Wow those Clones look terrific, I can certainly see the appeal of later-year graded items, it still seems unusual to see them.

It must be so unbelievably difficult to get high grades on TFs with such heavy and large boxes such as Metroplex, Trypticon, Scorponok and co.

All the best
Maz

 

Only a 70 but who oh well ...


G1 Skullgrin, 1988 by CG76, on Flickr

 

G1 Slugfest / Overkil, 1987 by CG76, on Flickr

Not the best condition but ...

 

Also, CG76, it would probably be more time and space effective for you to include as many pics as possible in one post to avoid burying comments in-between and perma-bumping the thread  

All the best
Maz

 

A personal favorite ...


G1 Starscream, 1984 by CG76, on Flickr

A personal favorite ...

 

OK. Sorry about that Maz. The last of my TF collection.


G1 Galvatron (Takara), 2005 by CG76, on Flickr

 

And an absolutely stunning and impressive collection it is too, many congratulations mate. That Starscream is a show-stopper  

All the best
Maz

 

Trypticon, Starscream and Megatron are superb, CG76! Excellent collection you have there!

So... I was wondering: can someone based in Europe, and who uses / has used the AFA grading service, tell me exactly how you went about doing so? I have a few sealed G1 items, but it seems a huge hassle to send them off to the USA to get them graded and then import them back to Europe. For example, how would customs duties / taxes work? It seems to me you'd be paying customs on an item which you own anyhow! However, if AFA returns the item with a low value declared, you'd be SOL if anything happens to the package.

Anyone have any experience? Maz, I'm definitely hoping that one day you'd be willing to do the hands-on research so you can write that article, but as far as I can see... The costs and hassle involved makes AFA-grading for Europeans rather problematic.

 

Thanks guys. The funny thing is that I'm a bigger GI Joe collector than Transformers, and I have tons of graded GI Joe stuff. But over at Hisstank, not a lot of collectors appreciate AFA graded items. So you guys are great.

 

I must be an idiot then. I've tried copying and pasting the image code and nothing is showing up. I've tried using the "insert image" option, as well as directly pasting the URL into the post. What am I missing here? Thanks to all for the help.

 

Joris, I'd love love love to do this, write about the whole experience and if I encounter issues, that would be even better. Wouldn't make much of an article if everything went smoothly. Also I'd want it to be a significant enough figure so that the stakes are high.

I've been vocal about how I really feel about the AFA in the past but I would want to write such an article completely without agenda, just fact based and my own reaction to things going in with an open mind.

If by some miracle I can raise some money and find a suitable toy to grade, this is most definitely on.

In an absolutely magnificently ideal situation I'd take 2 almost identical items from a case find and send one to AFA and one to UKG.

Do you think maybe I should do this with 2 of the Joustra Diaclone Turbo2000 I have in my factory case? They aren't taped on both ends though, came from the factory opened...would it still hold the same value as an article about a properly MISB Transformer?



All the best
Maz

 

Oh man really,that should work doing any of those! I don't know whats going on there. It'll be something simple that's missing I'm sure of it.

 

try posting the direct IMG link here and see what happens. Even if it doesn't work, maybe we can figure it out by seeing the reference link you are using.

 

Got it to work. I guess it doesn't show the image (just the link) in the preview, which was confusing me. Anyway, here's my 75 AFA (75-80-90) Bombshell. The tape residue on the window and top front of the box likely brought down the grade.

 

...

 

...

 

Happy- so does eveyone else...especially Vortex. Impossible to find without a broken bubble.

 

Whoa! What grade did that Megatron get? It looks awesome.

 

Really? I knew they were hard to come by; I saw an AFA 80 Blast Off on Ebay a few months ago but at the time did not have the funds to purchase it. Now I am extra twerked that I did not get it.

 

I've seen MOSC European Classic ones, but I'm assuming you're not interested in these (just looking for the original U.S. versions).

On another note, I'm curious what AFA collectors here think of loose AFA items (those sealed but without the packaging). I think loose items make it more affordable to obtain certain figures, but the packaging is what lures me to AFA collecting in the first place. Just curious what others think.