Will condition grading of sealed Lego sets gain momentum?

[jjamell]

I'm starting to see more AFA graded sets on Ebay now, I'm not sure if I like this possible trend. I use to collect baseball/football cards, and the grading craze seemed to drive down the prices of non graded cards quite a bit. It made collecting less fun for me, as graded cards got too expensive.

[stackables]

Don't like it at all. Basically graded cardboard doesn't really excite me.

[stephen_rockefeller]

I like the acrylic cases that they put the sets in after they are graded, I don't build them though....I am in the minority here I think.

[stephen_rockefeller]

I'm starting to see more AFA graded sets on Ebay now, I'm not sure if I like this possible trend. I use to collect baseball/football cards, and the grading craze seemed to drive down the prices of non graded cards quite a bit. It made collecting less fun for me, as graded cards got too expensive.

there is a seller on eBay, if you want his user name I can find it, but he has numerous graded and cased sets up for BIN. He has some really high end sets. The problem is he is trying to get 8,9,10 times the sets value sometimes even more. Looking at his feedback he has yet to sell one.

[Ed Mack]

Great question. Personally, I love the acrylic cases, but here's the issue. It is a LEGO set. How can you be certain that the box being graded has not been tampered with? You can remove seals easily and replace them easily. If the box being graded is Mint In Sealed Box, how can the grading company assure you that the pieces are in the box without opening the box and breaking the seals? When all is said and done, I would rather have a built LEGO set in a beautiful case than a box with unknown contents.

[BuildIT]

there is a seller on eBay, if you want his user name I can find it, but he has numerous graded and cased sets up for BIN. He has some really high end sets. The problem is he is trying to get 8,9,10 times the sets value sometimes even more. Looking at his feedback he has yet to sell one. As and AFOL who collects and invests, I for one am not in favour of AFA graded sets. Whilst I do see the benefit of a rather good acryllic case which can be UV-resistant in order to store and protect an investment, am I really going to display the item in all it's cased-up glory? No, I think not. Therefore, a MISB variety, preferably with original LEGO shipping box, placed into a sealed plastic storage container is the way to go for me. I see a 10179 listed for +GBP7,700....crikey, that's a rather hefty asking price! And an asking price that I feel is way beyond what the market can presently tolerate. I reckon the people picking up the 10179 MISB for around GBP1500 are on the money.

This potential move into AFA grading for our LEGO might be worth Jeff/Ed setting up a poll so we can all have our say.

[justgod]

I was looking for some sets on ebay and came across the afa seller mentioned above. I then went in and did a search for "LEGO afa" under sold listings. He has sold quite a few at this point. The $12,500 set sold, but it could have been a best offer, as with the others that he was asking too much for IMO. For the moderators: is there a way for these to be taken out of the matrix when calculating the New Market Value?

[Mos_Eisley]

I really like the acrylic cases too. I think grading is over the top, but I think I'd like to get some of these cases for my personal collection. Maybe Ed can organize a group buy of acrylic cases for all of us

[Ed Mack]

I was looking for some sets on ebay and came across the afa seller mentioned above. I then went in and did a search for "LEGO afa" under sold listings. He has sold quite a few at this point. The $12,500 set sold, but it could have been a best offer, as with the others that he was asking too much for IMO.

For the moderators: is there a way for these to be taken out of the matrix when calculating the New Market Value?

Outliers are removed. In this situation, you have to ask yourself if it...should be though? Somebody paid significantly more than the average sold price for new, maybe it should be included in the average. We usually remove sales data that is extremely higher or lower than the current sales average. This helps remove lots and incomplete sets form the mix.

[Ed Mack]

I really like the acrylic cases too. I think grading is over the top, but I think I'd like to get some of these cases for my personal collection. Maybe Ed can organize a group buy of acrylic cases for all of us

Acrylic cases are very expensive, but I love the look.

[StarCityBrickCompany]

Outliers are removed. In this situation, you have to ask yourself if it...should be though? Somebody paid significantly more than the average sold price for new, maybe it should be included in the average. We usually remove sales data that is extremely higher or lower than the current sales average. This helps remove lots and incomplete sets form the mix.

I doubt that the transaction was completed - I bet it was just someone that was so annoyed about a 10,000 premium for a plexi box, that they bought it (& didn't pay) just to try to annoy the seller.

[stephen_rockefeller]

Outliers are removed. In this situation, you have to ask yourself if it...should be though? Somebody paid significantly more than the average sold price for new, maybe it should be included in the average. We usually remove sales data that is extremely higher or lower than the current sales average. This helps remove lots and incomplete sets form the mix.

I doubt that the transaction was completed - I bet it was just someone that was so annoyed about a 10,000 premium for a plexi box, that they bought it (& didn't pay) just to try to annoy the seller.

great idea....why didn't I think of that ;)

[cvail8]

There's no way anyone bought it and then didn't pay for it. NOBODY on ebay ever does that.

[cvail8]

On another point, I would LOVE to get some acrylic cases for a couple of my sets. I've got a baby on the way and we are planning on having a Star Wars nursery (yes, my girlfriend rules). I want to put a couple of my sealed sets on display and not have to worry about them getting ruined. Anybody know the best place to buy them? Or could we get enough of us together to get a deal?

[justgod]

I guess I never really paid attention to how much people are in to graded items. There is a sealed Legend of Zelda for Gameboy in the acrylic case that has 20 bids and is over $1000. WTH??? As for ordering the cases, I think it might be tough get a bulk discount. From what I can see, it looks like they are made to fit each set. If we were all lucky enough to have a 10179, it might be worth a bulk discount. These are not cheap to have custom made. If we were all in to Beanie Babies and baseball cards, that would be a different story!

[Ed Mack]

On another point, I would LOVE to get some acrylic cases for a couple of my sets.

I've got a baby on the way and we are planning on having a Star Wars nursery (yes, my girlfriend rules). I want to put a couple of my sealed sets on display and not have to worry about them getting ruined.

Anybody know the best place to buy them? Or could we get enough of us together to get a deal?

EBAY...Just do a search for acrylic cases. There are many stores on there that will sell all sorts of cool cases. I have had a good experience with many of these sellers.

[Mos_Eisley]

As for ordering the cases, I think it might be tough get a bulk discount. From what I can see, it looks like they are made to fit each set. If we were all lucky enough to have a 10179, it might be worth a bulk discount. These are not cheap to have custom made. If we were all in to Beanie Babies and baseball cards, that would be a different story!

The nice thing about LEGO sets is that there aren't really that many different sized boxes, everything being considered. Yes, 10179 requires a huge box, but many of the modulars are the same size, most of the $100 sets come in the same size box, then there's that size that is just a little smaller like 6210 Sail Barge and 9446 Destiny's Bounty, and then the box for sets like 7666 Hoth Rebel Base and 6212 X-wing Fighter. The point being that with just 3 or 4 different sizes of acrylic cases you could cover most of the really valuable sets. With an additional 3 or 4 sizes you could enclose just about every type of box if you really wanted to. I'm not saying they would be cheap to get, but you wouldn't really need too many different sizes to really show off some of the better sets. I'll look into it and see what kind of volume discounts can be found.