PSA Announces New Office Opening in Tokyo
November 06 2018 - 1:00PM
Professional Sports Authenticator (www.PSAcard.com) is pleased to
announce the opening of a satellite office in Tokyo, Japan this
month. After researching, visiting and gauging the viability of the
Japanese market, PSA officials determined that now presents the
right time to make its formal entrance into the country.
Spearheading the overseas office will be Tony Aram, a bilingual
financial expert and collector who has lived in Tokyo for more than
40 years. With a population of more than 127 million people, Japan
represents an incredibly untapped market for sports and non-sports
collectors alike.“Because the practice of authenticating and
grading cards is just now gaining popularity in Japan, there is an
enormous opportunity to attract new consumers and future hobbyists
to the benefits of trading card grading,” said Aram.In fact, within
a 100-mile radius of Tokyo, there are five professional Japanese
baseball teams competing as well as corporate offices for companies
manufacturing and distributing non-sports cards such as Pokémon and
the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG (Trading Card Game). According to Aram, baseball
remains America’s most successful export to Japan and is its
largest spectator sport. More than 25 million Japanese baseball
fans attend games every season in the 12-team Nippon Professional
Baseball League and because of that following, an excellent
opportunity presents itself for the authenticating and grading of
trading cards. Moreover, Japanese superstars who have successfully
transitioned to Major League Baseball – players such as Ichiro
Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and most recently, Shohei Ohtani – have only
fueled the growing interest in sports collectibles.“PSA’s new
office will provide Japanese collectors with both sports and
non-sports cards a better understanding of the benefits that come
with grading their collections,” said PSA President Steve Sloan.
“The new location will also help to better serve the overall Asian
marketplace by having its headquarters in Tokyo.”The language
barrier as well as different time zones have long been deterrents
to Japanese collectors utilizing PSA’s services in the past. That
all changes with the opening of PSA’s new office.To be clear, all
authenticating, grading and encapsulation of cards will continue to
be performed stateside as bulk mail shipments will be made once a
month from PSA’s Japan office to the company’s headquarters in
California. The newly opened office’s website can be found at
www.PSAcard.co.jp and is hosted entirely in Japanese.In the early
going, Aram estimates that 50% of the submissions coming from Japan
will be of baseball cards with a heavy emphasis on players
competing in the Nippon League. Non-sports cards including Pokémon,
Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering should also be well
represented.PSA is the world’s largest trading card, autograph and
memorabilia authentication and grading service. Since 1991, PSA
experts have examined and certified over 31 million collectibles
with a combined value of over $1 billion. Find more information at
www.PSAcard.com. PSA is part of Collectors Universe, Inc. (Nasdaq:
CLCT), a publicly traded authentication and grading company that
has certified over 70 million collectibles. The company has offices
in California, New Jersey, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and
services coins, banknotes, trading cards, event tickets,
autographs, professional model bats and gloves, photographs and
memorabilia.
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- Image 1 - Tony Aram
- Image 2 - Ohtani Autographed Card
Terry Melia
PSA
949-567-1126
tmelia@collectors.com
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