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XXXPHOENIX

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Journal Entries posted by XXXPHOENIX

  1. XXXPHOENIX
    What if Marvel invaded motorsport?!
    It has passed a while since my last post...
    Last week I loaned my precious Marvelmania posters for a show called MOTORSHOW being held in Bologna (Italy) from the 6th to the 14th of December...
    www.motorshow.it
    This is one of the greatest MOTOR shows in Europe with hundreds of racing cars on exhibit (Rally, F1, FCART, NASCAR etc etc...) and racing for the joy of the public(!!), simulators and various entertainment events for the automotives-addicted.
    Weirdly...the guys from the Milan Comic Museum asked me to support them with some of my rare Posters in one of the entertainment side-events...and I could not say no!
    Especially because they were placed right next to a vintage Ferrari Formula 1 (F1126C2) Car driven in 1982 by the mythical Gilles Villeneuve!
    The lucky visitors will be able to see altogether the following original posters:
    1. Spider-Man by John Romita (1969)
    2. Captain America by Jim Steranko (1969)
    3. Silver Surfer by Jack Kirby (1969)
    4. Hulk by Herb Trimpe (1969)
    5. Thor by Jack Kirby (1969)
    6. Doctor Doom by Jack Kirby (1969)
    7. Fantastic Four by Jack Kirby (1969)
    8. Captain America -- Cap goes wild by Jim Steranko (1969)
    9. Black Knight (1969)
    10. Spider-Man (1966)
    11. Hulk (1966)
    Ciao!
    Federico

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  2. XXXPHOENIX
    MISSION ACCOMPLISHED .... I have just completed the X-Men #94-#143 SET !!
    YEAH! I did it!! It took years and years to complete this CGC graded X-Men #94-#143 SET...
    One of my favourite runs EVER, E V E R !...and now I am so proud to own them all in high grade: 94/105 in 9.2-9.4 , 106/142 in 9.6!
    http://comics.www.collectors-society.com/registry/comics/PeopleSetDetail.aspx?PeopleSetID=32404
    In 2005 I was smart enough to buy GSX1 in CGC 9.4 + X-MEN 94 in 9.2 at a decent price...then in 2009 I decided to complete the set.
    It was very challenging because even if I already owned a raw high grade run (at least that's what I thought) of these books, when I submitted the first lots I started receiving some disappointing 8.0 - 8.5 from CGC .
    Probably the grading standards of the 80s and 90s were much less stricter than CGC's...SIGH
    So I had to hunt all books on Ebay, Metro, Comiclink , Highgradecomics, WWW comics...with the target of not exceeding $200 per book.
    As soon as I can I will post all the pictures of these beauties!
    CIAO from ITALY
    FEDERICO
  3. XXXPHOENIX
    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

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  4. XXXPHOENIX
    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

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  5. XXXPHOENIX
    Are you curious to see some rare vintage italian Marvel variants?
    PLUS.... get some free vintage Marvel italian books if you join the competition....Hello fellow collectors...Probably few of you are aware that Italy is probably the 3rd/4th largest comic books market in the world...Still today i.e. Mickey Mouse (Topolino) sells 700.000 copies per week(!).99% of the comics sold in the country are italian editions and are very different from their american counterparts.For what concerns Marvel comics, a part from few stories published in 1967-1968 in anthological magazines, we had to wait until 1970, when, an Italian publisher (Ed. Corno) purchased the rights to print Spider-Man etc etc from MARVEL!The first MARVEL comic published in Italian language was L'UOMO RAGNO #1 (SPIDER-MAN #1) in april 1970, followed in may 1970 by DEVIL #1 (DAREDEVIL #1). Many Marvel series were published in that decade: THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA , FANTASTIC FOUR etc etc. Each book usually contained 2 or more stories instead of 1 as it was in the USA and once in a while you could find posters and stickers attached to the comics. Strangely, the first 50 issues of L'UOMO RAGNO and DEVIL were half in colour and half in B/W to save on printing costs!A month ago I still had not decided how to use my free collector society coupons so I opted to submit three books that had been sitting in my multiple-books-box for decades...I know they were not in good shape but I thought they would display nicely once graded!!!L'UOMO RAGNO 1 - 4/1970DEVIL 1 - 5/1970THOR 1 - 4/1971I have some multiple RAW ITALIAN Marvel books from that era ...SO I have decided to send some of them for free to the first 2 collectors who will able to associate the cover art of L'UOMO RAGNO 1, DEVIL 1, THOR 1 to the original american issues!!!To join the competition you need to post on the message board and not write me privately!CIAO!!!FEDERICOTo see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.
  6. XXXPHOENIX
    SPIDER-MAN THE MYTH - EXHIBITION MILAN (ITALY) 19/5/2012 - 29/7/2012
    Hello fellow collectors and Spider-Man friends,
    With great pleasure I would like to report that in occasion of the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man, a fantastic exhibition is being held from the 19th of May to the 29th of July 2012 at the prestigious Museum of Cartoons of Milan - ITALY (sponsored by the city council, the Mexican and U.S. consulate !).
    And ... with great pride I wish to announce that many prestigious pieces on display (posters, memorabilia and CGC comics from the Silver Age) come directly from my personal collection ...
    A special occasion for me and for those who want to soak up the atmosphere of America's most beloved superhero and enjoy virtually unique pieces for their rarity and degree of conservation.
    I attended the inauguration on the 19/5/2012 and I was amazed by the job made by the curators.... Everybody was really impressed!!
    Even the national press gave a lot of visibility to the exhibition with enthusiastic comments like this " From now on, this (exhibition) becomes the benchmark for any comic-related character in Europe!!!".
    The exhibition is divided over the five decades with large displays of rare material from all periods and with good captions and explanatory panels.
    Either the original American editions or the Italian variants are on display!
    I hope that the number of visits will reward this initiative that has the aim of celebrating an ICON like Spider-Man.
    For this event they released:
    1. Catalog (really sooo well done!)
    2. * Postcard
    3. * Small Poster
    4. * Poster
    5. No.3 VIP passes with different subjects
    6. Orange postcard that advertises a competition (http://milanomilano.eu/uomoragno.php)
    * Same image
    In these links you can find dozens and dozens of photos of the show!
    http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.291000030993330.65290.100656493361019&type=1
    http://www.uomoragno.org/articoli/mostra%20wow%20milano.htm
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvEaFiWgWHg&list=FLnXHXaVU0maOXzPaSjITqEA&index=1&feature=plcp
    And here an interesting review (in Italian but you can translate it with Google) of the same:
    http://www.postcardcult.com/articolo.asp?id=4377&sezione=11
    If you happen to visit Italy in this period....go the fantastic city of Milan and spend some time with SPIDEY!!!
    Friendly SPIDER-GREETINGS
     
    FEDERICO PICCININI - Sassuolo (ITALY)

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  7. XXXPHOENIX
    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.
  8. XXXPHOENIX
    XXXPHOENIX HITS 100.000 !!!!
    Just to let the CGC Collectors society know that....I finally HIT the 100.000 target.
    I am so excited! When I joned this community I thought that this rank in the registry was close to impossible to achieve....but I did it!!!!!!
    Considering I live in Italy it's a huge success...
    371 MARVEL COMICS cgc books in my collection .... 353 made it into the registry!
    AND...no book grades below 9.0!!
    CIAO
    FEDERICO