UKG providing an authentication service - Opinions
- Thread starter jaymassive619
- Start date
Tank1252
Jedi Master
Lol, yeah, forgot about that, another UKG stuff up.
I'm gonna steer clear of 'em, shame really, AFA could do with some competition.
I'm gonna steer clear of 'em, shame really, AFA could do with some competition.
Yeah I agree.
I haven't bought any UKG stuff yet (mainly because nothing I am after has come up with a UKG label on it) but I doubt I would as I just can't see them lasting long term. I hope they do, especially as AFA have a monopoly and only grade in the States, but I just can't see it happening.
I haven't bought any UKG stuff yet (mainly because nothing I am after has come up with a UKG label on it) but I doubt I would as I just can't see them lasting long term. I hope they do, especially as AFA have a monopoly and only grade in the States, but I just can't see it happening.
browny
Jedi Master
2 items sent to ukg mid june,in emails I had with Steve we agreed that it could wait until I returned from my holiday (june 28th) for the items to be graded.....nothing heard at all.
A week ago I prompted him on email,he said invoice would be sent next day....week later and nothing.
Now i'm not petty and I dont go crying about every little thing but this is now starting to turn me against them,a fair bit in fact.
I have never used them and thought that it be fair to give them a go,the items are neither rare nor valuable so I am using this a tester if you like but have come to the conclusion that I could have sent items to afa and received them weeks ago,part of ukg's selling point is that you will receive items quicker than if they went overseas :shock:
Steve is a nice guy and I am not questioning his integrity but I for one will never use the company again and am thinking about telling them to just forget the whole thing,they can keep the frikkin figures too.
Sorry for the moan up gents,i'm ashamed of myself for doing it
A week ago I prompted him on email,he said invoice would be sent next day....week later and nothing.
Now i'm not petty and I dont go crying about every little thing but this is now starting to turn me against them,a fair bit in fact.
I have never used them and thought that it be fair to give them a go,the items are neither rare nor valuable so I am using this a tester if you like but have come to the conclusion that I could have sent items to afa and received them weeks ago,part of ukg's selling point is that you will receive items quicker than if they went overseas :shock:
Steve is a nice guy and I am not questioning his integrity but I for one will never use the company again and am thinking about telling them to just forget the whole thing,they can keep the frikkin figures too.
Sorry for the moan up gents,i'm ashamed of myself for doing it
browny said:2 items sent to ukg mid june,in emails I had with Steve we agreed that it could wait until I returned from my holiday (june 28th) for the items to be graded.....nothing heard at all.
A week ago I prompted him on email,he said invoice would be sent next day....week later and nothing.
Now i'm not petty and I dont go crying about every little thing but this is now starting to turn me against them,a fair bit in fact.
I have never used them and thought that it be fair to give them a go,the items are neither rare nor valuable so I am using this a tester if you like but have come to the conclusion that I could have sent items to afa and received them weeks ago,part of ukg's selling point is that you will receive items quicker than if they went overseas :shock:
Steve is a nice guy and I am not questioning his integrity but I for one will never use the company again and am thinking about telling them to just forget the whole thing,they can keep the frikkin figures too.
Sorry for the moan up gents,i'm ashamed of myself for doing it
They need to know what you think of their service mate, i want them to succeeed but it just aint gonna happen with service like that.
Its pretty bad that you can get your items graded quicker in the US and actually get more value added to the figures by doing so, if they want to compete at any level they need 5 star customer service.
browny
Jedi Master
I am going to email him and hopefully get his number and actually talk to the guy,as I said before he seems like a nice chap and I want them to succeed as much as the next person.
I did forget to mention that he had gone away on holiday but was due back on 4th july which is still a very long time to wait and surely they have more than 1 grader?
I shall keep you guys updated on this
Thanks for the advice
I did forget to mention that he had gone away on holiday but was due back on 4th july which is still a very long time to wait and surely they have more than 1 grader?
I shall keep you guys updated on this
Thanks for the advice
browny
Jedi Master
Ok so I actually received an email last night on my work email and it was Steve sending me my invoice!must have been fate me posting on here!
Really pleased that I didnt have to get stroppy and cant wait to get items back from them now and compare!
Still a lesson learnt though,everybody deserves a chance so we'l see what they are like when they come back,i'l post pictures for you guys.
Cheers
Really pleased that I didnt have to get stroppy and cant wait to get items back from them now and compare!
Still a lesson learnt though,everybody deserves a chance so we'l see what they are like when they come back,i'l post pictures for you guys.
Cheers
**Delboy75**
Jedi Master
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2008
- Messages
- 625
I'm not a fan of the star rarity scale at all, but i do think some people are not understanding it fully (either that or im not lol).
With my baggies i know that steve works out the rarity compared to other BAGGIES, i don't think he compares them to loose or carded figs. So you can't say oh im pissed cus my 12 back got 2 stars but dels baggie that contains the same figure got 3 stars. They are not as far as im aware compared against each other in terms of rarity. Some common carded figures are much rarer in a baggie and vice versa.
I believe that UKG will be bringing others on board wth knowledge in certain areas.
I have been asked by steve to help out with any baggies they are unsure of, which i have done on the odd occasion. This has only happened within the past 2 months, but from now on i will be helping them out as and when needed.
As for the lando baggie with the dodgy foot, i know nothing about that one but 2 stars would be about right compared against other 'baggies', 3 is a bit generous.
The fact he has part of his foot missing doesn't mean its a reseal as it could be a factory defect. Obviously without seeing a pic i couldn't say, and the sellers a bad one but still it 'could' be legit.
Tbh i really think they need more help in certain areas. Grading VC jawa's is quite easy, but other things like proto's and DT vader/bens need more experience.
They do need to improve things at UKG, especially turn around times and silly mistakes like spelling errors, but AFA made (and still make) plenty of errors.
With my baggies i know that steve works out the rarity compared to other BAGGIES, i don't think he compares them to loose or carded figs. So you can't say oh im pissed cus my 12 back got 2 stars but dels baggie that contains the same figure got 3 stars. They are not as far as im aware compared against each other in terms of rarity. Some common carded figures are much rarer in a baggie and vice versa.
I believe that UKG will be bringing others on board wth knowledge in certain areas.
I have been asked by steve to help out with any baggies they are unsure of, which i have done on the odd occasion. This has only happened within the past 2 months, but from now on i will be helping them out as and when needed.
As for the lando baggie with the dodgy foot, i know nothing about that one but 2 stars would be about right compared against other 'baggies', 3 is a bit generous.
The fact he has part of his foot missing doesn't mean its a reseal as it could be a factory defect. Obviously without seeing a pic i couldn't say, and the sellers a bad one but still it 'could' be legit.
Tbh i really think they need more help in certain areas. Grading VC jawa's is quite easy, but other things like proto's and DT vader/bens need more experience.
They do need to improve things at UKG, especially turn around times and silly mistakes like spelling errors, but AFA made (and still make) plenty of errors.
Lee Gregory
Sith Lord
I don't want to turn this thread into a slagging off of UKG but look at this item
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AFA-UKG-85-GRADED-STAR-WARS-IMPERIAL-STORMTROOPER-A280_W0QQitemZ130325860749QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ToysGames_ActionFigures_ActionFigures_JN?hash=item1e5806d18d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
I mean how can this have ever graded an 85,I admit the card did get an 80 but 85 overall????
Not worth sending in owt for grading if these are the type of grades you get.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AFA-UKG-85-GRADED-STAR-WARS-IMPERIAL-STORMTROOPER-A280_W0QQitemZ130325860749QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ToysGames_ActionFigures_ActionFigures_JN?hash=item1e5806d18d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
I mean how can this have ever graded an 85,I admit the card did get an 80 but 85 overall????
Not worth sending in owt for grading if these are the type of grades you get.
**Delboy75**
Jedi Master
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2008
- Messages
- 625
Its because they average out the grade.
card 80,bubble 85,figure 90 = an average grade of 85.
AFA go with the lowest grade, so it would be an overall AFA 80.
I do agree it doesnt look an 85 at 1st glance, but at the same time i can see how they worked the grades out. So if your looking to buy a UKG graded moc you really need to take note of the subgrades.
Not long ago someone sent some UKG stuff into AFA to compare grades, all came back the same grade bar 1 figure which UKG graded a 90 and AFA a 85.
card 80,bubble 85,figure 90 = an average grade of 85.
AFA go with the lowest grade, so it would be an overall AFA 80.
I do agree it doesnt look an 85 at 1st glance, but at the same time i can see how they worked the grades out. So if your looking to buy a UKG graded moc you really need to take note of the subgrades.
Not long ago someone sent some UKG stuff into AFA to compare grades, all came back the same grade bar 1 figure which UKG graded a 90 and AFA a 85.
I have afa graded 85 items that have an 80 sub grade and got an 85, my esb boba has a 70 sub grade and got a 75, so they must average it out sometimes.
i think we can pick faults with all gradings sometimes as they are an opinion of the person that grades it
i think we can pick faults with all gradings sometimes as they are an opinion of the person that grades it
Lee Gregory
Sith Lord
cheers for the support weasel,thought i was in a minority there for a minute.
All I was doing was comparing the item to how the AFA would have most likely graded it,if UKG grade slightly differently by taking an average that's cool. I personally think they grade too high I mean if that's an 85 I must have a cupboard full of 90/95's
All I was doing was comparing the item to how the AFA would have most likely graded it,if UKG grade slightly differently by taking an average that's cool. I personally think they grade too high I mean if that's an 85 I must have a cupboard full of 90/95's
I think UKG do need a boost of help as Del and others have mentioned.
Interestingly when you take the rarity scale as Del has explained it, it does kind of make sense although I still think it is very tacky and there is really no way to determine an items rarity when that is subject to change after grading.
For me the key factors for improvement are:
More expertise, names we have heard and that have solid reputations in the uk community joining the team.
Increased safety of the cases, they really need to be tamper proof judging by that vinyl jawa that came out with a stanley knife on RS ..
Much better turnaround times, the last thing you want to hear (that we have heard in this thread) is that the only place that European and UK collectors can get their items graded faster than AFA , actually DONT get your items back faster than AFA ..
Oh and as mentioned, the rarity scale although a novel idea doesn't work
Interestingly when you take the rarity scale as Del has explained it, it does kind of make sense although I still think it is very tacky and there is really no way to determine an items rarity when that is subject to change after grading.
For me the key factors for improvement are:
More expertise, names we have heard and that have solid reputations in the uk community joining the team.
Increased safety of the cases, they really need to be tamper proof judging by that vinyl jawa that came out with a stanley knife on RS ..
Much better turnaround times, the last thing you want to hear (that we have heard in this thread) is that the only place that European and UK collectors can get their items graded faster than AFA , actually DONT get your items back faster than AFA ..
Oh and as mentioned, the rarity scale although a novel idea doesn't work
**Delboy75**
Jedi Master
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2008
- Messages
- 625
joe could you pm me the link about the VC jawa (opened case), i've missed that thread.
jaymassive619
Sith Lord
**Delboy75** said:
Emiel linked it on page 2 Del
Here is the link scroll down to the first post
http://threads.rebelscum.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=2877160&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&fpart=1#2877160
Missed your reply Del, but Jay got the link , thanks Jay.
Basically some guy didn't like the look of his vinyl jawa so he just cut it out the back of the UKG case with a knife (cutting along the seal), considering you literally have to smash part of an AFA case to open it up (even if you do it nicely) this doesn't look good!
Basically some guy didn't like the look of his vinyl jawa so he just cut it out the back of the UKG case with a knife (cutting along the seal), considering you literally have to smash part of an AFA case to open it up (even if you do it nicely) this doesn't look good!
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