Hake's April/May Auction Preview | Online Comic Book & Pop Culture Auction Now Underway!
The Action Figure Grader previews Hake's April/May online comic book and pop culture auction, which runs alongside a separate pre-production toy auction. The video focuses primarily on Star Wars collectibles including vintage Kenner figures, diecast vehicles, and foreign market variants, while also briefly highlighting comics, Mego figures, and Secret Wars items. The auction is described as more budget-friendly compared to Hake's other concurrent auction.
Summary
The host, known as the Action Figure Grader, introduces Hake's April/May online comic book and pop culture auction, noting it is running simultaneously with a separate prototype and pre-production toy auction already covered in a previous video. With approximately 23 days of bidding remaining at the time of recording, the auction is expected to close in late May. The host characterizes this auction as more budget-friendly, with mid-grade examples rather than extreme rarities, making it accessible for collectors on tighter budgets.
The bulk of the video focuses on Star Wars Kenner items. The host highlights several early 12-back and 20-back carded figures, including a Princess Leia 20-back H graded AFA 80 and a sand people 20-back A. A Boba Fett 21-back B graded AFA 75 Plus is discussed with skepticism about whether it will meet its $800–$1,000 estimate, as the host observes that 21-back Boba Fett prices have dropped significantly compared to the previous year. Numerous Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi era cards are also covered, including 31-back, 41-back, and 48-back variants of characters like Leia Bespin, cloud car pilot, 2-1B medical droid, and Bossk.
The host gives particular attention to rarer items. A Kenner Canada 31-back A Bossk is highlighted as something he has never personally seen before, noting the standard US 31-back A recently sold for around $4,800. He suggests the population report for the Canadian version is likely very low. A 48-back B Bossk graded AFA 80 with a clear blister is also flagged as rare and likely to exceed its $600 estimate. A Palitoy Clipper card (with double-stem blister) and a Palitoy 45-back Four-LOM are noted as desirable foreign market pieces. A previously unseen shipper box for the Darth Vader Collector's Case is highlighted as a particularly unusual find.
Other Star Wars items discussed include a CAS 55 factory-sealed Millennium Falcon with Bespin scene box art, a Yoda hand puppet graded AFA 80 Qualified, a Palitoy Rancor Keeper mail-away graded AFA 85 with original flyer, trilogo figures including an AFA 85 Emperor and UKG 80% Biker Scout, and various Power of the Force carded figures. The host also recommends buying ungraded mint-on-card items from Hake's, citing their detailed condition descriptions and his personal experience getting high grades (80s and above) after submitting them to AFA.
The video closes with a brief overview of non-Star Wars content in the auction, including mid-grade CGC-graded comics spanning golden age through copper age (Batman, Amazing Spider-Man), vintage Mego figures, DC Super Powers, Secret Wars mint-on-card and loose CAS-graded figures (Doctor Octopus CAS 90, Wolverine CAS 80 Plus, Iron Man, Captain America, Magneto, Doctor Doom), Japanese items like Shogun Warriors and Voltron, Transformers, GI Joe, Indiana Jones, A-Team, M.A.S.K., and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Key Insights
- The host argues that 21-back Boba Fett prices have dropped significantly, suggesting the AFA 75 Plus example will likely sell below its $800–$1,000 low estimate based on trends seen at Heritage and other auction houses over the past year.
- The host states he has never seen a Kenner Canada 31-back A Bossk before and believes its AFA population report is very low, drawing a parallel to his own Dengar Canadian card which came back as the highest-graded example with only 5–10 total on the population report.
- The host claims Hake's provides exceptionally detailed condition descriptions for ungraded mint-on-card items, and that he has personally had consistent success buying ungraded examples from Hake's, submitting them to AFA, and receiving grades of 80 and above — creating built-in equity for the buyer.
- The host identifies the shipper box for the Darth Vader Collector's Case as something he has never personally seen before, noting it unusually contained only one case inside and describing it as a rare find despite having a small puncture.
- The host explains that 48-back B cards are distinguished from 48-back A and C versions because the offer sticker is physically applied to both the front and back of the card rather than being printed, making them more scarce and harder to find in high grade with a clear blister.
Topics
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