Posted in: Comics | Tagged: cbcs, cgc, psa

CBCS Closed By New Owners In Favour Of Their Own Slabbing Service, PSA

The comic book grading/slabbing service CBCS has been shut down by its new owners in favour of its other company, PSA

Published Tue, 24 Mar 2026 19:49:07 -0500

Article Summary

CBCS comic book grading service is being shut down by new parent company Collectors, owner of PSA.
Collectors will stop accepting new CBCS submissions from April 17, with existing orders finished as normal.
CBCS-graded comics remain tracked in the Population Report.
CGC dominates comic grading while PSA is expanding quickly.

CBCS, the comic book grading and slabbing service launched in 2014 as a rival to CGC, has been shut down by its new parent company, Collectors. An email sent to customers confirms that CBCS will stop accepting new submissions in mid-April.

Comic Book Grading/Slabbing Service CBCS Has Been Shut Down — CBCS on eBay

Collectors, owner of Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), rival to both CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) and CBCS (Comic Book Certification Service), acquired CBCS's owner, Beckett, in December. Beckett had owned CBCS since 2017, and while initial announcements after the sale emphasised brand independence, that only seems to have lasted a few months. The company is now consolidating its focus on core Beckett operations, effectively ending CBCS as a standalone comic book grading service. They state,

"As we look ahead, we're increasing our focus and investment in the core Beckett brand and our broader grading capabilities. This includes continued development of our trading card and autograph authentication services, along with ongoing hiring and team expansion across key areas of the business. These investments are focused on improving turnaround times, enhancing the customer experience, and strengthening the long-term value we provide to collectors. As part of our strategy to focus on the Beckett brand, we've made the challenging decision to shut down CBCS. Effective April 17, new submissions will no longer be accepted. All existing orders, and any submissions received by that date, will continue through the grading process as normal. The CBCS Population Report will remain available, allowing collectors to continue researching graded comic data and census information. Previously graded CBCS comics will remain fully documented within the database. We're grateful to the collectors, creators, and team members who helped build CBCS into a respected part of the comic collecting community. Their contributions will continue to carry forward as we invest in the future of Beckett and the services we provide to collectors."

In July 2024, Bleeding Cool broke the news that PSA would be starting its own comic book grading service. With PSA ubiquitous in sports card grading, verification, and slabbing, and expanding into comics, maintaining a separate, comic-focused brand and operation like CBCS seems like a luxury they have decided they can no longer afford. CBCS-graded comics have enjoyed a solid secondary-market recognition. CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) remains the dominant player in comics slabbing and grading, while PSA has been expanding quickly.

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