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:

1. Hoge is the grading president of all 3 brands and
2. 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!