Cosmocat graded 90

Collecting LJN ThunderCats Toys
1

Hi All,

Just wanted to show you guys the Wilykat Cosmocat i had graded recently at UKG Grading here in the UK. I was astonished that it received a 90%! Id say it was one of my top additions. Hope you like the pics. Take care

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/LiarDiceFilms/Lion%20O%20plus%20Snarf%20MOC/photo.jpg

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/LiarDiceFilms/Lion%20O%20plus%20Snarf%20MOC/photo3.jpg

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/LiarDiceFilms/Lion%20O%20plus%20Snarf%20MOC/photo4.jpg

2

Flawless piece! it’s very rare for an old Ljn Thundercats toy to receive such a high grade! Congrats LiarDice, ive seen only two AFA 90 graded figures, the 1987 Stinger and my Lion-o 14-back. Your Wilycat looks truly amazing.

EDIT:
Forgot to add:I’ve also seen on the internet a Thundercats Berserkers Carded Hammerhand AFA 90 (90,85,90). so that makes it three.

3

Wow… Looks minty fresh :open_mouth:

4

Thanks guys. It took so long to arrive but when it did i was very happy. I’ll will save it as an investment for my daughter i think :-)..If you could post a picture of your 90 Lion o Lordore then id love to see it.

5

No problem of posting the pic again, but you can check him out in the Collector’s Showcase,i’ve already uploaded some good quality close-up shots there:liono,still if you would like some more pics let me know,i’d provide them gladly!

6

Thats a real beauty you got there bud! Cherish it!

7

Looks like its fresh from the case :thumbsup:

8

What was wrong with it that you didn’t get a 100? Sorry it’s not meant to be a flippant question, I just can’t see any defects from the photos and was wondering why you see so many AFA 80s, 85s but so few 90s and no 100s (at least I’ve never seen one for the toys that I’d care to check on).

Also, is the grading company that you used regarded as highly as AFA? I know some people have used other figure grading companies here on the site and I got the sense that some people didn’t consider their ratings to be as “authentic”. Was wondering what the verdict is for people on the UK grading service.

Lastly, what would you reckon the market value of this figure may be?

Cheers,
Grizz

9

Id love it if you could post your Lion-O pics again Lordore.

Also i have no idea why graders dont grade as high as 100, i mean there honestly is not one flaw in this piece. The company i use is http://www.ukgraders.co.uk . For reliability and quality id say they were as good as AFA. In fact customer service is better. Only thing is they do have a slow turn around as i think they are a younger company. Ive gained a great trust in them over the last year. AFA seem to dominate the grading circuit but for collectors in the UK who aren’t happy with sending valuable items to the US, i’d definitely recommend UKG.
As far as market value goes, i have no real idea i’m afraid. If anyone with more expertise would like to say then please post on here. thanks guys

10

[FONT=Arial][FONT=Calibri][SIZE=4]The AFA grading system takes into account virtually all flaws and imperfections, subgrades offer additional information and provide insight into different aspects of the graded item. They have very strict rules and literally every part of the figure is put under the microscope. I’ve taken the paragraphs below from the AFA official site:[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=4]-The figure will be considered mint unless there exists a defect that detracts from its overall eye appeal. Defects include paint wear, discoloration, over-spray, fading or dismemberment. If the carded figure comes with a collector coin, trading card or other insert, they will also be rated against overall eye appeal.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=4]- The blister will be judged against dents, scratches, fading, yellowing, clouding, sticker residue, tearing, cuts, lifting, soiling, rub marks, crushing, gluing, factory cut and foreign items (ink mark or staple etc.).[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=4]-The backer card will be judged against creasing, bending, rolling, tearing, scuffing, scratching, lifting, print marks, loss of gloss, soiling, discoloring, edge wear, nicks, punctures, ink or foreign markings, peg hole punch, tape repair, focus, price sticker, sticker tear, sticker residue, water damage, bubbling and attached foreign objects[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=4]-Price stickers are generally not considered major flaws, but only become a factor if curling, tearing, staining, picking, etc. of the sticker has occurred. The location of the sticker is also a factor, though most are placed in an area such as a corner that does not detract from the overall appearance of the card. [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri][FONT=Calibri][SIZE=4]As you can see it’s very difficult to score high grades and the select few items which receive them are among the highest quality in existence and in my opinion should be treated as pieces of great antiquity. Even the slightest or minor flaws will be scrutinized and someone has to be extremely condition sensitive to notice them with the naked eye, still the guys at the AFA are taking into consideration everything in order to make the final verdict. [/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri][SIZE=4][FONT=Calibri]Especially for the Thundercats toys, it isn’t easy to get an overall 85 or 90. Above AFA90 I don’t believe it exists, at least I’ve never seen one over the last 6-8 years of watching closely the LJN Thundercats market. These toys are so old and in 1985[/FONT][FONT=Calibri] companies didn’t have the means to manufacture action figures in mass productions featuring expertly crafted detail[/FONT][FONT=Calibri]s devoid of the slightest blemish or fault whether that is on the Figure, Card or Blister. Even the Figure which is factory sealed, hardly gets 85 at the AFA scale because they were made with imperfections from the assembly line. Also the Cardback and the Bubble show signs of wear as the time goes by, as you can reasonably understand. [/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri][FONT=Calibri][SIZE=4]Generally,I am not an ardent fan of AFA. I have 5 AFA graded Thundercats but the best thing about sending your items there is the hard acrylic case they come with and prevents you precious collection from sustaining any damage. [/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri][FONT=Calibri][SIZE=4]Here is my Lion-o 90,NM+/MT, Subgraded Card:90,Blister:90,Figure:90. He is an impeccable piece, flawless all around. The only Thundercats toy i have ever seen with such grades.[/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz198/thunderore/elite2.jpg

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz198/thunderore/DSC04789.jpg

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz198/thunderore/DSC04798.jpg

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz198/thunderore/grade.jpg
[/FONT]

11

I Like the ukg blue label and also the rarity factor they list. That gets into subjectivity a little but it’s a neat touch. I have 1 90 the Stinger and I bought it that way, had a few 85s but I think most of the ones produced would have got 80s from the factory. Speaking of which has anyone ever seen a thundercat with an uncirculated grade?

12

Hey Robimus Prime, i went through your marvelous AFA Thundercats collection once again and i came up with the idea to enlist all of the graded 90 Thundercats toys in existence right now, whether they belong to a private collector or they are still up for sale at the internet. If i have omitted any figure that you are aware of, please let me know:thumbsup:

  1. LJN STINGER AFA90. 85/90/90-sold at e-bay

  2. LJN HAMMERHAND AFA90. 90/85/90-sold at e-bay

  3. LJN STINGER AFA90. 90/90/90-Robimus Prime

  4. LJN/ITALY LION-O 14-Back AFA90. 90/90/90-Lordore

  5. LJN/FRANCE WILYKAT. UKG90%. 90%/90%/90%-LiarDice Films

13

Yeah I didn’t come up with any more on the population report for AFA so 90’s are literally a handful for now. Makes me glad I didn’t pass up the one I had a chance to get since it was foreign and I wanted all US. Couple things I did note as I looked at the 8 pages of modules:

  • Bengali is considered the rarest regular figure yet is by far the most common graded with 23 for the US version, with 9 80’s and 4 85’s! (I get it, no one is spending the money to grade their Tuska’s, I’m just saying it’s interesting to note.)
  • Someone, somewhere has an AFA 85 US carded Luna Lasher Mumm-Ra. Pics please!
  • Finally, there are TEN, yes 10 Berzerker Top Spinner graded at AFA 85’s. Where did all these come from and who has them?
14

The factor of rarity falls to subjective terms, for instance,personally i consider priceless and much precious an AFA 80 Lion-o 8-back than an AFA90 Vultureman or Cruncher(if they existed). To my surprisement a lot of the LJN/EUROPE releases have received top grades and the much sought-after Laser Sabers belong entirely to the Italian release as well. I think the Italian Thundercats generally were very limited in production and very rare.

Hey Robimus Prime your Lion-o&Snarf how come and didn’t receive an afa90 grade? It’s one hell of a piece! Could you give us the subgrades?

15

Lion-O Snarf is card 80 bubble 85 figure 85, does look pretty nice but I would have been happy getting an 80 on it, it does display very nicely. I think some of the European ones were released later (88-89) and also didn’t get sent to stores in some cases so more are preserved in good condition.

16

You are right, most likely that will be the reason of receiving top-grades.

But why releasing laser labers only for the ITALIAN Cards in Europe???
It beats me…

17

And for that matter why were the ones I got in England, not Italy?! Who knows if the Laser Sabers set was even mass released or what the story is there, if I knew as much about Thundercats as I know now I wouldn’t have ever ordered them in the first place from a foreign store, I knew just enough to be dangerous! I’m told a catalog that supports the model number shows either Captain Shiner or Safari Joe (either would be just as random as Ben-Gali I suppose) so maybe that one is out there yet to be found. Unfortunately I have neither the resources nor the language skills to go to Italy and look lol. But this is only 25 years ago so whoever knows this stuff has to be alive and potentially able to be found. Maybe he has a stash with the Mad Bubbler, the Lunatacs, and Feliner :0)

18

We can’t know for sure if Laser Saber Capt. Shiner ever existed. The production of Laser Sabers Bengali, Mumm-ra and Lion-o indicate otherwise but keep in mind that the Rainbow Toys mini-Catalogue picturing the four Laser Sabers, is advertising also the never released figures of Canon-Blaster and Quick-Jaw. The mini-catalogues used to display a few vehicles and figures which were finally never released.

But just in case, someone owns him::thumbsup:
COME OUT OF THE CLOSET!!!

Speaking about rare irregularities, here is a quick pic(sorry for the flash) of the cardback from my Lion-0 90. I think he must be the only 14-back, series 2 Thundercats figure i’ve seen without advertising the free mail-off Mumm-Ra. Also the cardbak reminds me so much of the Standard 22-Back,UK Toy options card which is covered mainly in Black, with the exception this one doesn’t have the Thundercats logo on top.

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz198/thunderore/cardback.jpg

19

Im about 90% sure of who actually has the AFA 85 LL Mummra

20

We must track down pics please!

And i hear there are two different coloured Mad Bubbler protos out there. How has a photo never surfaced, i mean i thought we were all i tight community sharing a similar love of these toy lines