grading your toys

Have any questions about grading? Or need help with an appraisal?

Give us a call or text at (973) 931-1471 or email us at subzerocomics@gmail.com

Interested in grading your toys? Not sure where to start? Grading toys are more expensive than comic books, so it is advised that you only grade very valuable toys, that are in near mint condition or better.

This is because if you grade a toy that is valued at about $20-30, then the value would not increase by a large margin and the grading fee would be much higher than the actual value, so there would be a loss.

Please note, that AFA has many different grading tiers, prices, and structuring. Standard tiers are gold, silver, and bronze. If you have a toy in grade 85 or better it is gold, 75 is silver, and anything less is bronze. The scale changes for modern toys. It is usually not advised to grade loose toys

AFA grades on a scale of 1-10, but getting a 10 on a toy is extremely unlikely, even if it is fresh out of a shipping case.

This is because of small defects that can occur on the card or bubble, such as scratches, dents, dings, folds, etc. The grading scale for vintage toys is slightly different from the scale for modern toys.

Please note, that AFA does not always deduct for a yellowed bubble, but they will assign a "Y" next to the grade to show that the bubble has yellowed. Also, AFA does not boost or deduct from the grade if the card is unpunched (see He-Man picture). The accumulation of defects is what they're looking for when grading toys.

When grading your action figures, you need to look for small defects that would be present on the bubble and card. You will see examples in the pictures provided. There are small creases, corner bends, and a price sticker that will all deduct from the final grade.

Rips and tears are the worst kind of defect an action figure can have in regards to grade. If your figure has rips or bends then it has no chance of getting anything better than the lower bronze tier.

If you find only 1-2 tiny defects, then chances are the figure will be in the silver tier, even if the figure is case fresh. If you find no defects (which is rare), it will still have a hard time getting graded at the gold tier. Gold tier is very rare when grading your action figures.