XXXPHOENIX

...once again no 9.9 HI Guys! In February I submitted 60 more comics (mostly late bronze/early copper age) to CGC. Most of these were selected during 2013 and 85% of them came back in 9.4(the minimum grade I usually accept for post 1980 books) or better... 17x 9.8, 23x 9.6, 11x 9.4, 4x 9.2, 4x 9.0, 1x 8.5 Not many key books this time but i filled many holes in my sets. The gem is surely a NM+ DD179 I paid $20 that came back in CGC 9.6. Unfortunately after 34 submissions to CGC for a total of 745 books I still haven't received a single 9.9 Ok..I don't submit post-2000 books so the chances for a 9.9 are thin for bronze/copper age books but I still feel very unlucky. Turnaround was about 40 working days. CGC COUPON ISSUE FORECAST CGC Alpha Flight 24 9.6-9.8//9.4 Avengers 233 9.6-9.8//9.8 Captain America 247 9.6-9.8//9.2 Crisis on Infinite Earths 3 9.4-9.6//8.5 Crisis on Infinite Earths 7 9.4-9.6//9.6 Crisis on Infinite Earths 10 9.6-9.8//9.6 Daredevil 179 9.4-9.6//9.6 Defenders 100 9.6-9.8//9.4 Marvel Comics Presents 73 9.6-9.8//9.6 Marvel Comics Presents 74 9.6-9.8//9.8 Marvel Comics Presents 76 9.6-9.8//9.6 Marvel Comics Presents 77 9.6-9.8//9.4 Marvel Comics Presents 78 9.6-9.8//9.6 Marvel Comics Presents 79 9.6-9.8//9.0 Marvel Comics Presents 80 9.6-9.8//9.6 New Mutants 3 9.4-9.6//9.4 New Mutants 18 9.4-9.6//9.6 New Mutants 21 9.4-9.6//9.6 New Mutants 59 9.6-9.8//9.2 New Mutants 60 9.6-9.8//9.8 New Mutants 61 9.6-9.8//9.8 New Mutants 86 9.6-9.8//9.8 Thor 351 9.6-9.8//9.4 Thor 358 9.6-9.8//9.6 Thor 359 9.6-9.8//9.0 Thor 361 9.4-9.6//9.4 Thor 369 9.6-9.8//9.4 Incredible Hulk 332 9.6-9.8//9.4 Incredible Hulk 367 9.6-9.8//9.6 Incredible Hulk 371 9.4-9.6//9.6 Incredible Hulk 372 9.6-9.8//9.6 Incredible Hulk 374 9.6-9.8//9.8 Incredible Hulk 375 9.6-9.8//9.8 Incredible Hulk 376 9.6-9.8//9.8 Incredible Hulk 380 9.6-9.8//9.6 Incredible Hulk 381 9.6-9.8//9.8 Incredible Hulk 382 9.6-9.8//9.8 Incredible Hulk 383 9.6-9.8//9.8 Incredible Hulk 384 9.6-9.8//9.6 Incredible Hulk 385 9.6-9.8//9.8 Incredible Hulk 386 9.6-9.8//9.6 Incredible Hulk 387 9.6-9.8//9.8 Spider-Man vs Wolverine 1 9.6-9.8//9.0 Uncanny X-Men 238 9.6-9.8//9.2 Uncanny X-Men 250 9.6-9.8//9.6 Uncanny X-Men 260 9.6-9.8//9.8 Uncanny X-Men 261 9.6-9.8//9.6 Uncanny X-Men 263 9.6-9.8//9.6 Uncanny X-Men 277 9.6-9.8//9.4 Uncanny X-Men 279 9.6-9.8//9.2 X-Factor 3 9.6-9.8//9.6 X-Factor 7 9.6-9.8//9.4 X-Factor 12 9.4-9.6//9.0 X-Factor 13 9.6-9.8//9.8 X-Factor 25 9.4-9.6//9.6 X-Factor 28 9.6-9.8//9.4 X-Factor 37 9.4-9.6//9.6 Iron Man 256 9.6-9.8//9.8 Iron Man 258 9.6-9.8//9.6 Iron Man 259 9.6-9.8//9.8 CIAO! FEDERICO

I had around 300 books pressed and it seems that the easier-to-correct defects with professional pressing are: 1. bumped corners 2. Rolled spines 3. Stress lines that do not break colour I noticed that recent books with glossy paper have a great success ratio because the paper is very elastic. Silver age books can be improved to up to 3 grades In my opinion, the worst results are obtained on 1980-2000 books due to the poor materials used: stress lines and creases are here to stay even after pressing! and yes...even italian books can incredibly improve their appearance : Second series and First Series #100-250 Corno books tend to improve much more than earlier issues! Ciao Federico The copy I sent to Matthew is pretty remarkable too, I think a 9.0 or so. I’m not sure about pressing. Federico (XXXPHOENIX) told me he pressed some books, but I don’t know if he was talking about US books or italian ones. YKOil told me he wished to press a pair of Corno books I sent him, but from what I recall I think he had them graded without pressing because they are structurally different and the person who should have pressed them advised him to leave them as they were. I think the highest grade I have among Corno books (so far) is my Fantastici Quattro #12, which I tentatively graded as a NM. One of the few I am keeping.

HI! It's not a color copy...because the original doesn't exist...it's a re-creation of a book that was never published! CGC can be very unprecise... Actually the technical realization is incredibly professional.. it's not a cheap amateur production, because this friend of mine works in a typography. And it's not cheap...if you can find somebody willing to sell a copy, expect to pay anywhere between €350 to €500... !! CIAOOO FEDERICO

I have just published a new journal that I thought you may enjoy ...: http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=7569393#Post7569393 MY FIRST NOGRADE (NG)... and the strange story of the mysterious UOMO RAGNO (Spider-Man) #59 While I am still waiting for CGC to award me with my first 9.9 (almost 1000 books submitted and no 9.9 to date ), I would like to entertain you with the strange story of the misterious UOMO RAGNO (Second Series) #59 italian edition. Spider-man and all other Marvel Heroes were published in Italy from April 1970 (almost 8 years after AF15!) by a publisher named EDITORIALE CORNO. Marvel comics flooded italian newsstand with print runs of over 200.000 copies in mid 70s... But the advent of MANGAs and ANIMEs and the low quality of the late 70s' Marvel stories quickly lead EDITORALE CORNO to bankrupt. UOMO RAGNO (First Series) terminated with issue #283 in March 1981 but the publisher attempted to relaunch the character with SETTIMANALE DELL'UOMO RAGNO (3/1981-1/1982) and finally with UOMO RAGNO Second Series. The Second Series resisted a couple of years (3/1982-2/1984) until issue #58, due to EDITORIALE CORNO bankrupt. But, for many years a real mistery fascinated italian collectors: somebody claimed that #59 had been printed but never distributed. In fact, the last page of #58 had a preview of the #59 cover (the same of Spectacular Spider-Man's #58 "Ravaged by the Ringer" in the original USA version). The "Golden Age" of Italian superheroes had ended leaving all italian Marvel Fans orphans...for years! Later somebody found some of the printing plates of issue #59, but other sources later confirmed that it never made it to the printer... Three years passed and in 1987, STAR COMICS restarted to publish Marvel Comics (after another unsuccesfull attempt by LABOR COMICS in 1985), but guess what... issue #1 of UOMO RAGNO Third Series came out with the same cover (Spectacular Spider-man #58) that should have had to be used for #59 Second Series... The demand for #59 Second Series remained high, also because a collector (and friend of mine) kept maintaining the mistery alive by claiming he had some copies... His hoax continued until 2004, when that same guy produced issue #59....in 59 copies (could it be otherwise??). The uniqueness of this production is the total originality of this book: not to be confused with a reprint as it is not the reproduction of something that already existed. The book, instead is a recreation with the same graphic, structure (stories of Spider-Man and Captain America, Fan Club insert, central poster, ads)and paper of a 1984 book that was never published. The big hype created by this event is still alive today, some people love and other people hate this initiative but perpetrating a joke like this to us collectors for 20 years has been devilishly ingenious!!! I submitted my #59 (37/59) in 2013 and CGC sent it back to me...slabbed but with a nefarious NG (NO GRADE)... probably the fame of this story had already reached the atlantic too!!! CIAO! FEDERICO - ITALY UOMO RAGNO Second Series #59 UOMO RAGNO Second Series #59 before being graded UOMO RAGNO Third Series #1 Spectacular Spider-Man #58

The Mistery and the Hoax MY FIRST NOGRADE (NG)... and the strange story of the mysterious UOMO RAGNO (Spider-Man) #59 While I am still waiting for CGC to award me with my first 9.9 (almost 1000 books submitted and no 9.9 to date ), I would like to entertain you with the strange story of the misterious UOMO RAGNO (Second Series) #59 italian edition. Spider-man and all other Marvel Heroes were published in Italy from April 1970 (almost 8 years after AF15!) by a publisher named EDITORIALE CORNO. Marvel comics flooded italian newsstand with print runs of over 200.000 copies in mid 70s... But the advent of MANGAs and ANIMEs and the low quality of the late 70s' Marvel stories quickly lead EDITORALE CORNO to bankrupt. UOMO RAGNO (First Series) terminated with issue #283 in March 1981 but the publisher attempted to relaunch the character with SETTIMANALE DELL'UOMO RAGNO (3/1981-1/1982) and finally with UOMO RAGNO Second Series. The Second Series resisted a couple of years (3/1982-2/1984) until issue #58, due to EDITORIALE CORNO bankrupt. But, for many years a real mistery fascinated italian collectors: somebody claimed that #59 had been printed but never distributed. In fact, the last page of #58 had a preview of the #59 cover (the same of Spectacular Spider-Man's #58 "Ravaged by the Ringer" in the original USA version). The "Golden Age" of Italian superheroes had ended leaving all italian Marvel Fans orphans...for years! Later somebody found some of the printing plates of issue #59, but other sources later confirmed that it never made it to the printer... Three years passed and in 1987, STAR COMICS restarted to publish Marvel Comics (after another unsuccesfull attempt by LABOR COMICS in 1985), but guess what... issue #1 of UOMO RAGNO Third Series came out with the same cover (Spectacular Spider-man #58) that should have had to be used for #59 Second Series... The demand for #59 Second Series remained high, also because a collector (and friend of mine) kept maintaining the mistery alive by claiming he had some copies... His hoax continued until 2004, when that same guy produced issue #59....in 59 copies (could it be otherwise??). The uniqueness of this production is the total originality of this book: not to be confused with a reprint as it is not the reproduction of something that already existed. The book, instead is a recreation with the same graphic, structure (stories of Spider-Man and Captain America, Fan Club insert, central poster, ads)and paper of a 1984 book that was never published. The big hype created by this event is still alive today, some people love and other people hate this initiative but perpetrating a joke like this to us collectors for 20 years has been devilishly ingenious!!! I submitted my #59 (37/59) in 2013 and CGC sent it back to me...slabbed but with a nefarious NG (NO GRADE)... probably the fame of this story had already reached the atlantic too!!! ...More pics on the boards... CIAO! FEDERICO - ITALY To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

...in 9.4 and higher! Hello my friends...yes.... I did it! After a long long search I have finally completed my Eternals Set in high grade!!! The Eternals (1976) is one of my favourite Bronze age runs! Incredibly intriguing plot plus Jack Kirby art = A REAL MASTERPIECE! It was not an easy task to complete this high grade run. I submitted most of the books to CGC by myself: some of them were purchased from Superworld Comics, some others were found inside a closet in my parents' house...forgotten for at least two decades. The last issue I found....was the last issue #19...purchased from QualityComix.com in November 2013 as a raw NM+ 9.6 from the Tongie Farm Collection. I think I submitted 30 Eternals books in total...some books looked flawless but unexpectely came back home as 8.5 or 9.0...it's the bronze age baby! I am not at the top of the ranking and not even on the podium even if all 20 books range from 9.4 to 9.8...but I am super happy because any bronze age book in 9.4 or higher is hard to find! For those not familiar with this masterpiece I will cut and paste from Wikipedia: The Eternals are a fictional race of superhumans in the Marvel Comics universe. They are described as an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth. The original instigators of this process, the alien Celestials, intended the Eternals to be the defenders of Earth which leads to the inevitability of war against their destructive counterparts, the Deviants. The Eternals were created by Jack Kirby and made their first appearance in The Eternals #1 (July 1976). The storyline took elements from the ideas of the Ancient astronauts, which postulate that humanity may have been visited by extraterrestrials in ancient times and interpreted them as supernatural beings. Thus, a recurring topic of the plots was to use the Eternals, the Deviants or the Celestials to provide explanations for myths or obscure events from history. In particular, many points from the book Chariots of the Gods by Erich von Däniken were incorporated into the plot, such as the Nazca Lines being a spaceport or the Incas getting technological advances from them and in turn worshiping them as gods. Kirby began The Eternals when he returned to Marvel after his "New Gods" experience with DC. The Eternals' saga was thematically similar to the New Gods', but the series was also eventually canceled without resolving many of its plots, particularly the Celestials' judgment over humanity. I am now looking to start collecting Kamandi..what do you think? Is there any other Kirby run worth being collected a part from FF1-101 ? CIAO! FEDERICO - ITALY To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

...and How I acquired my 900th CGC comic!!! Hello Collectors Society friends! Several weeks ago I submitted another large lot of books I had purchased raw off ebay or from www dealers in 2013. I find very challenging to hunt and select books to submit for my registry...it's much more interesting than purchasing them already graded! The majority of the submitted books comes from the late bronze / early copper age. I find this era particularly though because books were not immediately bag&boarded after purchase and the low quality of the paper and cover means spine stress and corner dings even in unread copies... These are the turnaround times (from "received" to "shipped/safe" status -- MODERN tier): 36 working days -- received by CGC on 28/10/2013, 28/11 verified; 5/12 scheduled for grading; 6/12 graded, 18/12 shipped/safe :36 working days This is one my best grading performances...ever!! STATS for my 90 graded books: 9.8 x28 9.6 x25 9.4 x3 9.2 x4 The winners are a #1 Spider-Man UPC Gold Cover in 9.6, a #700 Amazing Spider-Man Ditko Cover in 9.6, the Chromium Marvel Collectibles all in 9.8 with with just 2 exceptions in 9.6. I am particularly proud of the Silver Surfers and the Punisher runs too! Now I own 920 CGC graded books, 900 of which are in my registry sets!!! Considering that I discard/sell books worse than 9.0 of any age, it's not a bad result, isn't it? My target for 2014 is to hit the 1000th registered book!!!! 9.9 is still a mirage to me...I keep on submitting perfect books but no 9.9 yet sigh sob. 0/920 is not a good average ... but, probably, if I only submitted more worthless modern books I would be luckier... TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC Amazing Spider-Man 666 9.6-9.8 9.8 Amazing Spider-Man Ditko version 700 9.6-9.8 9.6 Amazing Spider-Man Midtown Comics 700H 9.6-9.8 9.8 Amazing Spider-Man Quesada 700E 9.6-9.8 9.8 Daredevil 252 9.6-9.8 9.6 Ghost Rider 2099 1 9.6-9.8 9.6 Hulk 2099 1 9.6-9.8 9.6 Infinity Crusade 2 9.4-9.6 9.6 Infinity Crusade 5 9.4-9.6 9.6 Infinity Crusade 6 9.4-9.6 9.6 Marvel Collectible Classics: Avengers 1 9.6-9.8 9.8 Marvel Collectible Classics: Spider-Man 1 9.6-9.8 9.6 Marvel Collectible Classics: Spider-Man 2 9.6-9.8 9.8 Marvel Collectible Classics: X-Men 1 9.6-9.8 9.8 Marvel Collectible Classics: X-Men 2 9.6-9.8 9.8 Marvel Collectible Classics: X-Men 3 9.6-9.8 9.8 Marvel Collectible Classics: X-Men 4 9.6-9.8 9.6 Marvel Collectible Classics: X-Men 5 9.6-9.8 9.8 Marvel Collectible Classics: X-Men 6 9.6-9.8 9.8 Mighty Thor 338 9.6-9.8 9.8 Mighty Thor 342 9.6-9.8 9.2 Mighty Thor 353 9.6-9.8 9.6 Mighty Thor 360 9.6-9.8 9.6 Mighty Thor 364 9.6-9.8 9.6 Mighty Thor 365 9.6-9.8 9.4 Mighty Thor 371 9.6-9.8 9.6 Mighty Thor 372 9.6-9.8 9.2 Mighty Thor 373 9.4-9.6 9.6 Mighty Thor 374 9.6-9.8 9.8 Moon Knight 1 9.2-9.4 9.2 Punisher 1 9.6-9.8 9.6 Punisher 2 9.6-9.8 9.8 Punisher 3 9.6-9.8 9.8 Punisher 4 9.6-9.8 9.8 Punisher 5 9.6-9.8 9.8 Punisher 6 9.6-9.8 9.8 Punisher 7 9.6-9.8 9.8 Punisher 8 9.6-9.8 9.8 Punisher 9 9.6-9.8 9.6 Punisher 10 9.6-9.8 9.8 Punisher 2099 1 9.6-9.8 9.6 Ravage 2099 1 9.6-9.8 9.8 Silver Surfer 1 9.6-9.8 9.6 Silver Surfer 2 9.6-9.8 9.6 Silver Surfer 3 9.6-9.8 9.4 Silver Surfer 4 9.4-9.6 9.6 Silver Surfer 5 9.6-9.8 9.8 Silver Surfer 6 9.6-9.8 9.6 Spider-Man Gold UPC Cover 1 9.2-9.4 9.6 SuperMan Man of Steel 1A 9.6-9.8 9.6 SuperMan Man of Steel 1B 9.6-9.8 9.8 SuperMan Man of Steel 2 9.6-9.8 9.8 SuperMan Man of Steel 6 9.6-9.8 9.8 The Falcon 1 9.4-9.6 9.2 The New Mutants 1 9.6-9.8 9.6 The New Mutants 2 9.6-9.8 9.6 Uncanny X-men 237 9.6-9.8 9.8 Uncanny X-men 239 9.6-9.8 9.8 Wolverine 3 9.6-9.8 9.8 X-Men 2099 1 9.4-9.6 9.4 Just a note about some of the books... The following comics had originally some flaws but I considered they were perfect candidates for pressing...and thanks to Matt Nelson services they had an enormous improval!!! TITLE ISSUE CONDITION before pressing CGC Infinity Crusade 2 Rolled spine 9.2-9.4 9.6 Infinity Crusade 5 Doesn't lie flat 9.2-9.4 9.6 Infinity Crusade 6 Doesn't lie flat 9.2-9.4 9.6 Spider-Man UPC gold 1 Lower left corner crease 8.5-9.0 9.6 Uncanny X-men 237 Slightly rolled spine, light fold 9.2-9.4 9.8 Uncanny X-men 239 Rolled spine 9.2-9.4 9.8 CIAO AND BUON NATALE!!! BYE AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! FEDERICO - ITALY

AF15 + AS1 + AS700 ...high-grade CGC books on the same table Hello fellow collectors! Last week I received from CGC one of my latest submissions : AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 700, Ditko Variant! It received a decent 9.6...but when I looked at that vintage cover I thought that it would have been nice to reunite the grandfather and father of this comic book...and take a family picture! All three books belong to my collection and their particularity is that I did not purchase them already slabbed but they were submitted by me from the "Belpaese"! Read the stories of my AF 15 and AS1 here: http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/ComicDetail.aspx?PeopleComicID=230328&PeopleSetID=32367 http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/ComicDetail.aspx?PeopleComicID=207515&PeopleSetID=32384 Ciao! Federico - Italy To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

ehheeh...I partially disagree with you... – Magazzino from NM9.4 to NM/M 9.8 but sometimes people call Magazzino the so called "copie di resa" : colored sides and found in special gift bags used to clean the publisher warehouses. These colored-sides copies are worth no more than the "Buono". – Edicola anything between VF+8.5 and NM9.4 with Edicola minus being NM- 9.2 with ottimo/edicola being VF/NM 9.0 – Ottimo the entire range F/VF 7.0 to VF+8.5 with Ottimo plus being VF+ 8.5 – Buono from VG 4.0 to 6.5 – Discreto from G to VG – Mediocre in the FR to FRG range ...my intervention is just to underline the confusion in Italian Superhero collectors... In some cases people overgrade the books, but most of the times grades are erratic because 90% of the collectors were born and will die as readers... You can understand how difficult it is to build a real HIGH grade marvel collection.... I have seen a similar attitude in UK too! PS my Marvel italian collection is one of the largest and most complete of Italy and I tend to grade with the american standard....The minimum grade I purchase for 70s books beeing 9.2! Ciao Federico

YEAH...these are OUR ITALIAN 70s editions...from the CORNO publisher. Federico

MARVEL SUPERHEROES - THE SCIENCE OF THE SUPERHEROES ...loaded with pics!!!Hello fellow collectors!Last week, while visiting the beautiful city of Valencia, Spain, I took my wife and my two children to the fantastic City of Arts and Science and to my surprise I found a pseudo-scientific exhibit of over 1000 square meters inspired to Marvel Superheroes .The exhibit is temporary and will last only until 15 September 2013.I decided to document it because the level and quality of the show is so high that it would be a crime not to share it!This is the Intro I have cut and pasted from the official website:http://www.cac.es/museo/exposiciones/ficha/?contentId=107908&languageId=1"MARVEL SUPERHEROES - THE SCIENCE OF THE SUPERHEROESDiscover Spiderman's secret and imitating the Daily Bugle's photographer by scaling a wall, investigate into whether there is a scientific base behind The Hulk's rage. these are some of the interactive proposals that the Science Museum is offering with the "Marvel Superheroes" exhibition located inthe third floor. Until 15th September 2013With the slogan "Long live comics! Long live science!", this exhibition is set up such that the visitors are invited to immerse themselves into the comic world and discover little by little how the superheroes bring science into their adventures. Genetics and evolution with X Patrol's mutants; the development of sensorial abilities with Daredevil; ; states of matter with Robert Drake, the Iceman; or the study of spiders with Spiderman -- these are concepts that are explained in different interactive modules."In short, in the initial part of the exhibition, on large panels you can read the evolution of Marvel superheroes, then proceeding in the visit you will encounter several sections: Dr. Ock, X-Men, Iron Man, Hulk, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Thor etc etc in which the powers and characteristics of superheroes are explained "scientifically".Then you can touch and manipulate objects trying to swing like Spider-Man, X-raying Wolverine, get mutant DNA tested, touch two huge ice frozen Iceman hands, scream in the X-Men Danger Room like Banshee to defeat the sentinels, test the lightning of Thor, transform from Banner to Hulk, try a sphere that rotates 360°;, challenge Daredevil super smell....In short, an exceptional interactive sensorial experience that has no equal in the world!The whole area is also dotted with life-size statues of our heroes, huge comic pages and giant panels with descriptions of the characters and of their powers!I have documented everything here ... I hope to have done something pleasing for you overseas friends!http://imageshack.us/g/1/10305289/Excelsior!Federico - ItalyTo see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Hello people! look at this...TOPOLINO - Italy (Mickey Mouse) #3000, published few weeks ago. TOPOLINO is probably the most long-lived comic book in the world!!! First issue was published in 1949...and for decades now it has been published on a weekly basis....

About the bad habit of not uploading cover scans in the registry... This simple thought has been buzzing in my head for a while: Do we collect serial numbers or comics? I would like to involve all the friends of the collector's society on this issue ... I usually browse other collectors' registry sets but, most of the times, I just find lists of serial numbers without covers scans nor descriptions. Isn't this sad? For this reason, in the past two months I have decided to write descriptions of all my slabbed books (more than 800) and to add the scans of all the covers. I can still improve my own sets: for example by writing presentations to all of them but, at least, if everybody uploaded the corresponding cover scan to its CGC serial, it would help to understand that we do not collect serial numbers but colorful valuable items! I hope that thanks to this brief thought, other collectors will be convinced to enrich their own sets with descriptions and scans in order to make our registry more colorful and enjoyable! HELLO! P.S. And yes...the attached picture depicts my entire CGC collection FEDERICO ITALY To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

SCARY!

Catch these

AVENGERS/INVADERS 1 JOHN ROMITA SPIDER-MAN SKETCH SET HI! I am so proud to show you a FULL AVENGERS/INVADERS 1 - JOHN ROMITA SPIDER-MAN SKETCH SET made by all 5(!?) different types of Spidey poses that Romita Sr. drew for this particular issue! DF Certificate number 2/100 - Signed by Romita Sr.! DF Certificate number 5/100 - Signed by Romita Sr. and Alex Ross! DF Certificate number 7/100 - Signed by Romita Sr. and Alex Ross! DF Certificate number 27/100 - Signed by Romita Sr. and Alex Ross! DF Certificate number 83/100 - Signed by Romita Sr. and Alex Ross! I bought them raw mainly off Ebay and had them graded by CGC along the years. It has been a very hard task getting 5 different Spider-Man poses considering only 100 books were officially sketched by Romita for Dynamic Forces. Unfortunately CGC slabbed them with the Green label... I have always been a fan of Romita Sr.! His work on Amazing Spider-Man contributed to make Spidey an Icon! The sketches made for Avengers/Invaders 1 look awesome : Romita at his very best!! Excelsior! FEDERICO - ITALY To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

CGC vs XXXPHOENIX grading contest PART 11 : 90 (!) books just graded! Hello Collectors Society friends! Several weeks ago I submitted a big lot of books I had purchased raw off ebay or from www dealers in 2012. I find so challenging to hunt and select books to submit for my registry...it's much more interesting than purchasing them already graded! The majority of the submitted books comes from the late bronze / early copper age. I find this period particular challenging because books were not immediately bag&boarded after purchase and the low quality of the paper and cover means spine stress and corner dings even in unread copies... Some books are cursed: It's at least the third time I submit a MINT unread copy of FF261 for my FF Byrne set...and I this time I got another lousy 9.0! The same story for Amazing Spider-Man 309 and Alpha Flight 24! Most Uncanny X-men and the other FF issues I submitted received 9.4-9.8. I also got a 9.8 for Marvel vs DC #2 a book that together with DC vs Marvel preview in 9.2 allows me to reach the top the ranking. Avengers/Invaders 1 Dynamic Forces in CGC 9.6 sketched by Romita is a real treasure! So far I have put together 5 different copies of Avengers/Invaders 1 Dynamic Forces sketched by Romita (5/100 wow!). The boxes sent to CGC were three with the following turnaround times (from "received" to "shipped/safe" status -- MODERN tier) n.1 112 working days -- received by CGC on 11/13/2012 n.2 61 working days -- received by CGC on 01/24/2013 n.3 62 working days -- received by CGC on 01/24/2013 STATS for my 90 graded books: 8.5 6x 9.0 5x 9.2 9x 9.4 18x 9.6 33x 9.8 19x I am quite satisfied since only 11 books graded way below my forecasts...Unfortunately for me most 8.5 were Miller Daredevils I had purchased from an unread/uncirculated lot of books. They looked flawless...but I won't spend a cent to get the grading notes! TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC Alpha Flight 17 9.4-9.6 /// 9.4 Alpha Flight 23 9.4-9.6 /// 9.4 Alpha Flight 24 9.4-9.6 /// 9.0 UHM!!!! Alpha Flight 25 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Alpha Flight 26 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Alpha Flight 6 9.4-9.6 /// 9.4 Amazing Spider-Man 303 9.4-9.6 /// 9.8 Amazing Spider-Man 309 9.4-9.6 /// 9.2 ...I can swear the book was flawless!!! Amazing Spider-Man 332 9.6-9.8 /// 8.5 UHM!!!! Avengers/Invaders 1 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Daredevil 173 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Daredevil 174 9.6-9.8 /// 9.4 Daredevil 176 9.4-9.6 /// 8.5 ...I can swear the book was flawless!!! Daredevil 178 9.6-9.8 /// 9.4 Daredevil 183 9.4-9.6 /// 9.4 Daredevil 185 9.6-9.8 /// 8.5 ...I can swear the book was flawless!!! Daredevil 186 9.6-9.8 /// 9.8 Daredevil 188 9.4-9.6 /// 9.4 Daredevil 189 9.6-9.8 /// 9.8 Daredevil 190 9.6-9.8 /// 9.2 ...I can swear the book was flawless!!! Daredevil 191 9.6-9.8 /// 8.5 ...I can swear the book was flawless!!! DC vs Marvel preview 1 9.2-9.4 /// 9.2 Fantastic Four 236 9.6-9.8 /// 9.4 Fantastic Four 252 9.2-9.4 /// 9.6 Fantastic Four 256 9.6-9.8 /// 9.4 Fantastic Four 259 9.2-9.4 /// 9.6 Fantastic Four 261 9.4-9.6 /// 9.0 this book is cursed...I submitted three MINT copies in the recent past and never got anymore than 9.0! Fantastic Four 265 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Fantastic Four 270 9.4-9.6 /// 9.4 Fantastic Four 274 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Fantastic Four 277 9.4-9.6 /// 9.8 Fantastic Four 289 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Fantastic Four 291 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Fantastic Four 292 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Incredible Hulk 331 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Incredible Hulk 332 9.4-9.6 /// 9.2 Incredible Hulk 339 9.4-9.6 /// 8.5 UHM!!!! Infinity Crusade 1 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Infinity Gauntlet 6 9.4-9.6 /// 9.8 Marvel vs DC 2 9.6-9.8 /// 9.8 NOW I AM N.1 in the ranking! Spectacular Spider-Man 200 9.6-9.8 /// 9.8 Spider-man 3 9.4-9.6 /// 9.8 Thor 337 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Thor 339 9.4-9.6 /// 9.2 Thor 340 9.4-9.6 /// 9.0 Thor 341 9.2-9.4 /// 9.8 Thor 343 9.2-9.4 /// 9.6 Thor 344 9.6-9.8 /// 9.4 Thor 345 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Thor 346 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Thor 347 9.4-9.6 /// 9.4 Thor 349 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Thor 352 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Thor 354 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 184 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 209 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 211 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 224 9.6-9.8 /// 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 226 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 249 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 259 9.6-9.8 /// 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 272 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 167 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 203 9.6-9.8 /// 9.4 Uncanny X-Men 214 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 215 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 219 9.6-9.8 /// 9.2 ...funny I chose this one out of 3 #219 BAH! Uncanny X-Men 225 9.6-9.8 /// 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 230 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 232 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 235 9.4-9.6 /// 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 245 9.6-9.8 /// 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 246 9.4-9.6 /// 9.4 Uncanny X-Men 247 9.6-9.8 /// 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 252 9.4-9.6 /// 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 264 9.6-9.8 /// 9.4 Uncanny X-Men 265 9.4-9.6 /// 9.2 I could not spot any defect! Uncanny X-Men 273 9.6-9.8 /// 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 274 9.4-9.6 /// 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 278 9.4-9.6 /// 9.4 Uncanny X-Men 279 9.4-9.6 /// 9.0 How is it possible!!!! For the third time I got a lousy 9.0 on this issue! Uncanny X-Men 299 9.4-9.6 /// 9.8 Web of Spider-Man 100 9.6-9.8 /// 9.8 X-Factor Annual 1 9.4-9.6 /// 8.5 ...I can swear the book was flawless!!! X-Factor 27 9.4-9.6 /// 9.4 X-Factor 28 9.6-9.8 /// 9.2 X-Factor 5 9.4-9.6 /// 9.6 X-Factor 7 9.4-9.6 /// 9.2 X-Men 11Silver 9.4-9.6 /// 9.0 CIAO! FEDERICO - ITALY

I can testify there's a HUGE improval in turnaround times: I sent to CGC 90 books in the last months and these are the actual turnaround times for MODERN TIER : Shipment n.1 : 112 working days – received by CGC on 11/13/2012 Shipment n.2 : 61 working days – received by CGC on 01/24/2013 Shipment n.3 : 62 working days – received by CGC on 01/24/2013 FEDERICO

Ok I found it... the original SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS (1963) #13 was published in Italy in 1977 on : Capitan America # 105 - (20/04/1977) CAPITAN AMERICA - Il Sergente Fury - 22 p Sgt. Fury - Fighting side-by-side with Captain America and Bucky (Sgt. Fury, 13 - 1963 Series - 1/1 - 12/1964) S.Lee - J.Kirby - D.Ayers

it is rumored that no more than 50-100 copies of each #12 and #13 still exist... I got #13 but still looking for #12.... Are you looking for this cap appearance? http://marvel.com/comics/issue/10669/sgt_fury_and_his_howling_commandos_1963_13 FEDERICO

UH....hey guys...you seem to like Fury....so catch these: This series lasted 13 issues only! Printed in 1966-1967, the first 11 issues were in comic book format, while the last three were printed in Diabolik-like size! FEDERICO

WOW! I love this thread!!!! For all the followers of ITALIAN MARVEL editions, give a look at this thread : http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=6588539&fpart=1 and at these two journals of mine: http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=11676 http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/JournalDetail.aspx?JournalEntryID=11790 CIAO! FEDERICO - ITALY

I scanned some books for your curious-Collectors-eyes! Some italian version... CIAO FEDERICO

Did you know that..... HELLO overseas friends! Few american collectors are aware of how many international editions of Marvel Comics exist...and even less are aware that Italy has been and still is one of the largest comic books markets in the world... Did you know that comics like Tex and Mickey Mouse still sell 750.000(!!) copies per issue in the Italian version nowadays?! And now ...some MARVEL-IN-ITALY-INFO for dummies! 0) The first Marvel comic book was published in Italy only in march 1970 (Spider-Man 1 = Uomo Ragno ). FF appeared in some comic magazine in 1968 but nothing else... A poster (a small size reprint of the mythical 1966 USA Spidey Personality poster) came with the book. It took 2 decades to reach the american production. In 1984 they were still publishing the Marvel USA 1980 issues! 1) MARVEL comics in Italian edition printed in 1970 to 1985 are very very nice collectible items and HARD to find in high grades (according to US standards at least..) especially if complete with their gadgets. Italian collectors are not sophisticated about conditions as US collectors! It would take too long to explain but in Italy nobody uses the American grading system... Grades are very unaccurate and superficial and it's VERY hard to find 9.0 or better Italian books from the 60s-80s in accordance with the US grading standards... Average Collectors just refer to POOR / GOOD / VERY GOOD / FINE / VERY FINE / NEAR MINT / MINT.... 2) The first Marvel publisher was "Editoriale Corno" from Milan. The company went into bankrupcy in 1984 leaving Italians orphans of Marvel comics 'till 1987... In 1987 - 1994 plenty of publishers (Star Comics, Play Press....) got the rights to print various Marvel books...at least until Panini/Marvel in 1994 took direct control of any Marvel related publication in Italy... 3) The first 50 issues of Uomo Ragno, Devil (Daredevil), Fantastici Quattro (Fantastic Four), Thor were printed half in colour and half in b/w to save on printing costs... 4) Many issues from the 70s and 80s had gadgets like posters and stickers... 5) The eyes of Spidey were painted in yellow 'till 1987!! 6) In Italy the standard "SuperHeroes"-comic book had 2-3 stories per issue from various american series, with very limited ads. I.E. : UOMO RAGNO 18 - 24/12/1970 Stories: Amazing Spider Man n.22 (03/65) "La minaccia in agguato" (LEE / DITKO) Doctor Strange n.180 (05/69)"Eternità" (parte 2 di 2) Doctor Strange n.181 (07/69) "Se un mondo dovesse morire prima che io mi svegli" (parte 1 di 2) Cover: Graphic re-elaboration from Amazing fantasy 15 AND this is an essential list of Marvel books published in Italy in 1970-1984 by Editoriale Corno...I left some Italian words but if you want I can translate them for you! MARVEL SERIES PUBLISHED IN ITALY IN ITALIAN LANGUAGE (1970-1984) by EDITORIALE CORNO L'UOMO RAGNO (1a serie) 283 issues (from 30/4/1970 to 6/3/1981) IL SETTIMANALE DE L'UOMO RAGNO 43 issues (from 17/3/1981 to 5/1/1982) L'UOMO RAGNO (2a serie) 58 issues (from 4/3/1982 to 9/2/1984) L'INCREDIBILE DEVIL 126 issues (from 6/5/1970 to 6/3/1975) I FANTASTICI QUATTRO 259 issues (from 6/4/1971 to 18/3/1981) IL MITICO THOR 243 issues (from 13/4/1971 to 1/8/1980) CAPITAN AMERICA 128 issues (from 24/4/1973 to 8/3/1978) GLI ALBI DEI SUPER/EROI 49 issues (from 2/5/1973 to 5/3/1975) HULK E I DIFENSORI 44 issues (from 20/3/1975 to 11/11/1976) L'INCREDIBILE HULK 38 issues (from 4/80 to 11/83) I DIFENSORI 15 issues (from 5/79 to 7/80) CONAN & KA-ZAR 44 issues (from 19/3/1975 to 10/11/1976) GLI ETERNI 29 issues (from 3/78 to 7/80) SHANG/CHI, MAESTRO DEL KUNG/FU (1a serie) 54 issues SHANG/CHI, MAESTRO DEL KUNG/FU (2a serie) 5 issues CORRIERE DELLA PAURA 22 issues (from 6/74 to 3/76) DRACULA 18 issues (from 4/76 to 9/77) SUPERFUMETTI 17 issues (from 3/76 to 4/80) EUREKA POCKET 82 issues (from 12/68 to 1/84) with Marvel Horror stories in issues 8, 14, 19, 25, 30, 38, 43, 50, 55. MARVEL REPRINTS 1970-1984 published by EDITORITOE CORNO: L'UOMO RAGNO GIGANTE 93 issues - from 7/76 to 3/84 I FANTASTICI QUATTRO GIGANTE 39 issues - from 3/78 to 6/81 DEVIL GIGANTE 40 issues - from 4/77 to 7/80 - CAPITAN AMERICA GIGANTE 14 issues- from 4/80 to 5/81 I FANTASTICI QUATTRO(2a serie) 16 issues THOR (2a serie) 42 issues - from 26/5/82 CAPITAN AMERICA (2a serie) 29 issues - from 3/6/82 I VENDICATORI GIGANTE 14 issues- from 4/80 to 7/81 CONAN 9 issues - from 5/80 - to 9/81 CIAO! FEDERICO To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

CGC Turnaround times....Finally improving? HI! I have 90 books sitting in CGC vault... the first 30 books arrived at CGC on 11/13/2012, the other 60 on the 01/24/2013. I chose modern tier for all of them. I am really excited to see them added to my sets since I sent many high grade AF(Byrne),DD (miller),FF (Byrne), -Men (200-300) and Thor(Simonson)books! The first order went into Scheduled for Grading after 76 Working days (I did not count saturdays and sundays) and into graded status after 86 days. After 94 working days it's still in Grading/Quality Control status. I expect to see the books shipped by day 100th...ROTFL! The other two orders went into Scheduled for Grading after 42(!!!??) Working days on 03/22/2013... Will they be shipped by working day 70? I talked to the excellent CGC customer service last week (Bree you are the best!) and they confirmed they hired new graders and are working very very much to return turnaround times to normal. In the last 5 years I submitted more than 25 orders to CGC (600 books in total!)and I was starting to lose motivation for the turnaround time. But... for me hunting down raw treasures and getting them graded is very FUNNY! What still I don't understand is why all of a sudden 1 year and a half ago the turnaround times for lower tiers became so slow... Total Number of Comics Registered: 722 Total Number of Comics Currently in Sets: 688 YEAH: The 1000th slab is not so far away!!! CIAO! FEDERICO - ITALY To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.