Hello,

I am new to TIG, so please forgive me if I have posted in the wrong place. I have read up a little on the internet, so I hope I am using proper terminology.

Here is my situation:

I have had four unopened carded 12 back figures in a box in my closet for nearly 15 years.



My mom had bought the four figures as stocking stuffers for me when I was a kid, but for whatever reason never gave them to me and they were forgotten in the back of her closet. Well 15 years ago my parents packed up to move to Florida, and lo and behold she found the figures and gave them to me for Christmas as she had intended to over 20 years earlier.

Flash forward to now, and I took them out and decided to look up how much they might be worth.  That's when I found out about things like "SW12A" and "Double-Telescoping Lightsabers".

Anyway, here are some photos I took of my carded Obi-Wan (I have Vader too, but I just wanted to focus on one figure at a time):







I have read up on the paper clip method of finding out if it is DT, but unfortunately there is no opening between the bottom of the card and the bubble. My Vader has such an opening, but my Obi-Wan appears to be sealed completely.

So again my question is: Is this a DT Obi-Wan?

Thanks in advance!

DTornotDT

It's not a DT saber, just a standard one. Great set of figures though   

  to TIG

Fantastic to see 4 great condition 12A MOCs. As the General has stated the Ben is not a DT.
Another thing to check for is SKU footers.
Just some numbers on the cardboard footplate.


this is generally accepted as some of the earlier 12As (bar the white footers)

Do not be tempted to sell them unless you are down to one kidney. These will only increase in value.

  to the forum. That's a sweet quartet of moc and a great story of how they stayed in that time capsule at the back of your mum's closet for all those years.

Thanks so much all for the kind words and for the info.  I took this picture of my Ben figure which shows a SKU footer aussiejames mentioned (that's good, right?):



As for the DT issue, does something on the card tell you it is a standard saber? Or is it the thickness or length of the thin part of the saber which tells you it is standard?

Thank you all again so much!

DTornotDT

DTornotDT wrote:

As for the DT issue, does something on the card tell you it is a standard saber? Or is it the thickness or length of the thin part of the saber which tells you it is standard?

Thank you all again so much!

DTornotDT

Based on the examples I've seen, baggie & moc DT figures only have a small portion of the inner saber protruding.

As Steve said (Cantina_Patron) the vast majority usually only have a small portion of the thin tip of the saber sticking out. The one you have has a large portion sticking out which is the correct length for the standard saber.
If you look up so you can see the tip of the saber, you will be able to see that it is all one piece of plastic, if it was a DT you would probably be able to see that the thin portion was seperate to the fat portion.
 
Most of the figures had a 'footer' piece of card in the bottom, the reference to SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) this is a serial number which should be located on the piece of cardboard, you should check them all.
 
As AJ said, these are keepers and very nice figures which will retain value what ever the out come.
 
Oh and welcome to TIG  

*edit* just actually noticed the SKU number in the picture    That's good!   

 
Great set you have, there condition is very good.
Looks like you Vader could be a Made in Taiwan card.

M4K3R1 wrote:

Looks like you Vader could be a Made in Taiwan card.

I noticed what seems to be a different punch  :scratch: 


but this isn't the back of the Ben ??

Aussiejames, you have a really good eye! My apologies as I had posted the back of the Vader by mistake (I took a lot of pictures). Here is the back of the Ben card:



There is one issue with the Vader saber (which has no SKU footer, BTW). As you can see in this pic, the tip is bent at an angle:



Is it common to see this in a saber in package? I just wonder at what point in the assembly line that this bending of the saber tip occurred.

Thank you!

DTornotDT

I suspect that gravity has worked it's magic on the saber tip over time, store it for another 30+ years bubble side down & it will be straight again   
Can you spot any other differences with the cardbacks with the different punch holes?

aussiejames wrote:

I suspect that gravity has worked it's magic on the saber tip over time.

Very cool. Thanks!

aussiejames wrote:

Can you spot any other differences with the cardbacks with the different punch holes?

Well here is a pic of the card backs all lined up (from L to R: Vader-Ben-Leia-Stormtrooper):



The only difference I notice is that the Leia card is unpunched. That's good, right?   

DTornotDT

 I got a wrong.
I was looking at the vader figure,
in the first group photo it looks like the figure has long thin chest buttons,
and the colour/hue of the front of the image looked like a MITW
But it was the angle of the photo.
4 12A cards is not bad at all.

M4K3R1 wrote:

But it was the angle of the photo.
4 12A cards is not bad at all.

Ah yes. So what's the next step? Send them to AFA to get graded? Never dealt with them before, so what can I expect?

DTornotDT

That's upto your personal choice, on sending them to AFA.
If all you want is a sticker saying they are real, you don't need that, you already know they are real.
If your looking to maximise profits in selling then, Yes AFA is the best choice, potential customers will pay more for graded items,
but buyers also tend to want high scores such as 85, 85, 85
If you are keeping them, you could also just buy some acrylic cases, AFA style, to put them in for display.
They all look like an 80. which is not bad at all.