The TRUTH Behind SPORTS CARD INVESTORs Look at ISA GRADING

[@michael33175]

A lot of good points you mentioned!! No ISA for me

[@bigson1973]

You went into this with total idea to tear it down. Maybe do some research prior to creating a negative review video. 1. This is not a brand new start up as you say they are. 2. Have you priced gas or eggs or anything else since 2019? 3. Everybody is not in the hobby to make quick money selling their cards. 4. Have you personally inspected their product or did you just watch a video and base your opinion on that? I don't use ISA or have any affiliation with them, but I'm certainly not going to make a video bashing them unless I have personal experience with them.

[@herbcanter2614]

They are a pretty good company. I have grade with them no problem.

[@ryangoble2624]

i love the look of isa products i send all my pc to isa no issues at all

[@JacksonLloyd-o2h]

Awesome

[@terrywright867]

Tyler - new to the market. Loved your ISA review. What is your take on the TAG group? Their process of grading is more tech influenced. I'm interested of your thoughts?

[@simondaughtry4619]

Today is the last day I'll ever hear about ISA....

[@t-pott4504]

Tyler here from SCI We try to capture the entire Hobby with our content, whether articles, videos, or social posts. Everyone is free to make their own conclusions. What is undeniable is that ISA was open enough to show their process. PSA is certainly the incumbent and commands a premium. Some people have had bad experiences with PSA and look for other options. Grading has a lot of personal preference, but it’s clear that PSA is king. It does remain to be seen how many companies will last in the grading space. We have reached a saturation point. Cheers

[@warhammerfaction]

Cool to see you here I wish psa would let y’all do this

[@christopheredward8837]

If you don’t know who Jason is the pockets are very deep that’s why they got that start up pretty quick he’s a big player in the card game privately if I’m not mistaken Daniel is his son Love their grading company customer service is through the roof

[@rjgesq.8967]

Jason Koonce is a known card trimmer..............

[@otiasports]

Known… you know from that anonymous list 😅

[@fortysomething7667]

csg is a very nice slab...bgs is still #1 to me. Psa is all hype

[@billgober2]

They might be all hype but they run the market. I can sell a PSA9 for more than 10s of most of the other companies. If you want your card to gain next to nothing for the money you spend on the grading then use something other than PSA or BGS which is also acceptable by most people. Regardless of the way slabs look there is literally no purpose to the grade of no one trusts the grade.

[@kadencichoski8864]

You are wrong about 1 thing- They have been around since 2010. Also before you judge the holders you should hold one in hand... They are pretty good quality, Id say ive experienced more bounce with PSA/BGS than ISA/ SGC. I submit most to SGC PSA ISA. Becketts holders are cool yea but their customer service does not exist.

[@michaelheath312]

Try selling ISA very few buyers

[@TylerShort]

It's very tough indeed. Crowded space

[@gregdavis7738]

Very odd that at 5:00 mark, the employee checking in the cards is not gloved and at 17:53 mark a card is put into the case showing a card not held by a gloved hand but at other points in the video the workers are gloved.

[@NYYanksFan7]

According to the ISA website they started in 2010 and offered on-site grading at the National that year, so I wouldn't necessarily classify them as as a start-up.

[@TylerShort]

Yeah that's a good call out. It looks like they have had a recent change of ownership and are trying to expand, similar ot SGC a few years ago in their rebranding. I've been in cards for a while, especially grading and I've never heard of them up until a year ago, and I feel like I've heard most of the low budget grading companies.

[@PIP-zf9yb]

They have little to no chance to make any dent in the market

[@mickey-eq5vw]

yea they been around for a while its weird

[@raymondheflin-jr1ls]

​@@PIP-zf9yb tons of people use them lol they be around for 25 years so that's pretty good lol

[@raymondheflin-jr1ls]

I use them because they get my cards back to me in 5 days for $10 a card and I still sell the hell out of them on whatnot. It's not the great and company it's the cardthat's in the case that I sell. It can degrade by my little cousin at PSP grading and I'm still going to get the best money if it's a fire card

[@wuckytucky13]

It’s fun watching the jealousy from these guys about Wilson. The projection is so hard yet they don’t see how he lives rent free in their head.

[@michaelwalker6840]

If Wilson is connected in any way, shape, or form to any company go in with your eyes wide open.

[@xumuskiefan12]

ISA IS NOT A STARTUP. The truth is you should do some research. ISA has been around for over 12 years. They have gained market share since the pandemic. They are a great grading company. You might want to research the owner, Jason.

[@hockeycardrookiesslimscrap1588]

Tyler they are a good company the owner used to be a psa top dog

[@billgober2]

Then why is their stuff worth dog ish? It can look pretty all day but until they are worth something most people won't bother with them.

[@hockeycardrookiesslimscrap1588]

I paid 299$ for a cam Neely rc 10 I only got 450$ for it but the card did look good 👍 in my opinion I like Beckett the best tho

[@kinggrom1]

Tyler short should discuss the hobby with sports card radio, Raw you tubers.

[@TylerShort]

I'm telling you man, you guys make that happen, I'd totally be down to talk it up with the SCR guys!

[@patrickgarrison1875]

Started seeing ISA graded cards on Whatnot streams and they usually sell for raw prices. I loathe Geoff Wilson

[@etowood]

100%. I got a package with some cards from what not and I got 3 different cards saying “we do group submissions with ISA” lol felt like an ad. However, the cards I do have from isa, are pretty sturdy

[@revird2647]

1400 (anything) x 5 (business days) x 4 (regular weeks) = 28,000 (cards in this case) thats a lot of anything in for a month

[@joshuas1513]

It’s crazy that this company has supposedly been around for 10+ years. Never heard of them and never seen a slab in person. I’ll stick to PSA lol

[@PIP-zf9yb]

Especially when the price is the same to grade as psa basically. 18 bucks vs 19 for psa.

[@averagejohnsportscards]

Tyler - You are 1000% correct. The CSG slabs are fantastic and Beckett has the best holder in the industry. Excellent point at the end of the video as well on the SGC sales model. Spot on.

[@Cardsaremyhustle]

What the hobby needs is a set grading standard so the companies don’t matter

[@lapp3r30shockeycardflips]

So there were 3 graders there from the area they show. 8 hours a day x 60 mins = 480 mins in a work day x 3 graders = 1440 minutes amongst those graders. They said their biggest day was 1800 cards that's 48 seconds per card.

[@tommayrant2279]

Geoff getting ready to crossover his PSA cards to ISA?

[@rara1996]

Just on visual observation alone; a CEO who wears his hat backwards in the office concerns me 😂😂

[@mcee1993]

Reading a comment and taking it seriously from someone with a cartoon as their profile concerns me 😂

[@rara1996]

@@mcee1993 i was told if i had kids thats what he would look like so i went with it

[@LetsStormTheTeaCupRide]

Geoff didn't exactly give him big dollar cards to grade. I highly doubt they are doing that much per day. Just words. Never heard of them, nor would I ever use them, especially at the same price point as the bigger, more reputable companies. A big time pass.

[@gregdavis7738]

I do understand paying more for quicker turn around time because if you intend to flip the graded card and while waiting to get it back in weeks or months the player has either had an injury that ends their season or career, has been benched because they are in a contract dispute or traded to a team that does not showcase the player, or had a legal issue or PED issue that ruins their value forever. Fortune favors the bold. Just try to keep from paying a fortune for grading or use a gold standard grading company if you do. But who grades the grading companies? Branding with rock solid integrity is the only thing that will hold value in the long term but being first no matter the price will always find a buyer.

[@grumpycardcollector4292]

My card put in a penny sleeve has a lot a more value that an ISA GEM 10. Outside of the big 4 graders anything else is worthless plastic.

[@billgober2]

Exactly

[@raymondheflin-jr1ls]

That's a lie 😂😂

[@HobbyChamps]

I just don't see any reason to grade with them. There's nothing to set them apart from the others. At least a new TPG like TAG offers things the others don't. To top it off, aesthetically, their slabs are subpar.

[@TylerShort]

Same, I just really don't think we need another grading company. Unless you're at $5/$6 or less, and your primary focus is to slab/protect the card as a service, no grading at all, I just don't see the need here.

[@mc386106]

I both couldn’t agree more and couldn’t agree less. Let me explain. I couldn’t agree more because reality is the hobby is too stubborn and bullheaded to legitimately give a newcomer a chance, especially if they don’t offer anything new like TAG clearly does. I couldn’t agree less, only because in theory we should love having new companies come in and compete and the market should give them a chance. However, since reality is the hobby won’t give a new company a chance, even a company like TAG seems really likely to struggle, it feels like this company will only be able to do so much.

[@HobbyChamps]

@Michael Chapman I'm all for competition in the marketplace. But as I stated, at least TAG does things that set them apart and their slabs are awesome looking. ISA is essentially "just another archaic manual TPG". And their slabs are pretty ugly to boot.

[@chuckmcbuckets6011]

Dude i need to open a grading company..holy piss! 😂😂

[@mc386106]

@@HobbyChamps I understand. I guess my point about competition is more aimed at the fact that PSA and Beckett and others are bad enough as manual graders in terms of quality and consistency as well that new companies should theoretically get looks to see if they may in fact be better. Instead, PSA has a cult following so it’s PSA or bust, which doesn’t end up holding their feet to the fire to continue to improve and get better. That’s why I say theoretically we should want companies like ISA by the off chance they ultimately produce a better and more consistently graded product. Not saying they will, but them being dead on arrival means it’s unlikely PSA feels any real need to evaluate how they’re doing things. And I just want competition so these companies do work to get better all the time.

[@raymondheflin-jr1ls]

This guy is the biggest hater 😂😂😂

[@Bowman_is_king]

They are getting a lot of cards from resellers, they have a quick turnaround time so it becomes a quantity over quality thing.

[@billgober2]

Exactly as if you go into whatnot and watch auctions there are so many guys selling ISA cards because it cost them next to nothing to get 100 cards graded. It adds 0 value to the cards and if people are jumping on those it's just stupid.

[@Rick-w2o]

CEO is hat backwards guy. Don't need to see anymore...

[@randomsalmon4603]

how is it that people don't have their own jewelers loops to look at the cards before you send them off? I have a loop with a built-in ruler so I can do the research myself before sending anything to any grading company.

[@Cardsaremyhustle]

There cheapest price is $18 for a 10 business turnaround. $35 for 2 day turnaround.

[@carscards7284]

1400 cards a day.... Equals 7-8 thousand cards a month??? 🤔 I guess they only grade on Mondays and the occasional Fridays. MIND BOTTLING!

[@otiasports]

Closer to 1700 a day now…

[@scottsmith2518]

This company is been around for well over 10 years. These guts I believe bought it from the original owner. I been using them since 2009 or 2010. They where around before that

[@mickey-eq5vw]

Wtf are people taking crazy pills ISA has been around for over a decade!!! Isa had a fan base in the 2010's but they fell off bgs n psa just took over the space but ISA never stopped grading tho, I heard they're owner was a huge collector/flipper thats been around a long time, Isa was familiar to a lot of people in the hobby years ago

[@cardboardcheddah3715]

I just wish these companies had subgrades or grader notes for their customers who aren’t able to meet the grader in person. 🤦‍♂️

[@egyptianhebrew91]

What does ISA GRADING stand for? very little imagination with the slab and labels. TYLER if you like to get into this space i would suggest real gold and silver labels with crystal slaps with very high end priced cards.

[@robertcremeens3166]

Oh no it looks like the flawed SGC holder with the cut outs that damage your cards. Nope Nope & Nope!

[@TylerShort]

YES! I hate that thing! It damages cards and doesn't fit the card in a "snug" way. It rattles

[@livinwithlt]

Dude, I've been following you for a while. I got to say you're one of the best channels out there that are raw and authentic. I also appreciate your honesty. I would love to collab with you one day. Keep up the great work

[@harjimbaugh4234]

Geoff Wilson's shirt is about 2 sizes too small...

[@TylerShort]

lolol

[@JChamberlin]

I wonder how many of those 1400 cards a day they claim to grade are subbed at the publicly stated prices versus how many are bulk discounts. That bulk submitter who had hundreds of cards sitting on that table likely has a special deal like 4 Sharp Corners has with PSA. If you can submit low end $1-2 cards for say $5-10, I could see a bulk flipper doing okay on eBay. I just don't know how low ISA would be willing to go on their bulk discount pricing.

[@TylerShort]

This right here. I have to imagine the bulk of their business is super cheap bulk discount deals in the $6 range or less.

[@mccartycards]

18$ a card for 10 day turnaround? No thank you I don’t like to lose money!

[@step69]

They said 5 days

[@billgober2]

​@@step69 idc what the turnaround is $18 for no added value is stupid.

[@raymondheflin-jr1ls]

Said 5 days but you will pay $45 and wait 3 months for a PSA slab and by time you get it back the card is worth 0 ok 😂😂😂

[@kenhowell2280]

Start ups have to start somewhere. Love the QR code. Not crazy about the backwards hat CEO but I think I would still give them a shot. It’s hard to flip cards with long turn around time like PSA.

[@taithoodenpyl3594]

Well said! Seemed like and overly harsh review.

[@step69]

They are not a start-up. They have been in business for over a decade.

[@TylerShort]

New owners, rebrading, it's basically a start up. Semantics

[@step69]

@@TylerShort New owners doesn't equal a new start-up. They wouldn't get 1400 orders a week as a start-up in today's card market. New means new, not 13 years equals new. Not semantics at all.

[@speedy-jay]

im perfectly fine keeping my cards in top loaders the only reason i submit to psa, is because you can increase the cards value. none of these start up grading companys can do that. there pointless.

[@step69]

Not a start-up. This reviewer is clueless about what he is actually reviewing.

[@step69]

Not a start-up unless you cosider a company that has been around for 13 years, a start-up.

[@raymondheflin-jr1ls]

Not a startup company and it doesn't matter what company grades your cars all that matters is how much somebody's willing to buy the card for It can be in a penny sleeve top loader grading holder it doesn't matter lol

[@richardhall954]

I can get cards returned in about 4 days for over half the price and about 3 months earlier than the others. Good for me. I'll take a card selling for $100 in less than 1 month rather than waiting 3-6 months. Maybe check the web site of the 'start up" company to see if they are a start up. Been around for over 10 years. I'll wait for your shitty review of HGA since I believe they are the NEW kids on the block.

[@raymondheflin-jr1ls]

Best comment 😂😂

[@tomgrant3671]

ISA grading has been around for a decade or so? Its not new. Koonce has owned them for a few years. This is just marketing bs hype. Want to burn money at least head to Vegas and have some fun while doing so.

[@IcebergCaptain]

Head grader sounds like his s is related to Fetterman……

[@mcee1993]

ISA slabs by favors my favorite I’ve sent them downtowns and some high end cards and gotten close to psa value . Customer service and quality is top notch the look and feel of the slab jn person is 💯 I hope they blow up they’re doing everything right Your review was a bit over board tbh

[@diamondbackcardsnest]

His review was more than fair. These slabs are cheap and they are not doing anything revolutionary. There is zero reason to use these guys. I'm guessing your defense of them is due to being a friend or having some type of stake in this new company.

[@jonfishmacon]

ugly slab :(

[@lonestarlivebreaks3575]

They have been grading since 2010

[@BobBoozle]

Not buying any ISA graded cards unless they are under $1.

[@bafoley]

I've watched mukbang videos that had better information and more objective criticism.

[@TylerShort]

And yet here you are giving me clicks.

[@bafoley]

@@TylerShort Save up and get a haircut.

[@JB-dv3to]

Maybe Geoff is a silent partner in this.... He wouldn't ever use a different company himself other then PSA or SGC... And I will never hand my cards to anyone to submit for me. Especially non Numbered cards so they can trade them out. I don't trust it.

[@RJSamonte]

Don't forget HGA. I actually like their customizable labels and sub grades.

[@dexflotoys6714]

new grading company lmao, you know he had to have beenpaid well to do this knowing full well this company will probably fail in a saturated market

[@661fish4]

What did you mean by SGC ripping people off? Educate me.

[@jbscardbreaks4389]

There’s only 3 companies I trust for any capacity of grading and I’ve been in the hobby 30 years . 1. PSA for modern 2. SGC for vintage 3. Shoebox app for raw prescreening

[@Newman1222]

Psa will grade stolen and altered card’s so it’s all basically wasted time and money just piece of plastic pick your scammer and submit

[@mickey-eq5vw]

I think Csg's lebron was an actual submitted card, Csg been around since 87 a lot of people were anticipating there jump into sports and thought Csg's first card would give it value i think its s group submitters Lebron, def looked off center tho 😂 Good critique! I agree on sgc 100%, It seems like you wanna start a business in sports collectables but not sure where to start?

[@smbmostfamous1432]

if u wanna sell then psa of u gonna keep send to anyone who cares about the grading companies just another video NEXT..

[@cgbach]

Jeff pisses me off. Can’t stand his voice. Glad you did a reaction to this.

[@otiasports]

Tyler, I shot you a message on IG

[@marcwilliams5027]

And you stated you would pay $3 for slabs. The cost on the holders are more than that. Try doing some research before you post a video.

[@TylerShort]

No they are not. You can't be that naive.

[@marcwilliams5027]

@@TylerShort Nice try. As you say "Champ". All Plastic is up due to the lock downs in China due to covid (that is why supply price are up). And if you are shipping supplies thru west coast ports it is taking longer to get to the US than East Coast ports. But, It also cost more, right now to get your merchandise thru East coast ports. But, you will receive it quicker. That is a FACT not Opinion.

[@markarcarisi7275]

Sounds like a big scam company that's why he's there they both have alot in common when it comes to cards lol

[@parabellumgaming5031]

That is one god damn ugly looking slab. From the knock off PSA label to the hybrid SGC tuxedo, just is not eye appealing at all. Transparent Grading Team actually gave you all scans access of your card with notes on what issues you had. TGT is now Arena Club and they still keep those scans on in your profile, which I am a fan of. As a collector, if I was unlucky enough to by a card in one of these slabs I will be sending to my local grading company here in OZ to re-slab without hesitation!!

[@thelistofjustin1356]

Seems like you are just looking for reasons to be angry about this. Missing anything positive waiting on moment to rage. Not a good review.

[@timbedair4003]

I just discovered your channel and have watched a few videos so far. I have to say i love your honesty I completely agree unless your grading them for PC and you dont care about value increase why wouldnt you send them to a top 5 company at least? Thanks keep doing these videos!

[@TylerShort]

Much appreciated Tim! Welcome to the community, and that's my goal, keep it 100% honest

[@PIP-zf9yb]

Lowest rate on website is 18 bucks. Who wpuld be dumb enough to send to these guys lol

[@marcwilliams5027]

This person obviously doesn't know anything about this company. He doesn't know any about the people who work for the company or anything about the owner. When psa a started they would call to submit cards. Before you talk you should get the facts about what you are talking about.

[@TylerShort]

Oh, so I suppose you work for the company? Are you trying to tell me in your other comment that you are paying > $3 per unit in bulk for plastic holders? Okay champ

[@marcwilliams5027]

And before the covid crisis, the cheapest bulk deal you could. Get was $3.50 from the 2 biggest graded companies and you would have to send in 2,000 + cards on a regular bases.

[@marcwilliams5027]

You should have stated in this piece "This is my opinion" There have been too many people putting out videos bashing people reps and they don't have facts of even the knowledge on the business.

[@oarancards4443]

Who cares

[@otiasports]

A lot of people as ISA is currently grading the 3rd most cards

[@jr5345]

Good video. Problem is nobody is looking past PSA. You can have 20 grading companies and have the same card graded as a 10 from each but you will only get interest and the most money from PSA. Yeah you have some interest in SGC, BGS, and maybe CGS but until you can get equal money for the same grade from each it's not going matter financially. I was at the Culture Collision Show this weekend and a dealer told me he only buys PSA 10's. Looking around at all the tables I would say most of the cards were in PSA holders. Beckett, CSG, and SGC were even there taking orders. I personally like SGC and CSG more than PSA. PSA sucks, I mean what is with the up charges? Do they do something different when handling those, I doubt it. It's their way of getting more money for the value of your card. I get it, you can't blame them right, I mean look at the prices of hobby and retail boxes in 2021. Topps and Panini said hey we want some of that secondary market too. Oh and yeah, no way SCI has anything but PSA. He is not grading with these companies. Which as stated before. If I plan on selling something I will use PSA, for me keeping, if not already graded most likely SGC or CGS.

[@TheMusicman95382]

most cards are PSA butThere is no comparison in price when it comes to psa 10 vs bgs 10. At minimum bgs 10 is 1 and a half times more, sometimes 2x more than a psa 10.

[@step69]

They are NOT a new start-up. You should do your homework before slamming someone in a review. ISA has been around for about 13 years. Also, almost all authenticators can't really do the job they get paid to do. I see people on KZbin cracking psa 9's and getting psa 10s, which is inexcusable.

[@alphaomega9563]

PSA is a scam so many people getting back terrible grades and theres nothing they can do to challenge it but CEO of psa gets 10's on every card

[@billgober2]

I don't have a problem so maybe people are sending in trash and should stop sending in trash.