Collecting in the 80s

[80s_collector]

I was a collector in the 1980s, dealt and swapped a lot of Star Wars and other tv toys around the Uk etc, recently I visited my parents house and was amazed, lots of my old dealing stock and some of my collection still in their loft. I had totally forgot about it.
I hate to say this now looking at current market prices but I used to bang panel pins in the loft beams and hang my carded frigures off them.....12 backs then were about £20 each Lol.....I wish I had bought a lot more.
Oh I really need to get organised and get some of my carded and loose items sold...not too mention a few boxed ships I came across up there.
I will get around to uploading a few pics of all my posters stuck to the plaster boards and my cheap cabinet which held my loose collection of around 90 figures or so, brilliant, the back of it is covered in Black hole wallpaper.......oooh what great memories.....I hope collecting is as much fun now as it was back then.

Im just so amazed, a forum for collectors wow...! totally amazing.....years ago it was a tiny advert for about £5-10 on the back page of some toy magazine, and sending out lists with stamp addressed envelopes.......what a difference...wow.....!

I gather I can sell on this site, are there any fees like on ebay or Amazon...?

Any help would really be appreciated.

Gosh, theres too much to go through, my weekends are going to be a bit hectic sorting all these lovely Star Wars toys....I feel like Im 16 again

 

[jedisearcher]

I was a collector in the 1980s, dealt and swapped a lot of Star Wars and other tv toys around the Uk etc, recently I visited my parents house and was amazed, lots of my old dealing stock and some of my collection still in their loft. I had totally forgot about it.
I hate to say this now looking at current market prices but I used to bang panel pins in the loft beams and hang my carded frigures off them.....12 backs then were about £20 each Lol.....I wish I had bought a lot more.
Oh I really need to get organised and get some of my carded and loose items sold...not too mention a few boxed ships I came across up there.
I will get around to uploading a few pics of all my posters stuck to the plaster boards and my cheap cabinet which held my loose collection of around 90 figures or so, brilliant, the back of it is covered in Black hole wallpaper.......oooh what great memories.....I hope collecting is as much fun now as it was back then.

Im just so amazed, a forum for collectors wow...! totally amazing.....years ago it was a tiny advert for about £5-10 on the back page of some toy magazine, and sending out lists with stamp addressed envelopes.......what a difference...wow.....!

I gather I can sell on this site, are there any fees like on ebay or Amazon...?

Any help would really be appreciated.

Gosh, theres too much to go through, my weekends are going to be a bit hectic sorting all these lovely Star Wars toys....I feel like Im 16 again

Welcome to SWFUK!

I wish my loft had goodies like that in it, but when I rooted everything out the only survivor was one Ben Kenobi, no lightsaber, no cloak. He's my favourite figure for obvious reasons :lol:

No fees on here, just create a For Sale thread, or ask for Valuations in the Valuations thread and plenty of people will help you out. The less drama the more sales

 

[Mr. Bob A. Feet]

Welcome and lucky you..look forward to seeing what you have! :mrgreen:

 

[80s_collector]

Ok many thanks for your help. Oh I have a lot more than a Ben Kenobi, Im not sure when and where to start.
I have seen the words AFA and A and B cards...whats this mean...?

Any help would be appreciated as when I collected, they were just known as a carded or loose figure...

I think a few photos will help to get the ball rolling maybe.

 

[80s_collector]

Thanks, there are a lot of uncarded figures and I came across quite a few cards with no figure or blisters, bubbles whatever you call them nowadays.
I do have a good selection of the figures still on cards, some are empire strikes back, return of the jedi, and the Star Wars first 12.

There are some posters, comics and some boxed spaceships and I am sure there are some playsets kicking around somewhere up there.

I noticed a few ewoks cartoon figures on green cards and I saw some loose American coins in a bag that came with the figures, power of the force if I remember correctly.

Once I have time I will get them up for sale, a few poster sets done by Ralph Mcquarrie, they are lovely, I might frame some up...Lol

 

[Mr. Bob A. Feet]

AFA is the action figure authority, there's also UKG which is a UK version basically they grade and "authenticate" items, it's quite a divisive subject but on the whole most people use them to add value to collectibles for resale http://www.toygrader.com/ and http://ukgraders.co.uk/

The A and B card I assume means which card design it designates, here's a link that might help http://www.12back.com/features/cardbacks/cardbacks.php3

Hope that helps!

Edit: Wow you sound like you might have it a bit of a jackpot, Any Droids cartoon among those treasures? but yeah take some pics and post them in the valuation forums and the experts here will see you right!

 

[itfciain]

I reckon you can expect an avalanche of PMs after that intro !

I would recommend getting plenty of pictures taken, uploaded onto a share site like photobucket and then post them up in the valuation section on here - there are plenty of people that will be able to help you with current market values. Ebays completed sales (look for the green ones that sold) will also give you an idea

Once you've got the pictures, condition info and desired prices then you will be ready to sell on here - no fees and lots of willing buyers (for the right price :wink: )

 

[Dr_Ball_MD]

Can I has Zuckuss?

Welcome to the forum

 

[80s_collector]

Many thanks for all your help with threads and snippits of information.
As for the grading of figures , that is amazing, what a brilliant idea...I understand now that if a figure is graded the price is higher than if ungraded.
I had a brief look on ebay, wow some of this stuff has really climbed in price since the days I collected.

I will get some photographs uploaded when I get time,

Thanks again for all your replies.

 

[edd_jedi]

Welcome to the forum! No fees to sell here, although I am in the process of introducing a rule where I get first dibs on any tri logo carded figures

 

[80s_collector]

That sounds a good rule edd...Lol.

What are tri logos.....? Sorry to sound a bit dumb.

 

[Cazza]

The 3 logo design- check out Edd's avatar

 

[maxf]

As for the grading of figures , that is amazing, what a brilliant idea...I understand now that if a figure is graded the price is higher than if ungraded.

Not always true - a low grade figure will sometimes sell for less than the ungraded equivalent - as the condition is 'out in the open' and any speculators who might want to grade a figure to flip it on for a profit are then out of the game.

 

[edd_jedi]

Yes generally you're only 'guaranteed' a decent profit on 85 or above grades, and I wouldn't bother grading any of the cheaper figures (Klaatu, Nikto etc) as they're so common regardless of condition you won't make your grading fee back. And as said, anything under 75 usually sells for less than an ungraded example. I would only recommend grading for expensive, top condition figures.

 

[80s_collector]

Thanks Cazza now I know tri logo is the european cards with the Return on the jedi wrote in 3 languages....stupid me Lol...
cheers

 

[80s_collector]

Ah ok, this grading sounds interesting edd, but to be fair I wont be grading anything....if someone wants to buy an item off me, then let them grade it, its sounds a bit complex and really I dont have the time nor the knowledge to go down this route.

Im really just interested to sell when I get the items sorted out, business and life in general uses a lot of time, but I will get round to it over the next few weeks for sure.

The response I have had has been amazing, there are some very helpful people on here.

Many thanks to you all.

 

[theforceuk]

Welcmome to the Forum pal, you've made some friends with your last post. :lol:

I'll keep a look out for your sales thread. :wink:

 

[80s_collector]

Yes many thanks to everyone, I will get some items for sale on here throughout April.

 

[benny100]

Yes many thanks to everyone, I will get some items for sale on here throughout April.

Look forward to seeing what you have, have to say the publicity surrounding the Fett auction seems to have got everyone searching in their lofts!

 

[80s_collector]

Fett Auction.....? Is this another term used to grade figures...?

My parents wanted their loft emptying after years of begging.....unlucky for me....I was the one designated to do it...Lol

Mind you most of the stuff in there is mine afterall......so can't moan too much...