectors landscape for 2026:
- PSA: Expanded capacity and decreased turn times, and an expansion of the global footprint.
- SGC: A replenished staff, a more cohesive vintage focus, and decreased turnaround times.
- Beckett: A revitalization of the brand–including new labels and visual updates–sooner than later. Adding imaging to Beckett’s process–which is and should be standard service.
- SGC / Beckett: Direct access to vault /eBay selling services later in 2026–this could be a boon to both brands.
- All 3: Knowledge sharing across all 3 brands about counterfeits, fraud, theft, etc. Also, lots of pop report “clean-up” and deactivation of dead cert numbers across the ecosystem.
Your assignment is to remind me about this article in June and December so we can check in and reevaluate!
I love the look of vintage in a tux. I hope they turn it around too. The entire process is still nerve-wracking to me. I’m thinking about just buying graded cards to avoid the process entirely.
I love the SGC presentation and would hope they continue to focus on vintage cards
I love my SGC graded vintage. Keep SHc!
SGC
I think PSA (um, I mean Collectors) realized that tanking SGC was a bad idea, especially with CGC coming on the scene and making some inroads. CGC will continue to grow and I think SGC will grow again, as well. Not sure what to say about Beckett; I was never a huge fan. Maybe they’ll bring back BCCG to confuse the new collectors again. Haha
TCG is the wild card here. I don’t collect or follow TCG, but it accounts for the bulk of grading submissions to PSA, CGC, and Beckett. That’s where the bulk of their resources go. Improving TCG grading processes will enable faster processing times for sports cards, which realistically account for roughly 1/3 of their total submissions or less.
That said… my predictions:
– PSA will continue to be the undisputed lead for resale and the default grading option for resellers and those who use the PSA registry as their collection’s focal point. But the average hobbyist is getting frustrated with PSA and their high prices, low grading times, up charges, lack of transparency, and the stranglehold they have on the industry.
– SGC will get a little more breathing room from Collectors, and will hopefully be revitalized. They have a huge following among vintage card collectors, most of whom feel put off by the way Collectors has decimated SGC in recent months. If Collectors wants them to be a boutique grading company, they should streamline which cards they grade (for example, only accept submissions for cards made before 1980 or 2000). Or they could stop accepting TCG. Find the 80/20 and focus on that. And bring back their formerly top-notch customer service.
– BGS was a broken company, and this is a massive opportunity to breathe life into the brand. Very few hobbyists that I know use BGS as a first grading option. It’s usually for certain thick cards (relics and similar) or cheap autograph authentication. There is a huge opportunity to improve the slabs and the slab flashes. If they want to turn BGS into a cash cow, they should revitalize the slabs, then change the 9.5 to a 10, and allow hobbyists to send in their 9.5s to be upgraded to 10s in the new slabs. Charge $15 a slab, and they would be backed up for months. They would print money.
– CGC has a lot of opportunity to gain market share, and I predict they will continue to grow in 2026. Their slabs are crystal clear and attractive. Their resale value is less than PSA and vintage cards in SGC slabs. However, I find their grading to be consistent and on par with the big grading companies. I cracked a Tony Dorsett rookie card from a CGC 5 slab, sent it out for an autograph, then had it graded by PSA, and it came back as a PSA 6, Auto 10. CGC buying JSA was a huge acquisition, and it gives CGC the full stack for grading and autograph authentication. Thankfully, this gives hobbyists another option outside of the Collectors umbrella. I think more hobbyists will use CGC in the coming year, and with wider adoption will come wider acceptance and greater resale value. That will be the self-sustaining flywheel that will drive more submissions. At the end of the day, hobbyists and resellers are concerned about preservation, authentication, and value. The better that CGC does this, the more frequently hobbyists will use them.
**I’m a big fan of dual-graded autographed cards through CGC. I submitted over 200 cards to CGCxJSA last year (many for resale to help fund my personal collection). I love their slabs and I find that the resale value is on par with autographed cards in BGS slabs, and can be comparable for some lower-end PSA cards. I still use PSA for higher-value signed cards. But I no longer perceive PSA as the default option.
I’m a layman about such matters, but as a vintage card collector, I think the confusing MoM and yearly data are confusing and contradictory in some sense. That uncertainty means more growth for the big three, in my opinion. And I think leveraging of information and technology is inevitable and necessary.