The CGC/PSA crossover dilemma

PSA's entry into magazine grading in 2025 predictably has added a spark to the growing graded-magazine hobby. With its name recognition and dominant presence in the sports card market, it's no surprise that PSA made an early inroad on CGC's hold on magazine grading, But its early impact has been significant enough to wonder if it has won the war already.

Even in the early going in 2026, PSA-graded magazines are consistently (but not always) selling at a premium over similar issues graded by CGC — in some cases to an oddly surprising degree. There's still a lot of dust to settle, but already the PSA influence is causing a dilemma for some (but not all) collectors and investors who have a large inventory of CGC slabs — to cross over or not?

So when I decided to test the rising tide and put some CGC slabs up for auction recently, there were some decisions to make — in a clearly top-heavy market, is it too early to sell 9.8s? Is it too early to sell first covers? Is it too early to sell Michael Jordan slabs? Is is it worth it to sell anything below a 9.6? Or anything NOT Jordan that isn't a first cover of a 9.8? And then there was one option I had not considered — do I cross over slabs to PSA before going to auction?

That's a tough call to make this early in the game. First of all, there's no guarantee the crossover will be successful — that CGC-graded magazines will get the same grade by PSA. So you risk getting a lower grade, or spending $30 (or more) for nothing if you use the minimum-grade option and fall short. And despite the early indications, there's nothing conclusive on the long-term premium for PSA-graded magazines.

And that additional cost is not including the option (or suggestion) to have PSA press the magazine before grading it. For those who don't do their own pressing and have already spent $75 per magazine to ship, insure, press and grade magazines through CGC, they're looking at an additional $30-$50 per magazine for the cachet of a PSA label. Yikes!

Be that as it may, I threw caution to the wind and agreed to go the crossover route (minimum grade/without PSA pressing) before going to auction. And I cleared the first hurdle — all five slabs successfully crossed over at the same grade as CGC (a tip of the cap to Goldin's Khyber Oser for his guidance on that front). I think it's more than likely that will end up being a very fortunate outcome than the norm, but it's early.

Despite that success, it remains to be seen if the crossover route is the right path — that a PSA-graded slab will get higher price at auction than if it had stayed in a CGC slab. And the comparison is especially difficult because there are so few examples of the same magazine with identical CGC/PSA grades being sold around the same time.

But, with all five slabs going to auction at goldinauctions.com in the next two weeks, it will be another interesting test case for anyone wondering what to do with their CGC slabs. The PSA vs. CGC battle is not over, but you can already see where it is headed. If you've compiled a nice inventory of quality magazines in CGC slabs, a much larger decision looms.

Here's a look at the five slabs that crossed over from CGC to PSA. I hope my luck doesn't run out!

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