Let the journals begin!

Now that Megacon 2014 is a thing of the past, I can sit down and do some journals on my experience. This was nearly impossible during the show because of the sheer volume of things I was wanting to get done.

I was so busy getting signatures, organizing my items, getting photo ops done, filling out forms, looking for celebrities, shopping for various items and so forth, that I just didn't make myself stop and focus on anything much other than what I was doing.

I would never have been able to do everything without my big brother, Tnerb and his lovely companion going out of their way to help both of us accomplish our goals. May both of you be blessed in all of your future endeavors and I look forward to seeing you again.

So, now I can actually write about the show and my results from it. I will do so in a series of journals, starting with this one.

As I stated in a previous journal leading up to this show, I planned on submitting five raw copies of Dazzler in order to finish up my set. I want them all in 9.8, but after five years of grinding them out and being down to the last five, I decided I would submit some high grade raw copies and input them into my set regardless of the grades they achieved.

I bought these five issues from Mile High Comics a few weeks before the show and specifically asked them to send their best near mint copies of each, since I was going to have them signed and graded at Megacon. They graciously accommodated me.

Of these five issues, #9 has never had a copy achieve 9.8 and #35 has never even been graded before! Even better is the fact that these particular two issues are also Sienkiewicz covers, so I could get them signed at the show! I actually submitted two copies of #9 to give me a better chance. The other copy was from an Ebay purchase from months earlier, but to be truthful, I just didn't see how either could possibly achieve a 9.8 grade. But I figured even SS 9.6 would be really nice copies.

So on Sunday afternoon, when we picked up our onsite issues, I nearly fainted! I don't even remember exactly how I acted, but apparently it was geeky enough to elicit smiles and laughs from everyone else at the tables, accompanied with statements like, "that's why I love this hobby" or, "why aren't I recording this?".

I'm sure Tnerb can be more forthcoming about my behavior at that moment, but this is what came of my Dazzler submissions...

#24 and #25 got 9.6 WP - this was fine by me, especially since there is still no 9.8 copy of #25. I will put them into my set and keep my eyes open for 9.8 copies, hopefully in the near future.

#20 got 9.8 WP!! Wow! Awesome!! This is only the third copy ever graded and only the second to get 9.8!! Fantastic!

#35 got SS 9.8 WP!!!! Unbelievable!! This is now the ONLY GRADED COPY IN THE WORLD and I couldn't have asked for a better result!

Now, as for the two #9 issues, I slowly revealed them to myself only to see that the first one had achieved SS 9.8 WP!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! After five years of putting this set together and still no 9.8 copy being achieved, I had accomplished it with a raw copy bought sight unseen! Amazing!!

Once I saw the first #9 copy, which was the Mile High copy, the other one was nearly inconsequential. Or so I thought....

Can you believe that the raw Ebay purchased copy ALSO achieved SS 9.8 WP!!! I was incredulous!! This was the point where I sort of blacked out and apparently did some sort of geeky dance accompanied by squeals and giggles. While I don't remember the next few seconds, I'm sure Tnerb can elaborate.

What this means for me, is that I now have a complete graded set of Dazzler with all but two issues being 9.8 WP or better!! Of the two 9.6 copies, one doesn't even exist in 9.8 yet and the other has only one copy in 9.8, so that's perfectly acceptable until I can drudge up a 9.8 copy of them.

These Dazzlers are only one aspect of this show that will forever be etched into my memory. Having Tnerb with me to celebrate the event just made it all the better.

Below is a pic of the issues. It's not the best shot but I will take better individual pics for when I input them into the set in the next day or so, once CGC clears the certification numbers.

I will post more journals on results from Megacon in the days to come, so stay tuned!

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