AFA cost vs acrylic cases

I would like to have my entire MOC collection to be in acrylic cases at some point, right now I just have two (one AFA graded). But they are about $20 a pop. Would it be worth it to just go to AFA? They charge, what, $25 each? I've never sent anything to them so I don't know. And yea, I know the big uproar over AFA with Toni and their various grading methods.

My opinion -- I see sending MOCs to AFA as an ever increasing risk. It's another trip through the postal system twice (way there, way back) to get damaged and have the figure burst through or worse.

Then you are at the mercy of AFA actually getting the identification right, telling you on their label what you probably already know and then putting a condition number on it. For me, the overall deal breaker is that it's stuck in there forever, you can't take it out and handle it ever again.

With acrylic cases, you have the sliding bottom. Which also means, you can rotate MOCs on display and reuse the same case if need be (keep the rest in safe storage). By the numbers, acrylic cases are of course much cheaper than going AFA graded. Buy in bulk and the savings increase again.

Love to hear other opinions on this.

Hey, putting the politics of the AFA debate to one side, I personally would just buy acrylic cases. Not only are they cheaper but they give you the option to remove the MOCs, you never know if your focus will change.

Iain and Christian have a great acrylic business with cheap prices. The cases are magnificent. They are in the UK and the U.S.

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Seconded -- totally vouch for GW Acrylic cases

Yeah GW Acrylic is really involved in the community and makes plenty of other interesting stuff like ship stands.

A while back I purchased 6 UV Resistant MOC cases from AFA, (I think you save 3 or 4 dollars each once you buy 5) I think it was around $80 after everything and I'm really happy with them. The UV resistance gives me peace of mind since these things do cost a lot.

The one thing that I still wonder about is the air-tight factor. I assume that once you submit something to AFA to get graded, that case is air tight? Presumably water tight (although who would want to test that) but their ungraded cases are clearly not sealed. I don't just mean that the bottom is easily removable, but that there is a small gap along the access panel which (in my opinion) they could have easily avoided.

This might be done to help prevent mold because they aren't packing it so they have to assume the costumer might accidentally get some moisture on the moc.

Hi guys - thanks for all the kind words - Christian put a lot of time & effort into setting up GW Acrylic and the cases we have now are certainly up there with the best on the market (for most we are the best out there!)

Jared brings up a very good point that I think we will see more an more over time. Once cased up by AFA (or any other grading company) then there is no way to protect the bubble during shipping - so fine if you plan to keep them for ever but not so good if you ever plan to sell/upgrade. I would suggest never shipping in acrylic if you can help it.

With regards to air circulation mentioned in the above post - both the AFA cases and our cases allow for that - so that isn't an issue. Our cases offer 95% UV protection so are basically great unless you store your cards in direct sunlight (not advisable for anything really - apart from maybe solar panels!)

Cost wise - if you are in the US then the price per case is $16.50 + shipping - however this goes down if you buy in bulk - so 5-9 cases would be $13.50 each, 10-19 are $13.50 each and 20+ are $12.00 each - shipping is charged at cost and depending on your location works out around $15 for 5, $22.50 for 10 and $30.00 for 20. So if you bought 20 of them then the total would be $260.00 / $13.00 per case

I hope that helps - if you have any questions then feel free to drop me a PM or reply further down

Cheers
Iain

I can also vouch GW Acrylic. When I have purchased cases in person (at Farthest From events), each one has been checked for quality before being sold to me, and they make any carded or loose figure look stunning!.