What percentage?

[James Simmonds]

You know, looking at the photos of carded figures here on the forums has got me thinking (my wife would say that's a first!). How many carded figures do you think still exist in comparison to loose ones? It amazes me just how many carded ones are out there regularly on eBay but there must be a limited supply. More to the point, why have so many survived on cards? Back in the 70s and 80s they were seen as just toys, so why did people keep them in new condition? Granted, collectors such as Steven Sansweet kept them in off the shelf condition, but it couldn't have been kids who held on to them in the hope that one day they would be worth a bit.

Anyone got any theories?

James.

 

[weasel]

It amazes me as well James, I guess it's either unsold items that were left in boxes somewhere or a few items that for one reason or another we just never opened.

I'm sure someone else can give you a more detailed reason, but it's still quite impressive that after almost 30 years there are so many left and in such good condition.

 

[jabbawokkie]

well i am tempted to open another 10 and see if i can sell the cards.gonna slice the bottom of bubble to get figure out

 

[inzaman]

With the AFA U grade i imagine that this percentage is deminishing by the day, which is a shame even for beat up cards and thats coming from someone who doesnt necessarily go after the U grade but where its available will chose it over a non U graded item.

I might change my collecting habits now though.

 

[craignwo4life]

With the AFA U grade i imagine that this percentage is deminishing by the day

That is very true as I am seeing more and more collectors / sellers on ebay listing cardbacks than ever before.

I started to collect AFA loose figures but then I realised what is the point? I don't need somebody at AFA telling me what is a near mint or high quality figure as I can decide that for myself so all you pay for is the acrylic case and a number printed on a sticker. :twisted:

I'm a fan of AFA when it comes to MOC's though but mainly for deciding authenticity, not quality !! :wink:

 

[jabbawokkie]

With the AFA U grade i imagine that this percentage is deminishing by the day

That is very true as I am seeing more and more collectors / sellers on ebay listing cardbacks than ever before.

I started to collect AFA loose figures but then I realised what is the point? I don't need somebody at AFA telling me what is a near mint or high quality figure as I can decide that for myself so all you pay for is the acrylic case and a number printed on a sticker. :twisted:

I'm a fan of AFA when it comes to MOC's though but mainly for deciding authenticity, not quality !! :wink:

thats 2 things we agree on 8)

 

[edd_jedi]

in my opinion, most carded figures in circulation are from 2 sources:

1) odd ones that people kept in cupboards etc for years, which explains the very limited numbers of thing like DT lukes and vinyl cape jawa's
2) and then the majority of them that were unsold in the late 80's and bought in bulk by investors

the majority of palitoy figures in circulation today originated from one source, a couple of well known sellers who bought loads of palitoy's unsold stock in the late 80's. there is just no other way that so many, especially in good condition, would have survived so long.

 

[jayjedi]

I started to collect AFA loose figures but then I realised what is the point? I don't need somebody at AFA telling me what is a near mint or high quality figure as I can decide that for myself so all you pay for is the acrylic case and a number printed on a sticker. :twisted:

pleased you have seen the light brother

 

[jayjedi]

there are still tens of thousands of cards left, but like the lads say they are diminishing by the day.... like the one my lad threw a tennis ball at and smashed the bubble to :evil:

 

[inzaman]

Dont get me wrong i am still going to collect AFA loose but probably not the U grade of which i am not that hung up about anyway, but in the past my preference would have been the U grade.
I personally still like the AFA loose figures as you know what you are getting with a particular grade, well nearly always know; where as i was getting fed up of people saying an item is mint to only find it is not. This for me was waisting more money and time than anything else, with AFA as i say i know what i am getting

 

[sith-smith]

The later ones, things like tri-logo and ROTJ cards are no real suprise. i've regularly heard stories of literally thousands of cards remaining in warehouse unsold as the star wars boom had pretty much died by then, but shop owners had bought loads believing they could be sold.

That actually caused a lot of small toy shop owners to go out of business.

Some far sighted people like Jim stevenson then paid ridiculously small amounts for this stock and were able to sell them at a big profit.

What's more amazing is the number of star wars cards that have survived. I remember reading that some shops would send the old cards back to the suppliers for repackaging onto the latest cards.

However there is evidence to show that earlier cards were just sold alongside the newer ones. There is footage of Palitoy ESB cards being sold along side ROTJ ones.

I guess many of these earlier cards were left in old stock rooms.


There have also been discoveries of very old stock that never made it to shops. Plus people did (though rarely) buy the stuff back then and never opened it. Some just forgot about it. Take that lady who discovered that complete set of 12 backs for example!!


Despite all that though, it's still pretty incredible to think just how many there are out there.