AFA Grading

[Megatron]

Indeed - the option of buying certain rare toys is becoming more and more difficult

That... goes without saying.

[Jetfire in the sky]

This topic heated up quickly, and to be honest it's a good one to talk about. I stand by my intial post, but to be honest if I had an AFA graded G1 Optimus MISB I'd be bloody stoked, they do display great in the acrylic case there's no doubt about it.
It's fair that AFA items are higher in price than non AFA mainly due to the expense of getting the item to and from tha AFA, the cost of "grading" and the cost of mounting the item in the case. I think I looked into it once and I just thought what a rip off, so perhaps someone can give us an idea of total cost involved in getting something graded. (Sorry if this has been mentioned, I scimmed a few posts after a while)

Anyway this has ignited some passion which I love to see, two threads in a week, first Bidoof's what to do with an MISB present one and now this, it was definitley a full moon week

[1orion2many]

AFA grading is completely lost on me as I open everything I get (Sooner or later ) and display it. This also includes any G1 items. I must admit I just haven't had the heart to open my Ramhorn & Eject packet which I bought about 12 or more years ago for $30.00. AFA grading re-release items seems even more pointless than G1's but each to their own and who knows 15-20 years down the track if your looking at making money out of your collection this may be the way to go.

[Jetfire in the sky]

And thats the thing, in 20 years time, those case fresh reissues that have been sealed all those years might be worth 1000% more than what the person paid today.

[Skullcruncher]

I'll find an old invoice this weekend and post it up.

Long term there would be no point in hanging onto(as an investment) the graded items as there will be less people who would want to buy at todays prices. There is a huge jump from an 80 to and 85 and then again to an 90.

For example 90 Megatron - 15K+, 85 would be 5-10K while an 80 would be around 2K. These are the current 'going rates' there will always be sellers who try and sell for more.

Or maybe Hoist 90 ($1000) 85 ($750) and 80 ($500). So how desirable the toy is makes a big difference.

[Trent]

I'll find an old invoice this weekend and post it up.

Long term there would be no point in hanging onto(as an investment) the graded items as there will be less people who would want to buy at todays prices. There is a huge jump from an 80 to and 85 and then again to an 90.

For example 90 Megatron - 15K+, 85 would be 5-10K while an 80 would be around 2K. These are the current 'going rates' there will always be sellers who try and sell for more.

Or maybe Hoist 90 ($1000) 85 ($750) and 80 ($500). So how desirable the toy is makes a big difference.

$15K for a toy is ridiculous. I put it in the same boat as paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a Phase 3 GTHO. Yeah sure it was a nice car in its day, but what are you going to do with it?

Glad to see that these are problems I'll never have. I don't even keep the boxes

[Jetfire in the sky]

$15K for a toy is ridiculous. I put it in the same boat as paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a Phase 3 GTHO. Yeah sure it was a nice car in its day, but what are you going to do with it?

I sometimes wonder, why have a big ass collection of anything, but I can go into my toy room and just sit there and look and it makes me happy, so what I do with it is love it in a sense.

[Trent]

I sometimes wonder, why have a big ass collection of anything, but I can go into my toy room and just sit there and look and it makes me happy, so what I do with it is love it in a sense.

To each their own obviously, but I personally couldn't own a fast car and not drive it. Just like I couldn't own a TF and keep it MISB. To me it defeats the purpose because the main thing as an adult that draws me to TFs is the engineering involved in them. Yes the characters, history and mythos (my nostalgia factor, if you will) no doubt play an equally big part but I wouldn't collect them if all I could do with them is stare at the box. To me that's unthinkable. But I understand that others have other motivations for collecting and so I respect their decisions.



Doesn't mean that I can't make fun of all you box collectors though.

[Jetfire in the sky]

Doesn't mean that I can't make fun of all you box collectors though.

LOL