Ok so I've read Abunch of stuff from the AFA website. I've seached AFA certified GI Joes on ebay. So how much does it cost to have a 1985 figure graded & encased???

Depends, MOC or loose ? I don't know if you saw this but here it is anyway: Grading Costs (http://www.toygrader.com/gradingcost.aspx)

MOC...............

so the storm Shadow I recently aquired wood cost $50 to grade, case, & return ship?

Yep, assuming you select the Premium Tier option

Post deleted under new No-AFA bashing rule.

Where can the cases be found online?

Where can the cases be found online?

http://www.wholesalecases.com/star-wars-supplies.html#starcase

I agree with Volleydan, if you just want to protect your figures buy some cases online. I don't have a good opinion about AFA grading (and won't go into details here). We've had enough AFA discussions ;)

Where can the cases be found online?

http://oscarscases.com/

http://www.wholesalecases.com/star-wars-supplies.html#starcase

Star Case #1 (the first one you see) for the 25th line?

Post deleted under new No-AFA bashing rule.

Here’s the countdown 3, 2, 1…. And this is now about to turn into a AFA free for all thread with tha lovers and the haters both at each others throats :rolleyes: – wow it’s been what… a month since we had one of those…? :p

Anyway, I can vouch for http://www.wholesalecases.com/ bought a lot of stuff from them, those nice cheap cases they have work great (and you can actutaly open them up if you ever want to)

And I have heard only good stuff about http://oscarscases.com/ one of these days I’m going to have to buy some of his stuff...

In my opinion if you just want to protect the item then I’d buy a case, and forget AFA, but that's just what I would do.

If you want to increase the value for potential resale then AFA it, I see resale potential as the main reason to get stuff AFA’d. Or if it's such a nice figure you are sure it'd get a super high grade, I guess it might be nice just for braging rights ("I got an AFA 95 Stormie...what do you have ???" :D) again just my opinion, I'm not a lover or a hater of AFA I'm totaly on the fence when it comes to them...

Here’s the countdown 3, 2, 1…. And this is now about to turn into a AFA free for all thread with tha lovers and the haters both at each others throats :rolleyes: – wow it’s been what… a month since we had one of those…? :p


That is so true. Let's all do our best to keep this thread ON TOPIC and CIVIL.

OK so we have established the lovers & haters side to the AFA. :rolleyes: & the fact that its raised MOC value. Its also impacted the rates of MOC over the last couple of years.

Tell me some of your experiences with AFA??????
How long do they hold your figures for grading? Is it worth the time & money to have this done. How much did you yourself pay to get a grade.

Are there people out their that have had MOC figures graded for no other reason than to have it for your own collection & not resale value? In your opinion were u satified with the time & money spent????

Tell me some of your experiences with AFA??????
How long do they hold your figures for grading? Is it worth the time & money to have this done. How much did you yourself pay to get a grade.

Are there people out their that have had MOC figures graded for no other reason than to have it for your own collection & not resale value? In your opinion were u satified with the time & money spent????

When I submit items, I usually use either the express or premium tier (depending on how fast I want things returned or the value declaration). The exact turnaround time for me is usually one month, maybe less. For the premium tier, including shipping and insurance, you are looking at a cost of at least $50 per figure, $100 for a boxed item, and possibly more for something bigger than the size of a sealed Water Moccassin ($125 for a He-Man 2-pack giftset).

I've had stuff graded for no one other than myself (stuff I want to keep). While the stuff I keep is high grade, I don't have it graded to brag. In fact, I don't recall ever mentioning what I have. So, don't let others dissuade you. If you want to announce to the world your collection and its grade, do so; no one ever minds when someone brags about his/her army building collection/ number of loose figures/ comic collection/ carded collection/ prototype collection.

Since I haven't sent anything off for grading since maybe 2006, I can't say what the current satisfaction level is at; but when I did send stuff off for grading I was almost always satisfied--and when I wasn't I did call AFA and AFA did answer my calls/ questions/ concerns.

As for your Storm Shadow v.2, I would really think about the cost/benefits of sending it for grading. Anything less than an overall grade of 85 sells for less than $60. 85s sell for about $100. So, unless you paid $20 for your figure, you may be better off buying one that is already graded.

Hey:

I just wanted to add my opinion on the AfA thing. I'm not sure why the slightest discussion about AFA sparks so much heated debate, but I personally love the service they provide. I mean they wouldn't be doing so well if there weren't alot of people that wanted/needed their service.

I have sent maybe 20-30 items out for AFA before and my best advice would be:

1.) Don't send anything in unless you believe it to be a solid AFA85 or better.
Otherwise, AFA is a little pricey for items that are of low quality. Of course if something is kind of rare it's your call.

2.) Ship a few things at once-say 5 or 6 things. This way you can save money on both shipping costs.

3.) When you fill out the value of each thing on the AFA form, give a lower estimate of value. Sometimes going near the book price is still alot lower than what they might go for on ebay at the time.

4.) Pack your items very safely in bubble wrap. I store alot of my misb Gi joe items in Bubble Wrap.

5.) Make sure that you check the box on the AFA form that says you want an item cased even if it can't be graded. I still have an awe striker that never got cased because they questioned the tape on it.

6.) Print off a small note that you tape to each vehicle that says something about being careful with the tape on the sides of the box. I had a zartan graded and they messed up one of the firmly sealed tapes on the side. I sent these notes out on every future AFA misb Gi joe item and AFA has been very good to me

An interesting sidenote-I called AFA about that ungraded AWE Striker and the secretary said they had a chuckle about my notes. But who cares you know? They did what I wanted.

Another thing to note is that the cases AFA uses can be very fragile. I had an AFA cased item take a fall of about 2-3 feet onto a heavily padded carpet and now I have to replace the case because it's trashed. The good thing is: the toy was protected.

Hope this helps????
Jeremy

I like afa. I have a collection of them and sell my lower grades. One thing I will say over a star case is this. I do like star cases if they are a nice flat laying card. If you have a card that has some warping to it over a long period of time it tends to warp a little more. Unless you have a climate controlled room of some sort. Its not a huge noticeable difference but for some of mine that I have had 5-10 years the plastic didn't seem sturdy enough to support gravity. lol THe only thing I wish afa did do was have some sort of hanging feature to you could place more on walls without shelving involved. My usualy turnaround is say 1.5- 2months. I feel they are pretty consistent enough to tell and know what you are getting when you buy more.

I'm a loose collector. Probably 2/3 of my collection is loose, mostly complete, the rest is carded or boxed. While I do lean toward opening, I have nothing at all against carded collectors & I think that I understand the appeal of that approach.

My question is about things that you (as a moc/AFA collector) have had graded. At some point - since 50 is middle ground, I'll use that as a reference from here on out, what would you open (from the AFA sealed case) to resubmit? What would you put on ebay or the boards (here or somewhere else) as an item for sale or trade? What is the limit of what you would want to keep for your own personal collection?

If what you've sent in graded only a 50, would you crack it open & resubmit it? Would you leave it as is & ebay it? Would you be happy with the 50 & keep it in your collection?

This isn't an AFA slam or meant to be condescending at all, I would just like to know what an acceptable AFA grade is for most personal collections.

My question is about things that you (as a moc/AFA collector) have had graded. At some point - since 50 is middle ground, I'll use that as a reference from here on out, what would you open (from the AFA sealed case) to resubmit? What would you put on ebay or the boards (here or somewhere else) as an item for sale or trade? What is the limit of what you would want to keep for your own personal collection?

From my standpoint I can look at a card and tell what the grade will be from afa within a grade of plus or minus 5. I myself personally don't collect anything below an 80 overall grade and if I do get something above the grade I have I sell off the lower grade on ebay.If I know its going to be a low grade say under a 65 I won't even bother to grade it and just sell it. I know its not going to be better than what I own already so i sell it for the next person to decide on what his wishes are. I like the art and I love variations. I think Kevin made it pretty clear that without moc items you don't know the true history of an item. Its nice to know more about an item and what all changes it went through and seeing it moc is a prime example of seeing those changes in its truest form. If you have it loose until you have moc proof it may be a rumor or hear say.

If what you've sent in graded only a 50, would you crack it open & resubmit it? Would you leave it as is & ebay it? Would you be happy with the 50 & keep it in your collection?
After seeing a few afa you get a good idea on what something will grade. Seeing a 50 will be a card that is beat and looks like a car ran it over. I personally if I got a 50 I would just sell it.

This isn't an AFA slam or meant to be condescending at all, I would just like to know what an acceptable AFA grade is for most personal collections.[/QUOTE] I think one thing that does it for me with them is the fact they are cased very nice and hold the card firm so warping is not going to happen so my card stays nice.Also for storage they stack very nice compared to most methods.

One last thing to add. I collect loose and have a lot. A big misconception is because someone thinks an item is unopened they may think its mint. That is definately not the case. A lot of times paint rubs occur so buying a few loose ones to find a mint figure may be lighter on the wallet than opening one moc expecting perfection.

I don't bother selling anything unless it is something really nice or i might get a premium for it. I agree with thunt, too, that I would never bother grading anything I thought would get less than an 80. I try to hold onto 80's and 85's for myself, but I don't mind lower grades, so long as there is nothing horribly wrong with it at a glance. Though I would LOVE to build up a collection Like trent did, with almost every item sealed and graded, I really just do it for items I use in preproduction runs, or sub teams I like. I still need one Python patrol figure to complete the set of 6 at 85 or better. I keep running into the one I need, but in the wrong case format, on ebay.

What I really love are graded vehicles. Tey are extremely expensive but man do they look good. I sold most of mine when I needed some cash, but I still have a nice 85 Hurricane.

Most of my AFA stuff is stuff i bought on ebay, not submitted myself. I have received some steals by bidding at last minute. Most AFA stuff i get is $30 or less, so cheaper than AFA process in most Cases.

Most of my AFA stuff is stuff i bought on ebay, not submitted myself. I have received some steals by bidding at last minute. Most AFA stuff i get is $30 or less, so cheaper than AFA process in most Cases. Yeah I’ve seen AFA stuff sell on eBay for less then it looks like the AFA process would cost to grade, in the past. So, how does that work for the Seller?

Does someone (or some company, or entity. er whoever is getting them graded) send in so much stuff at one time that they get a big discount on the grading, and are then able to sell the stuff for less?

Or are people just taking a hit on some items and trying to recoup their money later on on other higher end MOC/MIB AFA items?

Or??

I’ve wounded about that in the past, so if someone knows – I’d love the lowdown :)

They have sales from time to time. I know if you are a business and are going to submit so many per month they give you a discount but I am not sure how much. For someone sending in 25 things I think they give you a dollar off on each. I would say they took a hit expecting it to go much higher. I guess they should have set a reserve on it.

The AFA market on post-85 figures seems to be pretty rough for the most part unless it is a popular figure. After the grading costs, there isn't much more to get out of a lot of figures, especially if they are graded 80 or below.

I was looking around last night, and I saw a ton of earlier figures with 80 and lower grades, mainly popular characters and pre-85 figures, and I was amazed at what they were going for. I really didn't think a 70 or 75 figure would be sellable, but there were some with hundreds of dollars in bids, much more than I would have expected. I won't post any until they end, but they should provide some interesting numbers. A good friend of mine maintains a scale of cash vs grade that I never really believed, but these auctions definitely show more of an interest and value for lower grades on older figures.

They do offer discounts for high-volume graders. I had once considered trying to get a pool of people together to try and qualify, but getting multiple people to pay for grading consistently as a group is tricky.

AFA's volume discount is pitiful and ridiculous. At $1 off/item after 25 items, you're looking at spending $600-700 on grading in order to enable a 3% discount. It's hardly worth pooling a group together for.

Occasionally they offer discounts on gift certificate purchases. Like $120 gift certificate for $100. And on those instances, I'll buy the maximum allowed amount for my own redemption.

Generally, I see grading anything less than an 80 from pre-1986 or anything less than an 85 from 1986-1989 as a waste of money. And grading anything after that is totally unnecessary, as the MOC figures are barely worth more than a couple multiples of their loose counterparts. Just buy some empty acrylic cases if you want to display/protect them.