It could be all partnership/mystery box deals but they’ve seen a noticeably large uptick in grading since the scandal
Bgs destroyed him.
That 9.5 is hanging on a thread. Thats not even quads
A truly strong card would be quads minimum with (hopefully) a 10 sub
A 9 surface score usually doesnt cross for vintage so i do wonder if he will secretly do some kind of cleaning
The one thing he has going for him, psa has brought back the grade minimums.. so he can put a psa10 min on the card instead of getting gouged on psa9s for hundreds of dollars each time
Literally proves that a 9 surface score can cross to PSA 10 in some circumstances as 9 surface scores aren’t the same level.
My Shadowless 9.5 zard has a 9 surface and has a tiny dot/print imperfection, no scratches or print lines.
Actually most vintage Shadowless 10s have extremely minor surface issues - this is why PSA have the “eye appeal” factor - a card doesn’t need to be perfect under a microscope for it to 10.
Id like to think the playtest scandal has damaged their reputation. Whether that is actually reflected in CGC’s volume, I dont know (but am doubtful, sadly)
I think for 99.9% of CGC’s business which seems to be quick-flipping junk, or younger/more casual collectors grading their collection, I doubt it. You have to be a pretty serious collector and/or in the weeds of the hobby to have been affected by this. The average 20 year old grading his modern pulls probably doesn’t know or care.
Now with that said I do wonder if it has or will affect people buying or grading higher-end items with CGC. I’ve been tempted to bid on a few test prints or errors but to be honest with you I don’t trust a damn thing CGC puts their stamp of approval after the Akabane fiasco.
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CGC also just raised their prices across the board
They paid out collectors though - surely that gives support to them.
Remember, they got duped by one of the founders of Pokémon…
They made their mistake and owned up to it and made people whole.
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There is a long line of people on this forum still waiting for a payout, you can’t make a definitive absolute statement like that.
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They said they would pay everyone out. That’s fact - insurance payouts aren’t fast.
They also said the test/prototype prints were authentic…that’s a fact!
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I mean PSA have also graded fake 1st ed stamps and fake autos (which have no money back guarantee)…soo what’s your point?
They fkd up, duped by Giovanni himself, then are paying out to make it right.
Sounds like they did what they should have.
I own all of two CGC slab, but I can recognise when a business does right by it’s customers.
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TAG is being so hyped, forced and pushed on the community its cringe and obvious. I respect the hustle though. I would do the same thing if I just started a grading company. Id tell as many people as possible to say the best things about it and promote the crap out of it.. BUT for the majority of tag comments I see sweating and promoting it, they are putting down other established grading companies in order to do so, which is trashy and doesnt sit well with most people.
Ive seen tag 10s with noticeable dinks and whitening too just like psa. And as much as I criticize psa when comparing it to bgs, I always give psa its props on how established and liquid and consistent their market is. Let alone how transparent their cases are compared to other companies. Tag promotion on the other hand is strictly based on trashing every aspect of grading companies in order to make themselves seem flawless. Its pathetic. You can promote your product and not put down other grading companies every step of the way (unless its cgc lol they kinda deserve it). At the end of the day I hope tag succeeds but rn it seems their fans and promoting is toxic and desperate. I dont see anything that makes tag better than any other company.
Also, even if some slabs are selling for more than psa doesnt mean anything. Just shows their pop reports are lower because they just started and the demand is higher, making people pay extra for absolutely no reason to make themselves feel better atm and buying into the hype.
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The “LOW POP!!!” in titles and listings on TAG cards cracks me up. Of course it’s low pop the company is brand new 
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The issue with CGC isn’t that they were duped by Giovanni himself, rather it is that their whole grading philosophy with regard to prototypes or test prints is based on a “story” with someone involved in the creation process, rather than facts and true authenticity testing (as PFM was able to do with the print matrix dots from his treehouse in Canada). They never thought of a way to actually test and verify cards, outside of someone’s word of mouth which should have been a huge red flag. You’re telling me no one ever involved with the creation of any card ever (sport or TCG) would have a financial interest by stating the supplied cards are real and authentic?
What CGC should have done, is refused to touch them in the first place. But they are always thirsty to be in the headlines about being the first to grade or authenticate something when no other company will, and this time it finally caught up with them and bit them in the ass big time. In the words of LeBron, “about damn time”.
PSA won’t grade based on a story, which is why they’ll only grade cards that appear on a checklist. They were actually approached with a holder of these cards, and refused to grade them because the only thing to authenticate them was “trust me bro, I was there” or “trust me bro, Akabane told me they were real and I received them directly from him”
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We know the story and hindsight is 20-20.
Their head-grader guy does want headlines for sure and that is likely why they overlooked issues. I am sure he got absolutely chewed out for this.
But, they are paying out.
Shitty situation yes, but at least they stand by their guarantee.
For me, a non-cgc fan, I can respect that.
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Maybe because CGC’s insurance just went through the roof 
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It’s also a business decision, psa recently raised prices also but yes agreed
I can respect the cgc payout (if and when I actually receive it) but yeah the main issue was using the seller of the cards as pretty much the only evidence of authenticity. It was totally avoidable as evidenced by CGC being the only company to grade any of these.
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Still grading with them, about to send 3 cards in soon.