AFA graded figures.

[shuptrine]

I do not get the AFA graded figures. Someone sends their figure to a company who decides to put a grade on it and then seals it in a case that can't be open and sends it back to you. Of course for a small nominal fee of (I don't know what they charge) $50.00 or so. Then the person takes that figure worth, let us say $100.00, and puts it on ebay for $300.00 or $400.00 or $600.00.... What, all a sudden that $100.00 figure is worth 6 times what it was worth because now it's in a sealed case with a # on the side. Come on !! Thats freaking stupid! Who does that ? I just wanted to know if anyone else felt like I did about this crazy urban ritual....

Disclaimer: don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with getting stuff AFA graded so you can keep it safe for you own collection but it should not affected the price like it does.

[clambo]

I agree it is ridiculus. I think it's silly to send stuff off to be graded. What a waste of money. It's like those people need someone to hold their hand through the collecting process, telling them the condition and how much (to them) something is worth. What's really stupid is the people that buy these jacked up priced AFA figures. But, as long as there are suckers out there, the overpriced AFA's will be in the market, screwing the already screwed price guides along the way. Real collectors know all of this however.

[treckmeyer]

If you put it in a plastic case, how can you play with it?

[clambo]

I open everything.

[salvatore]

Well, i guess i'll be the first outsider here. I think AFA is a fantastic service. For those of us who enjoy collecting MOC figures this a great way to keep the item safe and displayed nicely. The fact that a 3rd partys' grade is attributed to the item is a bonus. Grading comes in handy especially if your a MOMC collector who doesn't want to get jipped on the quality of a figure you buy on ebay. Yes it's expensive, so if you don't have the cash for it, DON'T USE THE SERVICE. Nuff ranting for now.

Sal

[shuptrine]

No, like I said is my disclaimer. If you just want to protect your figures for the sake of your collection then great. It is great for keeping carded figures safe. My problem Is that people think the AFA graded stuff is worth 3x or 6x or even 10x the going rate of a non graded AFA graded figure. If a moc mint heman goes for $100.00 and you send it to AFA and it cost, $50.00 buck to have it graded. Then the figure is worth $150.00 Not $750.00 or $1000.00. It does not make sense to pay for what anyone else can do. Send it in to be AFA graded. It is not Gold now. It is the same $100.00 figure in a $50.00 case. Do you not see what I am talking about ??

[clambo]

It's not a dollars and cents issue with me, it's a dollars and sense issue. I have cash. It's really two different types of collecting if you think about it. I can buy two or three of a particular MOC figure for the same price as one of the same figure, in the same shape, AFA graded. I've been collecting long enough not to rely on someone elses grading scale. I have been burned a few times, but the way I view it, buying an AFA graded figure is being burned as well. I do, however, have friends that will only buy AFA graded items and CGC graded comics, but I also know people that voted for Bush. What are you gonna do? To each his own, is how I feel. But since it was brought up, I always have two cents (and sense).

[Meatybat]

I wish I came up with this scam first. Its a known fact these guys are in the back pockets of the big E bay dealers and internet sellers. Same corruption that happened in the card grading industry. I have a mint unpunched Major Blood and Destro that I bet I would get a lower grade on than if Bryans toys sent them in. I would take the gamble just because I have a couple hundred carded Joes that I know that I could pay my house off with but if for some reason they come back with a weak grade its a waste of money. I know some people that have sent in a figure got a grade on it and didnt like the grade, opened it out of case and sent it back in under another name and got a different grade. How bout those ungraded apples.

[daltron]

I had some A.N.S. Mung Graded... Came back pretty good. All I wanna know is how'd they know it was the real deal? Musta' put it in their mouth.

[soundwave]

i think its fine for a hockey card but toys are kind of more hands on hobby i still "sort" my toys sometimes and if they were in plastic sealed cases how would you enjoy them?

[daltron]

Actually it's kind of cool when a collector pays you six times what something's worth.

[Captainamerica]

I think it's silly. I've collected figures for long enough that I don't need someone else to say 'that's a c-7" for me to feel good about my purchase. I can understand paying slightly above guide for a highly-graded item, one could easily argue that those are 'investment quality' items and their guaranteed condition will lead any market increases. What's super-silly is mid-range grades going for full guide or higher... I'm not paying you 3X guide for a C-6 with yellowed, off-centered, dented bubble Mr ebay AFA seller...this fool and his money are not that easily parted.

Of course, I open my toys, so why listen to me?

[neoviper76]

In a way I like AFA . If I have a particular figure thats my favorite and its still MOC......I would AFA it. I would also obtain a loose one of the same fig. Ive never graded a figure but am a huge CGC customer..........so its kinds that same deal. Just depends on what you like. Theres no wrong way to collect.

[Captainamerica]

neoviper76 said:

Just depends on what you like. Theres no wrong way to collect.

What if someone likes punching small children and inserting carded hot wheels into his/her bodily orifices while still in the store? That's about as wrong a way to collect as aI can think of, and believe me I tried.

[Ghouldrool]

Oh yes, let's send my toys to a coulpe of toy geeks so they can slap it into an airtight COFFIN and I can OVERCHARGE it 100 bucks more than it's worth on the Bay. Uh huh.

Seriously? Who thought this horsedung up?

[Grizzlor Adams]

ghouldrool said:

Oh yes, let's send my toys to a coulpe of toy geeks so they can slap it into an airtight COFFIN and I can OVERCHARGE it 100 bucks more than it's worth on the Bay. Uh huh.

Seriously? Who thought this horsedung up?

I think AFA may have come about as a result of the huge prices paid for high grade comics encapsulated by CGC. (This is also true with cards & currency) Obviously, people took notice of the fact that a $15 dollar comic can fetch upwards of $100 or more, if it attained a high enough grade. So why not offer a similar service for toys? I'm certainly not crazy about AFA's services/pricing, but I do own many CGC'd comics, and I tend to believe that CGC has provided a pretty valuable service to comic collectors. With most people's grading skill being erratic at best & eBay descriptions usually being off by at least 2 full grades 99.9% of the time. CGC was able to provide some stability in comic book grading, and determine whether the book has been altered/restored in anyway. Granted, there are even more nay sayers of CGC's services than there are of AFA's. Mainly, because it forced comic dealers to rethink their often wayward grading practices. Rumors have swirled about for years about how all the big s*#t dealers/ebay sellers have them in there pocket, or how they were bank rolled by the owner(s) of a prominent mid-western auction house, and so on. People love them, people hate them. I'm more in the middle. I will say, that if you have high grade comic books and you want to make the highest possible return, CGC is the ONLY way to go-especially when selling via the internet. As far as AFA goes, I'm still not entirely convinced that the toy hobby really "needs" them. It certainly doesn't seem as though they have been embraced the way the comic hobby embraced CGC. One of the biggest problems related with the fairly new trend in encapsulation is the dreaded "Label Whore". This is the type of "collector" that cares more about the grade than the actual item itself. Most of the AFA graded stuff I see, with a few exceptions-are in a fixed price format with an often times asinine asking price. It's almost as if these seller's are trying to establish the AFA market single handedly, or force collectors into adopting an inflated price scale when dealing in graded toys. It's BS! The market demand determines the "value" of anything, not the desired profit margin of the seller. Most of the AFA stuff on eBay just sits there, racking up relisting fees. To really begin to determine the value of an AFA graded toy-the listing should start at .99 cents. Then we may begin to get some real insight into the actual demand of these items-at least at that time. It's hard to establish an average AFA graded value, mainly because of the ridiculous asking prices & relative lack of steady sales. Personally, I doubt I'd submit anything to AFA-at least not anytime soon. Like Clambo stated, I'd rather have two or three of the same ungraded figure as opposed to only one high priced graded one. Although, I am extremely critical of the comics I purchase, I find that when it comes to toys/action figures I am a bit more relaxed. In fact, sometimes I will purposely look for a battered carded figure, so I can open it myself, and have a nice mint uncirculated toy. Any of the really nice carded/boxed stuff I have is either in display cases-which can be opened at anytime, or bagged & stored in rubbermaid tubs. To each his/her own, but for me personally, I'd rather spend the money it would cost to submit to AFA, on MORE TOYS!

[beckley]

I love AFA, but I've only purchased one graded item, The Gi. Joe Spytroops Agent Faces Mail- Away. The one in the Crimson Guard disguise, and he was graded with his filecard. I think I paid around $24 for him, it had a BIN. I just think it's a great way to display figures, loose or carded. unless of course, you have a kickass diorama display.
I have gotten 23 of my own things graded, like 10 of the last 17 Loose Vintage Star Wars figures, 7 of them scored an 85, and one a 90. I don't really care what the grades are, Han looks awesome with the Carbonite Block next to him in the shiny acrylic!
I do agree that the prices on ebay have gotten out of hand, has anyone seen what a 100, or "perfect" graded figure goes for? I saw a 100 graded Gi. Joe Wraith Clear variant go for over $900! Did anyone else see that auction?
I'm more a fan of getting my own things graded, the first two I got graded were my Vintage Indiana Jones Sallah and Arabian Horse, MOC. The Horse only scored a 60, I don't care, at least now he'll always stay that way. Unless some fool busts him open!
It is true that $ I'm spending on grading could be spent on more toys, but lately I've been focusing more on quality than quantity with some of my stuff.
But hey, that's just me.

[ryan0001]

I think that it's good the service exists. I personally don't see myself using it anytime soon. However, I do like the way acrylic looks, and I'm going to have that guy Oscar make me a few custom cases for things that I think that would look ideal for. His prices look reasonable. And you can always take stuff out of non-graded cases.

[BoogDoc7]

I'm probably never (maybe) going to use the service, unless I score a MOC figure for dirt cheap that's worth grading, and then only to preserve it. Unless I didn't want it.

I'm a fairly big free-market guy, so if the guys make money, more power to 'em. It DOES look a little easy to rig the game, but, hey, if a guy pays you $50 to do something legal...

You also have to remember the idea behind the whole thing - the card and figure are inspected for flaws, even minor, and is given the grade on quality....and let the market bear out what the value is.