Hamstar

the series that got me back into comics My brother and I walked into a local comic store back when I was 14 and he was 11. The only real collecting we had done was throwing the issues in drawers and boxes that my father would bring home from work for us to read, but this time was different. We saw this beautiful cover on the stand, it was Ultimate Spider-Man #98. When we realized what this series was, and how iconic it had become, we dove right into the back issues. We'd drop the little money we had back then trying to complete full story arcs, piecing together the run bit by bit. It took us 4 years, and a pretty intense purchase of Ultimate Spider-Man #1 CGC'd at a 9.6 for us to finally complete our collection. We had only recently submitted our own private issues in order to get signed and graded, and we couldn't be happier. We got the run of Death of Spider-Man variants (unfortunately to Quesada variants we never got our hands on) all signed and graded at a 9.8. We feel pretty damn baller. Ult. Spidey 156 - Kaare Andrews Variant signed by Kaare Andrews Ult. Spidey 157 - Ed McGuiness Variant signed by Ed Mcguiness Ult. Spidey 158 - Steve McNiven Variant signed by Steve McNiven & Mark Bagley Ult. Spidey 159 - Frank Cho Variant signed by Frank Cho Ult. Spidey 160 - Kaluta Variant signed by Mark Bagley To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Getting that book back. My brother and I have been collecting comics seriously since about 2005. I'm only 23 now, so we were rather young when we started, and with out a doubt collecting our issues every week brought us incredibly close together. There was never, not even once, an argument about if one of us had spent more, or about who would get it once we moved out. It was simply, and always be, our collection. In September we went to a comic con in Montreal where Stan Lee was going to be. We were both so f'in excited to meet him, that the two months of waiting before hand were dreadful. Of course, we were debating on which issue to get signed. We have a couple old amazing Spider-Man that he had written, but to us it didn't really mean much. There was in fact one issue though, an issue/run we love so much, that we have all the issues, and the first print of the hardcover... which we have both read 10 plus times. That issue is Spider-Man: Reign #1, with the black costume cover. It's not the normal issue to get signed, but it's so original, and simply ours. I believe there are only 36 others that are signed, and only 23 other in the same grade. Today it arrived. A beautiful 9.8 awaiting at our doorstep. Collecting was always very personal to us, and now we got a rather unique issue to add to our collection. Thanks for reading.