Do You Need to Have Your Action Figures Professionally Graded?

Professional Grading

It is because of the problems and unreliability of the C-Scale grading system that the demand for an internationally recognized and accepted grading system grew and led to the explosion in the professional action figure grading services.

Do You Need Professional Grading?

If you plan on selling any of your action figures, particularly any vintage or valuable figures you want to get the best bang for your bucks, so yes you should get them professionally graded. BUT If you are going to pay to have your action figure's condition and authenticity verified by a professional grading service make sure it is a well known, established and respected company that you use.

A Word of Caution... Having your action figure/s professionally graded can be expensive so only get those figures that are either vintage figures or valuable figures professionally graded.

What or Who Are the AFA?

The Action Figure Authority (AFA) was born from a frustration of all the different systems and scales that where being used in the market to grade action figures without any uniformity or standardization. More collectors are beginning to demand that valuable figures are professionally graded before accepting them and more dealers seem to be accepting that a valuable action figure should be professionally authenticated and graded. The AFA is committed to meet or exceed the action figure markets unique requirements while promoting a healthy and fun environment for all. AFA state that their main goals and aims are to:

give the collector the advantage by revealing each action figures true characteristics, thus promoting the healthy growth of sight unseen purchases of action figures.
to gain your trust and respect.
to create a consensus that AFA's grading standard accurately reflects the input of all collectors and dealers.
to promote interest in the collecting of action figures by the safe and enjoyable purchasing of AFA graded figures.

The AFA Grading Scale

The AFA Grading Scale consists of three levels, each with three sub-levels. These are there Gold, Silver and Bronze levels.

AFA Gold The Premium level is the AFA Gold level which consists of the grades 100, 95, and 90.
AFA Silver level The second level is the Silver level which consists of the grades 85, 80, and 75.
AFA Bronze Level The Bronze Level action figure consists of the grades 70, 60, and below. Action Figures that receive these grades typically have damage ranging anywhere from simply noticeable at first glance to extremely significant.

AFA Sub grades

There are three sub grades for AFA Graded action figures which are assigned for the Card, Blister, and the Action Figure. Once the grader has been established the overall grade for your action figure, they will assign individual grades for each of these three categories.

What Defects Will Affect My Action Figures Grade?

Creases, bends or tears.
Price tag marks
Blistering or bubbling
Discoloration
Broken limbs
Yellowing
Bubble or card separation

These are a few of the more common defects or faults found that will affect your action figures value.

Autographed Action Figures

Over the last few years that has been a large increase in the number and variety of action figures available of stars particularly from TV Series, Sports and Music which has resulted in an in figures autographed by the star or character depicted by the action figure. My guess is that with this becoming more and more popular the Professional Grading sites will begin to include autograph verification into there service, however this is an area fraught with dangers and hazards.

Keeping Kids Happy on Long Car Trips - Plan For Fun!

I was first confronted with this daunting dilemma while managing my neighborhood toy store. A frazzled mother came in hoping to find some ideas for keeping her busy kids happy on a car trip to her parents home. After working there for six years before becoming a mother myself it has become clear that parents quite capable of tackling everyday parenting issues often freeze up when it comes time to bringing their little ones on long trips in the car. They have no idea how they are going to avoid chaotic meltdowns, hours of screaming or "are we there yet" style whining. There is hope and with a little planning most if not all of these situations can be avoided.

Let's get the obvious distraction tactics out of the way so we can get into the really good stuff. A portable DVD player, along with some classic favorites or some new never before seen stuff, while this can depend upon the age groups and personalities of your kids, you know what will work better - I always try for both. You can download children's books on "tape" via pod-casts and bringing along favorite upbeat tunes for you and the kids is always a good idea. Allowing ipods and mp3 players is also an option but you may want to set limits on them as I often do so be sure to discuss these limits with the kids beforehand. I think the same applies to hand held games like Nintendo DS - set up any limitations or turn taking guidelines you'd like to have beforehand in order to avoid disagreements later.

About a month before your trip grab a laundry basket and go through the house with two thoughts in mind a) what toys/activities are their favorites and b)can that be done in the car. For the younger kids, you may not want to let them know you're doing this and for the older ones they might be able to do this themselves. Great, now that you have your pile of stuff pick out the best and keep it hidden until the trip so that you will be armed with toys that have a new appeal but are also bankable favorites for your trip! Some ideas, card games, favorite stuffies, action figures, polly pockets and transformers, any travel games etc. Many times I'll pack each kid a little bag of their own but as our family has grown I have found it easier to keep one fun bag at the ready rather than deal with too much stuff underfoot in the van.

Next make a trip to the nearest dollar store and choose squishy, touchable stuff, like slinkies, sticky stretchy toys, activity and coloring books, blank and lined notebooks, noisemakers (it's better to hear a harmonica than a screaming toddler) small puzzles than can be done on a book on a lap, magnetic play boards, sticker activities, chewing gum in case you need to drive through any mountains it will help ears to "pop" and my personal favorite, glo-in-the-dark necklaces, bracelets, etc for when it's too dark to do anything else - be sure to buy the non-toxic ones as my second child tends to bite them after an hour or so! We even placed them around the hotel room as night lights for the kids to navigate their way around a strange room at night!

Consider making your own games - older kids can help with this! Car Bingo is a classic in my family, simply take squares of paper then with a thick black marker and a ruler draw four or five lines down, and the same across, then after a trip to the dollar store put stickers of farm animals, cars, trucks, road signs, wildlife, dogs, birds, cats etc. in each square, make one card for each traveler, but not the driver, and simply have the kids mark them as they spot the things on their cards - a line is a bingo! Then the cards get passed along and a new game begins. The best way to mark them is to get them laminated and then use a crayon to mark and a facial tissue to rub off.

Other games include looking for neat license plates, red barns, counting horses or the classic punch buggy game - minus the hitting, we slap the seat in our car. Another classic with my family involves a deck of cue cards with a thing to find on each one. Road signs, railroad crossings, emergency vehicles, churches, speed limits, pylons, animal crossings, gas stations, favorite restaurants etc. We make up the cards beforehand and to play we deal out 3 at a time, when you spot one of your items you put the card in your lap, score a point and draw another card, first to five wins! Variations can involve each item having different points values, or event cards like steal a point card from another player, choose one card and place it in your points pile, lose or gain one point, trade hands with another player, etc. Be creative and inventive, maybe you can add in landmarks or rules specific to your route of travel!

A final thought, consider stopping along the way at fun, free, or cheap places, it adds time but makes for a memorable journey. When our family was faced with a 21 hour drive we opted to spread it out over 3 days and stopped in at little museums, aquariums, a cave tour, a mall with a huge old merry-go-round inside, Hershey, Pennsylvania, a state park and other neat stops along the way. Before your trip make a list of the cities you will be driving through and then Google the area to see if there are any neat places to stop that might be a perfect side trip for your kids. Taking these moments where and if possible can relieve a lot of the stress and tedium of a long drive with the kids.

By planning ahead for fun you are sure to arrive a much happier family and will have made positive car trip memories that will last a lifetime. Happy Trails!