toy grading?

[toystalker]

has anyone here used the toy grading service aka afa to grade there toys before ?

for me here in the uk it has always seemed like a headache to do, i just looked on there new updated website and to me its more complicated than before

about 4 or 5 years ago i contacted them to enquire about grading a super powers hall of justice playset, was a factory fresh c10 peice, it was £50 to send, aroud £50 to grade and £70 to return, all this without insurance! that would have been just sky high, ok the halls is a big piece so the cost may have been just, but im thinking of trying a figure 1st to see what goes down

1. is it really worth getting something graded

2. anyone here had any problems with the service

i have factory fresh mint items so i know the condition on my toys is good, but im wondering is it worth a uk dealer sending to u.s to grade an item, id lose my hair if anything happened to the toy

[Adam West]

I think it depends on the piece.

I have noticed that some rarer pieces will sell for well above fair market value if they are graded but it wasn't too long ago that someone had a graded Buckwheat figure and everyone was wondering why someone would go through all the trouble over a figure that wasn't worth much.

Really just a personal preference. I personally would not pay a premium for a graded piece but others would. If you decide to move forward, maybe start with your most valuable pieces.

[megocrazy]

After being in the sports card scene for years, I will say a top grade will definately fetch a better price when you try to sell it, but I have found that individuals that have a small number of items graded tend to be more scrutinized than some others that constantly have items graded. Always found bigger dealers got higher grades on items, I'm assuming so they would continue to have more stuff graded. I had a couple of big spending customers that bought a number of specific cards to compare and found that cards graded by individuals vs cards bought from larger dealers would be very close in there estimates but always slightly higher grades came from the bigger dealers. It was almost like if you had 200 cards graded you got a little bit of a bonus vs the individual guy having 10 cards graded. It could also have been an issue of having to get 200 cards done and returned vs 10 cards resulted in the evaluation being more thorough on the smaller amount than trying to push out a huge amount of cards. I personally stayed away from graded stuff unless it was in the value of what the card was worth ungraded. I have seen some stuff graded "Gem" or "10+" that has fetched a nice price, upwards of 4 to 5 times and more of what it has been booked at for mint ungraded, but that market has quieted a bit.

[palitoy]

I find with Mego grading might increase more common items like a MOC Superman or Spider-Man but does little to a really tough piece. IMO grading seems to attract dabblers from other collecting fields (like Star Wars) where it is more common.

I don't know of any MOC Mego collector that insists on grading.

[toys2cool]

I agree,it depends on the piece,I do think if it grades good it'll definitely bring in more money,but I know they do take forever and it's pretty expensive

[Adam West]

After being in the sports card scene for years, I will say a top grade will definately fetch a better price when you try to sell it, but I have found that individuals that have a small number of items graded tend to be more scrutinized than some others that constantly have items graded. Always found bigger dealers got higher grades on items, I'm assuming so they would continue to have more stuff graded. I had a couple of big spending customers that bought a number of specific cards to compare and found that cards graded by individuals vs cards bought from larger dealers would be very close in there estimates but always slightly higher grades came from the bigger dealers. It was almost like if you had 200 cards graded you got a little bit of a bonus vs the individual guy having 10 cards graded. It could also have been an issue of having to get 200 cards done and returned vs 10 cards resulted in the evaluation being more thorough on the smaller amount than trying to push out a huge amount of cards. I personally stayed away from graded stuff unless it was in the value of what the card was worth ungraded. I have seen some stuff graded "Gem" or "10+" that has fetched a nice price, upwards of 4 to 5 times and more of what it has been booked at for mint ungraded, but that market has quieted a bit.

That's a really good point. I have a really nice local comic book shop owner who told me he has also noticed what he has refers to as an inclination for grading companies to lean toward giving a higher grade now than they used to. Case in point....just for fun he took a CGC graded 7.5 comic out of its casing and sent it back to them years later for a regrade not telling them it had been previously graded. According to him it came back 8.5....and he asked "how did allowing it to sit for a few years cause it to go up an entire grade?"

[JPkempo]

Unless it's rare and you know it's worth alot of money it's not worth the bother.

If the guys running this site wanted to I think they would make the best group to rate a Mego figure. It would be a way to pay for the site. Would also allow photos of rare figures to be taken for the site, you could have that as part of the rating. If you want it rated the musem has the right to take a photo for the web site.

Althoug it would be tough getting one of your holy grail figures sent to you just to send it back.

[Evel KMego]

My opinion is grading is for those only worried about the cash side of collecting. If your in it for the enjoyment why worry what some self appointed experts decide your piece should be graded at. I'll never buy a graded piece, to me it goes against everything collecting is supposed to be about!

[Meule]

My opinion is grading is for those only worried about the cash side of collecting. If your in it for the enjoyment why worry what some self appointed experts decide your piece should be graded at. I'll never buy a graded piece, to me it goes against everything collecting is supposed to be about!

Amen to that

[misterdroid]

I think grading is solely a stamp of approval for "investment" collectors. For example, were I to be in the market for a minty kresge mego, I'd sooner look to this list for opinions than I would to a faceless toy court. And really, if you watch, the only graded items that fetch really high prices are in commonly known collectable fields (esp. Star Wars). Look at the guy on ebay right now that's trying to flip graded Buck Rogers 3.75 figs... I can't imagine anyone paying $125 for a MAYBE $20 fig. That's stupid.