*******Important- This thread was written before the changes to ebay happened which meant the individual Vintage toy sections for carded,boxed, loose figures etc were removed. As such the ebay completed listings links will no longer work unfortunately but still the thread has some useful information in it so read on! 
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This forum gets a lot of traffic from people trying to sell their collections yet have no idea what they have or what it is worth so...
Here are the tools you will need to try to gauge a value of your collectibles, whether it's loose figures, carded figures or boxed vehicles you should be able to use the links below and gain some knowledge on prices and hobby jargon to help with the sale of your collection.
Helpful links for pricing up loose figures:
Firstly you need to know what figures were released, the following link will help: Rebelscum Loose Vintage Checklist - (clickable link!)
The checklist above lists all the Vintage figures released from 1978-1985, it will help you not only match up accessories to the correct figures but it will give you their names and help with some basic information on common variations.
PRICING YOUR LOOSE FIGURES: After you have worked out exactly what figures you have you then need to search completed ebay listings for the figures to see how much they are worth (especially if you want to sell each figure separately)
The easiest way is to search the name of the figure in this category: Ebay Completed Listings - Loose Vintage Figures - - (clickable link!)
It will then bring up a list of completed auctions for the specific figure searched, you will very likely see a big price difference between loose played with figures and complete mint figures, it's important to assess the condition of the figures you are selling and compare them to the ones sold on ebay to get an idea of what yours are worth.
Loose Figure Terms/Acronyms:
COO = Country of origin - this is usually found on the back of the legs of loose figures, Hong Kong is common, as is Taiwan and China, if in doubt - ASK! There are plenty of COO collectors out there to help and the COO can be an important factor for a loose figure collector.
POTF = Power Of The Force - also known as the Last 17/Last 15 the POTF figures were the last wave produced in the vintage line, these are the most valuable of all the basic figures.
The POTF wave can be seen in the picture below as well as the rest of the Vintage collection, they are often divided up into film release with POTF fitting at the end (SW,ESB,ROTJ and POTF)
*Important* - Reproduction Weapons:
*This may not be applicable for those with childhood collections bought in the 80's - reproduction weapons appeared in the 90's*
Unfortunately reproduction weapons and accessories (and now even figures) have plagued the hobby for too many years, fortunately help is at hand, you can check the Imperial Gunnery weapon reference site for every single accessory by clicking here : Imperial Gunnery Weapon Reference Site
Helpful links for pricing up common carded figures:
Carded figures are a bit trickier but not that difficult to grasp, you just need the right information and five minutes to check what you have against other examples on the net.
US figures were produced by a company called Kenner, the Kenner logo is printed on the front of these figures like this:
You can find a cardback breakdown of every card made by Kenner here: Collectors Archive - Cardback Guide - (clickable link!)
UK figures were produced by a company called Palitoy, the Palitoy company logo is printed on the front of the figures as seen here:
You can find a cardback breakdown of every card made by Palitoy here: Jason's Palitoy Cardback Guide - (clickable link!)
Trilogo cards which were available in Europe and in the states look like this:
Information on Trilogo cards can be found here: Trilogo.info website with a more in depth card guide here: Advanced Trilogo Guide clickable links!
Assessing condition of carded figures is critical when selling them, you don't want returned items because your idea of a "good condition 30 year old toy" is different to a collectors! The best thing to do if you are unsure of what to look for or how to accurately describe the condition is to just take lots of pictures, every angle possible and highlighting points of damage or wear (significant or not)
PRICING YOUR CARDED FIGURES:: This is the UK completed listings link for sealed carded figures: Completed Listings - Carded Figures - - (clickable link!)
You may have a rarity that isn't covered in the above guides (Foreign figure, bootleg etc) so if in doubt post a picture and ask for opinions on what you have.
Carded Figure Terms/Acronyms:
MOC = Mint on card (generally just means a figure still fully sealed on a card - indifferent of condition)
Carded = Same as above
MOMC = Mint on MINT card (this obviously means its a blinder of a figure)
POP = Proof of purchase. If missing (removed) it unfortunately makes the item (a lot) less valuable
Helpful links for pricing up boxed vehicles/playsets and larger toys
Boxed toys can be tricky to price and to find information on, they often come with multiple parts and instructions/posters/stickers etc so it's important to know what you should have in the box (especially if its meant to be unused!)
This is a very useful link which is actually a limelight from SWF member Capetown, all boxed items in his collection are unused and complete and he has photographed the contents as well as the boxes for reference: Boxed Reference Thread/Limelight - - (clickable link!)
Again, same as before -once you know what you have you take your information to Ebay and check out similar sold items.
PRICING YOUR VEHICLES/PLAYSETS:: Here is the UK completed listings link for Vehicles and Playsets: Completed Listings - Vehicles/Playsets - - (clickable link!)
Boxed Vehicle/Playset Terms/Acronyms:
NRFB = Never removed from box (basically not used or assembled, including inserts, paperwork, unused stickers and sealed contents where applicable)
MIB = Mint in box, includes (but is not limited to) NRFB. Also includes unplayed with toys with decals applied including instructions in a box with inserts
MISB = Mint in sealed box. Factory sealed item.
POP = Proof of purchase. If missing (removed) it unfortunately makes the item (a lot) less valuable
Helpful links for pricing up collections in BULK
If you simply haven't got the time to list things separately, haven't got anything worth listing separately or are just downright lazy then sometimes its easier to just list everything you have at once and hope for the best.
Selling a collection in bulk will not get you the biggest return but it saves posting 80 figures out one at a time all over the world.
You can check completed listings for a whole bunch of Vintage stuff here:
Completed Listings - Collections and bulk lots
Condition Of Your Items & Using The "C" Scale
After working out what you have and what things sell for you may find yourself encountering the "C" scale..
The "C" scale is often used to describe the condition of Star Wars toys, you will also see it being used on ebay from sellers describing their items, C stands for "condition" and the scale is from 1 (piss poor) to 10 (factory fresh) - most played with toys are probably about a C7 (used but ok condition) with unused items often being in C8 or C9 condition. C10 is a myth, as most things left the factory with some paint wear (loose figures) or scuffed edges (boxes + cards) - You may not feel comfortable at all using the C scale and many collectors will argue that their C8 is different from your C8 so it's not terribly important to grade your own figures using this scale. Top tip = Just take loads of pictures!
Hobby Jargon & Terminology
Most of the basic terminology is covered in each section above but there are a few more here in this thread: Abbreviations for newbies (if you wade through the piss take posts!)
And finally.......
AFA, UKG & "Professional" Grading
Rare toys and exceptionally good conditioned toys are often sent to third party companies for grading (condition assessment and then sealed in acrylic) - this really shouldn't be of any use to most people selling their collections but here are some links if it helps and if you think you have something worth grading.
AFA = Action Figure Authority (US based grading company) - http://www.toygrader.com/
UKG = United Kingdom Graders (UK based grading company) - http://www.ukgraders.co.uk/
***********This forum gets a lot of traffic from people trying to sell their collections yet have no idea what they have or what it is worth so...
Here are the tools you will need to try to gauge a value of your collectibles, whether it's loose figures, carded figures or boxed vehicles you should be able to use the links below and gain some knowledge on prices and hobby jargon to help with the sale of your collection.
Helpful links for pricing up loose figures:
Firstly you need to know what figures were released, the following link will help: Rebelscum Loose Vintage Checklist - (clickable link!)
The checklist above lists all the Vintage figures released from 1978-1985, it will help you not only match up accessories to the correct figures but it will give you their names and help with some basic information on common variations.
PRICING YOUR LOOSE FIGURES: After you have worked out exactly what figures you have you then need to search completed ebay listings for the figures to see how much they are worth (especially if you want to sell each figure separately)
The easiest way is to search the name of the figure in this category: Ebay Completed Listings - Loose Vintage Figures - - (clickable link!)
It will then bring up a list of completed auctions for the specific figure searched, you will very likely see a big price difference between loose played with figures and complete mint figures, it's important to assess the condition of the figures you are selling and compare them to the ones sold on ebay to get an idea of what yours are worth.
Loose Figure Terms/Acronyms:
COO = Country of origin - this is usually found on the back of the legs of loose figures, Hong Kong is common, as is Taiwan and China, if in doubt - ASK! There are plenty of COO collectors out there to help and the COO can be an important factor for a loose figure collector.
POTF = Power Of The Force - also known as the Last 17/Last 15 the POTF figures were the last wave produced in the vintage line, these are the most valuable of all the basic figures.
The POTF wave can be seen in the picture below as well as the rest of the Vintage collection, they are often divided up into film release with POTF fitting at the end (SW,ESB,ROTJ and POTF)
*Important* - Reproduction Weapons:
*This may not be applicable for those with childhood collections bought in the 80's - reproduction weapons appeared in the 90's*
Unfortunately reproduction weapons and accessories (and now even figures) have plagued the hobby for too many years, fortunately help is at hand, you can check the Imperial Gunnery weapon reference site for every single accessory by clicking here : Imperial Gunnery Weapon Reference Site
Helpful links for pricing up common carded figures:
Carded figures are a bit trickier but not that difficult to grasp, you just need the right information and five minutes to check what you have against other examples on the net.
US figures were produced by a company called Kenner, the Kenner logo is printed on the front of these figures like this:
You can find a cardback breakdown of every card made by Kenner here: Collectors Archive - Cardback Guide - (clickable link!)
UK figures were produced by a company called Palitoy, the Palitoy company logo is printed on the front of the figures as seen here:
You can find a cardback breakdown of every card made by Palitoy here: Jason's Palitoy Cardback Guide - (clickable link!)
Trilogo cards which were available in Europe and in the states look like this:
Information on Trilogo cards can be found here: Trilogo.info website with a more in depth card guide here: Advanced Trilogo Guide clickable links!
Assessing condition of carded figures is critical when selling them, you don't want returned items because your idea of a "good condition 30 year old toy" is different to a collectors! The best thing to do if you are unsure of what to look for or how to accurately describe the condition is to just take lots of pictures, every angle possible and highlighting points of damage or wear (significant or not)
PRICING YOUR CARDED FIGURES:: This is the UK completed listings link for sealed carded figures: Completed Listings - Carded Figures - - (clickable link!)
You may have a rarity that isn't covered in the above guides (Foreign figure, bootleg etc) so if in doubt post a picture and ask for opinions on what you have.
Carded Figure Terms/Acronyms:
MOC = Mint on card (generally just means a figure still fully sealed on a card - indifferent of condition)
Carded = Same as above
MOMC = Mint on MINT card (this obviously means its a blinder of a figure)
POP = Proof of purchase. If missing (removed) it unfortunately makes the item (a lot) less valuable
Helpful links for pricing up boxed vehicles/playsets and larger toys
Boxed toys can be tricky to price and to find information on, they often come with multiple parts and instructions/posters/stickers etc so it's important to know what you should have in the box (especially if its meant to be unused!)
This is a very useful link which is actually a limelight from SWF member Capetown, all boxed items in his collection are unused and complete and he has photographed the contents as well as the boxes for reference: Boxed Reference Thread/Limelight - - (clickable link!)
Again, same as before -once you know what you have you take your information to Ebay and check out similar sold items.
PRICING YOUR VEHICLES/PLAYSETS:: Here is the UK completed listings link for Vehicles and Playsets: Completed Listings - Vehicles/Playsets - - (clickable link!)
Boxed Vehicle/Playset Terms/Acronyms:
NRFB = Never removed from box (basically not used or assembled, including inserts, paperwork, unused stickers and sealed contents where applicable)
MIB = Mint in box, includes (but is not limited to) NRFB. Also includes unplayed with toys with decals applied including instructions in a box with inserts
MISB = Mint in sealed box. Factory sealed item.
POP = Proof of purchase. If missing (removed) it unfortunately makes the item (a lot) less valuable
Helpful links for pricing up collections in BULK
If you simply haven't got the time to list things separately, haven't got anything worth listing separately or are just downright lazy then sometimes its easier to just list everything you have at once and hope for the best.
Selling a collection in bulk will not get you the biggest return but it saves posting 80 figures out one at a time all over the world.
You can check completed listings for a whole bunch of Vintage stuff here:
Completed Listings - Collections and bulk lots
Condition Of Your Items & Using The "C" Scale
After working out what you have and what things sell for you may find yourself encountering the "C" scale..
The "C" scale is often used to describe the condition of Star Wars toys, you will also see it being used on ebay from sellers describing their items, C stands for "condition" and the scale is from 1 (piss poor) to 10 (factory fresh) - most played with toys are probably about a C7 (used but ok condition) with unused items often being in C8 or C9 condition. C10 is a myth, as most things left the factory with some paint wear (loose figures) or scuffed edges (boxes + cards) - You may not feel comfortable at all using the C scale and many collectors will argue that their C8 is different from your C8 so it's not terribly important to grade your own figures using this scale. Top tip = Just take loads of pictures!
Hobby Jargon & Terminology
Most of the basic terminology is covered in each section above but there are a few more here in this thread: Abbreviations for newbies (if you wade through the piss take posts!)
And finally.......
AFA, UKG & "Professional" Grading
Rare toys and exceptionally good conditioned toys are often sent to third party companies for grading (condition assessment and then sealed in acrylic) - this really shouldn't be of any use to most people selling their collections but here are some links if it helps and if you think you have something worth grading.
AFA = Action Figure Authority (US based grading company) - http://www.toygrader.com/
UKG = United Kingdom Graders (UK based grading company) - http://www.ukgraders.co.uk/
