CGC is now offering authentication, grading and encapsulation services for DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and other digital home videos, the company announced. The new service will accommodate 14 different packages, including slipcases, most clamshells, drawer boxes, SteelBooks, jewel cases, and so on.   

This continues a trend of expanding the categories for which slabbing is the preferred way of maximizing value of collectibles. It seems like just yesterday that video games and VHS home video were first slabbed, but Heritage first began auctioning slabbed vintage video games in 2019 (see “Heritage Auctioning Video Games”), and we first reported on a graded VHS auction in 2022 (see “’Back to the Future’ Tape Tops VHS Auction”).

The age of the two packaged home video formats makes them interesting as collectibles; DVDs were launched in the U.S. in 1997, and Blu-ray discs in 2006. The move comes as home video increasingly turns to streaming, and to a lesser extent, downloads, changing what was once a mass medium into more of a specialty, collectible category (see “Home Video Landscape Transforming”).

To mark the occasion, CGC kicked off the service by grading some holiday movies, including Blu-rays of The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D and Home Alone, and a DVD of Polar Express.