AFA 90 1978 Darth Vader MOC. Highest grade worldwide.

[Zolker]

Hi all,

I have a palitoy 1978 12 Back B Darth Vader and its a AFA 90 with a population of 1 and the highest grade ever given. Its also unpunched and in an archival case. Sub grades are C85 B90 F90. Its a stunner! Sadly my circumstances have changed and i need to sell.

I had a well known online auction house from the states begining with H value it at 20,000 plus. I did try some other auction houses for valuations but they drastically vary.

I am reluctant to use H auctions as the fees are so high and the worry and cost of shipping it over there.

i have tried ebay but i feel its too large of item to be sold that way and not really reaching the right people.

Any help of valuation and how / where to proceed with this would be much appreciated. I would be happy to hand deliver anywhere within the UK for the right deal if anyone is looking at this and is interested.

Thanks

 

[Dad of Luke]

Have you considered Vectis auctions in the UK? I think they are near Newcastle.

 

[Zolker]

Have you considered Vectis auctions in the UK? I think they are near Newcastle.

Thanks for the advice, I did but the valuation compared to other auction houses was very low.

 

[theforceuk]

Hakes or Goldin Auctions in my opinion. The type of people that buy these items don't have time to look on eBay or Facebook/Instagram. Vectis doesn't get enough exposure. Big American auction house for me.

 

[Zolker]

Hakes or Goldin Auctions in my opinion. The type of people that buy these items don't have time to look on eBay or Facebook/Instagram. Vectis doesn't get enough exposure. Big American auction house for me.

Thanks for the advice. Do you think because its a palitoy theres less of a market in the states?

 

[theforceuk]

No, not at all. Hakes attract buyers from all over the world.

 

[monkey_roo]

I'd check out the Vectis sale prices - they value a little low but the hammer prices for high-end pieces is almost always far in excess of their valuation

 

[theforceuk]

I agree it may be worth sending them an email. Vectis might do some extra promotion or something?

 

[Zolker]

Thanks for all the advice. Do you think the 20,000 plus is a realistic valuation? Or is it a bit high? Its a lot to consider after fees and everything so any advice regarding the valuation would be appreciated.

 

[Frunkstar]

Are you on facebook?? if so there's a "DOND" auction group on there - deal or no deal, so you can post it up for whatever start price you wish & state minimum bid incriments etc, you are under no obligaton to sell if you don't get an offer you feel is fair, you can also add a buy it now price, that way you would miss out the middle man & all the fees that go along with it, by selling it directly to another collector.

Patric O'Brien is a huge vader focus collector & a good friend of mine, if you want I can ask him his opinon regarding it's value, as if anyone should know I would assume he'd be one of the best to give you a realistic valuation, 20k seems steep to me but I'm on the polar opposite end of the spending spectrum & don't really collect MOC's especially not graded examples.

Bill Mcbride is another huge vader focus collector, so he's another good option for gauging it's true value.

Great piece though, a real shame you are having to let it go

 

[darth_daddius]

Hi, I'll be honest I think 20k is unrealistic, BUT, you just never know with high grade examples. 85 grade examples are struggling to sell for 2k, but its amazing how much people will pay for that 90 grade. If youre not prepared to put it through Hakes (who probably have the best record lately for sellers), then I definitely think Vectis would be your next best bet. Despite their valuation, it mrans little to the final price that is driven by buyers. Facebook auctions will likely never meet your expectations.

Cheers,
Pat

 

[Zolker]

Are you on facebook?? if so there's a "DOND" auction group on there - deal or no deal, so you can post it up for whatever start price you wish & state minimum bid incriments etc, you are under no obligaton to sell if you don't get an offer you feel is fair, you can also add a buy it now price, that way you would miss out the middle man & all the fees that go along with it, by selling it directly to another collector.

Patric O'Brien is a huge vader focus collector & a good friend of mine, if you want I can ask him his opinon regarding it's value, as if anyone should know I would assume he'd be one of the best to give you a realistic valuation, 20k seems steep to me but I'm on the polar opposite end of the spending spectrum & don't really collect MOC's especially not graded examples.

Bill Mcbride is another huge vader focus collector, so he's another good option for gauging it's true value.

Great piece though, a real shame you are having to let it go

Thanks for the help! Unfortunatley im not on FB... if you could ask for an opinion on value that would be much appreciated!

 

[Zolker]

Are you on facebook?? if so there's a "DOND" auction group on there - deal or no deal, so you can post it up for whatever start price you wish & state minimum bid incriments etc, you are under no obligaton to sell if you don't get an offer you feel is fair, you can also add a buy it now price, that way you would miss out the middle man & all the fees that go along with it, by selling it directly to another collector.

Patric O'Brien is a huge vader focus collector & a good friend of mine, if you want I can ask him his opinon regarding it's value, as if anyone should know I would assume he'd be one of the best to give you a realistic valuation, 20k seems steep to me but I'm on the polar opposite end of the spending spectrum & don't really collect MOC's especially not graded examples.

Bill Mcbride is another huge vader focus collector, so he's another good option for gauging it's true value.

Great piece though, a real shame you are having to let it go

Thanks for the help! Unfortunatley im not on FB... if you could ask for an opinion on value that would be much appreciated!

Hi, I'll be honest I think 20k is unrealistic, BUT, you just never know with high grade examples. 85 grade examples are struggling to sell for 2k, but its amazing how much people will pay for that 90 grade. If youre not prepared to put it through Hakes (who probably have the best record lately for sellers), then I definitely think Vectis would be your next best bet. Despite their valuation, it mrans little to the final price that is driven by buyers. Facebook auctions will likely never meet your expectations.

Cheers,
Pat

Thanks for the advice. Ideally i want 12k out of it after fees. I think hakes is the way forward.

 

[theforceuk]

If I was a betting man and I'm not! I would say £5k+ as a final hammer price and then fees deducted. Palitoy are popular in the UK but world wide I don't think collectors care as much.

Another factor is the sub grade of 85 for the card, if it was straight 90's then investors would take notice.

You never know though, it just takes 2 bidders with deep pockets who really want it for it to go for silly money.

 

[Frunkstar]

Thanks for the help! Unfortunatley im not on FB... if you could ask for an opinion on value that would be much appreciated!

I had a word with Pat & he has commented above (darth_daddius)

As said I am not really a carded collector, but I am with theforceuk on this, realistically I don't see you getting 12k out of this, the vader is one of the more common palitoy 12 backs & I suspect 5k is more like what you will actually see if it's put to auction, not the news you want but it is realistic, only one way to really find out & that's try an auction house & have a minimum reserve set on it.

 

[Zolker]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I know straight 90s would help, but there isnt anything better, there isnt even a 85+ and only a handfull of 85s. I suppose i was hoping that not just the fact that its an AFA90 but that its the highest graded example and the only one would add a decent premium to it. Whilst 5k is alot of money at 5k i would probably hang on to it. I am going to reach out to hakes again and see how confident they are in the 20,000 plus valuation and then potentially go through there as it seems they have the best platform to reach the buyers im looking for.

If anyone is reading this and is intersted i am open to offers, just message me.

Thanks again for all the help everyone.

 

[theforceuk]

Good luck with whatever you decide, it's an amazing item! Keep us posted.

 

[welshwookie]

Ther was a high grade Dart Vader advertised on fb a good few months ago. But you can't see it on there now. I'm sure that had an 85 and possibly 2 90 grades. It was a beautiful example either way.
That was up for£4k /£4,5 if I remember correctly. Something is telling me the sw palitoy collector site.