XXXPHOENIX

MODERN Books and the rare X-MEN vs Micronauts! Hello to everybody! CGC received my books on the 24th of August 2012 but were graded on the 4th of January 2013: approx 94 working days later....let's compare their grades with my forecasts! Most of them were purchased off Ebay recently as NM/M...The X-Men and Micronauts miniseries, instead, remained buried in my collection in mint condition for 2 decades...and CGC agreed with me: these four books are real treasures in CGC 9.8 9.8 9.6 9.8. Once again the FF Byrne books came back with some disappointing grades...I will discard the FF books in less than CGC 9.4. I don't understand why on earth it is so difficult to find flawless marvel books from that period (approx 1984-1991). 18 books to go...and all my FF Byrne Books are in 9.4 or better! My Byrne Alpha Flight set is also almost complete now! This is what I got! 9.8x7 9.6x9 9.4x8 9.2x2 9.0x2 8.5x1 8.0x1 A part from 4/30 books my grading standard remained extremey close to CGC's! TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC Alpha Flight 21 9.4-9.6 9.6 Amazing Spider-Man 600B 9.2-9.4 9.4 Hard to find in High grade due to corner splits! Fantastic Four 263 9.4-9.6 9.6 Fantastic Four 264 9.6-9.8 9.4 Fantastic Four 271 9.6-9.8 9.6 Fantastic Four 279 9.6-9.8 9.0 Fantastic Four 280 9.6-9.8 9.4 Fantastic Four 281 9.6-9.8 9.6 Fantastic Four 282 9.6-9.8 8.5 Fantastic Four 283 9.6-9.8 8.0 DOOOOOOOH! Fantastic Four 284 9.6-9.8 9.6 Fantastic Four 347 9.4-9.6 9.6 Fantastic Four 348 9.6-9.8 9.8 Fantastic Four 349 9.6-9.8 9.8 Incredible Hulk 377 9.6-9.8 9.6 New Mutants 59 9.4-9.6 9.2 New Mutants 60 9.4-9.6 9.4 New Mutants 61 9.4-9.6 9.4 New Mutants 75 9.4-9.6 9.2 New Mutants Annual 5 9.6-9.8 9.4 Punisher War Zone 1 9.8-9.8 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 269 9.6-9.8 9.8 X-Factor 11 9.4-9.6 9.6 X-Factor 24 9.6-9.8 9.4 X-Factor 37 9.4-9.6 9.0 X-Factor 38 9.4-9.6 9.4 X-Men Micronauts1 9.4-9.6 9.8 really flawless books!...My set is now #1 in the ranking! X-Men Micronauts2 9.4-9.6 9.8 really flawless books! X-Men Micronauts3 9.4-9.6 9.6 really flawless books! X-Men Micronauts4 9.4-9.6 9.8 really flawless books! CIAO! FEDERICO

103 working days later...CGC vs XXXPHOENIX grading contest PART 9: MARVEL TEAM UP & ETERNALSHello to everybody!CGC received my books on the 29th of May 2012 but were graded today: 103 working days later if I am not wrong (VALUE tier)....let's compare their grades with my forecasts!Most of them were purchased thorugh internet, mainly on ebay as NM/M and from Metro... The Eternals books, instead, were found inside a VERY old ETM/American Entertainment unopened package I had forgotten in my parents' home ehehehThis is what I got! 9.8x1 9.6x5 9.4x4 9.2x3 9.0x1 8.5x1It seems I tend to undergrade a bit my bronze age books!I will keep in my collection all books but one....TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGCEternals 9 9.4-9.6 // 9.6Eternals 10 9.4-9.6 // 9.8Eternals 11 9.4-9.6 // 9.4Eternals 12 9.4-9.6 // 9.6Eternals 13 9.0-9.2 // 8.5 *Eternals 14 9.0-9.2 // 9.4Eternals 15 9.2-9.4 // 9.4Eternals 16 9.2-9.4 // 9.6Eternals 18 9.2-9.4 // 9.6Marvel Team up 5 9.4 Metro // 9.6Marvel Team up 6 9.4 Metro // 9.2Marvel Team up 7 9.2-9.4 // 9.2Marvel Team up 8 9.2 Metro // 9.2Marvel Team up 9 9.2-9.4 // 9.0Marvel Team up 11 9.2-9.4 // 9.4CIAO!FEDERICO

hI AGAIN...I just purchased from Steve Amazing Spider-Man 6 in CGC 9.0 tooo.... Super fast shipping and bombproof packaging! THANKS A LOT FEDERICO

HI!!! I have just purchased from Steve an Amazing Spider-Man 7 in CGC 9.0. A W E S O M E person to deal with! CIAO! FEDERICO

CGC vs XXXPHOENIX grading contest PART 8 : 30 books just graded! Hello to everybody! IT TOOK A LIFE .... CGC received my books on the 5th of June 2012 CGC but graded them early this week....let's compare their grades with my forecasts! All of them were purchased thorugh internet, mainly on ebay as NM/M... This is what I got! 5x9.8 8x9.6 6x9.4 3x9.2 4x9.0 2x8.5 1x8.0 1x7.5 I am quite disappointed this time. Considering I bought them as NM/M (mostly uncirculated)and that I thought of having carefully graded them ...getting 11 books below 9.4 is probably my worst submittance performance ...ever One of the few nice surprise was NEW MUTANTS 95 second printing in 9.8! HIGHEST GRADED! If neither Tnerb nor bagofleas owns it...it really must be rare in this grade! Marvel books from 1982-1991 are probably the hardest modern books to be found in high grade due to the low quality of the paper and to the spine stress normally found even in uncirculated books. No surprise it's so hard to build a high grade Byrne Fantastic Four or McFarlane Spidey set... I will keep in my collection all books graded 9.4 or higher and few of the 9.2. TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC Amazing Spider-Man 302 9.4-9.6//9.4 Amazing Spider-Man 303 9.4-9.6//9.2* Amazing Spider-Man 304 9.4-9.6//9.4 X-Men Alpha 9.6-9.8//9.8 X-Men Omega 9.6-9.8//9.8 X-Men Prime 1 9.6-9.8//9.8 Uncanny X-Men 281 9.6-9.8//9.6 Uncanny X-Men 282 9.6-9.8//9.6 Uncanny X-Men 283 9.6-9.8//9.6 Uncanny X-Men 292 9.6-9.8//9.6 New Mutants 97 9.4-9.6//9.6 New Mutants 95A 9.4-9.6//9.8 Marvel Comics Presents 1 9.4-9.6//9.4 Marvel Comics Presents 4 9.4-9.6//9.0* Heroes Reborn the Return 2 9.4-9.6//9.8 Infinity Crusade 1 9.4-9.6//8.5* Infinity Crusade 2 9.4-9.6//9.0* Infinity Crusade 3 9.4-9.6//9.6 Infinity Crusade 4 9.4-9.6//9.6 Infinity Crusade 5 9.4-9.6//9.0* X-Factor 25 9.6-9.8//9.2* Fantastic Four 259 9.4-9.6//9.0* Fantastic Four 261 9.6-9.8//8.0* Fantastic Four 262 9.6-9.8//9.4 Fantastic Four 265 9.6-9.8//7.5* Fantastic Four 266 9.6-9.8//9.4 Fantastic Four 268 9.6-9.8//9.4 Fantastic Four 269 9.6-9.8//8.5* Fantastic Four 270 9.6-9.8//9.2* Fantastic Four 278 9.6-9.8//9.6 CIAO! FEDERICO

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.

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) To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

CGC vs XXXPHOENIX grading contest PART 7 : 58 books just graded! Hello to everybody! CGC just finished grading 58 books....let's compare their grades with my forecasts! MANY MONTHS AGO I submitted 58 MODERN books to CGC...As soon as I receive them I will add them to my numerous registry sets. Most of these come from my personal collection. They were all purchased as NM books before the CGC era...Anyway you can easily guess how hard it is to build a high grade comic book collection with the unique&only option of buying my books via (air)mail... to ITALY! You can't imagine how many dealers just throw mint books in padded envelopes without further protection... This is what I got! 27X 9.8 , 12X 9.6 , 4X 9.4, 7X 9.2, 4X 9.0, 1X 8.5, 2X 8.0, 1X 6.5 . As usual most of my forecasts were pretty exact and remained in a +/- .2 range in comparison to CGC grading standards...with few unexplainable exceptions (check the *). I will keep in my collection all books graded 9.4 or higher and few of the 9.2. TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC Alpha Flight 4 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Alpha Flight 5 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Alpha Flight 6 9.6-9.8 // 9.2 Alpha Flight 10 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 Alpha Flight 11 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Alpha Flight 13 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Alpha Flight 17 9.4-9.6 // 9.2 Alpha Flight 24 9.6-9.8 // 6.5 *ARGH! Spider-Man 2 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 2 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 3 9.6-9.8 // 9.0 *WHY!? Spider-Man 4 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 4 9.6-9.8 // 8.5 *WHY!? Spider-Man 5 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 6 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 7 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 8 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 9 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 10 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 11 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 12 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 Spider-Man 13 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 14 9.6-9.8 // 9.4 Spider-Man 15 9.6-9.8 // 9.0 *WEIRD Spider-Man 16 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 17 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 1 GOLD 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 1 POLY 9.6-9.8 // 9.4 Spider-Man 18 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 19 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 20 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 X-men 2 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 X-men 3 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 X-men 4 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 X-men 5 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 X-men 6 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 X-men 7 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 X-men 8 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 X-men 9 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 X-men 10 9.6-9.8 // 8.0 *OPS!!!? X-men 11 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 X-men 13 9.6-9.8 // 9.0 *ARGH! POLIBAGGED book X-men 14 9.6-9.8 // 9.2 *ARGH! POLIBAGGED book X-men 15 9.6-9.8 // 9.0 *ARGH! POLIBAGGED book X-men 16 9.6-9.8 // 9.2 Amazing Spider-Man 300 8.0-8.5 // 8.0R Restoration includes: small amount of color touch on cover. BOTTOM EDGE TRIMMED. *WHAT THE *** ...restored? Amazing Spider-Man 313 9.2-9.4 // 9.2 Amazing Spider-Man 331 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 Amazing Spider-Man 666 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 ITALY COMICS Amazing Spider-Man 666 9.4-9.6 // 9.4 ITALY COMICS Captain America 253 9.2-9.4 // 9.6 What The 1 9.4-9.6 // 9.2 Spider-Man Unlimited 1 9.4-9.6 // 9.4 Fantastic Four 243 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Fantastic Four 248 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 Fantastic Four 251 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Fantastic Four 256 9.4-9.6 // 9.2 Fantastic Four 258 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 FEDERICO

Why not suspending the submissions of post year 2000 books at least until the company can guarantee more reasonable turnaroud times? I wonder if CGC is trying to find a solution to improve the turnaround times.... Nowdays the VALUE and ECONOMY TIER turnaround is 100 working days (!!!!), the MODERN TIER is 45 days (!!!) instead of the forecasted 20 days... I have 103 books sitting at CGC facility.... Date No. of Comic Status 03/30/2012 28 Verified 03/30/2012 30 Verified 06/05/2012 30 Received 05/29/2012 15 Received Does it take so much in terms of time and investments to "graduate" a grader to the CGC standards? Do these delays come from an increase of submissions? Why not suspending the submissions of post year 2000 books at least until the company can guarantee more reasonable turnaroud times? THANKS FEDERICO - ITALY

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

CGC vs XXXPHOENIX grading contest PART 6 : 112 books just graded! Hello to everybody! CGC just finished grading my 112 books....let's compare their grades with my forecasts! MANY MONTHS AGO I submitted 112 MODERN books to CGC...they were received between 8/8 to 8/12 2011...and it took 2 MONTHS to switch from verified to graded status...As soon as I receive them I will add them to my numerous registry sets. Hey CGC...hire more graders please! Most of these come from my personal collection. They were all purchased as NM books before the CGC era...Anyway you can easily guess how hard it is to build a high grade comic book collection with the unique&only option of buying my books via (air)mail... to ITALY! You can't imagine how many dealers just throw the NEW books in padded envelopes without further protection... This is what I got! 43X 9.8 , 32X 9.6 , 19X 9.4, 10X 9.2, 4X 9.0, 2X 8.5, 1X 8.0, 1X 7.5 . As usual most of my forecasts were pretty exact and remained in a +/- .2 range in comparison to CGC grading standards...with few unexplainable exceptions (check the *). I will keep in my collection all books graded 9.4 or higher and few of the 9.2. TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC Alpha Flight 19 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 Alpha Flight 28 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Amazing Spider-Man 303 9.6-9.8 // 9.0 * WHY?! Amazing Spider-Man 305 9.6-9.8 // 9.4 Amazing Spider-Man 314 9.6-9.8 // 9.4 Amazing Spider-Man 316 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Amazing Spider-Man 323 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Amazing Spider-Man 388 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Amazing Spider-Man 500 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 Avengers 1II 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 Daredevil 319 9.6-9.8 // 9.4 Daredevil 321 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Daredevil 323 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 Daredevil 324 9.6-9.8 // 9.4 Daredevil 325 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 Earth X 0 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Earth X 1 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Earth X 0DF 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Fantastic Four 1II 9.4-9.6 // 9.2 * WHY?! Fantastic Four 254 9.4-9.6 // 9.4 Fantastic Four 255 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Fantastic Four 257 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Fantastic Four 260 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Fantastic Four 267 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Fantastic Four 285 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Fantastic Four 1A 9.6-9.8 // 9.4 Ghost Rider 15 9.4-9.6 // 9.2 Ghost Rider 15A 9.4-9.6 // 9.4 Hearth of Darkness1 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Hellstorm 1 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 Heroes Reborn the Return 1 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 Heroes Reborn the Return 2 9.4-9.6 // 9.4 Heroes Reborn the Return 3 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Heroes Reborn the Return 4 9.4-9.6 // 9.4 Heroes Reborn the Return 1A 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Heroes Reborn the Return 1B 9.4-9.6 // 9.0 * WHY?! Heroes Reborn the Return 2A 9.4-9.6 // 8.5 Heroes Reborn the Return 3A 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Heroes Reborn the Return 4A 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Incredible Hulk 331 9.2-9.4 // 7.5 * WHY?! * WHY?! Incredible Hulk 333 9.2-9.4 // 9.4 Incredible Hulk 334 9.2-9.4 // 9.4 Incredible Hulk 335 9.2-9.4 // 9.6 Incredible Hulk 336 9.2-9.4 // 9.8 Incredible Hulk 337 9.2-9.4 // 9.4 Incredible Hulk 338 9.2-9.4 // 9.2 Incredible Hulk 341 9.2-9.4 // 9.2 Incredible Hulk 342 9.2-9.4 // 8.0 * WHY?! * WHY?! Incredible Hulk 343 9.2-9.4 // 9.4 Incredible Hulk 344 9.2-9.4 // 9.2 Incredible Hulk 345 9.2-9.4 // 9.6 Incredible Hulk 346 9.2-9.4 // 9.6 Incredible Hulk 393 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 Incredible Hulk 400 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Infinity Gauntlet1 9.2-9.4 // 9.6 Infinity Gauntlet2 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Infinity Gauntlet3 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Infinity Gauntlet4 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Infinity Gauntlet5 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Infinity War 1 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Infinity War 2 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Infinity War 3 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Infinity War 4 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Infinity War 5 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Infinity War 6 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 Marvel Fanfare 1 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Marvels 0 9.2-9.4 // 9.4 Marvels 1 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 Marvels 2 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 Marvels 3 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Marvels 4 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 New Mutants 88 9.6-9.8 // 9.4 * WHY?! New mutants annual 5 9.2-9.4 // 9.0 * WHY?! New Warriors 1A 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 Nomad 1 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 Sleepwalker 1 9.4-9.6 // 9.2 Spider-Man 1 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Spider-Man 10 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Strange Tales 1 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Tales of Suspense1 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 Tales to Astonish1 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 The secret Defenders1 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 214 9.4-9.6 // 9.0 * WHY?! Uncanny X-Men 216 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 217 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 218 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 223 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 227 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 228 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 229 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 233 9.4-9.6 // 9.4 Uncanny X-Men 242 9.4-9.6 // 9.4 Uncanny X-Men 254 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 255 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 297 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 298 9.4-9.6 // 8.5 * WHY?! Uncanny X-Men 299 9.4-9.6 // 9.2 * WHY?! Uncanny X-Men 301 9.6-9.8 // 9.4 Uncanny X-Men 302 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 304 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Warlock Infinity Watch1 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 Web of Spider-Man90 9.6-9.8 // 9.8 Wonder Man 1 9.4-9.6 // 9.6 X-Factor 3 9.4-9.6 // 9.2 * WHY?! X-Factor 4 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 X-Factor 7 9.6-9.8 // 9.2 * WHY?! X-Factor 8 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 X-Factor 9 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 X-Factor 10 9.4-9.6 // 9.8 X-Factor 23 9.4-9.6 // 9.4 X-Factor 25 9.6-9.8 // 9.2 * WHY?! X-Factor 26 9.6-9.8 // 9.6 CIAO! FEDERICO

CGC vs XXXPHOENIX grading contest PART 5 Hello to all! CGC just graded 30 of my books....let's compare their grades with my forecasts! MANY MONTHS AGO I submitted 30 modern books to CGC...they were received on June the 23rd 2011...and it took 2 MONTHS to switch from verified to graded status... Hey CGC...hire more graders please! This is what I got! 4x9.2 3x9.4 13x9.6 10x9.8 I am VERY happy both for the CGC grades and my grading skills!!! TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC Avengers/Invaders1 8.0-8.5 9.2 Alpha Flight 6 9.4-9.6 9.2 Alpha Flight 7 9.4-9.6 9.6 Alpha Flight 8 9.4-9.6 9.6 Alpha Flight 9 9.4-9.6 9.4 Alpha Flight 11 9.4-9.6 9.2 Alpha Flight 12 9.4-9.6 9.6 Alpha Flight 14 9.4-9.6 9.6 Alpha Flight 15 9.4-9.6 9.8 Alpha Flight 16 9.4-9.6 9.8 Alpha Flight 18 9.4-9.6 9.6 Alpha Flight 20 9.4-9.6 9.8 Alpha Flight 22 9.4-9.6 9.8 Alpha Flight 27 9.4-9.6 9.8 Alpha Flight 51 9.4-9.6 9.6 DC versus Marvel 1 9.6-9.8 9.8 DC versus Marvel 3 9.6-9.8 9.8 DC versus Marvel4 9.6-9.8 9.8 Incredible Hulk 314 9.4-9.6 9.6 She Hulk 1 9.4-9.6 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 185 9.4-9.6 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 200 9.4-9.6 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 202 9.4-9.6 9.8 Uncanny X-Men 206 9.4-9.6 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 207 9.2-9.4 9.4 Uncanny X-Men 208 9.4-9.6 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 210 9.0-9.2 9.2 Uncanny X-Men 257 9.4-9.6 9.6 Uncanny X-Men 258 9.4-9.6 9.4 Uncanny X-Men 300 9.6-9.8 9.8 byeeeeeeeee I will post more "grading contests" since I have 4 more comic lots in verified status.... FEDERICO

CGC vs XXXPHOENIX grading contest PART 4 In march I sent to CGC 30 books...They received them on the 16th of March, and in almost exactly 40 working days (12th of may 2011) they were finally graded. Most were modern plus a bunch of Eternals (I want to build a set in high grade asap!). This time I am quite satisfied ...with my forecasts being met for most of the books or within an acceptable "grading range". One comment about the eternals must be made though...I bought them raw 3-4 months ago by a well known and respected US dealer... He graded them as mint 9.8-9.6 but once again dealers tend to overgrade what they sell ... TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC Eternals 3 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.4 Eternals 4 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.4 Eternals 5 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.2 Eternals 6 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.0 Eternals 7 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.4 Eternals 8 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.6 Eternals 9 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.8 Eternals 10 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.2 Eternals 11 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.4 Eternals 12 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.4 Eternals 14 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.6 Eternals 15 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.4 Eternals 16 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.2 Eternals 17 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.2 Avengers/Invaders 1 9.0-9.2 - CGC9.4 Spectacular Spider-Man 200 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.8 Spectacular Spider-Man 229 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.6 X-Men 1A 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.8 X-Men 1B 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.6 X-Men 1C 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.8 X-Men 1D 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.8 X-Men 1E 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.4 X-Men 54 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.6 Alpha Flight 2 9.4-9.6 - CGC9.8 Alpha Flight 3 9.4-9.6 - CGC9.6 Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends 1 9.6-9.8- CGC9.8 Marvel Comics Presents 2 9.4-9.6 - CGC9.6 Uncanny X-Men 205 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.8 Uncanny X-Men 244 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.8 Uncanny X-Men 256 9.6-9.8 - CGC9.8

CGC vs XXXPHOENIX grading contest PART 3 CGC just graded 3 more of my SILVER AGE books....let's compare their grading with my forecast! This time I was VERY unsatisfied. All books were purchased from very reliable dealers few years ago...but 2/3 of my books were graded one full grade below my forecast when I got them! TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC Amazing Spider-Man 29 9.4 CGC 8.5 Amazing Spider-Man 32 9.2 CGC 9.2 Amazing Spider-Man 43 9.4 CGC 8.5 I should resubmit them....the books that got a lousy 8.5 are FLAWLESS! CIAO! FEDERICO To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

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

CGC just graded 30 of my books....let's compare their grading with my forecast! Hello to all! I have submitted 30 nice modern books to CGC...and this is what I got! 1x 8.5, 1x 9.0, 4x 9.2, 10x 9.4, 10x 9.6, 4x 9.8 My forecasts did not go that far a part for a couple of book I had graded 8.0 (the authentix Romita sr DF books) that CGC graded 9.4 and 9.2 and for 6 books that CGC strangely graded much lower than my predictions... Anyway I am quite happy both for the grades and my grading skills!!! One last note...getting a 9.8 is really as difficult as hell!!!! TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 600 9.6-9.8 CGC 9.8 AVENGERSINVADERS ATX DF 1 8.0 CGC 9.4 AVENGERSINVADERS ATX DF 1 8.0 CGC 9.2 DAREDEVIL MAN W/O FEAR 2 9.6-9.8 GCC 9.4 DARKHAWK 1 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.6 FANTASTIC FOUR 232 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.4 FANTASTIC FOUR 234 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.6 FANTASTIC FOUR 250 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.2 FANTASTIC FOUR 283 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.4 FANTASTIC FOUR 286 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.6 FANTASTIC FOUR 288 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.6 FANTASTIC FOUR 292 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.2 MOON KNIGHT II 1 9.6 CGC 9.6 NAMOR THE SUB-MARINER 1 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.4 NEW MUTANTS 87 2nd 9.4 CGC 9.8 NEW MUTANTS 89 9.6 CGC 9.6 SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN 50 9.4 CGC 8.5 SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN 69 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.6 SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN 81 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.4 PUNISHER WAR ZONE 1 9.6-9.8 CGC 9.8 SECRET WARS II 5 9.6 CGC 9.6 SECRET WARS II 6 9.6 CGC 9.4 SECRET WARS II 7 9.6 CGC 9.4 UNCANNY X-MEN 160 9.6 CGC 9.2 UNCANNY X-MEN 222 9.6 CGC 9.0 UNCANNY X-MEN 241 9.6 CGC 9.4 UNCANNY X-MEN 248 9.6 CGC 9.6 WEB OF SPIDER-MAN 100 9.6 CGC 9.8 WHAT IF II 1 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.4 WOLVERINE 2 9.6-9.8 CGC 9.6 byeeeeeeeee I will post more forecasts vs CGC if you like it! FEDERICO

CGC just graded 6 more SILVER AGE /BRONZE AGE books....let's compare their grading with my forecast! I just noticed CGC finished grading more books I submitted... They were some very nice Spidey early annuals + a Silver Surfer (1st series) 14 + a what if 1977 1... Once again I was quite satisfied ... no books below the 9.0 and an average 0.2 difference between my forecast and their grading... Modern age books are much easier to grade, but when I submit bronze or silver age books, due to some hidden flaws or due to the colour of the paper (a factor I take into ZERO consideration) ...CGC grading is usually stricter than mine! TITLE ISSUE FORECAST CGC Amazing Spider-Man A4 pgx 9.2 CGC 9.2 Amazing Spider-Man A5 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.0 Amazing Spider-Man A8 9.2-9.4 CGC 9.0 Amazing Spider-Man A9 9.4-9.6 CGC 9.2 Silver Surfer 14 9.0-9.2 CGC 9.0 What if 1977 1 9.4 CGC 9.2 CIAO! FEDERICO

read read read HELLO fellow collectors... last month I received an email from CGC with the opportunity to submit books for a private Stan Lee signing. I thought it was a great thing so I bought a relatively cheap Amazing Fantasy 15 on ebay and took out from of one of my boxes my favourite book: Amazing Spider-Man 33. The AF 15 had been badly restored in an amateur way decades ago so I decided NOT to have the book PRO-restored... The book was effectively not worth the pain of being PRO extensively restored just to get a purple 6.0 slab... So I submitted it to CGC for the private Stan Lee Signing! I think that owning THIS book in a purple/yellow signature series slab is a much better investment... I may keep the book forever too: Hanging on my office wall the first Spidey book officially signed by Stan Lee and CGC certified is not bad...what do you think? The cover of AS 33 is surely one of the most dramatic and intense in the entire Spidey story....and owning it in high grade with a certified Stan Lee signature ....is A M A Z I N G And these are the grades: AF15 CGC 2.5 SS MA AS33 CGC 9.2 SS UNIVERSAL I am very happy!!! FEDERICO To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Have all become Variant slaves? Hello to everybody! I decided to post about what I call the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VARIANT MADNESS. We have been seeing variants over variants of the same issues in the last few years... and I wonder: DO WE NEED THEM? 1. I HATE THIS HABIT OF ARTIFICIALLY MAKING A VARIANT BOOK "RARE" JUST BECAUSE IT COMES OUT AT A 1:50 RATIO 2. DO ALL THESE SO CALLED "NEW ARTISTS" DESERVE TO DRAW AN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN COVER? I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT AN AS COVER SHOULD BE THE FINAL NOT THE INITIAL ACHIEVEMENT FOR A PENCILER! 3. ISN'T ALL OF THIS DAMAGING THE HOBBY? I MEAN... WHO'S EXCITED BY A VARIANT COVER NOWDAYS? The following is a pretty complete list of all the AS issues (+ variants) from issue 525 to date...probably some DF versions are missing but I think it's quite complete.... AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 525 525B Variant Cover 526 526B Variant Cover 527 527B Variant Cover 528 528A Wieringo Incentive Cover. Limited to 1 in 8 528B Spider-Ham Sketch Incentive Cover 529 529A Second Printing 529AA Dynamic Forces Signed by Ron Garney (Only 50 Made) 2nd Printing 529B Third Printing Variant Cover 530 531 532 532A Second Printing Civil War Tien In 533 533A San Diego Comic-Con 2006 Sketch Exclusive 533B Dynamic Forces Signed by Ron Garney (Only 181 Made) 534 535 536 537 537A Second Printing - Garney Variant Cover 538 538A Clayton Crain Incentive Variant Spoiler Cover. Limited to 1 in 50 538B Midtown Comics NYCC Exclusive Cover 538C Dynamic Forces signed by Ron Garney (only 150 made) 539 539A Las Vegas Comic Oasis MEDINA Variant Cover. Limited to 5,000 539A Las Vegas Comic Oasis MEDINA Variant Cover. Limited to 5,000. SIGNED by Medina 539B Second Printing -Yu Variant Cover 540 541 542 542A Dynamic Forces Signed by Ron Garney (Only 100 Made) 543 543A Dynamic Forces Signed by Ron Garney (Only 265 Made) 544 Joe Quesada Cover (One More Day Part 1) 544A Marko Djurdjevic Variant Cover (One More Day Part 1) 544B Dynamic Forces Signed by John Romita (Only 50 Made) 544C Dynamic Forces Signed by Joe Quesada (Only 185 Made) 544D Dynamic Forces Signed and Remarked by Randy Emberlin (Only 499 Made) 545 Joe Quesada Cover (One More Day Part 4) 545A Marko Djurdjevic Variant Cover (One More Day Part 4) 546 Regular Cover 546A Bryan Hitch Retailer Incentive Cover. Limited to 1 in 10. 546B Steve McNiven Retailer Incentive Cover. Limited to 1 in 50 546C 2nd Printing 546D SuperRare "Book Market Variant" Not for resale Variant 546E Marvel's Greatest comics Variant 547 548 549 549A (1:20) Variant Cover by David Finch 549B Dynamic Forces Variant Cover (Only 2000 Made) 549C Dynamic Forces Variant Cover Signed by John Romita (Only 1500 Made) 550 551 552 552A (1:20) Adi Granov Retailer Incentive Cover 553 554 555 555A (1:20) Simone Bianchi Incentive Variant Cover 555B Dynamic Forces Signed by Bachalo & Romita (Only 20 Made) 555C Dynamic Forces Signed by Bachalo (Only 255 Made) 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 New Ways To Die Book One (John Romita, Jr. Cover) 568A Alex Ross Green Goblin Cover 568B John Romita, Sr. Retailer Incentive Cover. Limited to 1 in 25 568C Retailer Incentive Sketch Cover. Limited to 1 in 75 568D Dynamic Forces Variant Cover (Only 1499 Made) 568E Second Printing Variant Cover 568F Baltimore Comic-Con / Toronto Fan Expo Variant 568G Dynamic Forces Signed by Alex Ross (Only 999 Made) 569 569A Adi Granov Venom Cover 569B 2nd Printing John Romita Jr Variant Cover 570 New Ways To Die Book Three (John Romita, Jr. Cover) 570A Luke Ross Peter Parker Variant Cover 570B Monkey Retailer Incentive Variant Cover. Limited to 1 in 10. 570C 2nd Printing John Romita Jr Wraparaound Variant 571 New Ways To Die Book Four (Romita Jr. Cover) 571A Variant John Romita Jr Anti-Venom Cover 571B 2nd Printing John Romita Jr Variant Cover 572 New Ways To Die Book Five (Romita Jr. Cover) 572A Variant Bullseye Face Cover 572B 2nd Printing John Romita Jr Variant Cover 573 New Ways To Die Book Six Romita Jr Cover (50/50) 573A Kevin Maguire Cover (50/50) 573B Stephen Colbert Variant Cover 573C Marko Djurdjevic Retailer Incentive Zombie Cover. Limited to 1 in 10. 574 575 576 577 577A Incentive Sal Buscema Variant Cover. Limited to 1 in 10 577B Dynamic Forces Signed by Paulo Rivera (Only 75 Made) 578 579 579A Incentive Shocker Variant Cover. Limited to 1 in 10 580 581 581A Incentive Molten Man Variant Cover. Limited to 1 in 10 582 583 583AA Dynamic Forces Signed by XXXXX (Only 199 Made) 583A Barack Obama Variant Cover 583B Phil Jiminez Recolored Barack Obama 2nd Printing Variant Cover 583C Phil Jiminez 3rd Printing Barack Obama Variant Cover 583D Phil Jimenez 4th Printing Obama Variant 583DD 4th Printing Dynamic Forces Signed by Tedd Naught (Only 200 made) 583E 5th printing 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 590A Wolverine Art Appreciation Paolo Rivera Variant Incentive Cover 591 592 Quesada Regular Cover 592A Wolverine Art Appreciation Paolo Rivera Variant Incentive Cover 593 594 595 595A Adi Granov Variant cover 595B Dynamic Force Signed by John Romita Sr. (Only 175 made) 596 596A Second printing Variant cover 597 597A Second printing Variant cover 598 598A Second printing Variant cover 599 599A 70s Decade variant cover 600 Alex Ross Regular Cover 600A John Romita Jr. Regular Wraparound Cover 600B Joe Quesada Wraparound Variant Cover 600C John Romita Sr. Variant Cover 600D Dynamic Forces (Ross) (Only 3499 made) 600E 2nd Printing John Romita Jr Variant Cover 600F Dynamic Forces signed by John Romita (Only 50 made) 600G Dynamic Forces signed by Alex Ross (Only 1499 made) 601 601A 70th Frame Variant Cover 601B Second printing Variant cover 602 602A 70th Frame Variant Cover 602B Second printing Variant cover 602C Dynamic Forces Signed by John Romita (Only 100 made) 603 603A 70th Frame Variant Cover 604 604A Dynamic Forces Signed by John Romita Sr. (Only 150 Made) 605 605A Dynamic Forces Signed by Brian Reed (Only 100 Made) 605AA Dynamic Forces Signed by John Romita Sr. (Only 50 Made) 606 606A Long Beach Comic Con 2009 Cover 606AA Long Beach Comic Con 2009 Cover Signed by Campbell at Atomic Comics 606B J Scott Campbell Half Sketch Incentive Cover 606C Dynamic Forces Signed by John Romita Sr. (Only 150 Made) 607 608 608A Marko Djurdjevic 70Th Anniversary Variant Cover 609 610 611 611A Second printing Variant cover 612 612A Adi Granov Varant Grav

When dreams come true! I can't believe it...my AS 1 was CGC GRADED as a 9.0 with WHITE PAGES!!! How many books in such a nice shape still exist? This copy has an almost unbelievable story? My father travelled to NY in 1963(!) for a business trip. He saw some superheroes comics at the newstands and bought a bunch of them. The cover of Spider-Man 1 looked so intriguing to him that he carefully placed the comic in the middle of his papers and brought it back home to Italy. Once there he put the book inside a closet under a heavy pile of books...where it remained for 45 years! When I found it a couple of years ago, I could not believe my eye? such a precious jem remained in a dark and dry enevironment for so long! It looked to me a 9.2 with almost zero defects (no visible spine stress, no chipping, no wear!). Cgc graded it 9.0 with white pages on 24/05/2010(WOW)! I am incredibly happy with this find as sometimes dreams come true! FEDERICO - ITALY