[sweeper]

I would like to know who grades at AFA, and how many 'judges' there are. From what I've seen, they aren't very professional. Atleast not the "Authority" they pretend to be.

[flash70]

I really like what we are hearing guys...I hope we have more true collectors who really enjoy collecting items without the junky acrylic box with a stamp of approval from a few elitist scum.

I wanted to get back into buying vintage mib and moc joe items at decent prices and now (these days) its all AFA junk.

Can't stand that type of bull$#!+!!!

[shdwknt]

Im going to play devils advocate here for just a moment.

Mind you I collect because I love the hunt and the toys.. most are toys I have owned when I was a kid.. Im not in it for the flip return profit.. if I was.. I wouldnt have a toy room that I have dropped over 20k in the past 10years.

ANYHOW.

I have purchased 2 afa figures.. and had 1 vintage item graded.. heres my reason I did:

1.) I purchased both a Rowdy Piper and Gold Head PDD graded from a seller - I got the figures at $250 each shipped. 250.00 a peice yes is OUTRAGOUS.. however thats the going rate damn near for those figures not graded and I wanted them for my collection.. now.. I have in the past spent $200.00 on a gold pdd that was in HORRIBLE condition from a seller that swore it was mint.. yes Im anal at times if I am spending $200.00 on a figure I do not want veins.. creases and bent corners on my packages.. It took me over a month and a half between the seller and paypal to get my money back.

AFA graded at this point was a piece of mind.

2.) the vintage figure i had graded was from my Vintage Masters of the Universe line.. Its one of the only vitage pieces I still had from childhood that has some how magically stayed in mint condition and I paid to have it sealed in that same condition. This was a personal affect that I wanted protected.. more then I cared about the grade..

Anyhow.. I understand why you guys dont like it.. as long as you guys understand there are some acceptable reasons to do it..

[CG76]

I totally agree with shdwknt.

I've purchased non-AFA graded items that were described as mint before but turned out not to be the case. So if I see a vintage graded carded figure at a reasonable price that I'm looking , then I would buy it. Peace of mind is sometimes worth paying a few bucks more.

I generally have all my carded vintage figures graded right away so the cards and bubbles get protected by the cases. On the other hand, I have lots of vintage vehicles I haven't sent out to be graded since they hold up better than carded figures do. I may get them graded in the future but I'm in no rush. The downside with grading is that it's very expensive.

[Glumby]

I really like afa since there will be no surprises with non-afa ones from ebay. Only got a few in my album page but I hoep to get more.

[crock master]

spend money to make it worth money? makes no sence.

[fred v]

i say,be you're own afa,whatever they are worth to u is all that counts,not some putz who looks for defects on the card and that whole speil...

[WVMojo]

While I don't agree with it, I have to applaud them for their business savvy. I mean come on, you pay to ship them a toy that they look at, give it a grade and send it back to you. These things will come and go though...back in the 80's and early 90's Beckett was THE end all be all for baseball card price guides even though there were several on the market at that time. Today I couldn't even tell you if Beckett was still in existence without doing a google search and I'm a little too lazy to be searching for that.

[machiwoomiapoo]

I don't care either way. AFA is just another way to make things worth more than they really are.

[Derek2783]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flash70

I really like what we are hearing guys...I hope we have more true collectors who really enjoy collecting items without the junky acrylic box with a stamp of approval from a few elitist scum.

I wanted to get back into buying vintage mib and moc joe items at decent prices and now (these days) its all AFA junk.

Can't stand that type of bull$#!+!!!

Flash, it sounds like what you're really upset about is that you can't buy what you want and a price you want. Unfortunately, that's life man.

The type of "bullsh--" I can't stand is people who are always looking for a scapegoat to blame for the fact that they can't have exactly what they want the way they want.

I happen to like the idea of a professional grade, an acrylic case, and a stamp. That's just me. I can't afford AFA though, so I do without. C'est la vie.

Degrading those who enjoy the services of AFA is pretty narrow minded. One can still be a "true collector" while having something AFA graded, or purchasing AFA graded items, and it's not right for you to rail against those collectors. Calling AFA "scum" seems a little low too. There are plenty anecdotal stories about this or that, but overall, they seem to do a fairly good job.