Okay, so I said I would detail this process for those interested, so here we go. For this tutorial I am going to use my recently acquired MISB Astrotrain as an example. Your first step is to go to AFA's website, which can be found here. The AFA site has complete instructions but I'm going to go over some of them again just so it is easy and you can see this process with an example. I like to go ahead and print my submission form out first so I have it in front of me when I am gathering all the necessary information. You can find the submission forms under the link Submission Center.
Once I have my form printed out, I go to the Pricing & Tier Codes section of the website. This link can also be found under the Submission Center section. Depending on what you are having graded you need to pick your grading scale. All toys manufactured after 1995 use the modern grading scale and all those manufactured before 1995 use the standard grading scale (but you can choose to use the modern grading scale if you wish). If your item is opened then you need to use the qualified grading scale. My Astrotrain falls into the standard grading scale classification since it is sealed and manufactured before 1995.
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| Pricing and Tier codes are circled in red. |
Next you must decide how quickly you want AFA to grade and return your item. There are four options that are explained on the website as to how quickly your item will be returned. Obviously the quicker turnaround time the more expensive it is going to be. I am going to choose Express (which is the second slowest option). You will also notice that there is an insurance limit on each of the tiers. The limit for Express is $400. So if I wanted to insure Astrotrain for more than $400 I would need to use the next highest grade which would be Premium and allows for items insured up to $1000. Fortunately I don't believe it would cost more than $400 to replace Astrotrain so I am going to set my limit at $350. I will use this information later on the submission form.
The next step is to measure my figure since it is not going to fit into a 'standard' action figure case. This is going to be the case with many G1 Transformers. However some figures do fit into the Standard and Standard Oversize categories. Check out the resource here for basic guidelines. Since Astrotrain's package is slightly larger than most Transformer boxes it falls into the custom category. All you need to do is measure the height, width and depth of the figure, but for transformers you must be sure to include the box flap in your measurements. For Astrotrain the height is 7.5”, width is 8.5” and the depth is 3”. So adding those three together gives me a total of 19 inches. Looking on the table I see this fits into Custom Size 1. Now by following these two lines to where they meet I come up with tier code A-C1-2 and my cost is $60 since I am not a member. Keep this code as you need it for your submission form! AFA offers many other options for your figure including: photos, cleaning, price sticker removal and others. There are more details on their site. I am a simple kind of guy so basic grading is all I am going to do for Astrotrain.
Now it is time to fill out the submission form that I printed out earlier. The first page is just basic information which should give you no problem. On the second page there are a number of columns that are pretty self-explanatory, but you can see the picture below for more details. For the column labeled Details, use this for variations on your particular figure if there were any including year variations. For example if my Astrotrain happened to be the version that came with the poster I would write Poster Box Version/Series 3 (since the poster version came out in 1986 instead of 1985). Many G1 Transformers were produced multiple years so it is important to differentiate. There are many variation guides online that can provide you with this information (see Fred's Variation page here for just one of them). Just a basic rule of thumb, 1984 releases are Series 1, 1985 Series 2 and so on. Once you have filled out all the information for the figure(s) you are submitting there are some ancillary fields at the bottom of this page which need to be filled out as well. These mostly pertain to how you want your submission handled if AFA decides it is not gradable and what style label you want on your submission. See the examples below for the different types.
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| Page two of the submission form. |
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| Classic label style. |
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| Clear view label style. |
Once page two is done I return to the website to calculate shipping charges since the customer must pay for return shipping once the item is graded. This is also where insurance comes into play. Under the submission center there is another link for Return Shipping Rates. This is our next destination. Now as a standard rule for domestic shipping in the United States, Fed-Ex is cheaper and the way to go. For international submissions you still have the choice of Fed-Ex or your domestic Postal Service but you'll have to decide which one is best for your situation. Because international shipping costs vary, AFA requires you to use your credit card or Paypal account on your form (there is a space for it) and they will bill you after they have shipped your package back to you.
The website has convenient tables set up to help you determine shipping rates. In my case I have one (1) item which falls into the Packaged Level 1 category (since it is a custom 1 size). So my shipping cost is $12 if I choose Fed-Ex, $15 if I choose USPS. As you can see, the more items you send the cheaper the shipping becomes per item. Next is insurance. I scroll down to the insurance table and find my row, in this case the $301-$400 level since that is what I previously indicated on the submission form. Of course the value you indicate on page two of the form is up to you, but since insurance is cheap I recommend insuring your item for full replacement value (i.e. the amount of money it would take to buy the same item in today's market). So I go ahead and enter each price on the Calculation of Total Amount Due on page three. I also don't like to leave these items unattended when they come back from AFA, so I choose the Signature Confirmation option as well ($3 per box). So my total amount due to have Astrotrain graded is $79.00 ($60 grading cost + $12 return shipping + $4 insurance + $3 signature confirmation). Now all I need to do is choose my payment method and I am almost done.
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| Page three of the submission form. |
The next two pages are Terms and Conditions and I highly recommend you read these carefully as they are important regarding your item. On the final page you need to sign and date and indicate if there are any other special instructions regarding your item. They also give you some tips on packaging your item for shipment to them.
So that is pretty much the basics of the process. It can seem intimidating at first, but once you've done it a few times it becomes very easy. I do recommend you package your item very carefully and make sure the box flap cannot move in transit. Some people even like to double box their shipments (item is in a box packaged inside another box) which I would recommend if you are shipping from overseas or if you have a very rare item. Since Atlanta (where AFA is based) is just a short distance from me I am not going to go to that extreme. Also, don't forget to make a copy of your submission form to keep just in case something happens with your submission.
I hope this simple tutorial helps make things clearer when making a submission to AFA. Please feel free to contact me with questions. Thanks for reading!
