With toy grading becoming widely available in just the late 1900s, these services have greatly helped the vintage toy world. The company, AFA (Action Figure Authority), stemmed from the CGA (Collectible Grading Authority). These, along with the CAS (Collector’s Archive Services) and others, provide crucial services to many toy collectors. These companies standardized the metrics for mint toys and provide an official grade to help toy buyers and sellers. Before these services, many people informally evaluated the toys’ condition prior to buying and selling. Now, with services such as these, grading your vintage toys with an official grade proves to be very valuable.
Through this blog we will be going through the background of some of these grading service companies. We will also go through the process of grading toys and the overall value in grading your vintage toys. The quality and authenticity of an item can be found through grading. Along with this, certification can help insure your collection when looking at selling it later on. These, as well as other factors add to the value in grading your vintage toys. Follow along through this blog with us as we dive deeper into these factors.
Grading Service Companies
Many companies provide high quality grading for vintage toys today. Companies such as the CGC, CBCS, Collectors Holdings Inc., and Toys Of Our Lives provide grading services. Both the CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) and CBCS (Comic Book Certification Service) specialize in grading comic books. Like these companies, Toys Of Our Lives and PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) specialize in grading trading cards. PSA, along with PSGS and WATA, provide grading services in divisions under Collectors Holdings Inc. Collectors, a global company, provides services in grading coins, trading cards, autographs, stamps, video games, as well as sports and history memorabilia. With their headquarters in Santa Ana, California and offices all over the world, these services help collectors with grading authenticity in all different regions. Although these companies prove to provide high quality grading services, CGA and CAS stand at the top of these, being the most well known.
CGA (Collectible Grading Authority)
When looking at grading your vintage toys, you may want to look into the CGA. The Collectible Grading Authority began in the year 2000 along with their divisions. Both VGA and AFA fall under divisions of the CGA. VGA specializes in grading video games while AFA specializes in grading action figures. Before AFA, the world of grading brought problems and frustration for many buyers and sellers. Because of this, AFA developed the standard we use to determine the official grading of toys. Many people’s “mint” or “c10” condition caused frustration in the past since people’s grading interpretations were all different and not from a set in stone system. Now we lean on this company’s system for as equal and correct grading as possible.
Another thing about the CGA is their value of integrity. A reason people trust this company depends on their unbiased opinion on their grading. The company’s employees never buy or sell items graded by any CGA division. This helps ensure the correct grading of the item with an unbiased decision without conflict.
CAS (Collector’s Archive Services)
Another service to take a look at when grading your vintage toys is the CAS. This company, located in West Palm Beach, Florida, provides preservation, authentication, and grading services to buyers and sellers of collectibles. Some of the popular brands CAS provides services for include: Sar Wars, G.I. Joe, TMNT, and MOTU. The employees of CAS hold unbiased grading as well as years of experience and qualifications. This company uses a barcode scanning system which allows the employees to be unaware of who’s item they grade. This allows for unbiased opinions throughout the evaluation process. Along with this, the company uses a triple check system to ensure a precise grade.
They also provide a QR code and serial number on their stickers placed inside the acrylic case. This gives the buyer and seller quick access to the condition report and item description. CAS definitely provides popular and honest services that help increase the value and authenticity of many collector’s items.
What Does The Grading Process Look Like?
Although the process may look similar throughout all grading companies, each company also does things a bit differently. For instance, the CGA now uses an online submission process which gives the collector insight into each step of grading as it happens. Through these steps, the staff first looks at your box to confirm the receipt when receiving the package. The item then gets unpackaged and photographed. Along with this, all information goes checked into the system based off the submission form provided. The billing process then begins with pre-billing and billing before sent off to grading. With the CGA, the three step grading process takes place. Pre-grading, grading, and grading verification take place to come to an average and accurate grade. The item then gets placed into a custom-fitted acrylic case with verification sticker and information. The final steps of the grading process includes cleaning, packing, and shipping.
The CAS provides an open-door policy which allows customers to come into the facility during office hours for drop off and pick up. Although the main way to deliver your item is through shipping, the open door policy allows for those close to personally deliver and pick up. This helps lower costs and may be a better option when looking at increasing the value of your collectibles without having to pay extra. With CAS grading, they not only use a True Numeric System but also a Plus + System. The CAS adds a plus + system to each numeric grade. With this system, two values per numeric grade are presented. This helps with any differences between high and low conditions within the same numeric grade and ensure for a more specific overall grade. After the grading process, the company then packages up the toy carefully before shipping it back to the owner.
The Value Of Grading
Now, we dive into the value of grading your vintage toys. There are many factors that go into why it may be worth the time, effort, and money to send your vintage toys off to grading services. One major thing to look at when deciding to send your toys to a grading service is the condition of the toys. Toys in mint condition (sealed in the original box without wear) receive a high grade from these companies and sky rocket in value. Toys with wear won’t receive a high enough grade to add any value to them. Therefore, looking at your toys’ conditions can help determine whether or not it is worth it to get them graded. Although toys wear incredibly easily, those still in mint condition and receive an 85 or higher grade prove to add immense value.
Some of the factors of grading your vintage toys include the benefits from both the buyers and the sellers. The quality, certification, worth of the toy, packaging, and trust in these companies all add to the toy’s value. Continue following along to see the value of grading your vintage toys.
Quality
As mentioned above, the quality in the condition of the toys holds the highest factor in the value of grading. When sending your toys off to these services, you want your toy to come back with a grade of 85 or higher. Even many toys from the 70s, 80s, and 90s wear out easily. Of these, the bubble packaging yellows due to the sunlight and heat, the figure moves around in the box and gets damaged, the cardboard bends or gets water damage. Along with this, even dust and leaving your toys on shelves for years lessens the toy’s value due to wear and damage. Because of this, toys in mint condition and as close to factory sealed as possible tend to soar in value. Thus, grading your vintage toys of great quality will add value to the toy.
Certification
When grading your vintage toys, these toys receive a certification from the services. This helps both the buyer and seller. When buying a vintage toy of high value, the official grade certification helps the buyer be confident in the authenticity of the toy. The buyer can also see the specific grade for the toy which allows them to know how much to pay for it. When selling the toy, the person can have the confidence they are selling a toy that has an accurate grade. Because the seller decided to send their toy to a grading service, both the buyer and seller know that the unbiased grade is true based on the expert evaluation on the toy’s condition.
The Toy’s Worth
The worth goes up when grading your vintage toys. This one seems obvious but the question is: to what degree does the worth rise after grading versus prior? This depends on the toy, as each are different. The condition of the toy matters a lot as mentioned before. Along with this, the brand, year, and rarity also hold a factor. For instance, a toy receiving an 85 or higher grade may be worth more from the 1970s than the 1980s but it also depends on the specific toy. Regardless, if your toy receives a high grade from a grading service, your vintage toy’s value will most likely go up as well. Toys receiving a high grade rise in value and worth as much as thousands of dollars.
Packaging
When getting your vintage toys graded, they send them back in clear acrylic cases. This also can increase the value of your toy, especially as time goes on. With the acrylic packaging, the toys get an extra set of high quality protection. The acrylic protects the toys against any yellowing as otherwise happens with the bubble packaging. This packaging also protects the toys against any dust, bending, fading, and water/humidity damage. The clear acrylic allows the toy to be seen clearly yet still remaining in it’s pristine condition. Although it is not guaranteed the toy will remain in the same condition forever as when it was placed in the acrylic, the toy will now be safe from the outside damage that occurs to toys without the extra layer of acrylic to protect it.
Trust in the Companies
The overall trust in the companies also adds to the value in grading your vintage toys. When buyers trust a certain grading company over another, they will be more inclined to spend more money on the toy with the grading they trust. Some grading companies may not have as high a standing or may be known to have failures in their acrylic packaging, etc. Those looking to buy vintage toys that have an official grade might only purchase those with well known, trustworthy grades. This can then raise the value of these toys even more if a buyer wants to purchase your toy and it has a high grade from a service they trust.
Final Thoughts
Deciding to send your vintage toys off to a grading service may take a lot of thought. However, it may also be the best decision you could make when wanting to see the true value of your toys. If your toy is in good condition and you have the time and money to send it off, the return of value may well be worth every cent and hour. With official grading, you don’t have to worry about any confusion or frustration among buyers when trying to sell your toys. The seller can be confident they are giving their toys to someone with an official grade and can know the worth of their toy. The buyer can know they are getting an item with certainty of it’s actual condition and value. Without a doubt, there is value in grading your vintage toys.
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Made in Collaboration with:
Chris Ingledue
Contact: email
Bio: I am the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab Pop Culture and Toy Shop. My vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day, I work in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year. I scour the internet, like when we had the Sears Catalog of yesteryear, for the next great treasure. Then, I await the arrival of the postman as if he were Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their versions of Christmas. Every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!