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OT: Anyone collect AFA graded vintage Star Wars figures?

Started by mintcollector,

72 posts in this topic

mintcollector

mintcollector

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Wow, a lot of great advice in this thread. Even more than what I was expecting. I started collecting vintage Star Wars carded figures within the last year or so. Yes, I do buy a lot of high graded AFA only items; as I am in what ComicWiz would call the newer 'camp' who openly accepts grading and would rather pay a premium for quality.

 

That being said, I did send some PM's hoping to gain some more insight to some people on this board, as honestly, I do not know the finite differences between an '80' and a '85.' I just happened to start collwecting '85' or higher grades and got 'hooked.'

 

Does anyone know of a price guide for AFA graded toys that exists? Any help is appreciated.

 

I am currently thinking of eventually buying the following figures at the following costs. let me know if this is a good deal:

 

Hammerhead 21 A-Back AFA straight 85 $480

 

WalrusMan AFA straight 85-A back $480 (21 back)

 

12-back Luke Skywalker straight 85 $1750

 

Pricey I know, but I would love to know your thoughts to anyone who has knowledge in this area.

 

Thanks again, guys.

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mintcollector

mintcollector

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Oh, one more question. If anyone knows any honest dealers, please let me know. I know of Brian's Toys and some on ebay who I trust. That being said, a listing of AFA dealers would be very helpful. If anyone can PM this info or post it I would be very grateful...

 

Sincerely,

 

'mint'

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Designer Toast

Designer Toast

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Posted

I never collected graded figures, but had a good sized Star Wars collection - took me about two years to get rid of all of it. Last night I found the 12 figure mail away display stand in a box.

 

Vintage Star Wars toys :cloud9:

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Designer Toast

Designer Toast

Posted
Posted
Oh, one more question. If anyone knows any honest dealers, please let me know. I know of Brian's Toys and some on ebay who I trust. That being said, a listing of AFA dealers would be very helpful. If anyone can PM this info or post it I would be very grateful...

 

Sincerely,

 

'mint'

 

Not sure if he does AFA toys, but Billy Galaxy in Portland, Oregon is legit to deal with. He's also a board member. (thumbs u

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Trey Cannon

Trey Cannon

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At one point I collected strickly Star Wars figures. I had every figure on every card back AFA graded 80 or higher. I also had every variant also AFA 80 or higher. Includeding vinyl caped Jawa. I also had a AFA loose Rocket firing Fett My collection was enormus It included all the vintage figures 1977-1985 and all the modern figures from 1995-2005. I also had all the playsets vehicles beast assortments etc from the same time period. I also had a entire set of Revenge of the Jedi proof cards graded AFA 85 or higher. I decided in 2005 that it would be a good time to let go of my collection. (One reason was I noticed that the orginal plastic bubbles on many of the Star Wars vintage figures were turning yellow which eventually would deteriate to cracking) Alot of the figures I purchased before AFA came around and I submitted them once the company was up and running.

 

I sold my entire collection to Brianstoys from Fountain City Wisconsin. I took the money that I sold the colllection for and invested it in the one thing I had always wanted since I was 11 years old. You can see this beauty below in the pictures I have included these were taken at the Cabin Fever Car Show held at the expo center in Knoxville Tn. I have entered this show every year since 2005 and have placed no lower than second place

car004.jpg

car001.jpg

car002.jpg

car003.jpg

52frontLETTER.jpg

(1957 Chevy Convertible 33,000 original miles all numbers matching car Frame off restoration. All orginal 283 engine I am the third owner of this car)

This picture was taken at the Halls Car Show last year

571.jpg

 

 

I still have a very small collection of Star Wars items from vintage to modern but the vast majority are the loose ones I played with as a child. I have several autographed figures and maybe just 3 AFA graded items now.

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mintcollector

mintcollector

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At one point I collected strickly Star Wars figures. I had every figure on every card back AFA graded 80 or higher. I also had every variant also AFA 80 or higher. Includeding vinyl caped Jawa. I also had a AFA loose Rocket firing Fett My collection was enormus It included all the vintage figures 1977-1985 and all the modern figures from 1995-2005. I also had all the playsets vehicles beast assortments etc from the same time period. I also had a entire set of Revenge of the Jedi proof cards graded AFA 85 or higher. I decided in 2005 that it would be a good time to let go of my collection. (One reason was I noticed that the orginal plastic bubbles on many of the Star Wars vintage figures were turning yellow which eventually would deteriate to cracking) Alot of the figures I purchased before AFA came around and I submitted them once the company was up and running.

 

I sold my entire collection to Brianstoys from Fountain City Wisconsin. I took the money that I sold the colllection for and invested it in the one thing I had always wanted since I was 11 years old. You can see this beauty below in the pictures I have included these were taken at the Cabin Fever Car Show held at the expo center in Knoxville Tn. I have entered this show every year since 2005 and have placed no lower than second place

car004.jpg

car001.jpg

car002.jpg

car003.jpg

52frontLETTER.jpg

 

(1957 Chevy Convertible 33,000 original miles all numbers matching car Frame off restoration. All orginal 283 engine I am the third owner of this car)

 

 

Nice view, and the car is cool too! Wow, and everyone thought I had no sense of humor. Sorry, won't happen again; ahem.

 

So your vintage Star Wars collection bought you this? Cool.

 

I always wondered what will happen over time to the plastic bubbles and the glue that holds the bubble to the card. That being said, I wish there was a way to stop the aging of these figures. Even G.I. Joe figures from the mid-1980's are starting to show wear; ever so lightly.

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The Troll King

The Troll King

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Posted
If you want to get extra picky try collecting all of the variations in figures. Never mind "Green Haired Madine" I'm talking about 7 different Stormtroopers, 4 different Biker Scouts, etc.

 

At first glance they all look the same but they are indeed not.

 

Are you talking about the mid 90s junk or the vintage stuff?

 

I'm talking about the vintage stuff. As others on these boards know I sold old toys for many years. Star Wars (vintage only) wad one of my specialties and I know far too much about it all then I care to remember.

 

Understanding the "why" of the variations use to be important to me.

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brendanb438

brendanb438

Posted
Posted
If you want to get extra picky try collecting all of the variations in figures. Never mind "Green Haired Madine" I'm talking about 7 different Stormtroopers, 4 different Biker Scouts, etc.

 

At first glance they all look the same but they are indeed not.

 

Are you talking about the mid 90s junk or the vintage stuff?

 

I'm talking about the vintage stuff. As others on these boards know I sold old toys for many years. Star Wars (vintage only) wad one of my specialties and I know far too much about it all then I care to remember.

 

Understanding the "why" of the variations use to be important to me.

 

I thought you were talking about the vintage stuff but just wanted to make sure before commenting. The amount of variants for the original figures is wild to say the least. A large portion of the collecting community are not even aware of most variants.

 

Now the mid 90s junk to me was sad for the fact that it seemed Kenner created a lot of variants on purpose to just try and drive a secondary market on them.

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followtheleader

followtheleader

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Posted

My only issue with AFA is that I rarely see mid-grade items for a cheap price. As many have hinted it here, most are only submitting high grade which results in high prices.

 

I have quite a few figures myself. But I'm not as crazy into it as many. I'm fine with a Jedi card and they don't necessarily have to be perfect.

 

Just picked up a carded Boba Fett and Anakin Skywalker recently. Been looking for both for a very long time.

 

Pat

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The Troll King

The Troll King

Posted
Posted
If you want to get extra picky try collecting all of the variations in figures. Never mind "Green Haired Madine" I'm talking about 7 different Stormtroopers, 4 different Biker Scouts, etc.

 

At first glance they all look the same but they are indeed not.

 

Are you talking about the mid 90s junk or the vintage stuff?

 

I'm talking about the vintage stuff. As others on these boards know I sold old toys for many years. Star Wars (vintage only) wad one of my specialties and I know far too much about it all then I care to remember.

 

Understanding the "why" of the variations use to be important to me.

 

I thought you were talking about the vintage stuff but just wanted to make sure before commenting. The amount of variants for the original figures is wild to say the least. A large portion of the collecting community are not even aware of most variants.

 

Now the mid 90s junk to me was sad for the fact that it seemed Kenner created a lot of variants on purpose to just try and drive a secondary market on them.

 

It's easy to believe that, but I'm fairly certain they couldn't have cared less about the secondary ,market. If they had, they wouldn't have dug old molds and recast the vehicles which killed the prices on a lot of them. It also took away a huge segment of people that were collecting vintage specifically for their kids to play with.

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comicwiz

comicwiz

Posted
Posted
If you want to get extra picky try collecting all of the variations in figures. Never mind "Green Haired Madine" I'm talking about 7 different Stormtroopers, 4 different Biker Scouts, etc.

 

At first glance they all look the same but they are indeed not.

 

Are you talking about the mid 90s junk or the vintage stuff?

 

I'm talking about the vintage stuff. As others on these boards know I sold old toys for many years. Star Wars (vintage only) wad one of my specialties and I know far too much about it all then I care to remember.

 

Understanding the "why" of the variations use to be important to me.

 

I thought you were talking about the vintage stuff but just wanted to make sure before commenting. The amount of variants for the original figures is wild to say the least. A large portion of the collecting community are not even aware of most variants.

 

Now the mid 90s junk to me was sad for the fact that it seemed Kenner created a lot of variants on purpose to just try and drive a secondary market on them.

 

It's easy to believe that, but I'm fairly certain they couldn't have cared less about the secondary ,market. If they had, they wouldn't have dug old molds and recast the vehicles which killed the prices on a lot of them. It also took away a huge segment of people that were collecting vintage specifically for their kids to play with.

 

Not to sound argumentative, but I think they did consider secondary market impacts as all the re-released toys had different COO markings, the figures were articulated differently and looked like they could do a cover shoot for the muscle and fitness mag.

 

I believe even the last hurrah rerelease of Luke, Han, Chewy and Vader that were done in the second phase of POTF (see 4-pack pictured above the MIB Vader TIE) had COO markings that distinguished it from the vintage line.

 

The ships and playsets were all recreated with greater detail, different colouring schemes, feature enhancements (i.e. lights and battle sounds). There is no way anyone, who spends even a minute comparing a vintage AT-AT or Millenium Falcon with a rereleased version, could ever mistake a rereleased version as vintage.

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JediTrix

JediTrix

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Posted

I've recently sold the majority of my Star Wars collection. You think comics take up a bunch of space?? Try collecting toys!!

 

I've since changed my Star Wars toy focus to just having the actors autograph my figures, which I love! Smaller shows are the best for this as they allow you time to chat with the actors and ever take pictures with them. I have an awesome picture of Daniel Logan (young Boba) giving my Mando Skull tattoo the thumbs up, then Jeremy Bulloch (original Boba) attempting to replicating the same pose. Hilarity ensued...

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Gatsby77

Gatsby77

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About 15 years ago I thought that, Bobba Fett aside, the carded POTF figures were about as scarce/valuable as the 12-backs.

 

Is that still true?

 

I never got into the toys as collectibles, but still have a decent collection of the played-with toys. Gave my 10 year-old nephew my old AT-AT for Christmas this year. Cool thing was, even 25+ years later, the sound effects still worked!

 

Only thing that *might* be of value in my basement is a ratty-looking Imperial Skiff. And by "value," I reckon about $40.

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