Beckett Grading has a newly-formed parent company, collēctīvus holdings, as announced recently on various outlets. This comes on the heels of a major recent fraud case against the CEO of the former parent company which likely destroyed Beckett’s credit. What might this development mean for the future of the floundering card grader? Can they survive 2025?
New Parent Company
Funding for the new parent is backed by King Street Capital Management, and could result in an infusion of cash for the troubled grader. A little Googling shows that King Street is in the business of “special situations investing.” The term can have positive or negative connotations, but in this case we can guess it is the latter. Beckett is very near a complete collapse.
The move could foretell looming liquidation or bankruptcy, or something more interesting such as spinning off Beckett Authentication, or even forming a new TCG-specific brand. Time will tell.
Unlike SGC’s acquisition by PSA parent company Collectors, the path forward here still looks murky and uncertain. With Collectors, the potential for SGC and PSA to share some resources seems obvious enough. But the other collēctīvus brands, hobby supply company Dragon Shield and Southern Hobby Distribution, don’t suggest any obvious changes on tap for Beckett.
If there is any hint of a future direction here for Beckett, it might suggest an all-in approach towards TCG and away from sports. Online, both new sister companies play up TCG like Magic and Pokemon. And increasingly, Beckett’s dwindling grading volume has been shifting towards TCG in a big way.
Declining Market Share
Per Gemrate, in 2024, Beckett was the only major grading company with declining year-over-year volume:
And Beckett’s share of the sport card market is even worse. Beckett graded almost 20,000 TCG last month (a 50% monthly increase), and only about 15,000 sports cards.
But if the plan is to go after TCG market share, that is a big hill to climb. PSA graded an astounding 556,000 TCG last month, and CGC graded an impressive 188,000. Beckett’s TCG numbers are insignificant, really.
And if you consider SGC and CGC to be the main competitors, Beckett is clearly headed in the wrong direction in total volume:
So, What Happened?
There is no single factor to point to that explains Beckett’s slow demise. From BCCG slabs, to sticking to the 9.5 gem concept, to loose BVG (vintage) grading standards, there are plenty of missteps to go around. CSG (now just CGC) hired away head grader Andy Broome in 2021, and I’m not sure Beckett ever recovered from that loss of expertise and credibility.
Most recently, in November 2024, Greg Lindberg, former CEO of (now former) Beckett parent company Global Growth plead guilty to $2 BILLION worth of fraud and money laundering. He currently faces 5-10 years in prison for masterminding an elaborate scheme to defraud various insurance companies. This was the final nail in the coffin, promoting the current drastic measures.
So, What’s Next?
Can Beckett survive 2025 in its current form, and if so, how?
It is important to note that Beckett grades more than just cards. They also grade comics, tickets, VHS, Manga, and more. And they are still a respected name in autograph authentication. But let’s face it: if a grader can’t achieve year over year growth in this grading environment, the situation is dire.
A few obvious options seems to be:
- Selling the authentication side of the business (to SGC, please)
- Exiting the sports card market
- Exiting the card grading market entirely to focus on other sectors
- Or . . . a complete shakeup or rebrand around something truly innovative, like full AI grading.
In any case, it marks a nearly complete fall from grace for a brand that used to represent a hobby standard.
