I documented the whole process from start to finish of a 10 card order with the new grading company TAG. #baseballcards #gradedcards #sportscards #tag #psa #csg #GMA #bgs #sgc
Man I'm not in the hobby anymore but seriously this TAG company is the one that I would be using to grade my cards ! I feel like their process is going to become the standard I love everything about how they do it from the way they have you ship them to them and then the way they slab an package the cards to keep the slabs scratch free an the suspense up longer plus makes for good content when doing a grading reveal ! Absolutely love this companies process !!
Well you see Jack I may not spend my money on the cards anymore but I do enjoy the hobby as a whole an i enjoy watching the videos and supporting people like The San Diego Upcycler so thats why I'm watching the video an leaving comments cause it helps the algorithm put videos like this into more peoples feeds its a way of supporting others with having to spend money no need to be a jerk have a nice day😁
Thanks the for the excellent video. This is freakin’ incredible. If only PSA had started with this system and transparency. Fingers crossed TAG takes off!
Great work with how you organized this experience. We have heard of TAG before but haven't tried any submissions to this point. Your video surely gave a nice overview and it's something we will definitely look into more in the future. Seems like they are working hard to provide a lot of extra value for the money with their transparency, back end reporting, new grading scale for further differentiation using 1,000 point scale and even pictures of the slab. Kudos on a job well done with the video! Just subbed! 👏
Thanks for the breakdown! I am waiting on my order to get back. Absolutely love the 1000pt scale and the point you brought up about the ranking. I don't think people fully grasp how much a feature like this would change grading. In a world where there are SOOOO many slabs and high pop counts, this is the only feature that I see that could work as a counterbalance to it. Gamification of grading seems like the future. I am actually working on a video about this exact subject.
I really like the look of those Slabs. The etching is really cool, and I like the scoring system. I love the way they look when you get them back with the wrapping. Sort of like opening a Pack twice! I admit I'm a bit overwhelmed when it comes to all of the new grading companies but I think TAG is really onto something. Really cool video and thanks for posting!
Thanks for the video and info, I have some card savers that TAG gave me during a show, I will definitely use them to keep submitting to PSA, I cannot imagine getting 8.5s and 9s inside a transparent slab, nooouuu!!!😆
After watching this video I am super impressed with their presentation and packaging and the overall system they have. They just have to some how catch on or lower prices to start driving submissions.
Great recap and commentary. I agree with it all. I sent in 20 cards early on in the presale and customer service was great and the slabs do look and feel amazing. I feel quite confident in the grades also as I sent in a optic holo with a surface scratch to test the grading it it came back a 7.5 appropriately. I think the resale values will take a while to reflect the quality. I don't think many people have enough experience with them and understandably people want to get some personal experience to feel comfortable trusting the accuracy of the grades. You really do feel like you get full value when grading with them. Every step is professional and very well thought out. The grading scale takes getting used to, but it make sense that they want a gem rate similar to other grading companies so they scale it accordingly. I personally love the extra detail for the grades (report), but I think some people may find it to be a bit much.
I like that all that extra info is available but not written all over the slab, the QR code seems like a perfect middle ground. It's there if you want it but can be easily ignored if you are not interested in the "why"
Great coverage of the end to end TAG process. I really like what they are doing. The only thing they seem be missing is adoption (which is a very big challenge). The jury may still be out in how there grading is - at least for me - because I haven’t been able to look at a large sample size. Great stuff.
Thank you very very much for the submission and the video. I am stoked that you had a great experience. Thank you again for the review, you hit all the points and made a perfect video.
@@thesandiegoupcycler2586 I am not. I’m sorta their most ardent supporter, at least publicly. I’m not the guy who jumps on new stuff to be a trendsetter, BUT I am the guy that if I complain about something, and then someone fixes it…well, then I’m going to support them. I have a personal stake in TAG…I want to see more TAG slabs in the wild, so I can buy them. I’d buy from your submission if I weren’t tapped from buying other TAGs this week…plus saving up for my next TAG sub. I’ll be sending off a Topps Black Gold set very soon.
@@thesandiegoupcycler2586 Oh, so about HGA…so I knew the stories, but no, I missed it. I took a chance on TAG, and they’ve delivered on the tech. I’m more than content with their quality and grading reports. My ONLY 2 criticisms at this point are the lack of PR and their complete lack of transparency about why they won’t grade pre-2000 cards. By the way, I’ve heard all their excuses on this subject, and absolutely NONE of them hold water. The thing that chaps my ***, is that I’m here thanking you for your submission…where are they? None of their marketing team has RU-vid? They’re really failing their new customers in this respect. So, for what it’s worth, I want to thank you again for submitting and increasing the population of TAG slabs. I want to thank you again for making such a precise video, I know it must have taken a good amount of time editing it. Thank you on behalf of the absent TAG PR department.
With all the bad in the hobby I'm pleasantly surprised with how these look...I heard psa plays favorites with some of big boys in the hobby..and TAG looks like a great alternative...shot out to sportscardradio
I’m glad your cracked slabs came back in your favor. The thing that angers me most about the TAG haters is that I’ve heard them ALL complain that they don’t know why they get the grades they do. Then when a company comes along and removes the subjective element in grading (the human) and provides a detailed grading report…then why oh why don’t they flock to TAG? This is the part where they usually say, “Resale value.” But here’s the deal, if they’d stop being shortsighted, they’d see that it’s only a matter of time before TAG surpasses PSA on the secondary market, simply because of consumer confidence in the product. I trust a TAG 10 over a PSA 10 100/100 times, because who knows how many times that PSA was submitted until it got a 10? The only reason TAG doesn’t have a lot of secondary market support is because it’s new. The other grading companies, should be scrambling to mimic TAG (or buy them out) if they have any hopes of competing.
WAY WAY WAY to many people buying the name/number on a slabs instead of the card inside. But, for the time being, I'm still sending cards I want to sell/flip to PSA until I see companies like TAG getting equivalent (or hopefully better) resale prices than PSA. In reality if PSA really starts to lose market share to TAG then I bet they just buyout the company and integrate their tech (which is fine by me). As long as I get transparent accurate and consistent grading.
@@thesandiegoupcycler2586 I am actually counting on everything you just said about PSA acquiring TAG. As for the secondary market…I pay full PSA prices for TAG slabs. Maybe I’m the only 1, and maybe I’m dumb, but I do. I think they actually hold a premium over PSA, and I’m willing to pay for it.
@@thesandiegoupcycler2586 Brother, they’re a little bit hard to find on ebay. Who do you PC? I might have bought them all up, LOL! A guy out of Florida, I want to say he sells under floridasportscardinvestors on ebay has a TON of TAG goodies. His prices are high, but he will negotiate on EVERYTHING. I typically just send him Ebay comps and he’ll match their pricing. He ships almost immediately and his packaging is 2nd to none.
@@Jeremy1998999 I just recently setup a saved search in eBay for them. I'm a big Padres guy so I like Machado, Tatis, Gwynn, Musgrove. But also Griffey, Trout, Ichiro, and some Tomlinson. Plus I'm always looking for deals to flip and try to make a buck
The looks of the slabs and the detailed grading that anyone can see online, I hope this becomes the standard... this company, or a competitor, to have this information easily online should be done industry wide.
The slabs are really great looking. PSA has the iconic look but this company will be serious competition unless like you mentioned PSA or one of the other big boys does buy them out. I love the transparency, and detailed review.
Subbed and liked! Really enjoyed this video, and made me wanna grade some Bobby Base to compete lol. Quick question what’s their rates, and if you got a discount for grading 10 cards, did the Soto not getting graded effect the cost?
Yes, the more cards you send in the lower the rate gets but not by a whole lot. I also think this is just the early adopter pricing and not what their final pricing will be months and years from now. That being said, it worked out to about $22 a card for me. As for the Soto, yes they refunded me for that card
Great video. Personally, I'm not a big fan of grading but if I were TAG seems like a good company to go with. The slabs look very nice and I like the way they package everything. I may have missed you saying it, but how long did it take to get these back?
Thanks for the awesome video. I'm a beginner when it comes to grading and this technology seems to be much more promising, as we all know that humans make errors and grading itself has been shown to have its own inconsistencies (as even evidenced by this video).
They are being extremely precise when going to 5 decimal places!! I'm a machinist so I know how difficult and accurate that is! Amazing. What's price per slab?
Please let us know more about the tech from your machinist perspective I'd love to learn... as for the slab it worked out to just over $20/card to get graded
Apologies if you already addressed this elsewhere. I just came upon your video and was inspired to try my own TAG test grading submission… except all of their “submission kits” at every level appear to be sold out. Do you know why? Do they already have a backlog? It’s a bad look for a fledgling company to not be able to accept new submissions from potential customers. Unrelated, I went on 130point to see comps of various TAG-graded cards… and I had to work a little bit to weed out a bunch of unrelated stuff - like laundry tag relic cards and Bowman retail packs sold with a security tag. They may regret adopting an acronym that doubles as a very common word. Thanks for sharing your experience and providing the thorough level of detail and analysis.
They are rolling out new pricing any day now $14/card so I believe they have temporarily stopped taking submissions. As for the TAG acronym, I 1000% agree that searching for them in eBay or 130point is not easy
Wow, very cool. Thanks for sharing. However, this just brings up so many more questions, like, wouldn’t a 942 be a 9.5? Where is the line. With such accurate imagery, isn’t it even very likely or highly possible that just the process of loading this into their scanner cause capturing defects to the grade? Many more questions as well, like how are the defects weighted in the final grade? I really love the slabs and the report! Thanks again for sharing.
These cards absolutely pop in the slab. I can't wait to get my order in. I'll buy GMA cards in high grade often times cheaper than it is raw and they look great. Also, HGA sucks.
@@thesandiegoupcycler2586 I am an SGC guy but and I still think that vintage would look the best in their slabs, but modern looks great in TAG slabs. I sent a large order into HGA when they first started and my cards are so poorly graded. I'm gonna crack them and send them to TAG and do a similar video on my channel.
Great clip! Did you break the psa holder? Or did TAG do it? Would you do a clip on how to break a graded holder and getting cards ready to send into grade.
I broke the slab myself and sent it to TAG raw. As for the video request, I actually have a How To video on breaking a slab, just click on my channel name and look under videos
I agree, but overall the whole slab secondary market is bonkers. PSA is WAY WAY overvalued relative to everything else and I have to believe that will eventually correct itself. I think if/when the larger market of hobbyists learn to believe in and trust the tech behind TAG they (admittedly on a much smaller scale) are in the best position to close that gap and get on par or even above PSA pricing
Personally I don't sell cards so I use GMA because it's all about protection at a low-cost with quick turnaround time. I'm just wondering what's the turnaround time with TAG ? Are there bulk discounts ? Do they charge extra for sub grades ?
I had these back in a little under a month. Yes, you pay less the more cards you send and there was no extra charge for the 1000pt grade and detailed report.
@@thesandiegoupcycler2586 They are the best looking slabs hands down however this is a long game and hope they can survive. I still can't believe Arena Club and HGA are still going..
Wow! As a photographer/ retoucher it looks as if their technology does a frequency separation of the image to look at the flaws within the texture versus the color! That is a pretty accurate way to see flaws you wouldn’t see with the naked eye. That’s impressive to know that someone thought of what is one of the ways to see the flaws of an image beyond the capabilities of a human. Sorry, for the geeky moment. Lmao
@@thesandiegoupcycler2586 Okay, let’s see if I can explain this where it makes sense considering I’m an artist. Lol. An image consists of three frequencies (high, medium and low). The process I believe the technology is using is what we do in photoshop to split those frequencies in order to separately work on one frequency without having an effect on the others. It’s also possible they could be using a high pass layer but that isn’t as accurate as splitting frequencies. The grey that you see over the image in the video is what would be the high frequency. The high frequency is where all the details live (blemishes,etc..). In the high we can see a scratch versus hair or even a dent which would be a pore or pimple for retouching a human without the color being a distraction. The medium and low frequency is where color lives. I’m not sure if this technology would go as far as evaluating color because in my opinion that would be a bit overkill to subject a card to that type of scrutiny. However, hopefully they don’t see this comment because they could totally use the technique to see the difference between cards color and use it for saturation and vibrancy. 😩🥴 I hope this helps.
They need to get with the LCS and figure out a way to put these pre graded boxes in the shop so they don't have to send them out to everyone per order.
Wow. It’s just a matter of time before TAG starts to take over. It’s just a much better process than any other grading company. If I was buying a big ticket card, I would almost insist on a TAG grade with all that transparency. With PSA (and others) I bet you could submit the same card multiple times and get multiple grades. Zero chance that happens with TAG. There is significant value in that.
t/b centering on the gold Witt card would make it a PSA 9 I am pretty sure, so seems strange it would get a 10 with A.I. grading -- also, the lower left front corner on the Verlander is enough to make any card a 9, so if there is anything else going on with that card, it is easy to see why it would get a PSA 8
PSA has wayyyyy to many cards that should be 10’s grade 8’s and 9’s and 10’s that should be 9’s with bad centering. Inconsistency is consistent with PSA. A new consistent transparent and affordable method is needed in the hobby.
depends on what your goal is. If you want to know what if any flaws are in a card then yes absolutely worth the money. If you just want to flip/sell then stick to PSA... for now
@@thesandiegoupcycler2586 thanks for the info ,,,,,, I was wondering that because honestly them slabs look amazing 🤩 ,,,Idk they look better then PSA no sneak diss just the truth,,,,,I like the look 👀 the engraving the color scheme ,,,,,all of it …..
An interesting and important question yes but I think the #1 question is does the tech actually work and does it work better than human graders? If so, the slab value will come but more likely they'll get bought by one of the big graders to scale it up. Maybe someone like PSA does all their sub $499 or sub $199 bulk modern submissions with this tech and the human graders spend WAY more time on the big ticket cards?
CSG still has the best slab, but TAG is real close. While we all crave how a grading company arrives at their grade, TAG can be overwhelming at first, but still welcome. I see them as an acquisition candidate in the next few years because their submission levels will not be able to compete unless they have serious $ behind them.
It’s an interesting idea but I dunno. What about when the algorithm changes or they update the software? And from another video they can’t handle anything vintage or not standard sizes. I dunno as with all things “AI” it promises way more than it can deliver right now.
I hope TAG is the future. This is great stuff. I do really see SGC or PSA buying them out. Would be great to see the code doing the grading and something to stand behind...rather than the known corruption in traditional grading.
thanx for sharing I was curious, The slabs are nice I like how they do the label but the whole only grading cards after 2000 using there tech just seems like a bullshit grader with fancy packaging.. I think a grader should grade everything, be able to spot fakes be able to authenticate everything or your just putting new cards in a machine n putting em in a pretty slab. Its more like a kiosk then a grader to me
@@thesandiegoupcycler2586 Yeha it’s when they take there grading deck outside in the sun and grade your cards in the the sun lol. No I meant sub grading
I get that they don’t have a 9.5 but a 925 (925-974 is a 10 per their website) being a 10 just isn’t a good look. To most people a 925-949 would mean it would round down to a 9. Just very confusing. The actual info they give on the card is cool. Hopefully that part catches on and becomes a industry standard.
I will be interesting to see what their pop report and gem rates looks like after some volume is in there. But, don't think of 950 = 9.5, think of it is 95% perfect, the real "grade" is 950 but they convert that to a 10 to match the scales most customers are used to.
Remind the flexors It’s not worth a donut until you SELL and have the cash in hand. Your thoughts how 1 in 20k can be even 1 in 1k. Also adds a new market- still a 10 but one of the “worst scoring grade” but 10 is 10
@@mickey-eq5vw exactly your just paying for a holder if it’s That new it should be nm or better it’s the stuff from the 70s and prior grading was set up for to authenticate and determine true value.
Oh, I absolutely agree. While I will defend TAG at every turn, my harshest criticism is that they don’t grade pre-2000. I am sitting on a MASSIVE sub of 1986-1992 cards, and I’m trying to be patient with TAG. I bring it up non-stop, because more than anything I want to get this stuff slabbed by TAG. I also want to crack every single pre-2000 slab I have. I’m sorry, but the PSA and BGS flips just make we want to puke. Seriously, a PSA flip just makes me think of a medicine bottle.
Alot of those 10's you got are actually 9's by there current grading system. They must have changed it since your submission. Has to be over 950 for a 10 now.
Man TAG is really good looking grading company !!! I think that TAG graded card should bring as much money as a PSA graded card it should go by quality not the name because PSA has more negative things going with them then every other grading company and I think PSA gets way to much respect for the way they treat their customers this is only my opinion of the card business today on 1-24-23
I think they are spending too much on packaging and may hemorrhage money from their investors. Eventually everything will need to be recouped. But we rather have $10 card grading fees than cool packaging. Im talking about the fanny pack and foil sleeves. This reminds me of the Ebay authentication blue card holders.
TAG does not have 9.5 grades. This is good and bad. This allows for easier 10 grades, which some say waters TAGs grades down. However, they split the grade 10 into Gem Mint 10 and Pristine 10. The biggest aspect of TAG is the CARD RANK. That is huge. Literally eliminates the "pop" grade into a tangible rank with no BS. Its all open sourced and transparent to all. This company will be big. They may get bought out, as Upcycler stated.
PSA might use AI to grade at some point but there’s no way they can give detailed reports like this if they want to continue controlling POP counts. More importantly, it would completely upend the cards they’ve already graded. Nobody would want to buy the old 10’s anymore because we all know so many over-graded ones exist.
Your logic is sound regarding ranking, but PSA will never do that. They don't have any quantifiable data to do that for the millions of cards they have already graded. There is no way they could even start that feature without having to recall every graded card to regrade them. I am a BGS fan myself. I don't like PSA at all. But I am going to give TAG a shot. I just ordered a 10 grading spot in Drop 8. I am looking forward to seeing the results.
The only reasons TAG fails is because they are grading too accurate. People want the easy PSA 10's for increased return in profits. If you crack 10 PSA 10's and send them to TAG and they grade lower, collectors won't accept this process. Which is a shame. Accurate grading should be the main criteria, but it isn't, unfortunately.
I am thinking more like a company like BGS or PSA buys TAG and then implements the tech. Image how much money PSA could make if they offered a $5-$8 "reslab" special where they would convert them over to the new "AI" grade process.
Not sure if it will be a good or bad thing for TAG but the whole HGA and their "AI" grading surely left a bad taste and healthy amount of skepticism in consumers collective mouths...
this sub the grading looks solid but i seen an optic devin booker red TAG 10 on ebay wit 70/30 centering top to bottom, if the tech is so new and precise how did that happen
@@mickey-eq5vw I don't know exactly but out of curiosity I just looked at that card and it got a 933 (barely a 10) and if the card was otherwise really good then my guess is the TAG algorithm probably knocked off some point for that centering issue but not enough to knock it below the 925 GEM threshold?
@@rexvanderpool thats interesting, so they dont use a .5 scale they simply give a whole number so ya have an idea of the grade at first glance but the more exact grade is the grade to 1000?
@@mickey-eq5vw Yeah, the "real" grade is the 1000 point scale and they just convert it to a simple grade to compare to other companies. That is where the whole ranking thing comes into play and has alot of potential
The graders all go to Harvard School of Grading! They are the select few capable of looking at cards and grading them! Granted, cards should all be done by computer because computers always get better scores than those Harvard Grading Kids.
I hope this company outcompetes PSA. I only use PSA because my customers want them. The reality is that PSA is a terribly inconsistent and out of touch company. All the things TAG does for free, including rejecting a card, are the same things PSA gouges on. We gotta make this company a success.
couldn't agree more. But to really compete they will need to accept a wider range of cards (especially vintage). They are working towards this but are probably at least a year or two away from really directly competing
They will be rolling out cheaper submission packages at times and I imagine they will drop standard pricing eventually. You also save a bunch in shipping and packaging. That HAS to be taken into consideration.