I just received the following Beater MOC today (many thanks again Brett!)

Its a beater as you can tell by the pictures and the bubble is cracked but it is clear however!

Its a Made In Mexico 65 Back with the Anakain Sticker Offer what i particular like is the fact that the Anakin sticker is place on Vaders Head on the cardback image so its almost like a man behind the mask effect.

I actually own an AFA 85 MIM Vader MOC ideally i wanted to add a loose Lili Ledy Vader to my Vader variants run but i have found it difficult to find a loose mint complete figure for a decent price.

I did buy this MOC so i could take the mint figure off the card but now its arrived i dont know if i can go through with it.

I have never opened a vintage MOC ever and was wondering what people thought about this specific example?

I have similar condition spare MIM Squidhead & Gam Guard MOCs & I can't bring myself to open them.

To me that's a complete card,in half decent shape.It's not mint but it's not trashed.

I have card's that are piss yellow cracked bubble with figure falling out with torn card. Now that's a beater.Your's in nice not mint but complete and clear bubble.

Descision's,descision's.Hmm leave it carded and it's a carded figure to collection.Or open it carefully save card and have a loose Ledy Vader.

I would say my descision would be made on how much i paid for it.

If i paid a lot for it ,it would stay carded.

If i paid $29 or less it would be going to AFA.

This is a very touchy feely subject.I wanted to give my honest opinion to Jay.

Please no hate mail,but if you must send it too Jimmy he like's it. Dan.

Jay you never opened a card not even as a kid.

You virgin.



Dan.

A word of warning - Opening a MOC figure (even a trashed one) can be the biggest anti climax in the world, although if you are old enough to remember opening them as a kid then I do believe it can bring back some fond memories and selfishly is quite gratifying to do it again as an adult.

If I am honest, even with my vocal standpoint on beaters/U grading/keeping the lower grade MOC intact for collectors with smaller budgets etc, its not a HUGE deal... (no-one killed anyone, it is quite trashed and there are a lot about etc), I mean, there are probably lots of people that would buy it and open it without this kind of discussion on a forum and not bat an eyelid - so although I think its cool to bring it up for discussion it could just as easily have been a loose figure by now if anyone else had bought it!

If you want a yes or no , on my part - well if you want to experience being a kid again and ripping it off the card with your jam sandwhich hands and enjoy those 10 seconds of pure plastic sniffing goodness - go for it! As I know you and the way you collect I am pretty certain its not going to be a regular thing, and to be honest I would rather a collector get it for his loose collection than a U grader

I guess if you like the cardback for the Anakin/Darth picture then open it neatly and razor the bubble off (or leave it on) - then again if you display the cardback with the figure you might as well just leave it inside lol

Tonight Jay the decision is yours!

With a clear bubble like that, it depends on how cracked the bubble is. Is there a chunk missing or just a line crack? If there is a piece missing, I'd say open it. Other than that, I'd let it alone for awhile until you can find one in better shape and pass it on. But since you want a loose one to add to the army and the bubble is already cracked, go for it. Like I said in another thread, I got a Bespin Guard with a badly cracked yellow bubble that will be freed as soon as I find a replacement for it. That is the only way I would open one.

Interesting points lads and im still torn lol

The bubble crack is a crack along the side no pieces missing and cant be seen from the fornt you need to look from the side up close.

I actually thought the bubble was yellowed and was surprised it was clear when it arrived i guess that made the choice that bit harder!

Brett sorted me the MOC out for a great price (imo) of $25 all the loose minty ledy Vaders that ive seen sold have went for more which is why i decided to get one from a beater in the end.

Its crazy how taking a loose figure off a card can make it worth more especially when AFA Grading isn't a factor!

Dan I haven't opened a MOC as an adult but i opened a good few as a child! Joe you make a good point about opening it i had wondered if the act would bring back memories of my childhood and at the same time i thought that it could be an anti climax as well.

The flip side is these MOC's are pretty common to say the least i cenrtainly wouldn't even consider this in 99.9999999% of situations.

I would have felt a lot better about opening it if the bubble was yellowed / browned and as Chris highlighted the crack meant parts of the bubble were missing.

Jay - Who is no further forward to making a decision lol

Well, I'd say leave it as is then if theres no pieces missing. It'll still display nice. But the next question is, with your standards of collecting, minty examples with minty bubbles, would you be happy to display a beater with cracked bubble along with your others?

I like the idea of passing it up or trading it for a nice loose MIM Vader but to be hones the chances of someone wanting to do that are slim.. I mean if they collect loose they will open the Vader anyway - also - someone might have replaced the saber on a loose one.

I honestly think Jay you should just open it mate -

PROS:

Guaranteed MIM accesories + figure.
Doesn't get U graded for profit
Doesn't get opened as passed off as 100% Ledy (I believe there is a price mark up on a real Lili Ledy Vader vs a MIM one)

CONS:

1 less MOC in the world (well..ok one less "cracked beater" in the world)

I really never had a huge problem with loose collectors going after beaters as long as they were total trash and they opened them
realising that MOC doesn't equal mint in many cases, if its not for profit- go for it.

Interesting points Joe!

Just to expand on something you said though the MIM Vader its exactly the same in every single way to a LL Vader that came off a Lili Ledy card there is literally zero difference between the 2 so once the items loose and sold on there is no way of knowing if the Vader came from a Lili Ledy MOC or a MIM MOC and supply and demand probably means 99% of Lili Ledys Vaders came from MIM MOC's.

This is probably the only true example where this is guaranteed as with the other MIM figures like Yoda, Squidhead etc there is a 50 / 50 chance as to weather the figures accessories or Ledy or Standard Kenner.

I know if i was to buy a loose Lili Ledy Vader i'd bet my right nut it came from a MIM MOC lol!

I agree with JOE_O when he writes.......

CONS:

1 less MOC in the world (well..ok one less "cracked beater" in the world)

That means that our MIM Vaders will be a little bit more difficult to find!!! ..LOL!!

Seriously...... I will open it depending on the card and bubble...

I wrote it once....I will do again:

wbobafett wrote:

You own it....you can do what ya want with it.

I know lots of collectors hate me for this opinion, but you payed for it, its yours and you can probably do what ever ya want with it.

I personally have problems with:

1. u-garding. because there is no sense to me to free a figure for casing it again. The only one who has certain interests in u-garding is the profitmakers from afa.

2. opening cards for resealing rare figures in them. Or any other cheating you can do with that.


A cutcard mostly is bought from collectors to open them IMO. I personally opened cards, baggies and cutcards. Also some rare pieces you would beat me for. BUT....a loose collector also is interested in having figures with correct accessoiries or in minty condition. As long as some examples are cheaper then the loose ones, or I want that figure with correct accesoiries I will unpack it....

I give some examples:

- There was a time MOC glasslites (i.e. c-3po) and toptoys MOCs were cheaper and more often dealed then their loose equivalents. For the TOPTOYs the next problem was: they were nearly impossible to get loose with correct accesoiries.
So solution for me and many others was clear: buy cheap TOPTOYS mocs and open them....I think some time ago lots of these were opened.

- For yoda I like buying cutcards and open them. There are tons of accesoirs variants on this....so for research I probably had to open them.

The main problem in past few years IMO was, that lots of loose collectors were cheated with wrong accesoiries, wepaons etc. and there was no true and good reference site. Additionaly the MOC collectors had no interest in supporting the loose collectors with giving input and proves for coos and wepaons, etc. This also goes for the mexican sellers, that mostly till today, wont help with identifying true ledy wepaons. They all go for: found it it Mexico, so it must be Lili Ledy. Especially on Ledy I was cheated so many times. I even bought repro wepaons as ledy wepaons and both sellers first said: impossible, there are no repros here in mexico...ridiculous

So, the only chance for the loose collectors was to open some baggies, MOCS and cutcards and it is still for some reasons and figures.


just my 2 cents

Wolff

Just to update i have decided not to open the MOC yet and will try to pick up a loose example

Its currently sits here now




I have just picked up this Vader off eBay from what i can see from the picture below its looks MIM / LL ? Not the best picture to tell but the saber tip gives it away to me either way it was a cheap buy it now

Jay the carded Vader look's good in the collection.

The loose Mexico Vader was a nice Pick up.

Dan.

Jay

You may remember I had the same dilemma with a couple of cut-cards awhile back. It's funny that I came to the same decision as you. I couldn't bring myself to open them either. Now they have kind of grown on me and I like them the way they are. I think they will display great even though the bubbles are yellow and cracked.

So I guess I have the beginnings of a cut-card collection now! That means I have 2 more figures to add back to my needs list for my loose collection. I hope those dealers you know with minty figures have a large inventory when I start buying again!

BTW I think the MOC looks great in your collection. The location of that offer sticker really does make it look unique. Your Vader collection is looking awesome as well!

Brad

Cheers Guys

So you think the loose example i managed to BIN looks right?

Cheers Jay