Forensic Card Grading
FCG
A boutique grader with a genuine point of view on eye appeal — but its slabs don't yet carry resale weight, so grade here for your own collection, not to sell.
Our score30/100TierDNo. 19 on the scorecards
Resale standingRaw valueOn a high-value card, expect a buyer to cut it out and regrade it.
Cheapest way in$15Flat rate
Typical turnaround10 daysReader reports →
BacklogNone published
Cert lookupPublicVerify a cert →
Owned byIndependentFounded 2021
The short version
2 min to read it all, belowWhy it scores 30
The full breakdownWhere the slab sells
- eBay Authenticity GuaranteeNot listed
- Major US auction housesNot standard inventory
- Public cert lookupYes
What to watch
Founded 2021 and under new ownership since January 2026, so anything written about FCG before this year describes a different operation.
All known concernsPricing
Official price listOne service level and one price: $15 per card at ten business days or less, with no upcharge for declared value, autographs or subgrades.
| Tier | Price | Quoted turnaround | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat rate | $15per card | 10 business days or less | Money back if not shipped within 10 business days; sports 1980+ and Pokémon only for now |
Prices as checked on 28 Sept 2026. They change often; the grader's own list is the final word.
FCG backs the window with a money-back guarantee if cards do not ship within ten business days of arriving. The simplicity is deliberate — there are no tiers to choose between. What it will currently accept is narrower than the price list suggests: as of 9 September 2026 submissions have resumed for sports cards from 1980 onward and for Pokémon only, with vintage and other categories to be reintroduced in phases under new ownership.
The full file
What sets them apart
An unusually specific process disclosure: grading under professional microscopes with adjustable magnification and multiple lighting settings, against a published scale with defined subgrade criteria, and an explicit statement that it does not manage population counts.
One service level, $15, ten business days, backed by a money-back guarantee if that window is missed. New ownership since January 2026.
Where the slab sells
This matches FCG's own positioning: a slab suited to a personal collection rather than to selling.
eBay
FCG does not appear on eBay's professional grader filter list and is not covered by the Authenticity Guarantee, so its slabs receive neither grader searchability nor eBay buyer protection.
Auction houses
Not accepted as standard inventory at Goldin, Heritage or PWCC.
Card shops and general resale
Presence is still forming, consistent with a boutique founded in 2021. Its eye-appeal grading philosophy appeals to vintage collectors, but that is a preference among submitters rather than recognition among buyers.
Turnaround
money-back if missed
Price history
FCG has not raised a listed price since Oct 2026.
Show the price history: 1 tier, 0 changes
These come from our own records. Small ticks are sightings where the price held. A line ends where the evidence ends.
Flat rate$15 unchanged since 26 Oct 2026
Every change
| Date | Tier | Change | Source |
|---|
An archived page shows the price on the day it was saved, so a change happened somewhere between that page and the one before it.
The slab and the label
Subgrades: Four, on the label
A conventional clear holder of ordinary thickness, sitting close to PSA's footprint.
Example slab shown for reference, not a card the editor owns.
The gold label with four printed subgrades follows Beckett's conventions closely enough to read as deliberate borrowing — the same visual promise of a grade you can interrogate, without the recognition that makes Beckett's version worth paying for.
What they grade
- Sports Cards
Who it's for
- Personal Collection
- Protection & Preservation
- Condition Documentation
Personal collections, protection and documentation, with a single tier and no decision to make. The turnaround guarantee is the practical draw.
Known concerns
Founded 2021 and under new ownership since January 2026, so anything written about FCG before this year describes a different operation.
That transition is still visibly in progress: the site currently accepts only 1980-and-newer sports cards and Pokémon, with vintage and remaining categories promised in phases. It publishes no population data and has attracted no meaningful independent coverage, leaving its consistency claims untested by anyone outside the company. That is not evidence of a problem — it is the absence of the track record that makes a slab hold value.
History
Forensic Card Grading opened in 2021 in Mansfield, Texas, and deliberately went the opposite way from the technology-led entrants.
Every card passes under magnification in front of three or more graders, with no imaging system casting a vote.
The philosophy follows from that. FCG weights eye appeal over strict measurement, which appeals to vintage collectors who don't think a mathematically-centered card is always the better-looking one. It competes on turnaround speed and bulk pricing rather than on brand recognition.
As a boutique operation it remains small, and its secondary-market presence is still forming.
Sports Card Radio reports that Case Hit Kings, run by brothers Jared and Jacob West, acquired FCG in January 2026; that comes from one outlet and FCG's own site does not say so.
Under its 2026 ownership the site presents FCG as 'objective, transparent card grading using published standards', and no longer describes an eye-appeal philosophy or a panel of three or more graders.
Score breakdown
Five parts, each scored 0 to 100 and weighted. Market acceptance carries 60 of the 100, because the point of a slab is what the market pays for it.
Market acceptance 10 / 100 (weight 60). The other four parts together 61 / 100 (weight 40).
Market acceptance
10 / 100weight 60adds 6.0
Unverified, scored as zero: Sold-price parity with the leading label, same card and grade; Recognised in a major non-US market.
Trust and verifiability
65 / 100weight 15adds 9.8
−5 Under new ownership since January 2026 with the transition still in progress, and its consistency claims untested by anyone outside the company.
Holder and label
25 / 100weight 10adds 2.5
Unverified, scored as zero: Sealed, tamper-evident holder; Scannable cert code on the label.
Turnaround and access
80 / 100weight 5adds 4.0
Pricing
80 / 100weight 10adds 8.0
Unverified, scored as zero: No price rise over 25% in the last 12 months.
Weighted total 30.3, shown as 30 out of 100.
Scored on 5 Oct 2026. 5 inputs could not be verified and score zero. How we score
On the Wire
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