Afa

[joewhite]

Hey, I'm sorry, I usually like to keep comments to myself but I have to say something about the AFA that I have been meaning to say.

Now, I haven't taken the time to completely read about what exactly they offer but by what I have read, it is to my understanding that you pay them to have them tell you how good your toy is. Wait, you pay someone a fee + shipping just so that they can explain what condition it is in?

It's understandable that an item like a FF Weequay, an autographed item or something equivalent would need some sort of appraising. I mean, I wouldn't want to pay $300 for a fake. But, I noticed after looking at their site that they advertise very strongly that the value of your figures will rise. Do they mean any figure?

To me, all the AFA appraisal represents is something equivalent to a popular icon like...a Nike swoosh, the Tommy Hilfiger name, heck even the ears of everybody's favorite MOUSE...something slapped on to a product to increase sells. That's fine and dandy when it involves clothing or shoes but action figures? The Star Tours figs are bad enough...even though I have a near complete set. But at least to date, they only charge $5.00 more than regular figs.

One of the only reasons I felt I should bring this up is because in my 2 1/2 years of trading over the internet, I've run across many a collector who despise scalping. I will not go and say that people who use the AFA are scalpers but what the AFA offers seems, to me, something that would be considered a tool for scalping. Not in all cases, of course, but maybe in some.

My questions to you, the collector, is...Do you beleive in this system? Do you feel comfortable knowing that maybe some of your collector buddies do?

I just hope that kind of business stays away from our forums and in ebay where it would probably belong. I know that AFA says they help prevent types of figure fraud but I rather trust the integrity of the collectors. Sure, we've seen some bad apples but for the most part we've all come out ahead.

If I am wrong about the AFA, please point it out to me. I have no problem with being wrong but as of now, the AFA, TO ME, is just a scam, a middle man, a shark. To top it off Toyfare runs it, I couldn't trust anything with their name on it! LMK what you think, thanks!

 

[darthskellington]

You have a good point there. Graded action figures are the logical business progreesion that started with graded sports cards, then moved to comics and action figures. The actual grading does serve a purpose, in that your item has been professionally appraised, and a least with comics is protectively sealed (you can open it, but the seal is broken) and serial numbered/bar coded, databased. With a 50 year old comic worht a few hundred dollars, this is pretty handy. With a $200 vintage SW figure, this might be worth your time/money if it really matters to you.

Unfortunately, the nasty side-effect of this is a new "Graded" collectors market, and the inflated value on items. Comic example: Spawn #1 is at best a $15 comic, but is so common you can probably get it for under $5. Wizard once listed a Graded Spawn #1 as selling online for nearly $100! I wouldn't pay it, but someone did. Unfortunately, it inflates the price of items because of the guaranteed condition. I remember looking at Jorg Saculs on ebay last year. At the time, a decent Jorg sold for maybe $80-100. Someone had several graded Jorg Sacul's up for bid, with varying Grades ranging from C-7 up to C-9.5. The C-7 was selling for over $100, and the other were higher, with the C-9.5 selling for around $300! Grading was a very wise investment for the seller, and I envy anyone with enough money to throw away on a $300 Jorg Sacul.

The condition on a figure I think is much more obvious than on comics, or other rare paper goods where the slightest anything can mean chunks off the value. I guess my point is that Grading does serve a useful purpose to the collector of the rare and valuable. The drawback is that it also feeds the scalpers and prays on the rich "suckers born everyday." As far a figures go, I think it caters more to the scalper crowd.

 

[darthskellington]

A few more thoughts.

I wasn't aware of Wizard/Toyfare having any business connection to Grading, but that wouldn't surprise me. However, Wizard Publishing makes it's money off of selling magazines (which happen to include price GUIDES). Grading Services have been around for nearly 10 years now (at least for cards), i think, and fill in niche market. The service they provide is a middle-man in the potentially negative market result, however, they are not the scalpers themselves. They only make their money off the service they provide.

Personally, I don't bother with Graded items because I know I'd be paying a premium for the guaranteed condition, and as a result, will be competing against collectors who have WAY more money than I do to spend on said guarantee. I'm happy to search for a good deal and acceptible condition on my own, that makes the hunt fun. The rich die-hard collector will gladly pay $1000 for Fantastic Four #48 in good condition. I was happy to pay $35 for a slightly water-damaged copy that looks just fine. Is it worth $1000......no. But it's priceless just the same to me.


Anyway, babble babble......rant rant

 

[chris solo]

In a nut shell.....

AFA graded products are like a car safety. It is the proffessional quality inspection grading that tells collectors a products true condition.

AFA grading is fantastic for vintage products because you can't trust an ebay seller to be accurate when he is selling an origional 12 back.

Some people specifically collect AFA graded figures only. It DOES increase the value of a product. If you have something worth it-go for it.