I have an AFA 80 Trilogo and its almost flawless, I thought the score was ok , it could possibly pull an 85 on another day with another grader but I am happy with an 80, AFA grading doesn't do much for me but I am not against it by any means and I probably wouldn't crack it out of the case.

Just seen This on ebay : Scout AFA 80 And sorry but that is a sack of crap, at best thats a 70.. Full on colour breaking creases and the bubble is mangled AND its punched! It's got points of wear all over the edges of the card back!

This is mine in comparison -

So on the surface the label of both of these say they are in equal (ish) condition give or take a vein here or whatever, but frankly that scout is a joke . Anyone else think the same ?

Joe_O wrote:

I have an AFA 80 Trilogo and its almost flawless, I thought the score was ok , it could possibly pull an 85 on another day with another grader but I am happy with an 80, AFA grading doesn't do much for me but I am not against it by any means and I probably wouldn't crack it out of the case.

Just seen This on ebay : Scout AFA 80 And sorry but that is a sack of crap, at best thats a 70.. Full on colour breaking creases and the bubble is mangled AND its punched! It's got points of wear all over the edges of the card back!

This is mine in comparison -

So on the surface the label of both of these say they are in equal (ish) condition give or take a vein here or whatever, but frankly that scout is a joke . Anyone else think the same ?

That's because yours loses points for being an 8D8 Joe.

Seriously: GAH!

LOL!

See I am happy with my 80, the figure and card are great, however I wouldn't be happy with that Scout and its the same grade, I just can't see how those two figures are equal in condition ???

Someone paid for someone else's opinion (an AFA staff member) . They got a shit opinion

Ugh Joe! Don't even get me started on this.

IMO, based off that pic, the 8D8 is at least an 85. That card looks about flawless.

As for the scout, I pretty much have the same scenario only with a bubble. The tri-logo RC that I have, has the top portion of the bubble a little dinged up. Other than that, the card/figure are flawless. Even the subs are 80 and 85. However, the overall grade is a 60!

To me, personally, I don't really care as it's a fantastic looking card and displays great. But just because the top of the bubble is a little dented/dinged and beat up... means it's a 60?!?!??? I think based on that alone the Scout should be a 60 as well, or at best a 70.

Mine is apparently a C80 B80 F85 lol

I know the subgrades can swing the main grade either way but I think if that was ungraded mine would be a C8/C9 and the Scout a C7 at best , if a point on the C scale is roughly equal to ten on the AFA scale then that Scout is an AFA 70.

I've always wondered if it would be worth getting the detailed grading report from AFA for mine, I wonder about yours also Chris, the thing is, that service should be free and NOT extra, even if its $5-10 bucks they should supply the grading report on a piece of paper with EVERY graded figure not only for the submitter but for buyers further down the line.

Money making ^%^&#$

I have seen AFA 80's that look like dog shit beaters i once purchased an AFA 80 MOC that was terrible colour break creases, figure discoloured, bubble dents scratches, yellowed tape weapons loose in the bubble etc etc safe to say the auction pics were crap but back then i thought its an AFA 80 so it will be decent then i have had AFA 80's that look like case fresh C9.5+!

Its this that makes it hard for me to understand people who say they only buy graded MOC's (paying huge mark ups) because its the only way they can ensure top condition? I personally think theres no substitue to asking sellers detailed questions and requesting high res pics doing that has ensured i have purchased many high quality MOC's at a quarter of the price that the same MOC AFA'd would have cost me.

Jay

I feel the same Jay, I actually support the idea of grading to ensure condition when the grading is strict and consistent, I would buy a million AFA 80'S if they all looked like mine but the first time I bought an AFA 80 that had as many issues as this Scout I would lose faith!

I don't know if many people buy on the grade alone but I have for sure seen FS posts on RS without pictures - some just write FS: AFA 80 ESB Stormtrooper MOC for example - Great MOC!.

Yeah saw that Tri Scout a while back and thought er never an 80 but DID manage to get a decent Tri Scout 80 and will be posting pics as soon as it arrives. Can't believe that got an 80 with that bubble and that serious crease mark in it!

Im after a tri biker scout and saw that one the other day.

I thought the same as you joe, it looks a 70 at best.

My tri imperial dignitary is a AFA 75 and its much better than that.

Thats why i won't pay extra for graded figures, you still don't know what your getting imo.

Submiting something yourself is fine as you have alreasy seen it. But i'd be pissed to pay out for an 80 that looked like that Biker.

another reason that i refuse to get anything graded.*not going to open up that can of worms*

I bet the one who got the Bikerscout graded was happy with the grade.

Anyway, judging by the picture, i think your 8D8 could had been an 85.

I thought grading was done uniform, but this doesn't seem to be case with this bikerscout.

I just sent a mail to Chad Thompson at AFA, he's quite helpful and I mentioned the inconsistency in the grading and gave him this tri Scout and my AFA70 one which I already have as examples of them as mine is pretty much the same as the 80 except mine has a better bubble. :scratch:

So just awaiting a reply.

I know AFA takes it a little easier on Tri-Logo bubbles due to their fragile nature, but the color breaking creases on the card are horrible. There is no way that Scout should have graded higher than 70.

Here's my AFA 75 tri imperial dig.

Now obviously the bubble is dented, and the fig has a nose rub but the card is very nice.

It got C80/B75/F80

I don't disagree with the overall 75 grade, but when compared to that scout how the hell can the BS get a better grade.
The Imp Dig has a small crease just under the £1.59 sticker, and a crease on the one corner thats not bad.
Bubble dents are on par with the majority of tri's.

I guess without the nose rub the fig would of got and 85 which may of bought the overall grade up to an 80.

See, to me your MOC is an 80, 75 is ok for a tri especially if they look like yours but like you said, yours is a lower grade yet looks better than the scout.

I found some old pictures of my 80, honestly if there is a flaw - I can't see it.









Not quite the same as our friend the Biker Scout is it lol

Although, regardless of grade I am SO glad its in an AFA case and not an Oscar case

When you see these sorts of inconsistencies, check the serials. AFA has become more strict over the past couple of years and from what I have seen, there are huge inconsistencies in some items graded more than a couple of years ago. This is one of the issues Tom was brought in to address a while back. In the past I know a single grader could assign a grade but that is not the case anymore.

Hopefully Chad will provide some insight but I imagine he will want the serial numbers to see when this happened. Even though I buy a lot of AFA items, I always do like Jay says and ask for lots of photos of all sides.


-chris

PS - Someone mentioned a 60 subgrade for a bubble and that probably means there is a crack. Any crack, no matter how small, is going to kill the grade.

xiskool wrote:

When you see these sorts of inconsistencies, check the serials. AFA has become more strict over the past couple of years and from what I have seen, there are huge inconsistencies in some items graded more than a couple of years ago.

The dates prove the opposite of your statement Chris, if anything they were stricter in 2008!

I guess I should keep my mouth shut, so much for that theory. With the visible crease, edge wear and bubble ding (upper right corner??), I am surprised the BS is an overall 80 (C9).

No probs Chris, I don't think anyone can make sense of it!

Maybe people were complaining about the tough grades on trilogos because they are more often dented than not and they decided to be a bit less strict? Although that large crease on the BS is harsh to look at even from a picture, it might be the light making it look bad and perhaps it doesn't break colour but still its quite a large visible flaw on the card front no less.

Odd indeed! I am half tempted to buy it to get a better look at it

Going by the description Del your MOC is roughly a 75 although i have seen many 80's that have the the same subs as yours so it sounds like yours was a top end 75 (in their scale) sweet MOC though bud and the bubbles defo relative to many Tri Logo Bubbles. Joe your Tri 8D8 80 for me going by your pic is an 85 any day of the week it looks worthy of been labeled "ungraded C9+" 1000%!

The bikerscout should be an AFA 60 at best! Considering minty MOC's are graded AF 60 automatically (even if the item flawless) when the bubble has a crack (even a small crack) plus they would display for better! I bet the card crease on that bikerscout can easily been seen from 2 - 3 feet away!

Chris good to hear Tom went in and sorted it out a few years back and got it all tightened up

Jay

That 8D8 is fooin mint dude and should be at least an 85! :scratch:

Yeah i would of given my imp dig a 75 too. Altho the bubble damage isn't as bad as it looks in the pic. It has beveled edges so its pictured worse than it is. Still i think the 75/80/80 grade was spot on. BUT it is clearly a lot nicer than that 80 biker scout

Joe, that is one sweet card, looks to be a no brainer 85 imo.
How the feck it can get the same score as that biker scout is beyond me.

Tbh in the photo the scout looks quite a beater.