I am the guy that made that YouTube video. I decided to take the video down because I didn't think it was fair to UKG to make accusations of collusion with these shill bidder people without more evidence. I did make a follow-up video discussing what the reaction has been from other collectors, including the comments that have already been shared on a different thread by the gentleman that exposed the Toy Toni incident. At the end of that replacement video, I show some of the same pictures that have been circulating of a few of the PBPs/Pochs that were involved in the shill bidding auctions last weekend. The most glaring grading questions I have involved the Luke Bespin (heavy wear to utility belt and missing eye brow, yet it received a near-mint plus 85%???) and the Leia Bespin Poch (heavy wear to hands, including what appears to be a crack on her left hand, holes in the cape, yet it received a near-mint 80%???). The Luke Hoth Pale Face PBP was also a terrible score.
In my personal opinion, these grades are unacceptable and glaring mistakes. Was the same grader involved for all of these submissions? Does the same grader handle ALL of this seller's items? What checks-and-balances are in place internally at UKG before an item goes "final" and ships back to the Seller? Do multiple reviewers check an item before the grade goes "final", which is what happens at AFA and CAS? I feel like these questions need to be asked and UKG needs to respond. I doubt they ever will other than the typical B.S. public relations snippet, but in my mind, these are glaring mistakes and unacceptable.
Thanks,
Action Figure Grader (John)
