The Genesis of my CGC Life!

Well, many of you have seen this one coming. But instead of just throwing my #1 out there, I will tell you the backstory that most of you dont know yet!

I can remember seeing CGC graded issues back in 2000, when the company was first trying to get off the ground. At the time, I was not paying any real attention to what they were doing. I would see graded issues selling for ridiculous amounts of money over their regular book values and thought that those people were crazy!

I thought that like many other fads in this industry, this whole idea would come and go. But year after year went by, and the interest in grading grew and grew, and the voices of the opponents to what CGC was doing to the industry slowly faded away.

Finally, in August of 2009, I began looking around on Ebay at graded issues, not sure if I really wanted to start what would obviously be a very expensive area of the hobby I love.

That was when IT happened! One of those moments in your life when you take that first step in what ultimately becomes the catalyst for a life long journey. What was IT you may ask?

Well, being a huge fan of The New Mutants, I did a search on Ebay and found a Gem Mint 10 copy for sell!! I did some research and found out that this was the ONLY 10 graded copy out there.

The seller had a Buy It Now price that was high by my inexperienced estimation, but he also had Or Best Offer on it. So I threw an offer at him and was shocked when he accepted it! I had not been prepared for him to actually take the offer and had to scrounge for the money to pay for it!

As time went on, I found out how difficult it is to get 9.9 and 10.0 grades on comics prior to 1990. So while at the time I did not realize the enormity of what I had just acquired, it became the jumping off point for my involvement in this area of the industry.

AND WHAT A START IT WAS!!!

There is now one other Gem Mint copy out there, but this remains both the first issue and the single most important issue in my collection, which has grown immensely over the last three and a half years.

As Tnerb and I both approach the completion of our respective New Mutants 9.8 or better sets, I can look back on this as the beginning of my CGC life and while I did not realize at the time what I was getting into, I will never regret taking the plunge.

I will die still owning this issue. Nothing will ever cause me to get rid of it. Not even fire or theft, because it resides within my one-ton-four-drawer-fireproof bank vault at my mother's house.

Great things CAN come from small beginnings, but in this case, it was a GREAT beginning!! I love being a part of this hobby with all of you fellow enthusiasts and collectors who are so kind and generous in both your thoughts and actions.

So here is my entire Top Ten PSL List...

#10 Infinite Crisis #1 RIE SS x4 9.8

#9 All four of my Copper Age 9.9s

#8 Little Dots Uncles And Aunts #2 9.6

#7 Dazzler #42 9.8

#6 New Mutants Annual #2 SS 9.8

#5 Jonah Hex #92 SS 9.8

#4 Marvel Graphic Novel #4 9.8

#3 New Mutants #47 SS 9.8

#2 Daredevil #168 9.6

#1 New Mutants #1 Gem Mint 10 !!!

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