Introducing the First Truly Automated Grading Company: TAG

gomaz · 05-30-2022, 04:31 PM

I am excited to host the founder of TAG on Sports Cards Live this Tuesday at 9pm ET / 6pm PT

This is episode 1 of a 5-part series where the hobby will get to meet the management and development teams, learn about this innovative company and the technology they spent 10 years developing. You do not want to miss this as I suspect they are the grading disrupter the hobby has been waiting for.

Here is a direct link to the episode on YouTube: TAG: Meet the Founder, Steve Kass

sportscollect · 05-30-2022, 04:32 PM

Here we go again SMH

Sent from my SM-F926U using Tapatalk

CheapThief · 05-30-2022, 04:43 PM

I cannot figure out why so many people are (presumably) dumping millions into building 'better and more accurate grading systems' when nobody is really all that upset with the systems currently in place. Nobody thinks the current grading procedures are great, but the premium that graded cards get over raw cards tell you that the majority of collectors are 'more or less' fine with how the major TPGs currently grade. There isn't a competitive advantage to be sourced here.

The_Reverend · 05-30-2022, 04:57 PM

SMH, but they will make some money. People talk about wanting the most accurate grading, but most just want 10’s. The explosion of grading companies during the bubble was understandable, but now is just crazy! There are 4 companies in the grading sector that the overall hobby accepts. Some others have a place, but overall we all know who will get our best cards.

rngrdanny22 · 05-30-2022, 07:42 PM

If they don't have binary recentrification oligamorphic topopathy, I ain't using them.

SupermanBrandon · 05-30-2022, 08:59 PM

Oh boy!

49erRCCollector · 05-30-2022, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rngrdanny22

If they don't have binary recentrification oligamorphic topopathy, I ain't using them.

That’s the exact name of their proprietary technology.

Joking aside, I just don’t see the point of entering an already crowded field of new grading services.

discodanman45 · 05-30-2022, 10:40 PM

Opening a grading company right as PSA is going to be able to accept 800,000 extra cards a month in a down market. Will this company survive 2022? Probably not.

DetroitTN · 05-30-2022, 10:50 PM

It has a catchy name that's not just a mess of letters, so that is a positive for them at least

auburn35 · 05-31-2022, 10:46 AM

One of the named inventors of TAG was also in business with the card trimming organization, Orange County Sports Investments.
Will be interesting to hear if he's still involved with TAG.

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1315750

Quote:

Originally Posted by superdan49

Yes, the Scot Maxwell of OCSI in this trimming thread is the same Scot Maxwell who is listed as one of the inventors on the computerized grading system patent.

Grid · 05-31-2022, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by auburn35

One of the named inventors of TAG was also in business with the card trimming organization, Orange County Sports Investments.
Will be interesting to hear if he's still involved with TAG.

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1315750

Juicy!

discodanman45 · 05-31-2022, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by auburn35

One of the named inventors of TAG was also in business with the card trimming organization, Orange County Sports Investments.
Will be interesting to hear if he's still involved with TAG.

Well, we know that this question will not be asked during the episode. It should be though.

towerymt · 05-31-2022, 12:36 PM

You're it!

Don't get caught

SupermanBrandon · 05-31-2022, 02:05 PM

I've never been wrong about "new" grading companies. Take a guess at what my thoughts are...

pachyderm · 05-31-2022, 02:15 PM

With PSA nearing the end of their backlog with a capacity of nearly a million a month coupled with a huge slump in card prices, it doesn't seem like the best time to open a grading service unless you are charging $5 a card to gain some market share on price.

discodanman45 · 05-31-2022, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SupermanBrandon

I've never been wrong about "new" grading companies. Take a guess at what my thoughts are...

That in 6 months everyone will be cracking their PSA slabs to submit to TAG?

frenchquarter · 05-31-2022, 06:16 PM

I collect mostly 1910's tobacco cards. Among the 1000 questions that I would like to ask these guys is:

Are you aware that Type 3 T213's are normally narrower than the Type 1's and Type 2's?

Are you aware that T206's with American Beauty backs are normally narrower than most other T206's?

Are you aware that the Holsum Bread cards were made in 1920 and 1921, not just 1920 as many price guides suggest?

Do you know anything about vintage cards? Will your software know what it is looking at?

Beckett is well known for not knowing the ins and outs of tobacco cards and BVG isn't any better. Looking at CSG, I don't think that they are aware of the nuances of tobacco cards. SCG is good, and PSA is decent, but makes a lot of mistakes.

Does this new company care about pre-war cards? I doubt it. The big money for this type of grading will be in modern cards.

49erRCCollector · 05-31-2022, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frenchquarter

I collect mostly 1910's tobacco cards. Among the 1000 questions that I would like to ask these guys is:

Are you aware that Type 3 T213's are normally narrower than the Type 1's and Type 2's?

Are you aware that T206's with American Beauty backs are normally narrower than most other T206's?

Are you aware that the Holsum Bread cards were made in 1920 and 1921, not just 1920 as many price guides suggest?

Do you know anything about vintage cards? Will your software know what it is looking at?

Beckett is well known for not knowing the ins and outs of tobacco cards and BVG isn't any better. Looking at CSG, I don't think that they are aware of the nuances of tobacco cards. SCG is good, and PSA is decent, but makes a lot of mistakes.

Does this new company care about pre-war cards? I doubt it. The big money for this type of grading will be in modern cards.

This is a great point and can be applied to thousands of releases/variations over the years, including modern. How will they handle die cuts or cards like 2016 Donruss football with it's "snow" pattern (that could be read as damage), etc. What about a foil variant, etc.?

It feels like an impossible task.

notfast · 05-31-2022, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frenchquarter

I collect mostly 1910's tobacco cards. Among the 1000 questions that I would like to ask these guys is:

Are you aware that Type 3 T213's are normally narrower than the Type 1's and Type 2's?

Are you aware that T206's with American Beauty backs are normally narrower than most other T206's?

Are you aware that the Holsum Bread cards were made in 1920 and 1921, not just 1920 as many price guides suggest?

Do you know anything about vintage cards? Will your software know what it is looking at?

Beckett is well known for not knowing the ins and outs of tobacco cards and BVG isn't any better. Looking at CSG, I don't think that they are aware of the nuances of tobacco cards. SCG is good, and PSA is decent, but makes a lot of mistakes.

Does this new company care about pre-war cards? I doubt it. The big money for this type of grading will be in modern cards.

None of these questions matter.

This company will not be grading any cards like this nor should they. They also won’t be around to create a footprint in the industry to ever grade stuff like you listed.

frenchquarter · 06-01-2022, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notfast

None of these questions matter.

This company will not be grading any cards like this nor should they. They also won’t be around to create a footprint in the industry to ever grade stuff like you listed.

I agree.

YeahBuddy · 06-01-2022, 11:41 AM

ngl, this guy is pretty classy and very smart.

And a lot of it is very interesting. Curious where it will go.

i skipped around a bit, but a few minutes that is also interesting starts at 57 min mark.

YeahBuddy · 06-01-2022, 11:50 AM

what's weird is they talk about how they can install their pods at places and it can grade the cards , but I havent heard about who encapsulates i mean if its a "do it yourself" it opens a lot of doors for putting crap cards inside after a good one is graded.

Maybe they charge a small fee to grade it , just so .."you know" , but then if you want to encapsulate it you send it in where they run it through the machine again before encapsulating.

taggrading.com

SpartanWarrior · 06-01-2022, 12:57 PM

Interesting. Always give credit to folks willing to take risks and trying to come up with something different/new/better.

I'd be interested in hearing more about the potential to purchase whatever equipment is necessary to do the grading/slabbing. If it can be done in a few minutes this old man might even be willing to set up a small outlet and do same day grading and maybe even hit local shows to do the same (assuming the equipment can be moved from place to place).

Don't follow him on finding proof cards. How to determine that one particular card you pull in the back from a case is better than one I get in a case in the other side of the country. Not to mention that opening cards wearing gloves and hazmat like suits seems more likely to lead to card damage than me using my hands in the garage.

I agree that they may have to aim to find a niche market in modern grading and go after that - but who knows.

The one thing I didn't like was him saying they aren't really competing with PSA/SGC/etc. Hate to break it to him - but you are going to be competing with them. Just because there are billions of ungraded cards doesn't mean there are millions of people that will suddenly want to get those cards graded. Other than the folks wanting $10 grading - the people that value grading are already utilizing existing graders.

But best of luck to him.

DetroitTN · 06-01-2022, 04:38 PM

I won't lie, I'm not going to listen to it. But to those who did, what is the grading fee going to be?

discodanman45 · 06-01-2022, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DetroitTN

I won't lie, I'm not going to listen to it. But to those who did, what is the grading fee going to be?

He said they aren't interested in making money, so I assume it will be free. He said, "I don't know" in the interview.

They will have a 1000 point scale.

05-30-2022, 04:31 PM	#1
gomaz Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Calgary, AB Posts: 94	Introducing the First Truly Automated Grading Company: TAG I am excited to host the founder of TAG on Sports Cards Live this Tuesday at 9pm ET / 6pm PT This is episode 1 of a 5-part series where the hobby will get to meet the management and development teams, learn about this innovative company and the technology they spent 10 years developing. You do not want to miss this as I suspect they are the grading disrupter the hobby has been waiting for. Here is a direct link to the episode on YouTube: TAG: Meet the Founder, Steve Kass __________________ IG: @jlee_sportscardslive Twitter: @sportscardsliv1 YouTube.com/sportscardslive sportscardslive.com

05-30-2022, 10:40 PM	#8
discodanman45 Member Join Date: Jun 2020 Location: CA Posts: 9,805 danch27	Opening a grading company right as PSA is going to be able to accept 800,000 extra cards a month in a down market. Will this company survive 2022? Probably not. __________________ Always looking for rarer Rik Smits cards and cards from the 2014-15 Spectra Global Icons set. Send me a message!

05-30-2022, 10:50 PM	#9
DetroitTN Member Join Date: Mar 2022 Posts: 559	It has a catchy name that's not just a mess of letters, so that is a positive for them at least __________________ True adulthood means knowing the differences between "your" and "you're", "to" and "too", & "their", "they're", and "there".

05-31-2022, 12:36 PM	#13
towerymt Member Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: VA Posts: 8,809	You're it! Don't get caught __________________ In search of... 2018 Topps Chrome Update Max Scherzer #HMT77: Superfractor 2019 Topps Update Carter Kieboom #US109: Platinum

05-31-2022, 06:16 PM	#17
frenchquarter Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 715 buymycards! frenchquartercards	New grading company I collect mostly 1910's tobacco cards. Among the 1000 questions that I would like to ask these guys is: Are you aware that Type 3 T213's are normally narrower than the Type 1's and Type 2's? Are you aware that T206's with American Beauty backs are normally narrower than most other T206's? Are you aware that the Holsum Bread cards were made in 1920 and 1921, not just 1920 as many price guides suggest? Do you know anything about vintage cards? Will your software know what it is looking at? Beckett is well known for not knowing the ins and outs of tobacco cards and BVG isn't any better. Looking at CSG, I don't think that they are aware of the nuances of tobacco cards. SCG is good, and PSA is decent, but makes a lot of mistakes. Does this new company care about pre-war cards? I doubt it. The big money for this type of grading will be in modern cards.

05-30-2022, 04:32 PM	#2
sportscollect Member Join Date: Mar 2021 Posts: 154	Here we go again SMH Sent from my SM-F926U using Tapatalk

05-30-2022, 04:43 PM	#3
CheapThief Member Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: Pocket jacks gone horribly wrong. Posts: 487	I cannot figure out why so many people are (presumably) dumping millions into building 'better and more accurate grading systems' when nobody is really all that upset with the systems currently in place. Nobody thinks the current grading procedures are great, but the premium that graded cards get over raw cards tell you that the majority of collectors are 'more or less' fine with how the major TPGs currently grade. There isn't a competitive advantage to be sourced here.

05-30-2022, 04:57 PM	#4
The_Reverend Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Texas Posts: 15,376 islubi	SMH, but they will make some money. People talk about wanting the most accurate grading, but most just want 10’s. The explosion of grading companies during the bubble was understandable, but now is just crazy! There are 4 companies in the grading sector that the overall hobby accepts. Some others have a place, but overall we all know who will get our best cards.

05-30-2022, 07:42 PM	#5
rngrdanny22 Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 12,372	If they don't have binary recentrification oligamorphic topopathy, I ain't using them.

05-30-2022, 08:59 PM	#6
SupermanBrandon Banned Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: TN Posts: 15,843	Oh boy!

05-31-2022, 02:05 PM	#14
SupermanBrandon Banned Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: TN Posts: 15,843	I've never been wrong about "new" grading companies. Take a guess at what my thoughts are...

05-31-2022, 02:15 PM	#15
pachyderm Member Join Date: Apr 2021 Posts: 365	With PSA nearing the end of their backlog with a capacity of nearly a million a month coupled with a huge slump in card prices, it doesn't seem like the best time to open a grading service unless you are charging $5 a card to gain some market share on price.

06-01-2022, 11:41 AM	#21
YeahBuddy Member Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 980	ngl, this guy is pretty classy and very smart. And a lot of it is very interesting. Curious where it will go. i skipped around a bit, but a few minutes that is also interesting starts at 57 min mark.

06-01-2022, 11:50 AM	#22
YeahBuddy Member Join Date: Feb 2020 Posts: 980	what's weird is they talk about how they can install their pods at places and it can grade the cards , but I havent heard about who encapsulates i mean if its a "do it yourself" it opens a lot of doors for putting crap cards inside after a good one is graded. Maybe they charge a small fee to grade it , just so .."you know" , but then if you want to encapsulate it you send it in where they run it through the machine again before encapsulating. taggrading.com

06-01-2022, 12:57 PM	#23
SpartanWarrior Member Join Date: Aug 2021 Location: PA Posts: 270	Interesting. Always give credit to folks willing to take risks and trying to come up with something different/new/better. I'd be interested in hearing more about the potential to purchase whatever equipment is necessary to do the grading/slabbing. If it can be done in a few minutes this old man might even be willing to set up a small outlet and do same day grading and maybe even hit local shows to do the same (assuming the equipment can be moved from place to place). Don't follow him on finding proof cards. How to determine that one particular card you pull in the back from a case is better than one I get in a case in the other side of the country. Not to mention that opening cards wearing gloves and hazmat like suits seems more likely to lead to card damage than me using my hands in the garage. I agree that they may have to aim to find a niche market in modern grading and go after that - but who knows. The one thing I didn't like was him saying they aren't really competing with PSA/SGC/etc. Hate to break it to him - but you are going to be competing with them. Just because there are billions of ungraded cards doesn't mean there are millions of people that will suddenly want to get those cards graded. Other than the folks wanting $10 grading - the people that value grading are already utilizing existing graders. But best of luck to him.

06-01-2022, 04:38 PM	#24
DetroitTN Member Join Date: Mar 2022 Posts: 559	I won't lie, I'm not going to listen to it. But to those who did, what is the grading fee going to be? __________________ True adulthood means knowing the differences between "your" and "you're", "to" and "too", & "their", "they're", and "there".