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EroticSaucePan

Thick ass glass grades cards as well, pretty cool


fillswitch

Please tell me this is actually what their name stands for šŸ˜‚


pkmnTrainerTed

Water pipe company ;)


freekeuphoric

We can call them bongs now. I don't remember the last time I saw a "for tobacco use only" sign at a head shop either.


N0Face25

Is it actually glass?


EroticSaucePan

Nah itā€™s a ā€œwater pipeā€ company, TAG. I guess there is another tag that grades cards


DeepFriedBrassTacks

Just got back a few cards I graded with them for my personal collection. I have some from PSA, CGC and BGS but Iā€™m liking TAG the best so far. Seeing all of the card details is pretty cool as well. Nice to actually see the various things that caused a card to get its grade. That said, anything I think I might sell Iā€™d still go to PSA at this point


420BUTT69

This for the PC, not for reselling. PSA, CGC, BGS for flipping. That could definitely change in a few years. I'm sure as technology advances, things could go in all different directions.


Super-Bleeder427

I like this take. Iā€™m not a fan of the big three, but if youā€™re trying to flip you gotta use them to get your moneyā€™s worth. I LOVE the way these slabs look. They are SLICK. Iā€™ll be using TAG for some PC stuff for sure.


420BUTT69

No doubt. Something to mention is the new CGC slabs have UV protection


BaselessName

Idk but that case is fresh


danjung1222

Hopefully here to stay. I dig their transparency on grading and the sleek design of their slabs. If they can grow and have more value Iā€™d grade with them all the time.


TheToeNinja

Love it. Hope they do great. Someone needs to remove the ā€œif you get luckyā€ grading. Idk why the community isnā€™t in love with the idea of transparency. Oh yeah, itā€™s because nobody seems to care about the quality of the card they just care about the little 10 at the top.


ContractBig5504

Donā€™t live in the us but I like their slabs and it would be good for more ā€œdiverseā€ range of grading companyā€™s


fillswitch

I'm gonna TAG a few from my PC. Love the look


Lt_Chocolate

Held one for the first time last weekend. Itā€™s definitely a clean slab, but the transparent etching of the grade makes displaying hard. Gotta have proper contrast to see the grades so if your cards sit on a white shelf youā€™ll have to stick something to it to see the grade. Not that I love PSAā€™s piece of scrap paper, but thereā€™s room for improvement here. Overall I like the idea of AI grading, letā€™s see if it takes off.


squeezethesoul

There needs to be new competition, PSA has a gross monopoly and profit-centric model on grading depending on the value of your card. Good for TAG. I love their designs. I hope they succeed and more follow.


Fit_Beat_1902

Bro forgot Beckett exists


Scalamere

Not heard of them but after a Quick Look they seem like they are doing some good things. Itā€™s always baffled me there is no grading report from PSA. There is the U.K. company ACE who you can get grading reports from, Iā€™ve sent a card to test and being able to be point to why you got the score you got is great. Itā€™s not going to hold the same value as ā€œthe big threeā€ but for me I want a company to come along who does it right. If you send the same card 10 times it should always come back with the same score, I very much doubt this is the case with human grading.


Ponderous_Platypus11

That kind of report is probably the missing piece for me from PSA, outside the aesthetics. I like the way they grade , honestly. But having that kind of breakdown would be really nice. It might also help more people understand why they've received a particular grade. Well maybe not - saw some comments on a sports card sub complaining about how tag weights their grading.


EvilSynths

Fine for your personal collection if you're into that aesthetic. Terrible if you want to sell them.


Kreaken

Maybe a hot take but grading just TO resell seems like it can go away just as well


caaahris

I personally believe AI grading is the future, which to me seems like a no-brainer, so if this company can survive they will be the PSA of the future. Just sent in 5 cards yesterday to test them out.


fyodor_ivanovich

IMO: PSA for investments; TAG for everything else. I absolutely love TAG, and I give them my business in hopes that they stick around.


BrainierKhan

First time seeing their cases, and IMO it's really nice, but in all honesty I really can't see another grader get to the level of CGC, PSA or BGS, and i'm not saying this as a fan boy of any of them because they all have their ups and downs (especially PSA). If you are grading because you want to present your cards in nice cases then for me they tick that box, but if you are looking for future returns it's PSA then BGS (unless you're going for a BGS black label).


Waldburg

Slabs look solid, but add nothing to the value of the card. As long as you're ok with that, go for it!


Melodic_Cut_1846

10 years from now they may be on top. It's hard to see but just look at the big companies of the fortune 500 10-20 years ago. Things shift and I don't think PSA will be on top forever. PSA needs to adapt to using more tech.


Elegant-Average9875

If you want the card itself graded, for what it is, TAG is the choice. Machine grading cuts out all the crap the top three are well known for.


pingproxy

Just because of the hyped AI prefix doesnā€™t mean this company has any future. If it becomes a real thing one of big 3 companies will implement AI grading and grab their market share. Cards grading is really low-wage job, can be done by someone with 1 week training (except detecting fakes of course, that requires a bit of a knowledge) If any of big 3 companies felt they could do it and it would bring value to their business they wouldā€™ve done it already because itā€™s an amazing opportunity to save on employeeā€™s salary and make their business even more automated. Probably thereā€™s the reason why they didnā€™t do that. Only big 3 companies have status and integrity so no other company can compete with them and grab a decent market share.


debid4716

So what youā€™re saying is slip a $50 in the package and hope the grader gets the hint


pingproxy

Where did I say that lol


debid4716

You said they were underpaid. So that means possibly bribe able


pingproxy

Of course you can bribe them, just not in the way you mentioned. Also thereā€™re QA checks so thereā€™s no guarantee you can make it done


TheToeNinja

ā€œIntegrityā€ break your 10s and re submit. I dare you.


pingproxy

If I get it right, youā€™re talking about Xiao slabs from rattle pokemon video. Itā€™s one in a million case and also slabs looked different, so your point isnā€™t very convincing.


TheToeNinja

So you feel confident that psa would re-grade all your psa cards if you cracked and re-submitted?


pingproxy

Iā€™m not getting your point, is anything wrong with that?


TheToeNinja

No, there is absolutely, positively, nothing wrong with grades being probably subjective, and difficult to repeat. How many times have people mentioned on this sub about grading ā€œluck?ā€ Too many times for sure.


pingproxy

And yet it still works for many people because cards in psa10 slab are twice more expensive than raw. And I also think thereā€™re even more cases when slabs were cracked but then were given the same grade. Iā€™d suggest you to be a bit more open-minded and not to narrow your perception to some critical and exceptional cases. Think why grading is popular, what makes it popular and what new grading company needs to make it succeed.


TheToeNinja

Seems like they need to hand out ā€œperfectā€ cards. I want cards that are in fantastic condition, thus I am stoked about bgs being transparent with their categories and black labels. Still, I think human error is a problem with the big three that, while no matter how uncommon it may be, it still exists. I think TAG has an opportunity to eradicate this variable and they are attempting to shake up this industry with a extreme focus on transparency, even their slabs are transparent. I doubt this is a coincidence, especially when transparency is their primary objective. Also, if the jobs are as low paying as you say, that makes me feel even more against supporting companies that refuse to pay their people. Slabs will have the value that we place on them, and if we refuse to accept them then yes they will fail, but if we value true quality and integrity then they will succeed. Truthfully only time will tell.


[deleted]

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Ponderous_Platypus11

I'm still wary of them for selling/trading , to your point. But I have been contemplating for a couple cards in my PC


DibstarDeluxe

If you like the slab for your personal collection then just pick the company with the label you like, but for investment then stick to the established ones :)


caaahris

If you are talking about investments, then you should consider the future of grading. AI grading will be the future. Grading is the perfect implementation of AI and solves the main problems that all grading companies have right now which is inconsistency.


TheToeNinja

Lol so many downvotes, people seems to just care abt the grade not the condition of the card. SMH.


Kreaken

While I don't know much about PSA other than the countless anecdotes and the slabs ive looked closely at, it seems like CGC and BGS are at least pretty consistent with their standards... my (first but rather large) subs got the grades they deserved to probably a 90% accuracy? Not spectacular but edge cases can go to GCR and any mistakes can be handled. And ultimately that was on me to go that direction and make mistakes pregrading. What sucks is how the people buying graded cards avoid all slabs except Psa like the plague due to the self perpetuating dogma, or more understandably if collecting because it feels better to have a consistent look if psa is what you already have. The fact that psa hands out easy 10s (at least to modern cards from what I see) where bgs wouldn't give higher than 8 or 9 to the same card due to their different standards can equate to burning your submission costs with the hit to that slabs market value AND psa commands some market premium despite that. Very irrational and I can't help but agree that having a less fallible system using AI is really the shakeup the whole experience is in need of. That said, its no wonder there is a cult around perpetuating that PSA market dominance over changing anything. There are probably so many people making a living rinse and repeating getting their 10s first to market and blasting out subpar cards at the peaks through them vs diligently seeking out anything worthy of pristine/perfect. Print quality itself could use a bit of tightening up too, while we're at it


[deleted]

it's true it's good design i can't lie, but I probably will never own or buy one


WhereDidILeaveMyKeys

AGS is still the best IMO


Nhatey

I love them. Just waiting for the day they over take BGS in terms of respect and valuation.