phreatobite
Jedi Master
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2009
- Messages
- 596
Just a quick question: I've got an afa graded C-3P0 with straight 95s but an overall 90, this doesn't seem to make sense if they're taking an average?
Bonsai_Tree_Ent said:You've got a minty C3PO. Full stop. That ought to be the end of the story!
Some pimply young fellow in a low rent industrial estate, working for probably close to minimum wage has looked at this figure and written a number on a sticker. He's then probably chowed down on a donut and texted his girlfriend in boredom, before being barked at by the duty manager because time is money.
AFA don't consist of a forensic league of uber collector scientists, unfortunately they appear to make careless mistake like yours all too frequently.
subzero said:Don't agree with grading for the most part, but on the other hand it's helped me get a very cheap Boba Fett MOC because it was graded a 50 for some silly reason, in my eyes looks more like a 70 with a good bubble, if I wanted I could crack that thing open right now and double my money selling it.
Thank you AFA for your awful grade. 8)
ScruffyLookingNH said:subzero said:Don't agree with grading for the most part, but on the other hand it's helped me get a very cheap Boba Fett MOC because it was graded a 50 for some silly reason, in my eyes looks more like a 70 with a good bubble, if I wanted I could crack that thing open right now and double my money selling it.
Thank you AFA for your awful grade. 8)
Just had to look over to my right to check my Palitoy Boba Fett MOC graded 50 that I picked up for a bargain price was still there :lol: Benefited from a few "low graded" MOCs going cheap because the owner couldn't get past the grade. It's about the only reason I like grading.
Bonsai_Tree_Ent said:You've got a minty C3PO. Full stop. That ought to be the end of the story!
Some pimply young fellow in a low rent industrial estate, working for probably close to minimum wage has looked at this figure and written a number on a sticker. He's then probably chowed down on a donut and texted his girlfriend in boredom, before being barked at by the duty manager because time is money.
AFA don't consist of a forensic league of uber collector scientists, unfortunately they appear to make careless mistake like yours all too frequently.
phreatobite said:Just a quick question: I've got an afa graded C-3P0 with straight 95s but an overall 90, this doesn't seem to make sense if they're taking an average?
palitoyjunky said:Just rem at the end of the day it's just an opinion of someone else and the differences between a 90 and 95 r so microscopic it really doesn't matter
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, including you. You like, or at least believe you can see some benefits in, grading. That's entirely fair enough. However, it's also fair enough for those of us who consider grading to be a waste of time and money to hold that view too.Merrion said:I dont get the consistent rants or slights or disdain for graded figures whenever grading is discussed. This is not unique to this thread specifically and ive read numerous views expressed on this site in other threads just bashing grading full stop. Its almost like if you dont a negative view for grading ur almost by implication guilty of some hanging offence lol.
Grading is a feature of the collecting community, simple as. Sure you dont have to buy into it but suggesting those that do are somehow duped because apparentedly they needed someone else to tell them what condition their figure is in.
In an era where figures are flooded with repo weapons grading offers security to those less familiar with idetifying fakes. Some people like having an independent body examining their figure and having them graded to validate its condition objectively. For some the thrill is in the anticipation of getting a high grade and then putting this in pride of place to their collection. Nothing wrong with that.
Of course like any service provided in any industry mistakes can be made and questions raised on some decisions. But hey tell me where this dosent happen. I also dont like U grading petsonally for obvious reasons and would make the exception on this element.
So for anyone else reading this and who likes collecting graded items I just wanted to shout out and express a positive view to proceedings. I have some graded figures but only represents about 4% of all my figures. That said I would have no hesitation in getting more at the right price, particulary the first 12.
So Snaketibe, are you for grading or not, I'm not too sure! :lol:Snaketibe said:Everyone is entitled to their opinion, including you. You like, or at least believe you can see some benefits in, grading. That's entirely fair enough. However, it's also fair enough for those of us who consider grading to be a waste of time and money to hold that view too.Merrion said:I dont get the consistent rants or slights or disdain for graded figures whenever grading is discussed. This is not unique to this thread specifically and ive read numerous views expressed on this site in other threads just bashing grading full stop. Its almost like if you dont a negative view for grading ur almost by implication guilty of some hanging offence lol.
Grading is a feature of the collecting community, simple as. Sure you dont have to buy into it but suggesting those that do are somehow duped because apparentedly they needed someone else to tell them what condition their figure is in.
In an era where figures are flooded with repo weapons grading offers security to those less familiar with idetifying fakes. Some people like having an independent body examining their figure and having them graded to validate its condition objectively. For some the thrill is in the anticipation of getting a high grade and then putting this in pride of place to their collection. Nothing wrong with that.
Of course like any service provided in any industry mistakes can be made and questions raised on some decisions. But hey tell me where this dosent happen. I also dont like U grading petsonally for obvious reasons and would make the exception on this element.
So for anyone else reading this and who likes collecting graded items I just wanted to shout out and express a positive view to proceedings. I have some graded figures but only represents about 4% of all my figures. That said I would have no hesitation in getting more at the right price, particulary the first 12.
Your views are your own and you are absolutely entitled to hold them, no matter who might agree or disagree with them. I would however like to offer a rebuttal to some of the points you raise. Firstly, I genuinely don't require someone else, whether expert or not, to tell me how good something I already own actually is. I have eyes and a brain and can see that for myself.
Secondly, you mention what at first glance sounds like a good point with regards to repro weapons (presumably with loose graded figures, of course). However, firstly this assumes that the graders can actually spot a fake weapon from a real one (some will, some may well not), however once that weapon is encased in its plastic prison, it makes checking whether the graders have made the right decision considerably more difficult. Far more to the point however is that you seem to be saying that there are people out there paying the very steep grading prices in order just to guarantee a genuine weapon. Come off it! Who pays twice the price for a loose figure in order to ensure that just a weapon (which incidentally can never again be held by any figure for as long as it's encased in Perspex) is the real thing? A vanishingly few people might do this, but the vast majority of people won't.
You also mention that some collectors like having an independent body validating an item's condition objectively, but it isn't objective. It's entirely subjective; it's simply the personal opinion of that particular grader or that particular day. There's no official global standard measure for assessing the condition of these things. It's only ever been about people's personal opinions. And yet once those opinions are given, they magically imbue the graded item with double the value of an identical ungraded one! That in a nutshell, more than anything else, is why I consider grading to be so pointless.
By implication as well, you seem to be saying that there is almost an altruistic element to grading; that the graders are assisting the inexperienced collector in purchasing the real thing (both figures and weapons, of course). But let's get real here, if that ever happens it's an incidental by-product of the grading business. Grading exists for one reason only; so graders can make money.
If you personally don't understand the dislike of grading, even after you've heard the arguments of those people, such as myself, who don't like it, then that's fair enough. I can only repeat that you are absolutely entitled to your opinion and YOU ARE NOT WRONG ; if you like graded figures and the grading process, that is your perfect right. However there is no absolute right or wrong answer here regarding whether grading is good, bad or indifferent, and therefore those of us that don't like grading for the reasons stated above (or others), are entitled to think that too.
Peace!
Snaketibe said:Everyone is entitled to their opinion, including you. You like, or at least believe you can see some benefits in, grading. That's entirely fair enough. However, it's also fair enough for those of us who consider grading to be a waste of time and money to hold that view too.Merrion said:I dont get the consistent rants or slights or disdain for graded figures whenever grading is discussed. This is not unique to this thread specifically and ive read numerous views expressed on this site in other threads just bashing grading full stop. Its almost like if you dont a negative view for grading ur almost by implication guilty of some hanging offence lol.
Grading is a feature of the collecting community, simple as. Sure you dont have to buy into it but suggesting those that do are somehow duped because apparentedly they needed someone else to tell them what condition their figure is in.
In an era where figures are flooded with repo weapons grading offers security to those less familiar with idetifying fakes. Some people like having an independent body examining their figure and having them graded to validate its condition objectively. For some the thrill is in the anticipation of getting a high grade and then putting this in pride of place to their collection. Nothing wrong with that.
Of course like any service provided in any industry mistakes can be made and questions raised on some decisions. But hey tell me where this dosent happen. I also dont like U grading petsonally for obvious reasons and would make the exception on this element.
So for anyone else reading this and who likes collecting graded items I just wanted to shout out and express a positive view to proceedings. I have some graded figures but only represents about 4% of all my figures. That said I would have no hesitation in getting more at the right price, particulary the first 12.
Your views are your own and you are absolutely entitled to hold them, no matter who might agree or disagree with them. I would however like to offer a rebuttal to some of the points you raise. Firstly, I genuinely don't require someone else, whether expert or not, to tell me how good something I already own actually is. I have eyes and a brain and can see that for myself.
Secondly, you mention what at first glance sounds like a good point with regards to repro weapons (presumably with loose graded figures, of course). However, firstly this assumes that the graders can actually spot a fake weapon from a real one (some will, some may well not), however once that weapon is encased in its plastic prison, it makes checking whether the graders have made the right decision considerably more difficult. Far more to the point however is that you seem to be saying that there are people out there paying the very steep grading prices in order just to guarantee a genuine weapon. Come off it! Who pays twice the price for a loose figure in order to ensure that just a weapon (which incidentally can never again be held by any figure for as long as it's encased in Perspex) is the real thing? A vanishingly few people might do this, but the vast majority of people won't.
You also mention that some collectors like having an independent body validating an item's condition objectively, but it isn't objective. It's entirely subjective; it's simply the personal opinion of that particular grader or that particular day. There's no official global standard measure for assessing the condition of these things. It's only ever been about people's personal opinions. And yet once those opinions are given, they magically imbue the graded item with double the value of an identical ungraded one! That in a nutshell, more than anything else, is why I consider grading to be so pointless.
By implication as well, you seem to be saying that there is almost an altruistic element to grading; that the graders are assisting the inexperienced collector in purchasing the real thing (both figures and weapons, of course). But let's get real here, if that ever happens it's an incidental by-product of the grading business. Grading exists for one reason only; so graders can make money.
If you personally don't understand the dislike of grading, even after you've heard the arguments of those people, such as myself, who don't like it, then that's fair enough. I can only repeat that you are absolutely entitled to your opinion and YOU ARE NOT WRONG ; if you like graded figures and the grading process, that is your perfect right. However there is no absolute right or wrong answer here regarding whether grading is good, bad or indifferent, and therefore those of us that don't like grading for the reasons stated above (or others), are entitled to think that too.
Peace!
Well, judging from your initial reply, sadly you seem to have taken offence, which is not what I intended. I deliberately bookended my response by taking pains to point out that you are entitled to your opinion AND that you are not wrong.Merrion said:Snake bite indeed , seems quite an apt name given your reply. Its akin to someone entering a room with an ak47 , clearing the room and then declaring peace. Wow, just wow. I will reply later when ive time but to say your reply was a woosh moment would be an underststement.