Vintage Star Wars Collecting: How Are Carded Figures Graded?

[@chriswhitlock4398]

Great Video as always. I have several hopefully helpful points. 1) Damage to the back of the card has a lower impact then damage to the front. I have a 12B Vader AFA 80 at one point with a litho tear on the back. The card got a 75 grade. It was before + grades so it probably would be a 75+ today 2) Some Star Wars cards came factory punched. Made in Mexico figures like the Short Mouth Biker Scout, Lumat and Paploo all come factory punched as well as the droids Boba Fett 3) Price stickers and punched vs unpunched are two things that don’t typically effect grade but can effect value. An unpunched no price sticker item is more desirable to blue chip collectors then punched with price sticker. 4) My first attempt to remove a price sticker (successful) was on a Alt Photo Han Solo. There was a price sticker right over his face. Definitely hindered the desirability of the card 5) Bubble cracks depend on the location. If it’s cracked on the stem it can still get a 70, especially with a character like R5 that has a long stem. I have an AFA graded Power Droid with a stem crack and a 70 grade. 6) Man, an 85 card grade on a made in Spain card is AMAZING!!!! Those are so thin and often found heavily creased. 7) A comic book guy one told me, you buy the book not the grade. The same holds true for MOC especially considering the sub grades. A low sub grade is designed to call attention to that feature on the MOC. If We look at something and say, this item presents as an 80, it will get an 80 score. However if the figure has some damage, and it’s graded a 75, the idea is, the 75 should call attention to the figure. It should tell the buyer that there is something going on with that figure that places it below the overall grade.

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Great information Chris! Pinning this comment to the top to help others. Thanks for watching!

[@mikepintell2267]

Being a LONG time toy collector but a newbie to getting carded figures graded, this video cut through the haze of ignorance!! A++ all the way!

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Thank you for watching 👀 🙏

[@Chris-pj1os]

Thank you so much for this info. I'm new to the game, and you have helped me more to understand grading in this 21 minute video than I learned all day googling!

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Glad it was helpful!

[@UsualmikeTelevision]

Fantastic video. I learnt so much from this and always enjoy seeing your collection.

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@Blackedoutewoks]

Another knock out video🤓 Very informative and well thought out! The loose tape issue is perplexing😎

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Many thanks for the kind words!

[@dominicrondini5980]

Great video John, I have my first 8 figures all boxed up and ready to ship to CAS I am going to cherry pick about 12 to 15 more when i get home and send those off tomorrow. 😀 Thanks again for the video it was very helpful. 😊

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Oh man you are going all in lol

[@ToysAreTheWay]

Great video, I always have an informative and relaxing time watching these!

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Thank you!

[@tonyricca8116]

I was at CAS yesterday as I’m fortunate enough to live 20 minutes away and gave you kudos and they know you very well as you know lol and they are very very busy as I can confirm that by touring there grading area.There had to be thousands of items being graded it was amazing

[@ActionFigureGrader]

So jealous!

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Also, thanks for mentioning me! Maybe they will FINISH MY ORDER SOON. Hint, hint Anthony and Chris 😆 🤣

[@stormyt8114]

Enjoyed the video, some gr8 information. I learnt a lot. Thank you

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Thank you for watching! Hope all is well.

[@gamerglipz482]

Excellent video! Very informative! Had no idea about some of this stuff.

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Thanks for watching!

[@joshua3732]

Very good video. Several points I didn't know.

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@OnlyOneKenobi]

This just popped up! Must've missed it originally maybe hehe, still a great watch though John! 👍🏼

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Good times yesterday! Thanks again for having me on!

[@OnlyOneKenobi]

@@ActionFigureGrader 🙏🙏🙏

[@Mybigfatgreeksalad12345]

Awesome information!! Thank you

[@ActionFigureGrader]

🦄

[@edwardhines6623]

Always enjoy your videos! Keep up the great work. (Subbed & Thumbs Up)

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Many thanks! Appreciate the support.

[@YorkyThreeStripe]

A very interesting video. This is something I’m taking more and more interest in so enjoyed that. Thanks!

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Congrats on that Meccano!! Nasty!!

[@YorkyThreeStripe]

@@ActionFigureGrader Ha! Thanks! Yes it’s a beauty mate I’m smitten! 🥰

[@ActionFigureGrader]

@@YorkyThreeStripe Holy Grail man. So beautiful 😍

[@jartladder15]

Informative video.

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Thank you!

[@jibberjabberactionfigure]

Cool video as usual, thanks for sharing that info with all us fans. I have several carded figures but none are “grading worthy”. I love them despite their imperfections. Ur collection I view as museum quality. I don’t have a great deal of disposable income so I avoid grading either way. I enjoy collecting my passion none the less.

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Thanks for watching, and that is the great thing (well, one of many) about collecting! We can all enjoy this hobby equally and differently!

[@acwdronesolutions7418]

John thanks mate. In your honest opinion . If you are just starting out grading carded figures. Do you send in you best figures to AFA or se

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Either AFA, CAS or UKG are great. Afa tends to have the best resale value. I like CAS cases the best though.

[@myleshouck234]

Great videos! subscribe a few weeks ago. I bought an ellorrs madak power of the jedi. The jedi force file card was inserted upside down. Saw that you were in to error cards. Have you seen one like so? Just curious. Thanks! Look forward to the live stream

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Thanks for watching! I did see one like that, and those are very cool. Errors are always fun to hunt down. I have a Palitoy vintage one coming, so I will show that whenever it gets here. Chris W. has some really awesome stuff to show tomorrow!

[@blacknwhitecookie8967]

My own personal choice, but I hate price stickers on my cards. If I'm able, I remove them.

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Definitely nice to have one super clean...I am just unwilling to risk litho damage and I don't have steady hands to even try. Since I am a hyperactive rodent that drinks too much ☕.

[@blacknwhitecookie8967]

@@ActionFigureGrader I've always used butane (small amount) & they come right off, with no damage that I've seen so far. But I'm definitely nervous doing it. Luckily the majority I've bought over the last 30 years have been case fresh with no stickers.

[@user-rv9ks1wj8r]

How do I send pictures I have alot of punched cards with the punched piece still in the punched hole all with figure abd ships weapons posters board games money savers puzzles cups and more and really want all graded as yo sell them please how do I get them graded please

[@wuzionekenobi4011]

Hi buddy just wanted to ask a quick question because you're a bit of an expert on these things my collection I seem to have a bib Fortuna with a white cape I'm having trouble sourcing any information about this and I know you know a lot about variance can you help me out I have pictures if necessary thanks keep up the great work love your channel

[@ActionFigureGrader]

That white cape is a pretty common reproduction item. Lots of those floating around. There is of course a true prototype example of this figure that sells for $25,000 to $30,000, but we are talking less than 5 in existence.

[@ActionFigureGrader]

And thanks for watching!!

[@wuzionekenobi4011]

Mate why wouldn't I your a legend . Enjoyed your boba fett one last night Had all mine lined up to compare lol was surprised you didnt have unpainted knee one in there. . I have one luckily tri logo. Loved your lily ledy one , got to get one of those before I die lol. Sounds like that guy you mentioned with 500 might be cornering the market in fett lol Thanks for answering my question About bib yeah I bought it decades ago didnt realise people were counterfeiting that fig just saw it in a lot I brought and thought it looked cool . Thanks again for all your hard work making these vids for people. It's a great database of knowledge 👍👍

[@ActionFigureGrader]

@@wuzionekenobi4011 Haha thanks for the kind words and for watching! Maybe yours is real! I have only seen two of those white robed Bib Fortunas...the real ones are prototype samples. The last one sold for $25K 8f memory serves me, but it has been a hot minute since that sale.

[@RyanByrne999]

Who do recommend to get TVC figures graded? AFA or CAS?

[@ActionFigureGrader]

I use CAS personally but either company does a great job. Given the turnaround times at AFA, I feel like CAS does a great job. I also prefer the 3-tier grading system instead of the modern grading system at AFA that only goes 1 to 10. AFA will do 3-tier grading on modern items, but I found it somewhat difficult to get them to do it the last time I used AFA (which has admittedly been a while). You can't go wrong with either company though.

[@timadkins4265]

If you send a carded figure in do you put in a protector so it’s not damaged in shipment?

[@ActionFigureGrader]

Hi Tim...I will make a video on this eventually, but I typically use Star Cases.