Area company hires sports card experts to lead grading service

SARASOTA — Certified Collectibles Group has hired sports card experts Andy Broome and Westin Reeves to lead the Certified Sports Guaranty grading team.

CSG is the latest company to be formed by Sarasota-based CCG. It will launch soon to provide sports card collectors and dealers with expert, impartial and efficient certification services, according to a press release.

Together, Broome and Reeves have nearly three decades of experience as professional graders in the sports card industry. 

Broome started grading sports cards professionally in 2000. Since then, he has graded millions of cards, including iconic cards, such as the T206 Honus Wagner, T206 Doyl Nat’l and T206 Ty Cobb Back, the release states. He has graded cards of all eras, but he is particularly known for his expertise in vintage cards, with an emphasis on pre-World War II cards. He is also a collector of vintage Japanese baseball cards and vintage non-sports cards.

As a result of Broome’s knowledge and reputation in the sports card collecting industry, he was asked to be a consultant and contributor for the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Shoebox Treasures” baseball card exhibit.

“I pursued a career in sports card grading because third-party certification protects the hobby that I love from bias, altering and counterfeiting,” says Broome in a statement. “I joined CSG because this company is best positioned to stay ahead of card doctors and meet the rapidly growing demand for third-party grading services.”

Reeves brings 20 years of sports card experience, including nearly seven years as a professional grader. His primary area of expertise is modern sports cards (1980 and newer).

“When I saw that CCG — a company that has built the leading grading services for coins, banknotes, comics and other collectibles — was entering the sports card hobby, I knew I had to be involved,” says Reeves in a statement. “CSG will serve collectors and dealers with world-class expertise, the best technology, superior holders and incredible efficiency. I am very excited to be a part of this huge step forward for the hobby.”

CSG is still building its starting lineup as it prepares to open for submissions in the near future. It is hiring for positions in grading, receiving, verification, production and more. 

“We are thrilled that Andy and Westin have joined the CSG team,” says CCG CEO Steven Eichenbaum in a statement. “Just as with CCG’s other categories, CSG will revolutionize sports grading by combining our proven processes with innovation and world-class expertise.”

Certified Collectibles Group includes seven collectibles services companies: Numismatic Guaranty Corp., Numismatic Conservation Services, Paper Money Guaranty, Certified Guaranty Co., Classic Collectible Services, Authenticated Stamp Guaranty and Collectibles Authentication Guaranty. The companies provide expert and impartial services that add value and liquidity to a wide variety of collectibles, including coins, banknotes, comic books, magazines, concert posters, stamps and estate items.

The CCG companies have certified nearly 60 million collectibles. CCG has offices in Sarasota, London, Munich, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Certified Collectibles Group reported more than $100 million in revenue in 2018.