Always great to find what you're looking for...

I was admiring my copy of Marvel Team-up 4 CGC 9.6 yesterday that I have framed and hanging in my room. Its good to appreciate what you have and I don't think we do that often enough as collectors. This is one of the most treasured books in my collection of Xmen appearances. It got me thinking about how hard it was to find that particular issue, and how gratifying it was to finally own it. For me, those are the triumphs in my collecting journey that I treasure the most- finding those issues that, regardless of age or value, are so elusive. Ive read some journals that talk about this subject and would love to hear more about the books others have added to their collections that were hard to come by.

After searching six different web sites on the internet today trying to find another copy of each of the books in my collection, I can honestly say these are the rarest-

Avengers 110 CGC 9.6, only found 1 copy for sale graded higher and none in 9.6

Avengers 111 CGC 9.6, only found 1 copy for sale graded higher and none in 9.6

Capt America 172 CGC 9.6, only found 1 copy for sale graded higher and none in 9.6

Champions 17 CGC 9.6, only found 1 copy for sale in same grade, none higher

Daredevil 99 CGC 9.6, only found 1 copy for sale graded higher and none in 9.6

Daredevil 111 CGC 9.6, none found for sale in same grade or higher

Fantastic Four 104 CGC 9.6, only found 1 copy for sale in same grade, none higher

Marvel TeamUp 4 CGC 9.6, none found for sale in same grade or higher

Power Man and Iron Fist 57 CGC 9.6, none found for sale in same grade or higher

So a total of 3 books in my collection currently have no other copies for sale at the moment in grade or higher and 6 books only have 1 copy for sale. Glad to see my Marvel TeamUp 4 made the list. That one and the Avengers 111 are really tough to find in high grade because of those black covers.

I should point out too that the books above that are for sale are all priced way above market value, making it that much more satisfying to own them. There are still quite a few books I want that are proving near impossible to find, but then if they were easy to find it wouldnt be anywhere near as rewarding. Not that I dont have love for the more common books like my Hulk 181 or the Byrne run on Xmen, those books rock, I dont care how many thousands of high grade copies there are, . There is just something cool about owning the hard to find books that takes it to another level. Does anyone else feel this way, or is it just me?

Good luck to all in your collecting journeys.

Til next time...

***

To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.