Fresh on the heels of PSA parent Collector’s Holdings acquiring SGC, CCG announced yesterday that it has acquired leading autograph authentication brand JSA. It is clear that in the post-COVID collecting environment, brands are looking to consolidate and streamline in order to maximize efficiency and, of course, profit.
Whether the PSA / SGC effective merger benefits Collector’s Holdings or actual collectors remains to be seen, but in this case, CCG bringing JSA into the fold has some obvious benefits for autograph collectors.
The idea of JSA cards in slabs is not a new concept, but in recent years JSA authentication of on-card autos has been a tough sell since JSA does not encapsulate, and thus their current process results in an unfortunate sticker affixed to the card back. This solves that problem, and provides a third option (PSA and Beckett both authenticate, grade, and encapsulate on-card autos).
From the press release it’s not clear if items other than cards, magazines, and comics (signed balls or bats for example) will also flow through CGC, or whether JSA will maintain a separate portal for submission of other collectibles for autograph authentication.
Regardless, it’s pretty big news for the CCG / CGC brand. Since vintage autos are popular, this could be a small inroad into the vintage market for CGC.
Image credit: CCG Certified Collectibles Group
