Should U grades be banned!

galactables said:
There are many people who appreciate the 'u' grade. I didn't get involved in the Rebel Scum debate because I would only be wasting my time. I am not going to get involved in a debate here either. I personally prefer carded figures myself, but I have no problem sending carded figures for loose 'u' grading. They look fantastic, and I get many quality cardbacks that I would otherwise never have got.

Many of you guys have dealt with me in the past and have even bought 'u' graded figures from me.

It's 'horses for courses', and you would be surprised how many people actually collect 'u' grades.

Im not going to start a wave of discussion on here, but be honest with me, is the Luke gunner going to be sent for U grading? Because if it is i would rather keep it. Cheers.
 
galactables said:
There are many people who appreciate the 'u' grade. I didn't get involved in the Rebel Scum debate because I would only be wasting my time. I am not going to get involved in a debate here either. I personally prefer carded figures myself, but I have no problem sending carded figures for loose 'u' grading. They look fantastic, and I get many quality cardbacks that I would otherwise never have got.

Many of you guys have dealt with me in the past and have even bought 'u' graded figures from me.

It's 'horses for courses', and you would be surprised how many people actually collect 'u' grades.


I have dealt with you Robbie a number of times as a buyer and in trades (all MOC's) and im not
having a go at you at all. I understand you dont want to get dragged into the debate but
can you answer just one question?

Do you think the current rate that MOC's are been destroyed for U grades is sustainable?
 
I think there are still loads of carded figures out there in varying conditions. It's obviously not sustainable over the long-term, but for the forseeable future there's certainly plenty to go around.
 
Oh Brother you dont see anything wrong with that??????
Yeah you got some nice cardbacks mate, looks like you dont want them anyway so that part of your story is shot. MMMMM going to sell all the U85's sometime soon also are you. I can see you are really quite serious about this hobby Robbie!
Your an opportunist, let's not pretend your anything else, especially someone who actually gives a **** about the hobby. Enjoy your profits while they last :roll:


op·por·tun·ist (p r-t n st, -ty-) n. One who takes advantage of any opportunity to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences.
 
Robbie even if you don't reply please at least read the following:

There is no doubt that most of us know Robbie/Galactables by either seeing his names on the forums or by actually dealing with him.

I bought a POTF Dungeon from Robbie a long long time ago off of ebay and he was a great guy, waited till I got paid to send payment and packed it awesomely, and not only that but the dungeon and figures were superb just as described.

All this "U" graded malarky has just turned everything on its head in this hobby, I hate it and I won't ever grow to like it or sit on the fence about it, even worse its turning me against people like Robbie.

The fact is that Robbie, friend or not is as much to blame as the buyers of U graded figures, of course you can say that ultimately if no-one bought them he wouldn't be doing it, but by his own admission collects and enjoys "U" graded figures, for what reason I don't know!

Robbie knows the figures will never be "uncirculated" he has been in the hobby long enough to realise that it was made by hand on a factory line, and it will be handled by some workers in the AFA HQ but he and others just ignore it.

AFA 90 IS the same as AFA U90 apart from two things :

It's Cheaper
It does NOT destroy and consume a diminishing number of collectibles that others can and should be able
to enjoy still carded.


Honestly Robbie collecting is so addictive at times that you can forget the bigger picture even just by spending too much money on toys for example, but when the bigger picture is affecting others and you are the one at the centre of it you really need to wake up and stop.

Sure at the moment there seems to be an abundance of shitty MOCS out there, but that number will NEVER increase, then the next tier is decent/medium MOCS, then its madness like we have seen of late with Rulair breaking open figures that looked so good they were graded as MOCS...

It's unfair on others to say "at the moment its ok because there are loads of these about" of course there are but every time you send in a batch of figures to submit for "U" grading you are slowly consuming those figures that are plentiful, the pond is drying up.

Nothing anyone can say here will change your mind Robbie, ultimately you really can do whatever you want, and probably will. I just hope that people who have the buying power of yourself and Rulair don't follow suit just to make profit, its probably happening already.

It is quite sad to have to plead with someone to not send in his own figures to be graded but it's not just about picking a barny with someone this month because we don't have a troll, the words that are written here and on RS that oppose whats happening even if they are badly chosen and insulting to people like yourself are said because these guys really do care....

Like Kenner said : We Really Do Care....Do You?
 
jaymassive619 said:
Many moc collectors are finding it much tougher now to find certain figure card combination's.

I just wanted to say that this is one of the many reasons not to send in any moc not just a beater.

There are a few figure focus collectors myself included that need a few MOC to complete either a run or to flesh out a run of carded figures that wouldn't mind adding a beater version to their collection IF they could find one, of course there will always be cards that are hard to find but when people send in beaters I highly doubt they check what kind of cardback it is and offer it around a bit first, just in case.

Spoons has never seen certain Han Hoth cards for his run but perhaps a few have been sent in for "U" grading that he will never know about.
 
Right ok, lets just look at it from a few perspectives here.

1. if a cheap albeit good condition moc is on ebay (ive seen a bib fortuna c8 for £15) goes unsold for weeks, nobody wants it, a U grader takes it and and sells it for £50 u90. nobody can really complain.

2. A collector like Robbie who wants to afford his desired carded figures that are expensive like a MOC VC Jawa, cant afford it straight up, doesnt have any interest in rotj, tri logo figures, he finds some people (idiots) will pay £200 for a loose lando u90, when a rotj costs him £25...he sees an opportunity in the market to afford the figures he wants.

3. Pure money makers will see this as a great opportunity to make thousends of pounds with a massive return because people will pay a huge premium for that totally wank letter U.

All of the above will result in this (and lets be honest we cant stop it)

1. carded figures will become rare and more expensive

2. runs of carbacks, variations and sets of foreign collections will become premium purchases.

3. beaters will be no more, and very soon at this rate.

4. people will be priced out of the hobby in years to come.


we aint going to stop it unless we buy all the MOC out there, so lets just try and purchase what we want now before the rarity and premium rises.

im sick to the back teeth of this ****ing debate, theres nothing we can do and its just a case of seeing it through.

I also think it may end up we have to join the bandwagon further down the line, we will find a rare beater and get it U graded just to afford a MOC that we could have picked up for peanuts 5 years ago.

sad but true.

the only thing to do guys is go out there and invest in your collections NOW.....
 
Perhaps Coco would like to chime in here about my cardback collection, etc?

I really can't stand people who assume things without any facts.


Josh said:
Oh Brother you dont see anything wrong with that??????
Yeah you got some nice cardbacks mate, looks like you dont want them anyway so that part of your story is shot. MMMMM going to sell all the U85's sometime soon also are you. I can see you are really quite serious about this hobby Robbie!
Your an opportunist, let's not pretend your anything else, especially someone who actually gives a **** about the hobby. Enjoy your profits while they last :roll:


op·por·tun·ist (p r-t n st, -ty-) n. One who takes advantage of any opportunity to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences.
 
I don't want to get into a debate about this whole issuse but would like to say a couple of things. I have been collecting for a long time now (started in the early nineties roughly around the same time as Robbie, and I know Robbie very well). People would probably call me a high end collector like Grant and a few other on these boards.There is a bigger story to this than just all the hype around uncirculated figures. People have been removing figures from cards ever since I remember just to get loose mint examples for their collections. Figures have been falling off cards ever since I remember (heck, I have seen a power droid fall off a perfectly good 20 back palitoy for one example), bubbles have cracked in the post, figures have popped through buubles, bubbles have yellowed to a point where you can't even see the figure. And if people admit it, many have been known to cut down cards themselves to collect sealed figures on cut cards. I remember years ago buying 30 in one shot years ago from out friend vinnels on ebay, out of a collection of probably 80 cut carded figures. Now you ain't tellin me these were all factory cut down examples??

The thing that has sparked anger against the AFA u grade is the fact Ruliar opened some really nice AFA 80 or better carded which was spotted by someone else. I'm sure in hindsight he probably regrets doing this and his patience got the better of him. Those figures would have eventually turned up at the grade he was looking for. I actually like the AFA loose graded figures and many big carded collectors have loose graded collections.

The fact is these things aren't going to last forever, the best carded examples are the ones that will survive the longest because they will be taken care off better due to their monetary value and "grading preservation" One could possibly look at it as "survival of the fittest" Unfortunately, this doesn't help collectors who wish to collect cheaper carded figures but that is just the way the hobby has panned out over the years I have been collecting........


BTW for what its worth, Robbie has a massive cardback collection (most not obtained by AFA submissions)

James
 
U90 + 90 grades are in exactly the same condition.

Its the fad with the U grade and paying prices like £350 for a loose figure that is the problem.

this is my last message in this discussion as with the RS thread, we go round in circles.

This is the way the market has panned out so lets all just get the **** on with it.
 
Hey Jimbo. I agree with what you are saying mate. I just dont like it when people are ripping cards open for a U grade, soley to make a profit . That is just greed IMO, with a do now and worry later attitude. This is the sort of mentality that drive animals to extinction, destroy forests and other natural habitat all for a dollar. Yeah you can say it's not the same, but the way things are going Vintage MOC's will be on the endangered list pretty soon and you know what there will STILL be dickheads out there willing to destroy them just for this crappy little U designation or too get that loose mint figure for the collection like you say.
Its hard enough to get a nice Dengar MOC for the Collection ie with a sweet bubble etc, without having to compete with some knobhead who just wants to rip it open to get a U.
I am glad I am over collecting random MOC's now, I do however feel sorry for the poor buggers just getting into that side of the hobby!
 
plantman said:
U90 + 90 grades are in exactly the same condition.

Its the fad with the U grade and paying prices like £350 for a loose figure that is the problem.

this is my last message in this discussion as with the RS thread, we go round in circles.

This is the way the market has panned out so lets all just get the **** on with it.

Yeah no probs mate and to me getting the **** on with it, is not endorsing that sort of **** at all ie selling MOC's to people who just destroy them :roll: :wink:
So I will be doing just that like quite a few others I imagine.
 
Ebay aside you can do things to curve the trend somewhat, if you are selling MOC, don't sell to people who collect U grades, check their history and collection threads before doing so.

Save the odd beater or baggie, especially if its a character you like or collect, having one or two beaters in your collection for the greater good isn't going to harm!

Educate as many people as you come across who think U grades are the be all and end all of loose figure collecting, there are a handful of U collectors rethinking what they are buying just as a result of the threads about this subject, so even if the impact was small, it did make a difference!
 
Josh said:
Hey Jimbo. I agree with what you are saying mate. I just dont like it when people are ripping cards open for a U grade, soley to make a profit . That is just greed IMO, with a do now and worry later attitude. This is the sort of mentality that drive animals to extinction, destroy forests and other natural habitat all for a dollar. Yeah you can say it's not the same, but the way things are going Vintage MOC's will be on the endangered list pretty soon and you know what there will STILL be dickheads out there willing to destroy them just for this crappy little U designation or too get that loose mint figure for the collection like you say.
Its hard enough to get a nice Dengar MOC for the Collection ie with a sweet bubble etc, without having to compete with some knobhead who just wants to rip it open to get a U.
I am glad I am over collecting random MOC's now, I do however feel sorry for the poor buggers just getting into that side of the hobby!

Keep the insults coming..................
 
I collect carded figures, and have done since the mid 80s.

I can understand peoples concerns with U grading items, but personally feel its the persons item and they can do with it whatever they want.

Nothing can be done about it, so I really dont see the point in attacking people who collect the stuff.

Falling out with fellow collectors over something which you cannot have any effect over seems crazy to me.
 
galactables said:
Hello,

Yes those cards are mine. There is a very big market for loose 'uncirculated' figures. These cards once housed a good chunk of my personal loose U85 collection which I might sell soon. All variations, if anyone is interested :)

That is you saying they were once your carded figures used to make U graded ones instead right?
Robbie this is probably at the very least 60% business for you and 40% hobby, lets not try to pretend otherwise, it's pointless and your thinking is based around this. You have said why not cash in on the craze why it's happening etc, the point SOME of us are trying to make is in doing so you are actually having a detrimental effect on the hobby in the long run, well in our opinions anyway! I cant see anything good about U grading except the profit part of it every other part of it suck arse especially the destroying of MOC part in the chase for a U90.
I am not trying to attack your character as a person in general and if you think I am that's silly. I just wish people could see past the dollar signs sometimes in life. I understand since this is a business to you so you gotta make a dollar, I just wish MOC's didnt have to be destroyed for you to do it that's all :(

SORRY IF I HAVE OFFENDED YOU. I AINT SAYING ANYMORE ON THIS NOW SO THAT'S ME OVER AND OUT...
 
See if im being honest lads every time I see a new post in this particular thread it gives me a fecking head ache.

The simple thing to do for me would be not to read anymore posts involved which is a what im going to do since it bores me to tears.

Its just the same old opinions which will have NO impact on anyone else apart form ourselves.
The Ugrade is here to stay no matter how much we like or dislike it. Its never going to change. The same arguments/debates will still be lingering on years and years from now. Possibly we all just like big debates. Any way I just thought I would add my one pence worth since this thread still burns on.

Grant.
 
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