Searching through the trash of yesteryear in search of treasures, just like Indiana Jones.

Perusing through boxes of old, dusty comics in pursuit of possible 9.8 candidates can be a lot like being an archaeologist.

You sift through the dirt and dust of ancient artifacts and try to distinguish what's trash and what's treasure. In our case, you look through the boxes at comics one at a time and try to distinguish what's 9.8 worthy and what's not.

Being able to physically hold and look over the actual books is the vastly preferred method of doing this, but not everyone has the access and time to do so. Instead, most of us have to deal with going online and doing some cyber-archaeology to find those rare beauties.

This is a daunting task. Not being able to actually hold the comic in your hands, as well as having to deal with only pictures and sellers "assurances" of condition can be like tip-toeing through a digital minefield! Trying to determine what condition a particular comic is really in, is extremely difficult this way.

Through trial and many errors, I have become pretty good at this, if I do say so myself. While I do still have my moments of getting issues that don't begin to match up with what the seller says, I have had a number of incidents now, where I get it exactly right, even when the seller doesn't.

My Howard the Duck #2 is just one recent example of this. The seller had it at 9.6, and after getting it in my hands, I knew it had a shot at 9.8, which is exactly what it got!

I find ancient treasures through Ebay, Mile High, LCS in the cities where I attend cons, you name it. The two Marvel Graphic Novels I just picked up raw in Orlando speak to my ability to find the needles in haystacks. They got 9.8s as well. I even have two other MGN copies from the same store that I am waiting on signature opportunities later this year before submitting.

I'm not trying to toot my own horn here. I've made plenty of mistakes. But those have become fewer and far more infrequent as of late.

So here's where the title of this journal really takes on proper meaning. I recently came across a number of raw issues from a seller on Ebay that I felt really had potential. Out of the issues he had for sale, were a few Indiana Jones copies that I just HAD to get my hands on.

Especially since two of them had never reached 9.8 status in the census yet. This is a series that I eventually want all of in 9.8, so I just couldn't pass up on the opportunity to get what I felt were top notch copies.

Once I received them, I determined that they truly WERE worthy of 9.8 status! So I put them aside to wait for the right opportunity to submit them with maximum potential.

That moment came just a few months later when I was able to go to Pensacon, a little over a month ago. David Michelinie was in attendance there, and even though CGC was not going to be there, someone else had procured a CGC witness to be with them throughout the show and I was able to tag along.

I got Michelinie to sign four of the copies I had and submitted them! The only one that I was worried about was #18, since it had three tiny tears along the bottom edge of the front cover. But I determined that these were MDs, or Manufacturing Defects, so I went for it. The other three I was sure of 9.8s with.

Well, I just got all four of them back, and guess what.

Further Adventures of Indiana Jones:

#18 - SS 9.8 WP

#20 - SS 9.8 WP

#21 - SS 9.8 WP

#27 - SS 9.8 WP

All are signed by David Michelinie, who wrote each of them.

All are now single highest graded SS copies!

#20 and #21 are now the ONLY 9.8 copies in existence!

I cannot begin to express how stoked I am at these becoming what I knew they could achieve! It's no different than I'm sure professor Jones would be at discovering a new tribe or relic from the past. But without the complications of a giant, rolling stone ball trap attempting to destroy you for trying to liberate the treasure!

Below is a pic of #21. I will put the others on the replies in a moment, so check back to see them!

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