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Ataraxia · 11-15-2024, 01:34 AM

Ah, yes.... TAG.

I do think that some people come into these threads with as much ammo as humanly possible to get the back and forth dialogue happening each week (from what I've seen from reading this thread, at least). Let's see if I can voice an opinion without too many losing their heads over it?

Praise/Commendations:

Their slabs are the best in the industry. CGC gets very close, but there's no other slab that gives the card the center stage. If PSA updated their label and did away with their frosted slabs, this would be a different story.
The "machine-assisted" grading would be a game changer, if the technology allowed them to grade thicker cards, relic/memorabilia, or older cards.
Transparency is king. This is probably why there are a number of "TAG Kool-Aid Drinkers" that comment here and on Reddit. Knowing why your card is graded a certain way and having the information/data to correlate to it goes a long, long way. Nothing sucks more than to get a card back that's visually impeccable, but something caused it to be a 3-5.
They are trying to be more relevant through marketing campaigns. Between collaborations with well-known athletes to card shows, TAG is ramping up their marketing expenses in hopes that more people will see what they have to offer. It's something that's required in 2024 with the landscape of graders.

Criticisms:

TAG has become rather stagnant in delivery over the past year. This means that while they've grown operationally, we're not seeing any value added in their product offerings.
To further the first point (^), they do need to solve "all of the things" that prevent people from grading with them (thicker cards, memorabilia, relics, Japanese TCG (all cards, not just the big ones), and older cards). Without that level of accessibility, people will be cautionary as they worry about sending in cards that will get rejected.
The whole "bootleg card with guided-AI art" thing rubs me the wrong way; especially considering the Cook brothers claim to be creatives. It was embarrassing to see that some of the original art had the classic AI "too many fingers" situation going on.
Their Customer Support is, to say the least, lacking. There have been a number of submissions that they've mislabeled and their CS gave the run around each and every time. It definitely ruins the "trust" side of the customer/product relationship there.
Fans of TAG do spend a little too much energy "advocating" on forums and Reddit. This leads to a lot of the "outside world" being overtly negative or critical of TAG because they're knee-jerking one extreme with the polar opposite.
They've lost their purpose/mission. If you tracked through some of their earlier cameos or podcast appearances, they've made a significant amount of promises around their overall "vision" -- but once a mysterious amount of investors/collectors forced them to pivot a little, they've leaned all in to those folks without understanding the value they bring to the market.

Overall, I think TAG has a great product (DIG/DING Reports, consistent grading, and good looking slabs) but their lack of development and accessibility murders them. I do find the whole "oh but the bulk submitters/mystery packs" criticism laughable, considering every single grader on the planet has an abundance of both. In the same vein, the consistency of how much they're grading on a weekly/monthly basis is a bit frustrating and paints that they're not making much traction in the market overall.

Will I crack open my TAG slabs and submit them elsewhere? Doubtful. Do I think TAG could stand to make some real progress on those deliverables they've promised year over year? Absolutely. But some criticisms I've seen in this thread (so far, at least) are egregious and (often) disingenuous when viewed from the perspective of TAG's competitors suffering from the same or similar issue(s).

11-15-2024, 01:34 AM	#979
Ataraxia Member Join Date: Oct 2024 Location: North Carolina Posts: 27	Ah, yes.... TAG. I do think that some people come into these threads with as much ammo as humanly possible to get the back and forth dialogue happening each week (from what I've seen from reading this thread, at least). Let's see if I can voice an opinion without too many losing their heads over it? Praise/Commendations: Their slabs are the best in the industry. CGC gets very close, but there's no other slab that gives the card the center stage. If PSA updated their label and did away with their frosted slabs, this would be a different story. The "machine-assisted" grading would be a game changer, if the technology allowed them to grade thicker cards, relic/memorabilia, or older cards. Transparency is king. This is probably why there are a number of "TAG Kool-Aid Drinkers" that comment here and on Reddit. Knowing why your card is graded a certain way and having the information/data to correlate to it goes a long, long way. Nothing sucks more than to get a card back that's visually impeccable, but something caused it to be a 3-5. They are trying to be more relevant through marketing campaigns. Between collaborations with well-known athletes to card shows, TAG is ramping up their marketing expenses in hopes that more people will see what they have to offer. It's something that's required in 2024 with the landscape of graders. Criticisms: TAG has become rather stagnant in delivery over the past year. This means that while they've grown operationally, we're not seeing any value added in their product offerings. To further the first point (^), they do need to solve "all of the things" that prevent people from grading with them (thicker cards, memorabilia, relics, Japanese TCG (all cards, not just the big ones), and older cards). Without that level of accessibility, people will be cautionary as they worry about sending in cards that will get rejected. The whole "bootleg card with guided-AI art" thing rubs me the wrong way; especially considering the Cook brothers claim to be creatives. It was embarrassing to see that some of the original art had the classic AI "too many fingers" situation going on. Their Customer Support is, to say the least, lacking. There have been a number of submissions that they've mislabeled and their CS gave the run around each and every time. It definitely ruins the "trust" side of the customer/product relationship there. Fans of TAG do spend a little too much energy "advocating" on forums and Reddit. This leads to a lot of the "outside world" being overtly negative or critical of TAG because they're knee-jerking one extreme with the polar opposite. They've lost their purpose/mission. If you tracked through some of their earlier cameos or podcast appearances, they've made a significant amount of promises around their overall "vision" -- but once a mysterious amount of investors/collectors forced them to pivot a little, they've leaned all in to those folks without understanding the value they bring to the market. Overall, I think TAG has a great product (DIG/DING Reports, consistent grading, and good looking slabs) but their lack of development and accessibility murders them. I do find the whole "oh but the bulk submitters/mystery packs" criticism laughable, considering every single grader on the planet has an abundance of both. In the same vein, the consistency of how much they're grading on a weekly/monthly basis is a bit frustrating and paints that they're not making much traction in the market overall. Will I crack open my TAG slabs and submit them elsewhere? Doubtful. Do I think TAG could stand to make some real progress on those deliverables they've promised year over year? Absolutely. But some criticisms I've seen in this thread (so far, at least) are egregious and (often) disingenuous when viewed from the perspective of TAG's competitors suffering from the same or similar issue(s).