Let's see if my timeline is correct:

• about 10 years ago NSU was acquired by Beckett

• about a year ago Beckett merged under the umbrella company Collēctīvus Holdings

• PSA falls under the parent company "Collectors"

• In February 2024, PSA acquired SGC.

• yesterday PSA acquired Beckett (assuming that's the grading company and magazines)

• Note: PSA already creates some type of magazine for their subscription graders

Hold on, because it's about to be a bumpy ride.

I find the reporting articles on the Beckett sale fairly vague. To be precise, Collectors is the parent company of both PSA and SGC. Collectors has now acquired Beckett, but is that everything that Beckett owns? I'm not sure. It is the Beckett grading service BGS and I would think that was one of the main objectives of the sale. To get rid of the grading competition for PSA.

Now it has been stated that all 3 of them, PSA, BGS and SGC, will remain separate, at least for now. Again, I don't understand what the corporate purpose of that is or just how they intend to divvy up grading submissions. Currently there seems to be no specific guidance as to why you should choose one over the other, apart from just the name value.

Apart from those 3, the only other grader I see used a lot on eBay is CGC. So this creates a nice little monopoly. It has always been my understanding, as someone who rarely buys a graded card, that you get PSA for anything really big. They will garner the highest premiums for a high-grade card. But BGS might give you a better grade to begin with. SGC and CGC are considered second tier and good for lesser value autograph cards or gaming cards. Be aware that any newer card graded below a 9 by anybody will very likely not get any interest and little premium.

As for Beckett Media products, I can't tell if Collectors is taking some, all or none of them. I don't know what kind of media Collectors or PSA is currently doing. I hope someone has the good sense to maintain Card Talk under a different banner perhaps, since NSU is unlikely to come back as a publication.

All the NSU subscribers, and perhaps the subscribers of other Beckett magazines, are getting the short shift. That's not right, but I don't see Collectors worrying about it. Hope I'm wrong.