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The Best There is at What he Does

Started by worldsbestcomics,

11 posts in this topic

worldsbestcomics

worldsbestcomics

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The world's best Wolverine collection

 

November, 2006 I am primarily a bronze-age collector with a focus on X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man. But, I recently decided to take a break from my X-Men 94-143 run and put together a Wolverine 1-189 run. The idea was suggested to me by a buddy, Dennis Houser who decided to part with his extraordinary collection (#2 on the Registry).

 

Nobody has completed a 9.8 run of Wolverine 1-189 yet. In fact, when I looked at the census numbers I was astonished to find that 14 different issues had no 9.8 copies at all and 16 others had just one copy. That seems surprising for such a popular character/title. And it means that the only way to complete a 9.8 run will be to find high-grade raw copies for submission.

 

January/February, 2007 I have a complete run of raw books that were hand-picked by me fresh from my LCS when they were first released so I began submitting the issues that I knew Dennis did not have in his collection. I pulled out all the copies that I thought were 9.8. Those 60 books were sent to CGC for grading and 46 came back 9.8 including 7 of the 14 issues which previously had no 9.8 copies and 9 of the 16 which had previously had just one 9.8 copy.

 

Then, I relied on help from some of the friends that I have met on the CGC Boards to find raw copies of the remaining issues. Thank you DarthDiesel, Sckao, PresidentDennis and BronzeBruce. Not only was I able to find six of the remaining seven issues for which there had previously been no 9.8s, but I was able to find several of the variants, alternate covers and second prints.

 

June, 2009 It was a couple years later that I noticed that some of the Wolverine artists were scheduled to come to Emerald City Comicon. I thought, "Hey, I'll get them to sign their books." And then something clicked in my brain. "What if I got every book in the entire run signed?" That was a goal that made me smile.

 

And so I listed out every issue on a spreadsheet and noted who did the cover art and interior art and who wrote the story. Now, I look for them every year at Emerald City Comicon and I keep an eye out for other rare signing opportunities. Meeting the artists has been a lot of fun. Marc Silvestri and Humberto Ramos were both super cool guys. I really liked Erik Larsen and Terry and Rachel Dodson.

 

I also decided to keep up with the ongoing Wolverine books and Beachbum has really helped me out there. I don't know if I will get all of them signed.

 

July, 2012 The 1-189 run won an award from CGC for Best Copper Age set in 2012. They did point out (mock?) my inability to find a 9.8 copy of issue 35 in their comments. There is a whole thread on the CGC boards about the quest to find a 9.8 copy of issue 35 and why it has been so difficult.Here is the CGC write-up:worldsbestcomics Still The Best At What He Does - Wolverine (1988) worldsbestcomics is the best there is at what he does, and what he does is put together an incredible run of Wolverine's 1988 series! Including 14 books in 9.9 condition, this set includes books like the recalled #131 (in 9.8), the Nabisco variant #145 (in 9.8) and the 2nd printing of #41 & #42 (in 9.8), along with images for almost every book. Now if he could just get #35 in 9.8, he'd be the talk of the town!

 

August, 2012 Joeypost turned up the first 9.8 copy of Wolverine 35. He found the raw copy in a store in Charlotte and offered it to me first. You can't put a run like this together without a lot of help. I can't tell you how many people told me that they were looking for a 9.8 copy of issue 35 to help me out. That comraderie has been a big part of the fun with putting this run together. Now that I have a 9.8 copy of 35, I need to see if I can get CGC to update their comments about the Registry Award :)

 

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Professor Pecora

Professor Pecora

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I just want to personally congratulate you for being the first one to acquire a 9.8 copy of Wolverine #35! You beat me to it! I was actually going to have my 9.6 pressed into a possible 9.8 at Wizard World Chicago, but after careful inspection of the book, it would not make a good pressing candidate for the 9.8 due to a few spine stresses it possesses. So good for you brother! :-)

 

However, I do strongly believe that I will come up with the "second" copy of issue #35 to be graded as a 9.8, as I have a very clean & crisp uncirculated copy that was bagged and boarded when I bought the book when I was 12 years old hiding in a box in my brother's attic! However, I need to make the trip to Rochester, NY to pick it up and properly handle it, as I am currently residing outside of Denver, Colorado.

 

Keep up the good work. I think you and I showcase the premier Wolverine (1988) sets in the world! So that is something to be proud about! This year, we both brought home an award within our set type; you took the Best Copper Age Set & I took the Best Presented Set of 2012! Let's continue to make our sets World Class and the BEST representation of the most fearless and hard-core superhero of all time - WOLVERINE!!

 

Take Care,

 

-Professor Pecora

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Tnerb

Tnerb

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That is quite an amazing set. I remember when Wolverine finally hit the stands I was over joyed that Wolverine had his own set. It was unfortunate that around issue #50 was when my first financial duress began and this was one of the titles that I cut. I find your collection of Wolverine books something to strive for, whether it is a Wolverine set or not. Congrats.

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worldsbestcomics

worldsbestcomics

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Can you point me to your thread/quest for #35 and why it was hard to obtain that issue? I love hear stuggles of fellow collectors as they usually read like a novel ripped from the headlines!

 

Here's the link to the thread in the Grading and Restoration forum: Wolverine 35 in 9.8

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