Page 32 - JOA_July21

hen it comes to the world of Pop
Culture collectibles, whether it
Wbe toys, video games, or trading
cards, there is nothing more important than
condition. You obviously have the rarity
factor—the rarer the item the more
desirable to a collector—but the condition
is always key. Now an item’s condition is
always up for interpretation, one person’s
idea of good or excellent can be completely
different than the next. However, the one
thing that is not up for interpretation is if
an item is factory sealed.
MISB (Mint in Sealed Box), MOSC
(Mint on Sealed Card), NOS (New Old
Stock), or MISP (Mint in Sealed Package)
are all acronyms you will see in any
collector or dealer’s headline of an item if it
is factory sealed. For the true purist, the
high-end collector, it does not get any
better than factory sealed. Now, obviously,
if you have a box that is sealed but infested
with mold and looks like a truck drove over
it, that is going to carry a much lower value 1983 Kenner Star Wars’ Return of the Jedi 55-piece Kenner Star Wars Action Figure Group including Boba
Fett sold December 4, 2019, for $531.25
65 Back-A Boba Fett sold April 20, 2019,
than one that comes fresh out of a shipping
for $875 photo: Bruneau & Co. photo: Bruneau & Co.
case. That is an extreme scenario of course,
but I still want to paint the picture that there are different degrees of But back to Boba Fett. Take that action figure out of any of the
condition within something being factory sealed. mentioned packaging (to which there is far more variety than what I
The general point to remember right now is that when it comes to briefly mentioned!) and you have a $50 to $75 action figure on its best
value, a factory-sealed item is going to yield you the highest return. To day. That estimate, by the way, is inclusive of the toy retaining its
exemplify that, let us compare and contrast some fan favorites of each original blaster. No blaster and you have a $25 to $40 action figure
class of collectible. depending on how nice the paint is.
So now you are probably wondering about Boba in MOSC
How Packaged Values Work: Boba Fett condition? Well, that is still a loaded question. On the low end of
the spectrum, if you have a ROTJ 65 Back Boba Fett with standard
Within the realm of Pop Culture, toys and video games are where
you really see the biggest leaps in value when comparing an open artwork, it is worth $1,000 to $1,500 if in average sealed condition
with minimal wear. If you have an exceptional example with a perfect
product to a sealed one. To start, let us take a look at a 1979 Kenner clear bubble, unpunched card, and you have it professionally graded
Star Wars Boba Fett action figure. The fan-favorite bounty hunter first and it comes back an 85, you would get $2,500 or more. But I am
appeared on toy store shelves in 1979 on what we refer to as a “21 talking about the average figure you would say is a 7.5 out of 10 is in
Back” card. The “21” simply means when looking at the back of the the $1,000 to $1,500 range. Now on the opposite end of the
package it showed the 21 action figures currently available in the Star spectrum, if you have an original 1979 21 Back Boba Fett in the same
Wars toy line. The very first figures released in 1978 were 12 Back and condition it would easily be worth $7,000 to $10,000. Therefore your
it grew from there. The same Boba Fett action figure released in 1979 sealed Boba Fett that is not professionally graded could be worth
was continually rereleased through Empire Strikes Back (1980) and anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the card back.
Return of The Jedi (1983). The front artwork would change to correlate That is a huge range of value, and it is all dependent on the packaging.
with the respected movie and back number growing from 21 to 31, 41, Otherwise, you would just have another $50 loose Boba Fett that you
48, and then eventually 77 under Return of The Jedi (ROTJ). cannot identify differently from the next.
After ROTJ, the final Boba Fett released in the U.S. was in 1985 on
Before I close on Mr. Fett, I would like to say this whole playout of
a Droids card back, which marks the end of the original Kenner Star values is exclusively for the U.S. action figure market. There is a whole
Wars toy line. Droids was a children’s animated series focused on the range of Boba Fetts with variations based on the manufacturer with
adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO that ran in tandem with Ewoks, a foreign releases or the factory’s country of origin whether it be China
show focused on Wicket and friends.
vs. Hong Kong vs. Taiwan vs. Macau and some that just do not have a
30 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles