Tag Grading Review! 🫣 |

[@taggrading]

Thanks so much for your video and all of the kind and supportive words! Our apologies for the DSLR image mixup-- that is an extremely uncommon issue but it seems to have impacted a good amount of your order because of the first mistake. We will make sure to get that fixed for you! One thing to note, perfect centering is 50/50-- so a 55/45 card would mean it is 5 off from perfect, skewed to one side. Part of the reason technology is very much needed in this industry is the fact that centering is an objective metric (especially when bordered). Subjective grading companies have rubrics and outline standards that they themselves have trouble following because of the fact that graders all view centering differently. When you have computer vision assessing the centering down to the decimal, the centering is able to be tracked on a consistent basis. It is for this reason that we actually require a minimum of 55/45 centering for a Gem, as opposed to 60/40 as was the previous standard established by manual grading companies. In terms of the suspected damage, please reach out to our customer service live chat so we can check our records to help you with this. All of our personnel are trained to be as diligent and careful as possible-- in addition everyone is gloved at the facility. Cards are transported in sleeves and shields at all times except for during image capture and slabbing, where they are put right back into protection on completion. Of course, we do our best to make sure that no card is ever damaged in our care-- but if something occurred we will absolutely do our best to make it right. Again, thank you so much for your video, and we hope you continue to get your cards TAG'd!

[@AxelNotHuman]

@taggrading Thanks for watching and clarifying, I kinda figured that's how the centering worked, now I know 🫡 love the in-depth transparency. I'll keep in touch and still the best-looking slabs on the market. 👍

[@hoiming]

​@@AxelNotHumanPiggybacking on TAG's comment, I can provide a quick guide on how to read the DIG Report for TAG X As you are probably discovering, the quickest way to determine what were the main factors affecting the card's grade is to focus on the DINGS section of the report (the rest of the report is good information but not as important for determining your grade). Then you compare that to the grading rubric. Let's look at the 9 Grade Rubric (see below). So if in the DINGS section we two front corner defects and it got a 9, we can likely conclude that there were considered light corner touches (which we see in the rubric would bring it to a 9). I will also note that the 4 grading factors (Centering, Corners, Surface, Edges) do not compound. Typically whatever factor is the worst will mostly impact the grade. Say everything is perfect, but say you have minor edge wear on one or two edges, your card will be a 9 based on the edges alone. If you also had those edge wear, but had centering of 64/36 (which would be in the 8 range for centering), the card would get a 8 grade. The edges don't combine with the centering to take it below an 8 (7.5 for example). I think others have already explained centering, but yes 55/45 is the worst centering you can get and still be a 10 (PSA allows down to 60/40 per their website). And this is based on the worst of the two pairs of borders (top/bottom or left/right). If the top/bottom centering is 51/49 (close to 50/50) but the left/right border is 57/43 (farther away from 50/50 and also worse than 55/45 needed to stay a 10) then it would be a 9 grade overall (assuming the other grading factors were fine). Fill and Fray are explained in the glossary section, but typically do not have a significant impact on the overall grade, so you do not need to be too concerned with those. Note, in the more detailed TAG S report you do get Corner Surface Wear (CSW) and Edge Surface Wear (ESW) scores in addition to the Fill and Fray Scores, and those scores are more impactful to the grade. But for the TAG X report focus on the DINGS section. Feel free to reach out if you have further questions. Note, I don't work for TAG but just an enthusiast. MINT 9 CENTERING Front image centered within a tolerance of ~60/40 and back image within ~90/10 (Sports) or ~75/25 (TCG). CORNERS Corners will still appear sharp and square. Up to two very light corner touches, where the stock has been compromised, and are visible on the front of the card, may be present. Multiple corner touches on the back will be present. More significant fill or fray artifacts are present under high resolution imagery. SURFACE A larger and deeper pit may be present. May have 2 or 3 small pits and/or a longer scratch not penetrating the gloss. May have a light but present print line or refractor line that runs the length of the card, vertically or horizontally. Has a minor print imperfection or multiple spots. A small scratch that penetrates the gloss on the back is visible. Multiple, more visible print lines present. EDGES Visible but minor edge surface wear on one or two edges. More significant fill or fray artifacts are present under high resolution imagery.

[@hoiming]

​@@AxelNotHumanPiggybacking on TAG's comment, I can provide a quick guide on how to read the DIG Report for TAG X As you are probably discovering, the quickest way to determine what were the main factors affecting the card's grade is to focus on the DINGS section of the report (the rest of the report is good information but not as important for determining your grade). Then you compare that to the grading rubric. Let's look at the 9 Grade Rubric (see below). So if in the DINGS section we two front corner defects and it got a 9, we can likely conclude that there were considered light corner touches (which we see in the rubric would bring it to a 9). I will also note that the 4 grading factors (Centering, Corners, Surface, Edges) do not compound. Typically whatever factor is the worst will mostly impact the grade. Say everything is perfect, but say you have minor edge wear on one or two edges, your card will be a 9 based on the edges alone. If you also had those edge wear, but had centering of 64/36 (which would be in the 8 range for centering), the card would get a 8 grade. The edges don't combine with the centering to take it below an 8 (7.5 for example). I think others have already explained centering, but yes 55/45 is the worst centering you can get and still be a 10 (PSA allows down to 60/40 per their website). And this is based on the worst of the two pairs of borders (top/bottom or left/right). If the top/bottom centering is 51/49 (close to 50/50) but the left/right border is 57/43 (farther away from 50/50 and worse than the 55/45 to still be a 10) then it would be a 9 grade overall (assuming the other grading factirs were fine). Fill and Fray are explained in the glossary section, but typically do not have a significant impact on the overall grade, so you do not need to be to concerned with those. Note, in the more detailed TAG S report you do get Corner Surface Wear (CSW) and Edge Surface Wear (ESW) scores in addition to the Fill and Fray Scores, and those scores are more impactful to the grade. But for the TAG X report focus on the DINGS section. Feel free to reach out if your have further questions. Note, I don't work for TAG but just an enthusiast. MINT 9 CENTERING Front image centered within a tolerance of ~60/40 and back image within ~90/10 (Sports) or ~75/25 (TCG). CORNERS Corners will still appear sharp and square. Up to two very light corner touches, where the stock has been compromised, and are visible on the front of the card, may be present. Multiple corner touches on the back will be present. More significant fill or fray artifacts are present under high resolution imagery. SURFACE A larger and deeper pit may be present. May have 2 or 3 small pits and/or a longer scratch not penetrating the gloss. May have a light but present print line or refractor line that runs the length of the card, vertically or horizontally. Has a minor print imperfection or multiple spots. A small scratch that penetrates the gloss on the back is visible. Multiple, more visible print lines present. EDGES Visible but minor edge surface wear on one or two edges. More significant fill or fray artifacts are present under high resolution imagery.

[@MewKnowNothing]

Say I purchased a card after someone sent theirs in.. could I view this on your website by entering the number or VIN!?

[@AxelNotHuman]

@MewKnowNothing I haven't tried this yet but yeah I think if you have the number or QR CODE, you should be able to find the report about the card. 👍

[@BeBenNova]

20:56 ''50/50 off 5 points'' *screams into a pillow*

[@AxelNotHuman]

@@BeBenNova 🫠🥲

[@Obbss]

Wouldn’t psa be better than since they do 60/40

[@williamedwards8001]

Thanks making this video! I’ve been looking for more reviews like this for TAG

[@AxelNotHuman]

@@williamedwards8001 you bet 🫡

[@shiektal]

Hey Axel! Great display piece, glad you sent a shipment off to them. TAG looks nice compared to the paper slips. I think that the printing on the slab and the like, leaderboard (?) they have. They have a lot of niceties that I hope catch on. I think PSA will always remain king but the paper slips drive me crazy with how crummy they look. TAG and ARS are my jam for real. Great vid.

[@AxelNotHuman]

Hey! Yeah you're def right about the paper slips 🤢 But yeah long as people keep riding PSA's balls it will be the only option for most. ARS is god tier for sure! but thanks for watching 🫡

[@mobilePCreviews]

@12:08 I think you're getting the centering confused, it's percentage based, the center of the image is 57% more to the left than the right which is pretty terrible. It's even visible from the first image you show of the card. It's horribly mis-centered and easily visible to the naked eye which is why it got a 9.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@mobilePCreviews thanks for the comment. I'll definitely take another look at it. 👍

[@ayden8p26]

I would definitely reach out to their customer service about the photo mixup and the damage to your cards, which as others have mentioned you have the proof from the photos they took. TAG is only a company of 50 people and I know from being in their discord they were swamped because of the holidays and had a lot of people out sick at the same time. The only reason I can think of for your QR code not working is perhaps there was an issue while it was being etched into the slab. I would double check with your other slabs to see if it's slab specific. I personally sent a 40+ card sub to them in November and I was beyond pleased with it and didn't run into any of the issues you did.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@ayden8p26 I haven't yet cause I'm not too worried about it haha but I will. I figured he holiday and knew they would be slammed so I can give some understanding. I'm not mad just confused about a few things and just that damaged card. But still my favorite slabs 🫡

[@JonathonAlaniz-m6h]

The slabs are really nice and clean, but their grading seems super strict 😪 I check the graded cards on their site. I've seen cards that have 1 ding, but it is barely noticeable and you get a 9 😭 But I do like the card feedback they give you on their website

[@AxelNotHuman]

@JonathonAlaniz-m6h yeah I know but that is the whole point of grading right haha 😅 guess it depends on how severe the damage is.

[@Vince96711]

It depends. There's a video of a guy sending in previously graded PSA 8 cards, and they come back at a 10 from TAG on multiple cards.

[@leonardogomez4741]

I am confused, at @19:00 you mention that the centering is off. But isn't 53-47 within 55-45? 50-50 51-49 52-48 *53-47* 54-46 55-45 Am i missing something???

[@leonardogomez4741]

Like I don't understand why the Charizard & Braixen didn't get a 10.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@@leonardogomez4741 Thats what I'm saying 🤷🏻‍♂Maybe with Top & Bottom centering adds up to being a 9?

[@leonardogomez4741]

@@AxelNotHuman Yeah they need to clarify that, PSA seems to be more lenient - For PSA 10: The image must be centered on the card within a tolerance not to exceed approximately 55/45 to 60/40 percent on the front, and 75/25 percent on the reverse Maybe PSA is still the better choice, even if you have to wait longer.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@@leonardogomez4741 Truth to that for sure, I should've show the PSA 10s I have that are clearly not 10s 😅 Yeah def go with the most popular option if you're looking to sell 👍🏻

[@ayden8p26]

Both the T/B and L/R centering on the front need to be within the 55/45 range which it wasn't on the T/B with a 58/42. That's the reason it got the 9. TAG's centering criteria for a 10 is stricter than PSA which is 60/40 on the front for a 10

[@hil-3000]

Yea man tag has the best looking graded card look.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@hil-3000 💪 it's all personal preference but I agree 👍

[@hoiming]

I can provide a quick guide on how to read the DIG Report for TAG X As you are probably discovering, the quickest way to determine what were the main factors affecting the card's grade is to focus on the DINGS section of the report (the rest of the report is good information but not as important for determining your grade). Then you compare that to the grading rubric. Let's look at the 9 Grade Rubric (see below). So if in the DINGS section we two front corner defects and it got a 9, we can likely conclude that there were considered light corner touches (which we see in the rubric would bring it to a 9). I will also note that the 4 grading factors (Centering, Corners, Surface, Edges) do not compound. Typically whatever factor is the worst will mostly impact the grade. Say everything is perfect, but say you have minor edge wear on one or two edges, your card will be a 9 based on the edges alone. If you also had those edge wear, but had centering of 64/36 (which would be in the 8 range for centering), the card would get a 8 grade. The edges don't combine with the centering to take it below an 8 (7.5 for example). I think others have already explained centering, but yes 55/45 is the worst centering you can get and still be a 10 (PSA allows down to 60/40 per their website). And this is based on the worst of the two pairs of borders (top/bottom or left/right). If the top/bottom centering is 51/49 (close to 50/50) but the left/right border is 57/43 (farther away from 50/50 and worse than the 55/45 to still be a 10) then it would be a 9 grade overall (assuming the other grading factirs were fine). Fill and Fray are explained in the glossary section, but typically do not have a significant impact on the overall grade, so you do not need to be to concerned with those. Note, in the more detailed TAG S report you do get Corner Surface Wear (CSW) and Edge Surface Wear (ESW) scores in addition to the Fill and Fray Scores, and those scores are more impactful to the grade. But for the TAG X report focus on the DINGS section. Feel free to reach out if your have further questions. Note, I don't work for TAG but just an enthusiast. MINT 9 CENTERING Front image centered within a tolerance of ~60/40 and back image within ~90/10 (Sports) or ~75/25 (TCG). CORNERS Corners will still appear sharp and square. Up to two very light corner touches, where the stock has been compromised, and are visible on the front of the card, may be present. Multiple corner touches on the back will be present. More significant fill or fray artifacts are present under high resolution imagery. SURFACE A larger and deeper pit may be present. May have 2 or 3 small pits and/or a longer scratch not penetrating the gloss. May have a light but present print line or refractor line that runs the length of the card, vertically or horizontally. Has a minor print imperfection or multiple spots. A small scratch that penetrates the gloss on the back is visible. Multiple, more visible print lines present. EDGES Visible but minor edge surface wear on one or two edges. More significant fill or fray artifacts are present under high resolution imagery.

[@AxelNotHuman]

Awesome thanks for the info! Wondering why the bad dings don't combine. But yes I spent some time after making the video on the website reading over everything. Hopefully everyone reads your comment to clarify the things I missed. 🫡

[@hoiming]

@AxelNotHuman it's similar to the BGS method, and really it's the industry standard, just don't see in action without the subgrades for those graders without subgrades. I think you might be familiar with the BGS subgrades, but basically if say you have all 7 subgrades, it stays a 7 overall, they don't combine to make it a 6 or something. The overall grade also is usually close to the lowest subgrade as well. If you have a 10/10/10/5, the highest overall grade you can get is a 6, one grade higher than the lowest subgrade of 5. Which is similar to how TAG does it as well. Also if you ever get the TAG S report you'll get sub scores at each corner or edge for example and that level it does compound. Four corners or 900 will give you a corner score of less than 900 because it basically means you have four corners with some wear and a 9 only allows two bad corners, so the overall corner score will be like in the 800s or something.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@@hoiming Oh I see. that makes sense. Thanks for all the information! 👍🏻

[@Bullseye_Mike1]

Have a question, did you use the submission kit or no? Just curious what the difference is.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@Bullseye_Mike1 no I didn't, and all it is they just send you all the packaging for your cards to send to them.

[@Bullseye_Mike1]

Thanks 👍

[@AxelNotHuman]

@Bullseye_Mike1 🫡 you gonna grade some?

[@Bullseye_Mike1]

I want to soon hopefully. Have a small collection, nothing graded yet. Just have to decide which ones. Then by the end of February I'll be using TAG for grading.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@Bullseye_Mike1 cool man, definitely keep me updated 💪

[@biggens2222]

27:56 also you do have pictures to prove they damaged it. They took them for you.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@biggens2222 oh right! Idk how I forgot that 🫡

[@ForesterFX]

I think you're misreading the centering metric. I *think* that the 55-45 is a range, so if those two numbers fall within 55-45, then it's a positive. If either number is above 55 or below 45, then it's outside the centering range. Thank you for the in-depth look! And I appreciate you showing some PSA 10's that would absolutely be 9's on TAG or Beckett.

[@AxelNotHuman]

Yeah just a lot of numbers being thrown at us, took a min to figure out. lol And you bet,Transparency is key 🫡

[@richy4812]

Insane how 2 points off centering gives a 9 . Not even bgs is that strict if the card in every other category is a 10z

[@AxelNotHuman]

Very true 😓 but if you can show me why its wrong I'm okay with that and helps me keep an eye for next ones I send in.

[@Bullseye_Mike1]

I haven't done grading, but I feel the primary factor for choosing a grading service, is the card itself & caliber of collector. My critique about TAG , is the QR code shouldn't be confusing. You should know exactly why it does or doesn't work. Seems like maybe a "how to list" for that should be right on the box. That's just my opinion knowing you used them multiple times now. Do you mean QR just doesn't work, or can't find your cards ? If it's the QR code not working at all. My only comment is c'mon, it's the 21st century, I looked at the team of people on the about page. Someone's college education should be able to figure out a QR code. The bigger question, can you manually search the number at least for authentication? And if you were to sell a card , could someone potentially easily look it up? Do you think TAG is good for all cards? For example if it's several hundred $$$ card , would you still be using TAG? Or at that point just using the PSA since it's the "go to" for most people it seems. 😂 Just a side note, TAG really should look at your channel, you deserve a discount or something for the free advertising.

[@AxelNotHuman]

Yo! And yeah tried scanning the QR Code and doesn't work 🤷‍♂️ i can log in and see all my cards but if I sell it, I think they'll have to use the number on the side. I'm not sure. And I think nowadays it doesn't matter. Most people probably prefer PSA, but if you have an expensive card in any sort of slab, it's gonna go for some money. And I sent them the video and they saw my story, but gave no reaction to it, so okay then. 😅🥲

[@Bullseye_Mike1]

Glad you made the video, TAG is still my #1 potentially. I have cards I like but not of high value. So I think TAG is good for that reason, for me at least. Really the reason people grade anything is just having a third party give unbiased input. My big critique for card vendors. Too many people turn away pokemon cause it doesn't say "PSA... " On top. Where controversy begins and never ends. Watching some vendors, I feel it's even perpetual paranoia. 😂 If everyone is being honest it shouldn't matter that much. Just both sides agree on the grading itself.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@@Bullseye_Mike1 I mean I've sold Tag Cards at my past shows so they do sell 👍🏻 But I see your point. I just cant stand the inconsistency with PSA just feels we are all being scammed.

[@ReinfjellPaperHands]

My problem with PSA is that their standard have changed during the years. And it will probably change again. So a psa 10 can range all between a psa 7-10 if you regrade it. This is not my opinion this is a fact. The issue is within the insane price premium of a psa 10 contra a 9 or a 8. Some old certs and new ones, but mostly old certs of psa do have some whitening and scratches/print lines on the holo. Today standards would never tolerate this for a psa 10. With whitening and scratches you are lucky to get a psa 8. I dont know if TAG is the next big grading company but ai technology is absolutely the way to go forward for grading. If psa and the other companies want to improve they should implement the same kind of technology going forward or I fear that TAG or some other ai grading company will slowly but surely take the grading market. On a last note the TAG slabs do look very good.

[@AxelNotHuman]

Think you said what were all thinking 👆🏻

[@tyholland3101]

Psa supreme

[@AxelNotHuman]

Maybe branch out a little 😅

[@tyholland3101]

@AxelNotHuman why? Other companys are much harder to sell. Not as profitable. Even from a collection standpoint. Why wouldnt u go with the standard of pokemon graded cards.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@tyholland3101 Personality, i think the idea of grading is a scam but if you can get that bag then whatever works lol

[@tyholland3101]

@@AxelNotHuman cant call it a scam. When everyone knows exactly what they get. Its a market. Nothing scam about it. People know the risks. Benefits. What they purchase etc. And psa is the best at all of it.

[@Doors067]

​@tyholland3101 not everyone wants to get a 150 dollar upcharge because a card they bought from a 4 buck pack grades a 10 and now costs more then a whole months discretionary spending

[@biggens2222]

Man your content is good but you’re such a PSA hater 😂😂😂. You bring up the photos on the website as being such a cool feature, next two cards have the wrong photo and you don’t care 😂 You rag on the PSA10 tag team card as being titled, then when TAG say your centering is off you say you don’t really know much with the borders on tag team. Then these dudes have literally damaged your card after grading it. Hating on PSA has become a personality type of some of the community 😂. The information in this report is great, and PSA need to adopt this transparent method of grading for sure. But this second tier companies just won’t hold value right.

[@AxelNotHuman]

@biggens2222 haha I've just seen how they treat cards and the countless videos of getting grades that are not accurate. But you're right and I think tag looks the best but they need to fix the issues they have. If anything this proves all grading company's are a scam in some way but if you can make money off better grades then who cares 😅 and as far as value goes I've had no problem selling any graded cards for either company's. PSA is fine i just have a problem with a monopoly and trust me i know I'm speaking out of line talking bad about them, like trying to convince apple users android is better. Fighting a losing battle lol