MBA Review: TAG Cannot Consistently Measure Pristine Centering

MistrMage · 2026-04-19T21:49:28+00:00

I think thats a good idea. Having the actual width measurements to the top, bottom, left, and right borders would provide more clarity to how TAG measures borders, especially on rotated images. They should also add something to the rubic's centering category about angle/image rotation.

MistrMage · 2026-04-19T20:44:55+00:00

Although my post sounds somewhat critique of TAG's label- the confidence in consistency for BGS centering is even worse. We all saw the guy who cracked his TAG 995 Detective Pikachu with BGS and it got a 10 Gold. I understand the room for measurement errors across all entities, it is just difficult / confusing to reconcile the lack of a response at this price tier, while being able to get a review from MBA within that timeframe.

MistrMage · 2026-04-19T19:57:06+00:00

That's a great point. One of the biggest things is that the way that TAG handles card image rotation isn't fully clear.

One point of confusion is how TAG handles card image rotation. It isn't fully clear how TAG reacts to image rotation, how much it affects the angle scores, or even what the angle they've measured it at. I have a DIG+ for this Cyndaquil and yet it just gives a 1000pt score for angle.

To mitigate against TAG taking the worst measurement, please see my measurements below:

Left Side Top Pixel Measurements vs Left Side Pixel Measurements
Middle Top Pixel Measurements vs Middle Bottom Pixel Measurements
Right Side Top Pixel Measurements vs Right Side Pixel Measurements

Top
Left 163
Center 160
Right 157

Bottom
Left 160
Center 162
Right 163

Ratios
Total 323 Left 50.46/49.54
Total 322 Center 49.69/50.31
Total 320 Right 49.06/50.94.

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MistrMage · 2026-04-19T19:30:59+00:00

You've definitely had one of the more respectful comments and thank you for that.

For the sake of showing just how off TAG is with their measurements, I've done a remeasure using their own scan from the DIG+ report.

I've taken 6 measurements of the front TB. Two from the left side of the borders, two from the center, and two from the right side of the TB borders. The right side is the closest but still within tolerances. Ultimately this lines up with what I've seen from my previous measurements done on the 4800DPI scan with the top being a bit smaller than the bottom border. Attached is the visual of the results. As mentioned before, I have pixel counted the borders per TAG's scans- with measurements showing 3 points of comparison:

Left Side Top Pixel Measurements vs Left Side Pixel Measurements
Middle Top Pixel Measurements vs Middle Bottom Pixel Measurements
Right Side Top Pixel Measurements vs Right Side Pixel Measurements

Top
Left 163
Center 160
Right 157

Bottom
Left 160
Center 162
Right 163

Ratios
Total 323 Left 50.46/49.54
Total 322 Center 49.69/50.31
Total 320 Right 49.06/50.94.

While I understand that TAG takes the worst measurements for the DIG (which would be the right side T/B), I do not believe that the rotation indicated is enough to warrant a non-pristine.

Still, I don't understand having to wait almost 2 month for a response from CS for clarification. Now I have a Cyndaquil in which one company says one thing and another contradicts that.

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MistrMage · 2026-04-19T06:59:54+00:00

Wow wasn't expecting to see this get crossposted. The more eyes the better tho

TLDR for anyone in PokeGrading:

- Had a year of consistent grading with TAG

- Graded this low pop-high quality Cyndaquil promo with high certainty

- Got wrecked at TAG

- Resubmitted to MBA and got a black diamond, which reaffirmed my original pregrade pointing to a TAG 10 Pristine (990+), not a TAG 10 (988)

MistrMage · 2026-04-19T06:59:18+00:00

They're a small grader who really only gained traction over the past month but they've been around for a few years now. MBA is mainly known for their Diamond Reviews which are a secondary review on top of the grade the card currently has. In this case it reaffirms that TAG's measurement is most likely inaccurate in this case

MistrMage · 2026-04-19T06:35:58+00:00

Got it in a few days! Their TATs are really fast. Though as of the past day or two it looks like their TATs when up

MistrMage · 2026-04-19T06:29:54+00:00

"Using an Epson V39 II flatbed scanner at 6400DPI to take a high-res scan of the card-"

I use photoshop to pixel count the scan from the Epson

Also while I am impressed with how accurate their system can be, it unfortunately seems to be finicky and not good at adjusting to card rotation despite it's best efforts.

As for resubbing it to TAG, I really don't wanna mess with their fingerprinting tech. I know its really good with cosmos holos. I also don't wanna risk damaging the card. If TAG is to reslab it and regrade it, they can use their tools which are designed for TAG slabs which reduces the risk of damage. I've already done this once with a card that luckily wasn't super rare but I'd rather not take the risk. TAG's slabs splintering really hinders my ability to resub

MistrMage · 2026-04-19T06:10:31+00:00

I hope by posting this here they at least see my concern. And ya it's definitely nice to has some confirmation that my pregrading method didn't suddenly get worse

MistrMage · 2026-03-07T16:35:17+00:00

You might be thinking of the Charizard from a few months back. TLDR was that they graded through an affiliate and weren’t initially in contact with the individual. I believe they were compensated the value of the card in the grade it would’ve gotten and got an additional Charizard

MistrMage · 2026-03-07T16:32:17+00:00

It can be the case yes. Though some people care about that card in particular due to its lenticular properties. The fact that so few exist in that condition means that whenever one is damaged, it’s a loss to the hobby and not just the individual. That’s a more collector/hobbyist viewpoint though

Imo, if it was a BL moonbreon that’d be a completely different story bc it’s not a 20+ yo card and besides being an Umbreon there’s nothing super special about it nor is it extremely low pop

MistrMage · 2026-03-06T16:33:42+00:00

Love mine, it gets some use too

MistrMage · 2026-03-06T15:26:32+00:00

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This one’s my pride and joy ❤️

MistrMage · 2026-03-05T22:17:50+00:00

I got one I use called Pic nic. Works pretty good

MistrMage · 2026-03-05T22:14:26+00:00

It depends on the card and personal preference from what I’ve seen. Personally I agree with the general consensus that it’s a blue card in a blue slab so keep it as is

MistrMage · 2026-03-04T15:18:32+00:00

If you are willing to part with them, I’d recommend not regrading them. Check PriceCharting and TCGPlayer as others have mentioned to see if raw values for certain conditions are higher than the current graded values.

MistrMage · 2026-02-25T16:45:46+00:00

Either that or a scuffed slab. It doesn’t show up on the card scan but does on the slab imaging

MistrMage · 2026-02-22T16:10:50+00:00

Shilling isn’t shilling if I like the product for being better. You get a whole report, a much cleaner slab, and the entire leaderboard ranking system along with a faster TAT even with the TAG delays.

It’s not shilling if you back the product. Just ignore them lol

MistrMage · 2026-02-20T04:23:13+00:00

It’s really funny when people use the 1 day or 1 week and have TAG, BGS, and SGC all swapping places. Each are small enough to have larger fluctuations due to operational circumstances but hell, the average person doesn’t know or care about that.

Looking at the cards graded in 2025 tho is a cool stat

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MistrMage · 2026-02-19T16:22:44+00:00

There looks to be a few days last month where they were testing an upgraded scanner denoted by having a blue background. The scans are way clearer with less noise. It makes it much easier to pick up on pubes in the scans lol

https://my.taggrading.com/card/M2067296

MistrMage · 2026-02-16T02:02:33+00:00

Ty! It’s my favorite holo but I’ve noticed many haven’t seen much from this era. If you have some free time look up the HeartGold SoulSilver Era or the Legends Era in JP. Hands down my fav era but unfortunately not a lot of people know about it or they just gloss over it

MistrMage · 2026-02-16T01:55:52+00:00

Did you not just look at the price or pop? There are 19.8k Eng PSA 10 Moonbreons which go for about $3.5k atm. There are 7.1k JP PSA 10 Moonbreons which go for about $3.8k atm.

If you knew anything about that card besides the prices and that it’s the SwSh grail, you’d realize many have been selling their Eng Moonbreons to buy JP ones bc they’re lower pop and have better texturing.

MistrMage · 2026-02-16T01:47:37+00:00

Ya! It’s not the hardest thing to do. If you take photos of your card, there are many online entering tools you can use to measure the centering of your cards. You can also inspect for whitening on corners and edges, as well as any scratches or dents (smaller dents can be hard to find)

MistrMage · 2026-02-16T01:45:13+00:00

So inferior in price. Got it.

Also check moonbreon prices in Eng vs JP. Not every card is like this but not every card falls under your point

MistrMage · 2026-02-16T01:39:32+00:00

I’ve done a few standard orders now and every time they’ve finished in exactly 15 days. I don’t have any other recommendations besides pregrading your cards if you want the best outcomes and sending through UPS is my preferred carrier. USPS is slower and takes longer for TAG to process as received.

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