Earlier this week, well-known collectibles grading service, Beckett Collectibles, announced on their social media a new offering that they’re describing as an “industry first” — they are expanding their comics and collectibles grading service to cover something that hasn’t been a part of their services before: manga. As part of their announcement, Beckett revealed the pricing structure for this new service, starting at $30 USD for the grading service, with an additional $20 USD for the graded manga to be placed in a plexiglass slab. You can visit Beckett’s page for their new manga service at www.beckett.com/manga-grading.
This type of certified grading and preservation is currently used for printed/paper collectible items like trading cards and comic books, mostly as a means to prevent damage from handling or things like humidity, mold, yellowing or fading that can affect the condition of valuable but fragile paper collectibles. The grading system is also designed to objectively rate the condition and therefore collectible/resale value of comics/cards based on a standards set by collectibles specialists. This is meant to be an alternative to what was done in the past, when it was up to the collectors, retailers or resellers to “grade” the condition of an item, which sometimes resulted in costly or time-consuming disputes. Even with slabbing, there are controversies, as Heidi explained in this recent Beat story.
While manga, both new and out-of-print volumes are regularly bought and sold in comics shops and on the secondary market, Beckett Collectibles’ entry into the manga space is indeed a first for the N. America collectibles market.
But while there is a secondary market for rare, out-of-print, or autographed manga, Beckett Collectibles’ announcement was unexpected. It immediately resulted in a flurry of reactions from the manga reading communities on X, Reddit, and TikTok, with the general reaction trending toward negative impressions of the offering. Many manga readers shared their frustration and skepticism about this announcement, and what it might mean for manga in N. America.
Richmond Lee (@Richmond_Lee) animator and indie game developer chimed in with his reactions to Beckett Collectibles manga announcement by comparing it to the collectibles-driven frenzy that nearly led to the crash of the direct comics market in the 1990s.
Manga reader/online influencer “Mango Enjoyer” @_mangakara expressed their concerns that this news would lead to market manipulation and price gouging for rare or hard-to find manga volumes:
Comics Beat contributor / manga vlogger Ryley Moore / @omnicollector chimed in about this issue, and added his tongue-in-cheek suggestions for a manga grading system:
The reaction wasn’t entirely negative. Some commenters / industry watchers like @GregorySenpai were slightly more open-minded about the possibilities for this service being used for very niche preservation purposes:
Erica Friedman @OkazuYuri, publisher and yuri manga expert, used this opportunity to add some lighthearted humor to the mix:
Some manga-centric content creators have even revealed that Beckett had reached out to them for some advertisement/sponsorship space in future content.
It can be hard to take this kind of negative reaction to a new product or service, and Beckett Collectibles seems to be on the defensive after the initial wave of reactions on social media. Just prior to the publication of this article, it appears that Beckett’s social media accounts at @beckettcollect have been blocking anyone who have made posts or retweets regarding Beckett and their move into the manga market that critique the service, myself included. Needless to say, this reaction has had the effect of further aggravating their critics, which maybe is counter-productive to the future of this service? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
So, what are your thoughts on the Beckett Collectibles manga grading service? Add your comments below!
If you would like to see my past coverage of manga-related news, licensing announcements, or manga reviews, you can click here.
Until CGC announces a plan, this means nothing. No one takes Beckett Comic Grading seriously
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