What’s going on with TAG?

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by JeremyNick

Can you even read?

That’s not what I said.

TAG is being as transparent about their plans as a company as PSA is being about the specifics of why your card graded a 9.

And honestly the former is worse than the latter.

Stay focused.

[eastbayak]

Originally Posted by vthobby

They had 14 people show up at their booth in Chicago.

4 grandparents who thought their grandkids were playing TAG with their friends.

The 4 kids of course who were sad there was no game of TAG to be had.

The other 6 people asked the TAG rep where the SGC booth was.

This wave of folks in effect shut them down for 4 days.

Yikes

[mrchipz]

I actually just bought a tag graded card last week cause it was cheap and it was my 1st time ever seeing one in hand.
Got to say i was blown away.
The slab is crystal clear, thick, the etching in the plastic is beautiful

The way you can just open up your camera on your phone and scan the thing on the back and see high res images of every part of the card and such a detail report in unreal.

I hope the hobby sees these cards as a real good thing and it gets much bigger.

But sadly i wont send any cards to them and only to psa now cause i sell alot of what i buy and its a shame people value psa the way they do.

But until that stops and people stop over paying for psa ill have to grade my cards with them just for resale value even though i dont like anything about them.

[notfast]

Originally Posted by SupermanBrandon

What kind of action or lines did TAG have at their booth at the National?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They had a transparent booth so you could see their process. Solid concept.

I never saw anyone doing anything besides @ the counter the 10+ times I walked by though. People were sometimes at the counter but the people “in the back” weren’t doing anything.

It became a thing for me when I would walk by. I would jump down the aisle to see if they were actually grading any cards and never saw anyone doing a thing.

[varjakpaul]

Originally Posted by notfast

They had a transparent booth so you could see their process. Solid concept.

I never saw anyone doing anything besides @ the counter the 10+ times I walked by though. People were sometimes at the counter but the people “in the back” weren’t doing anything.

It became a thing for me when I would walk by. I would jump down the aisle to see if they were actually grading any cards and never saw anyone doing a thing.

It wasn't that engaging from any angle. The image capture devices were on each side (I asked for a walkthrough), the slab printers were UV so you couldn't actually see much. I did see a few slabs get welded, and a lot of the foil-wrapping and packaging of the finished orders. Really, there's not much excitement to card grading assembly. Maybe they need more LED lights and louder music.

[JeremyNick]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

TAG is being as transparent about their plans as a company as PSA is being about the specifics of why your card graded a 9.

And honestly the former is worse than the latter.

Stay focused.

And you said…

Originally Posted by rfgilles

So you want to TAG to inform you of where exactly they will be in 24 months?

Which obviously I did not say. So you are either an idiot or just looking for your next fight to lose.

Either way it appears you have comprehension issues severely compounded by your bias. My comment was in response to a member who stated a TAG rep wasn’t giving him a straight answer about when they were doing their next submission drop.

Spoon feeding you is tiring.

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by JeremyNick

And you said…



Which obviously I did not say. So you are either an idiot or just looking for your next fight to lose.

Either way it appears you have comprehension issues severely compounded by your bias. My comment was in response to a member who stated a TAG rep wasn’t giving him a straight answer about when they were doing their next submission drop.

Spoon feeding you is tiring.

I asked you why it was worse that TAG isn't transparent about their plans as a company compared with PSA not being transparent about grades.

They are two disparate issues that have nothing to do with each other. I was curious to see what inane response you would come up with.

You did not disappoint, as usual.

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by JeremyNick

And you said…



Which obviously I did not say. So you are either an idiot or just looking for your next fight to lose.

Either way it appears you have comprehension issues severely compounded by your bias. My comment was in response to a member who stated a TAG rep wasn’t giving him a straight answer about when they were doing their next submission drop.

Spoon feeding you is tiring.

Funny how you didn't quote your response to my question.

If you want to make a cogent argument, you have to link "lack of transparency of their plans as a company" to "With TAG there is no indication that they will be a legitimate company in 24 months".

Keep working, you are getting there.

[JaxSportsHub]

Originally Posted by mrchipz

I actually just bought a tag graded card last week cause it was cheap and it was my 1st time ever seeing one in hand.
Got to say i was blown away.
The slab is crystal clear, thick, the etching in the plastic is beautiful

The way you can just open up your camera on your phone and scan the thing on the back and see high res images of every part of the card and such a detail report in unreal.

I hope the hobby sees these cards as a real good thing and it gets much bigger.

But sadly i wont send any cards to them and only to psa now cause i sell alot of what i buy and its a shame people value psa the way they do.

But until that stops and people stop over paying for psa ill have to grade my cards with them just for resale value even though i dont like anything about them.

It really is pretty unreal isn’t it. By far the best around and what should be a standard for the industry.

[JeremyNick]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

I asked you why it was worse that TAG isn't transparent about their plans as a company compared with PSA not being transparent about grades.

They are two disparate issues that have nothing to do with each other. I was curious to see what inane response you would come up with.

You did not disappoint, as usual.

Originally Posted by rfgilles

Funny how you didn't quote your response to my question.

If you want to make a cogent argument, you have to link "lack of transparency of their plans as a company" to "With TAG there is no indication that they will be a legitimate company in 24 months".

Keep working, you are getting there.

My argument stands.

There is a lack of transparency

I also have concerns that they are just building up their IP to sell off, namely because that’s what most of their board has done with companies they’ve started in the past.

The issue is you are trying to argue statements I did not make. I am not asking for a transparent business plan, I’m stating the lack of one and seemingly minuscule progress in building up capacity gives me long term concerns. More concerns than “why did this get a 9 and not a 10”. You laid the transparency of a report and create strawmen when I point to the lack of business transparency.

And two replies, edited and hours apart. Love it.

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by JeremyNick

My argument stands.

There is a lack of transparency

I also have concerns that they are just building up their IP to sell off, namely because that’s what most of their board has done with companies they’ve started in the past.

The issue is you are trying to argue statements I did not make. I am not asking for a transparent business plan, I’m stating the lack of one and seemingly minuscule progress in building up capacity gives me long term concerns. More concerns than “why did this get a 9 and not a 10”. You laid the transparency of a report and create strawmen when I point to the lack of business transparency.

And two replies, edited and hours apart. Love it.

No guy, those are your exact words. No strawmen.

Keep working on formulating cohesive thoughts. You have potential. You just have to connect how the lack of transparency is related to their long term outlook.

You are just so brilliant and revolutionary in your thinking I'm just trying to get all of this straight.

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by JeremyNick

TAG is being as transparent about their plans as a company as PSA is being about the specifics of why your card graded a 9.

And honestly the former is worse than the latter.

Here is what you initially said.

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by JeremyNick

Are you being serious?

Grading (for me) is a long term commitment. Part of why I grade with PSA is that there is no indication I should be concerned about PSA as a legitimate company in 10+ years.

With TAG there is no indication that they will be a legitimate company in 24 months. I could very well grade with TAG and be happy with them in the future. Now is not the time until they prove some level of commitment.

People can squabble about the legitimacy of a specific grade from any TPG all day long, even TAG. That concerns me little.

Now this is your response when I asked why it is worse. Do you see how didn't answer the question, ie, why the lack of transparency is worse?

As usual, you are conflating 2 different topics, the lack of transparency with their long term outlooks as a viable business.

[JeremyNick]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

So you want to TAG to inform you of where exactly they will be in 24 months? LOL

Don't use them, crisis averted for you.

Originally Posted by JeremyNick

Can you even read?

That’s not what I said.

Originally Posted by rfgilles

No guy, those are your exact words. No strawmen.

No they aren’t and I pointed that out.

You did quote what I said, which did not match up with your second reply to me.

[JeremyNick]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

Now this is your response. Do you see how didn't answer the question, ie, why the lack of transparency is worse.

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by JeremyNick

No they aren’t and I pointed that out.

You did quote what I said, which did not match up with your second reply to me.

What are you trying to say then? Let's workshop this out.

Clearly you are trying to connect their lack of transparency with their long-term outlook.

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

As usual, you are conflating 2 different topics, the lack of transparency with their long term outlooks as a viable business.

These are not mutually exclusive. The lack of transparency means they might be wanting to sell their patents or company, which wouldn't make TAG a viable business. The fact is anyone sending cards to TAG right now is a Beta tester for a company that has motives that no one knows about, with a founder that has a history of selling off companies.

[JeremyNick]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

What are you trying to say then? Let's workshop this out.

Clearly you are trying to connect their lack of transparency with their long-term outlook.

Originally Posted by discodanman45

These are not mutually exclusive. The lack of transparency means they might be wanting to sell their patents or company, which wouldn't make TAG a viable business. The fact is anyone sending cards to TAG right now is a Beta tester for a company that has motives that no one knows about, with a founder that has a history of selling off companies.

[Dragonman]

Arrguing back and forth on a message board is sad and pathetic....say what you have to say )Whether it is shitty, postive,negative or whatever) and move on...Way more to life

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

These are not mutually exclusive. The lack of transparency means they might be wanting to sell their patents or company, which wouldn't make TAG a viable business. The fact is anyone sending cards to TAG right now is a Beta tester for a company that has motives that no one knows about, with a founder that has a history of selling off companies.

Thank you for helping out JeremyNick and forming a somewhat defensible stance for him. He was struggling to articulate his thoughts.

I'm still not quite sure why this is worse or has anything to do with PSA not providing grading reports, but at least we are getting somewhere.

[rfgilles]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

These are not mutually exclusive. The lack of transparency means they might be wanting to sell their patents or company, which wouldn't make TAG a viable business. The fact is anyone sending cards to TAG right now is a Beta tester for a company that has motives that no one knows about, with a founder that has a history of selling off companies.

As much as it pains me to say, I think I have to agree with you at this point. They can't be taken seriously until they are fully operational, and even then, they may not make it.

As mentioned previously, I would love to know why they have not fully opened yet. Any reasonable explanation isn't promising.

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

As mentioned previously, I would love to know why they have not fully opened yet. Any reasonable explanation isn't promising.

My theory is this. TAG has no interest in grading cards in the traditional sense in a warehouse. I believe their ultimate goal is to have grading machines that are fully automated. A card shop could buy a TAG machine and you could grade a card instantly after pulling it. No waiting, no shipping, and if they could do this reliably, it would be the only thing that could compete with PSA. This is why I think they are not expanding and testing the hell out of their systems.

[KhalDrogo]

Just follow the money. TAG’s goal is to sell the IP. Don’t think it’s going to work out for them unless Fanatics scoops up a TPG then scoops up TAG.

[rfgilles]

I asked TAG via their chat why they are not fully open yet.

Their response below is somewhat feasible, but I'm skeptical at this point.

Nothing would make me happier if they have long term plans.


At the moment, TAG is moving very deliberately to scale our operation properly to prevent backlogs in our current orders and prepare for the continued expansion of service while maintaining a high standard in quality and production.

Working on the Drop Model allows our team to monitor demand and volume by having anticipatory numbers, which allows us to schedule our teams properly and identify the areas where we need to expand to meet each quota, e.g. growing our shipping and receiving departments, building more Image Capture Machines, adding to our Data and Card Research teams, or expanding the teams containing our Printer Technicians, operators of our ultrasonic welders, Quality Control specialists, and slab imaging operators, to name some examples. All of these numbers are closely monitored and studied as we seek to optimize each department.

This is a planning process as we look for the most effective ways to grow TAG and to build our operation, department-by-department, into something scalable, consistent and repeatable - much like our grading itself. With every month, we grade more and more cards, deliberately, to study and understand the best ways to make the next month more productive with our team, as we continue to concurrently make advancements to our machinery and systems. We appreciate your patience with us as we grow with every single month, and continue to offer more Grading Packages with each coming Drop.

Thank you for reaching out, and for your support of TAG as a repeat customer. We're in this for the long haul, and are excited to unveil further innovations to the hobby in 2024 and beyond.

Best,
JC from TAG Customer Service

[Scottish Punk]

Originally Posted by rfgilles

I asked TAG via their chat why they are not fully open yet.

Their response below is somewhat feasible, but I'm skeptical at this point.

Nothing would make me happier if they have long term plans.


At the moment, TAG is moving very deliberately to scale our operation properly to prevent backlogs in our current orders and prepare for the continued expansion of service while maintaining a high standard in quality and production.

Working on the Drop Model allows our team to monitor demand and volume by having anticipatory numbers, which allows us to schedule our teams properly and identify the areas where we need to expand to meet each quota, e.g. growing our shipping and receiving departments, building more Image Capture Machines, adding to our Data and Card Research teams, or expanding the teams containing our Printer Technicians, operators of our ultrasonic welders, Quality Control specialists, and slab imaging operators, to name some examples. All of these numbers are closely monitored and studied as we seek to optimize each department.

This is a planning process as we look for the most effective ways to grow TAG and to build our operation, department-by-department, into something scalable, consistent and repeatable - much like our grading itself. With every month, we grade more and more cards, deliberately, to study and understand the best ways to make the next month more productive with our team, as we continue to concurrently make advancements to our machinery and systems. We appreciate your patience with us as we grow with every single month, and continue to offer more Grading Packages with each coming Drop.

Thank you for reaching out, and for your support of TAG as a repeat customer. We're in this for the long haul, and are excited to unveil further innovations to the hobby in 2024 and beyond.

Best,
JC from TAG Customer Service

That is the same boiler plate, auto response they gave when they first opened.