I used to do this with my comics but that was a company called CGC. It is still a bunch of crap tho cuz it's only worth that much if sombody iswill to pay it.
Ok. But there's a subset of our fandom that collects sealed, meticulously preserved AFA items. My opinion of whatever markup someone may have isn't really relevant; AFA is simply another option for collectors out there, and if someone is willing to pay, terrific. It doesn't really affect at all the person who ISN'T willing to pay. Personally, I crack open nearly everything, so I don't really 'get' AFA collecting...but I'm glad people have options. One time someone told me I was "willfully destroying history" by opening a sealed Victory Saber giftset. And of course on the other hand, AFA is evil because people feel nobody can enjoy the toy the way it was meant to be enjoyed. One thing's for sure, you can't ever win in this fandom.
Also, AFA isnt a license to print money, you cant get a 15 dollar fig and turn it around at 1500. Basically, the AFA craze has died down to a point that you need to get a really high grade to turn a decent profit, or the fig in question has the rarity level to a turn profit no matter the grade. I have seen ungraded pieces go for more than their graded counterparts.
AFA is just the next step in something that's already ridiculous: IE: Grown men paying large sums of money for old toys. Their "authority" has been called into question often, sometimes very legitimately....but you're exaggerating.
Of course I'm exaggerating but not by much. I have seen some rediculas pricing on AFA items. I think my main beef is anything that adds false value to collectables. Value should be about supply and demand not because someone tells you the item is worth something because it is in a box with a sticker on it
I've said this many times before: the AFA falls under the category of con jobs that I wished I'd have thought of.
I think the stupidity of some of the people who sell cause the selling prices to go to ridiculous levels. I'll use the $15 to $1500 difference. Person 1 gets his mint condition MISB Twin Twist (valued at $15) graded by AFA (now valued at $1500). Person 1 put his figure up on EBAY for $1500. Now, regardless of it selling or not, people see this. They get their non AFA'd, yellowed, missing accessories Twin Twist and try to sell him for $300. Now no one in their right mind would PAY that, but I don't think a lot of EBay sellers actually stop to look at what something actually SELLS for. I think they see what someone is trying to get for it, think they can get TONS their TF, and put it up. After a while (when no one's bought armless Twin Twist for $150) the prices become stabilized and more reasonable again. So I think getting figures graded often causes this problem, I think it's unfair to blame AFA.
I really hoped this thread would be people talking about how much the most expensive transformers they've seen have gone for. Instead, the same anti-AFA thread I've read fifteen times before. Oh, well.
I guess I'm just not seeing this as some kind of universal rampant behavior that everyone else sees - sure, there's a few moonbats with 4 digit prices on ebay, but they're sitting there unsold, and they're vastly outnumbered by the sales of more reasonably-priced graded stuff.
Curious what they charged for those. I have an extra set I came across just the other day and I've been thinking of looking into that...
For purposes of this discussion, the far bigger steaming pile is people citing fringe Ebay auctions with outrageous asking prices that did not sell! The fact is, the market has determined that AFA graded toys ARE worth more. That is proven because people consistantly pay more. That could change without notice, but right now, it's a reality. But someone asking for $100 or $1000 or $10000 for a given toy means nothing until someone buys it.
