AFA your 25th Figs?

[Da_Last_2_Walk]

Nah, it's for his personal collection....Mabey it was Soundwave. I dont't know much about TF packaging history. I was just amazed the toy got a grade that high. I know he just got 5 or 6 back from AFA not too long ago.

Yo,

PM sent.

[Volleydan]

I think it might be a waste of money to AFA grade any 25th Joes, barring possibly the variants and/or con exclusives.

There's just so much of the product out there and, like someone already said, far more adults are buying these and keeping them MOC than there ever were in the 80s. I just don't see most of the 25th line ever achieving true rarity.....it's far more likely that the 25th Joe line will end up like the Star Wars relaunch did (you can't even get back original cost on 90% of them now).

AFA grading doesn't increase the rarity of a figure, and the rarity is where a figure's value comes in. An AFA90 Wave 5 Snake Eyes might be the only one in the world with that grade.....but that's only until someone else sends theirs in.

[SSG Weaver]

I agree, if you're just trying to make money by AFAing your figs and then plan on selling them later you might be wasting time and money, but for me I would like to have a complete collection all AFA graded just for myself. Are any of ya'll planning on that?

[TAKK VIPER]

Thats what i say. I would like to AFA my 25th collection just so it will look nice displayed. Im keeping everything MOC or MISB anyways (with occasional doubles I open lol...) It's a large investment for a *possibly monitarily worthless line of figures, but hey, I love the 25th line and i want my collection to display well.

*(Just because kids aren't playing with them. Mostly adults collect so the "rare factor" for the future is non-existent except for exclusives and such. lol)

[snakeeyes1974]

I would say its early to afa them, but saying that just because adults are collecting them doesn't mean they won't become rare. Nobody knows if a tragic accident will befall anyones collection and I'm not wishing that on anyone, but it could happen. I always have that thought in the back of my mind that with all the money I have put in to my collection that it could all disappear in a heartbeat.

[SSG Weaver]

I hear ya buddy, that's why I take pictures of everything, save all my e-mailed receipts/order forms, and make sure my homeowner's insurance gets paid every month!

[Volleydan]

I was told by my agent that homeowner's insurance would not cover my toys in the event of a catastrophe because they are considered "collectibles" and are excluded from the general policy.

I was told that I would have to buy separate collectibles insurance from a specialty underwriter. The policy isn't terribly expensive (it's about $50-60/year per $10K of coverage), but the headache comes in that you would be required to have a full inventory and appraisal of your collection, and send them updates periodically.

I haven't done it yet (but I should). Anyway, I thought I would float it out there.....

[Da_Last_2_Walk]

I think it might be a waste of money to AFA grade any 25th Joes, barring possibly the variants and/or con exclusives.

There's just so much of the product out there and, like someone already said, far more adults are buying these and keeping them MOC than there ever were in the 80s. I just don't see most of the 25th line ever achieving true rarity.....it's far more likely that the 25th Joe line will end up like the Star Wars relaunch did (you can't even get back original cost on 90% of them now).

AFA grading doesn't increase the rarity of a figure, and the rarity is where a figure's value comes in. An AFA90 Wave 5 Snake Eyes might be the only one in the world with that grade.....but that's only until someone else sends theirs in.

I don't think it's a waste of money to AFA grade 25TH Joes.

An AFA 95U Major Bludd just sold for $365! He is not a variant.

An item doesn't have to be rare to be valuable.

True; AFA grading doesn't increase the rarity of a figure, but it does increase the value of a figure.

[Volleydan]

Wow.....I guess there are people out there who will pay a premium for a graded item, no matter how common it is.....you said an item doesn't have to be rare to be valuable.....but if the rarity of an item isn't what drives prices, then what does? I love discussions on economic theory.....

As an aside, most of the graded 25th figures that have sold in the last 30 days have sold in the $60-70 range (including an AFA 90U Bludd for $89). That's certainly better than the prices ungraded figures bring, but the seller's investment is much higher as well.....how much does it cost to get a 25th figure graded? I don't know.....

[Jeffrozup]

Wow.....I guess there are people out there who will pay a premium for a graded item, no matter how common it is.....you said an item doesn't have to be rare to be valuable.....but if the rarity of an item isn't what drives prices, then what does? I love discussions on economic theory.....

As an aside, most of the graded 25th figures that have sold in the last 30 days have sold in the $60-70 range (including an AFA 90U Bludd for $89). That's certainly better than the prices ungraded figures bring, but the seller's investment is much higher as well.....how much does it cost to get a 25th figure graded? I don't know.....

The cost varies on the turnaround time one wants to get the figures back. I normally pay the $24 to get them graded (10-15 bus. days) and when I factor in the cost of buying the figure, it comes to around $30 total.

I just sold an AFA 90 Firefly for $125 so I was able to generate a profit of about $95 on this graded figure. I agree with the person who said that grading it doesn't make it rarer but it does increase the value. There's no way I could get that much for a non-variant figure that isn't graded.

Also, in a way, a graded figure can be considered more rare if you base it on the AFA population report. For example, they have only had 2 Firefly's from the 25th line that have graded 90. Now I didn't advertise this but I could have said "1 of just 2 figures" which could make it more rare than the regular hard-to-find figure.

The previous person is also correct when they mention the collectors investment is also higher because of getting it graded, shipping costs, etc. It comes down to each person's perference and desires.