Posted in: Comics, Vintage Paper | Tagged: psa

Exclusive: PSA to Add Comic Book Grading Division in Early 2025

Elizabeth Gruene, General Manager of Pop Culture at Collectors & PSA tells us details of PSA's entry into comic book grading & authentication

Collectibles grading and authentication giant Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) has announced that the company will enter the comic book grading and authentication field in early 2025. Founded in 1991, PSA is a division of Collectors Universe, which is already a major force across the hobby landscape that provides grading and authentication services for collectors of coins, trading cards, video games, FunkoPOPs, tickets, memorabilia, and photos, along with autograph authentication. Collectors divisions and subsidiaries include PSA, PCGS, WATA, SGC, Card Ladder, and the Long Beach Expo collectibles trade show.

It's been an interesting year of expansion for PSA and Collectors Universe. Collectors acquired SGC in February 2024 and then entered into an agreement with eBay in April 2024 that saw eBay acquire auction house Goldin from Collectors, and PSA take over operations of the eBay Vault and  become the official PSA Vault for eBay. It's clear that with such moves, Collectors is continuing to expand into providing tools and services for a range of collectors.

What does all this mean for comic book collectors? As shown here, Bleeding Cool has been given a first look at an example of what the PSA comic book slab and its labeling will look like. We've also discussed the matter with Elizabeth Gruene, General Manager of Pop Culture at Collectors and PSA, to find out the specifics behind PSA's move into comic book grading.

Bleeding Cool: Many observers in comics have speculated for years that this move might happen. What makes this the right time for Collectors/PSA to enter comic book grading?

Elizabeth Gruene: PSA has put a lot of focus and energy to the broader Pop Culture space in the last few years. We have seen exponential growth across Pop Culture categories. TCG, for example, is a growing part of pop culture that has taken off in the US and internationally, and Pokémon has eclipsed baseball cards as PSA's biggest vertical in the past three years. Nearly half (48%) of comic collectors also collect TCG or sports trading cards – adding Comics and Magazines to our portfolio is a natural progression to make our company a one-stop shop for this collecting community. We also see this as an opportunity to offer a superior grading option for this community of collectors – our holder is superior and the most counterfeit-proof and damage-proof solution for those looking to protect their precious items. Our team of experts across grading, pressing, operations, and beyond is top notch. We are the most trusted grading company and we intend to extend that trust to this new category.

Bleeding Cool: While Collectors-owned companies obviously have deep experience in other areas of grading, everyone would agree that comic book grading, like the other areas, requires deep specialized knowledge. The grading process requires knowledge about specifics of the vintage comic book eras, pedigrees, restoration, and other factors. Who will be running and otherwise involved in comic book grading at Collectors/PSA, and what experience will they bring to this endeavor?

Elizabeth Gruene: We have assembled a team of experts with deep expertise and decades of experience in the comic book space. Our head grader has a wealth of knowledge on grading, pressing, pedigrees, and restoring comic books. He also used to be a comic book dealer himself and has worked at a top auction house selling comics. We are currently hiring and continue to seek out the best talent in the comic book space.

Bleeding Cool: How will you compete against the established competitors in this area? Will Collectors/PSA offer features that the others do not? What about issues like price point and turnaround times?

Elizabeth Gruene:  We truly want to be a value add to the comic collecting community and address pain points that currently exist in the grading space. Some key areas where we can bring PSA's deep expertise to this new category include: counterfeit protection with our best-in-class holders and thorough research and authentication process, a long history of autograph authentication and grading capabilities, and high standards for grading consistency and accuracy. We will offer attractive pricing and turnaround times that are in line with current offerings and put the utmost focus on customer service. PSA also has best-in-class technology that we will utilize to have a modern, customer friendly process for customers.

Note: In a follow up, PSA also confirmed that the goal is to have a census/population report available for PSA graded comic books after launch/as it ramps up – it won't be something immediately available at launch.

Bleeding Cool: In April of this year, Collectors and eBay entered into a deal that saw eBay acquire the auction house Goldin and Collectors acquire the eBay Vault service, allowing for the ability to buy, grade, vault, and sell through one product flow. Will such a service be coming to comic books?

Elizabeth Gruene: Our goal is to definitely offer vaulting and selling options for all our categories with time, including Comics.

Bleeding Cool: I've noticed a job listing at Collectors for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer that requires a background in large language model development and machine vision, among other things. The job tasks include "design and build machine learning models to solve classification, regression, and machine vision problems." Can you tell me how such technology will be used at Collectors? Will it play a role in the grading process?

Elizabeth Gruene: Collectors is always on the cutting edge with technology, including AI and ML. We are always looking for ways to use technology to improve and enhance our processes and offerings. In a broad sense, we are exploring how these technologies augment the grader's review. For a specific use case, PSA's Brand Protection team utilizes AI to help identify counterfeits.

Bleeding Cool: Will the comic book grading service be part of the PSA brand, or will it be branded separately?

Elizabeth Gruene: The new comic book grading service will be part of the PSA brand.

Bleeding Cool: Will you be covering the entire spectrum of comic books from Golden Age to modern? Will there also be a magazine-sized holder?

Elizabeth Gruene:  Yes – we will offer grading and pressing across all comic book eras as well as standard sized magazines. We are really excited to be able to grade and encapsulate our PSA Magazine finally that is very collectible in itself!

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