BETA
AI Pre-grading · calibrated on 240k sealed sets

Know if your set
is grading-worthy
before you submit.

Upload six guided photos of any sealed LEGO box. In 38 seconds, get a collector-grade condition report — damage heatmap, seal confidence, corner compression, edge whitening — and a verdict you can act on.

94.2%
AFA/CGC match
38s
Avg. inspection
$0
First 2 free
⊙ LIVE SCAN · BGA-T-014
28°C · ISO 200 · f/8
ICONS-10307 · TITANIC
FRAME 04 / 06
● TOP-R CORNER · 4MM
● LEFT EDGE WEAR · 11%
● SEAL · INTACT
PROVISIONAL VERDICT
8.4 / 10
CGC 9.0 · MINT · GRADE WITH MEDIUM CONFIDENCE
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⊙ Quick answer

What is LEGO grading?

LEGO grading is the process of having a third-party authentication house — AFA (Action Figure Authority), CGC, or WATA — evaluate a sealed LEGO box for condition and authenticity, then encapsulate it in a tamper-evident slab with a published grade. Grades run from AFA 10 (poor) to AFA 100 (gem mint); 85+ is collector-grade, 90+ is investment-grade. Fees are $25–$40 per submission and turnaround is three to eight weeks. BrickGauge predicts that grade from photos before you ship, so you only submit sets that will actually return value.

Scale
0 – 100
Collector grade
AFA 85+
Investment grade
AFA 90+
Submission fee
$25 – $40
Method · 04 stages

Six guided photos in.
One scientific report out.

The capture flow is modeled on insurance and document-scan apps — alignment overlays, blur detection, and lighting checks before a single byte is uploaded.

01 / 04
CAPTURE
● FRAMING OKFRONT · 1/6

Guided capture

Outline overlays, angle validation, blur and lighting checks for every photo before submit.

02 / 04
DETECT
3 ZONES · FLAGGED

Defect detection

Corner compression, dent depth, fade, edge whitening, seal anomalies — each mapped to a coordinate.

03 / 04
SCORE
OVERALL
8.4 / 10
84
76
64
92

Six-axis rubric

Seal · corners · edges · surface · print · structural. Each axis backed by 240k labeled examples.

04 / 04
VERDICT
RECOMMENDATION
✓ WORTH GRADING
CGC EXPECTED: 9.0 ± 0.5
AFA EXPECTED: 85+
UPSIDE: $640 → $1,180
CONFIDENCE: MEDIUM-HIGH

Worth grading?

A clear verdict — Send / Hold / Skip — with expected grade range and resale delta against current market.

⊙ The rubric · six axes

What BrickGauge actually scores.

The six-axis rubric is weight-calibrated against AFA and CGC published grades. Each axis returns a 0–10 score that rolls into one overall condition. Click any axis to read its detailed damage guide.

⊙ Damage guide · 8 defect types

What hurts your grade most.

Every sealed LEGO grading question comes back to one of eight defect types. Each guide explains what the defect looks like, how AFA and CGC score it, and whether the set is still worth submitting.

⊙ Decision guides

Is your set worth grading?

Three rules, in order. Fail any one and the slab fee will eat your margin. Each guide walks through the rarity, condition floor, and break-even math for the highest-volume LEGO grading categories.

⊙ Grading houses

AFA vs CGC vs WATA.

Three graders, three different value propositions. Picking the right one for your set affects both your final grade and your resale ceiling.

AFA
Action Figure Authority
Fee
$25 – $40
Turn
4 – 8 weeks
Scale
0 – 100

Legacy standard. Vintage Star Wars UCS, early Modulars, established auction-comp castings.

Read full comparison →
CGC
Certified Guaranty Company
Fee
$23 – $30
Turn
3 – 5 weeks
Scale
0.5 – 10

Modern sets — published box / seal / surface subgrades, faster turnaround.

Read full comparison →
WATA
WATA
Fee
$25 – $50
Turn
6 – 10 weeks
Scale
0.5 – 10

Rare for LEGO — only for ultra-high-end vintage with WATA-specific auction history.

Read full comparison →
⊙ By the numbers

Trained on 240,127 sealed LEGO boxes.

The six-axis rubric is calibrated against AFA and CGC published grades across thirty years of LEGO production — vintage Star Wars UCS, Modulars, ICONS / Creator Expert flagships, retired Technic, promotional and convention exclusives.

Every defect the model flags is cited to an (x, y) coordinate on your photo. Confidence is reported alongside every score so you know when a result is solid and when you need to re-shoot.

240k+
Sealed sets trained
94.2%
AFA / CGC match (±0.5)
38s
Avg. inspection
6
Axes scored
8
Defect types
8
Reseal indicators
Sample report · ICONS-10307

A report you can act on.

Open full sample →
⊙ FRONT · BGA-T-014
SCAN 04 / 06
CORNER · 4MM
EDGE WEAR · 11%
SEAL · INTACT
Inspection #1,24703 May 2026 · 11:42
ICONS-10307

Titanic

LEGO Icons · 2024 · 9,090 pieces · MSRP $679

Overall condition
8.4 / 10
CGC 9.0 · MINT (M) · 94.2% MODEL CONFIDENCE
✓ WORTH GRADING
Seal
9.2
Corners
6.4
Edges
7.6
Surface
8.8
Print
9.2
Struct.
9.6
Collector notes · 4 observations
  • Seal integrity appears original. Spectral analysis matches factory-applied adhesive. No reseal indicators detected.
  • Top-right corner compression. ~4mm depth. Likely shelf weight or stack pressure. Cosmetic only.
  • Visible edge whitening on 11% of front perimeter. Minor — not detractive at CGC 9.
  • Print registration sharp; no fade detected on any panel. UV exposure: low.
Save to vault
From the vault

Built for collectors who move real money.

"

I almost sent a $4,200 Millennium Falcon for grading. BrickGauge flagged a hairline corner crease I'd missed for two years. Saved me the slab fee and a downgrade.

Marcus K.
$280K vault · 14 yrs collecting
"

I run 60+ Whatnot streams a month. Pre-scanning a pallet of UCS sets takes 40 minutes and pays for the subscription in one resale margin.

Priya R.
@brickreliquary · 18k followers
"

The seal-confidence model is genuinely scary good. It caught a re-sealed Cafe Corner that fooled two human authenticators. That alone is worth the credits.

Daniel H.
Reseller · 2,300+ sets traded
⊙ FAQ · 10

LEGO grading — frequently asked

What is BrickGauge and how does AI LEGO grading work?+

BrickGauge is an AI pre-grading tool for sealed LEGO boxes. You upload six guided photos of the front, back, top seal, bottom seal, and two corners. A vision model trained on 240,000+ sealed sets scores six condition axes (seal, corners, edges, surface, print, structural), predicts the AFA and CGC grade ranges, overlays defects with severity tags, and returns a SEND / MAYBE / HOLD / SKIP verdict in under 40 seconds.

Is the LEGO grading tool actually free?+

Yes — two full inspections are free on signup with no credit card required. After that, credit packs run $1.50–$2.90 per scan (never expire) or you can subscribe at $29/month for 30 scans, $79/month for 100, or $199/month for 350.

Which LEGO sets are actually worth submitting to AFA or CGC?+

Modular Buildings, ICONS / Creator Expert flagships (Titanic, Millennium Falcon UCS, Eiffel Tower), retired Star Wars UCS, and limited-run promotional or convention exclusives. Common current-shelf sets almost never repay the $25–$40 slab fee. Run a free pre-grade first — if BrickGauge returns SEND, the math works; if it returns MAYBE / HOLD / SKIP, you'll lose money on the submission.

How accurate is BrickGauge compared to an actual AFA or CGC grade?+

Within ±0.5 grade of the actual AFA / CGC result across our audited test set of 240,127 sealed-box comparisons. The model reports its own confidence on every scan — below 85% confidence is treated as a re-shoot trigger rather than a final call.

What hurts a sealed LEGO box grade the most?+

In order of impact: reseal indicators on the factory seal (often outright REJECT), corner compression and dings (cap at AFA 80), sun-fade on the print (cap at AFA 80), shelf wear and edge whitening (cap at AFA 85), creases in the cardboard (cap at AFA 75), and dents in the major faces (cap at AFA 80). Each is fully explained in the LEGO box damage guide.

What's the difference between AFA, CGC, and WATA for LEGO?+

AFA (Action Figure Authority) is the legacy standard for sealed LEGO with 30+ years of auction-comp history — the AFA premium is most established for vintage Star Wars UCS and early Modulars. CGC publishes subgrades openly on the slab and has faster turnaround. WATA is rare for LEGO — only use for ultra-high-end vintage sets with WATA-specific auction history.

How do I photograph a sealed LEGO box for grading?+

Six shots: front panel flat, back panel flat, top seal close-up, bottom seal close-up, top-left corner, and top-right corner. Use soft side-light to catch corner compression and seal anomalies, avoid direct flash (the print reflects), and use a white-paper backdrop. Total capture time is about 90 seconds.

Can BrickGauge detect a resealed LEGO box?+

Yes — the model runs an eight-point reseal check on every scan: adhesive bleed past the sticker boundary, sticker double-pass marks, off-axis sticker placement, glue residue near the seal, mismatched paper fibers along the seam, factory shrinkwrap gaps that don't align with LEGO tooling, color-mismatched glue, and any visible reshaping of the seal. Any indicator drops the SEAL axis below 5.0 and flags the submission as danger-level.

Does grading actually increase the resale value of a sealed LEGO set?+

For rare and retired sets: yes, dramatically. AFA 90 Modulars (Café Corner, Green Grocer) sell for $4,000–$15,000. AFA 85 ICONS flagships (Titanic, Millennium Falcon UCS) sell for $1,000–$3,500. For current-shelf mainline sets: no — graded common LEGO rarely covers the slab fee plus shipping. Use the worth-grading guides to decide.

How long does the BrickGauge AI take to grade?+

Thirty-five to forty-five seconds per scan. The flow: upload → server-side push to storage → OpenAI vision pass over all six photos → score rollup → defect heatmap render. You can leave the page and come back; results are saved to your vault.

⊙ Ready · 1,484 scans active right now

Inspect the box.
Protect the value.

Two free inspections. No credit card. 38 seconds to a report your buyer will thank you for.