SPAWN! A look back at an award-winning collection of graded slabs. 10 10

[newshane]

On 9/19/2023 at 9:35 PM, captainzombie said:

Which was the final issue number when you had stopped getting the Spawn books slabbed?

This is awesome that you have shared all this with us.

I called it quits at issue 275. 

No problem! I'm just glad people like you are along for the ride. 

[newshane]

SPAWN 200 SILVESTRI VARIANT - CGC 9.8 - SIGNED BY MARC SILVESTRI 

One of two Silvestri sigs in this collection. The other was issue 25, which turned out a bit better IMHO. 

[newshane]

SPAWN 200 ASHLEY WOOD VARIANT - CGC 9.8 

He never came to the states back in my heyday of Spawn collecting, so getting Wood's signature was a pipe dream. 

I guess I could have purchased accommodations and a round-trip flight to Australia for my facilitator. 

I know I'm insane, but doing such a thing would bring the paddy wagon and a straightjacket to my front door, and I hear they don't allow comic collecting in psych wards. 

Hard pass. 

I'm super pumped about issue 201 and the artist change. We are about to enter one of the very sickest eras of the run, and a new peak as far as art goes. 

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by newshane

[LadyDeath]

185-200 was a considerable improvement after reverting back to the original logo. Cover art was more traditional too.

Shane, did you keep any Spawn slabs or was everything unloaded?

[newshane]

On 9/21/2023 at 6:00 PM, LadyDeath said:

185-200 was a considerable improvement after reverting back to the original logo. Cover art was more traditional too.

Shane, did you keep any Spawn slabs or was everything unloaded?

Got rid of everything but my original raw copies I bought as a kid back in the 90s. 

[captainzombie]

On 9/21/2023 at 5:35 PM, newshane said:

SPAWN 200 ASHLEY WOOD VARIANT - CGC 9.8 

He never came to the states back in my heyday of Spawn collecting, so getting Wood's signature was a pipe dream. 

I guess I could have purchased accommodations and a round-trip flight to Australia for my facilitator. 

I know I'm insane, but doing such a thing would bring the paddy wagon and a straightjacket to my front door, and I hear they don't allow comic collecting in psych wards. 

Hard pass. 

I'm super pumped about issue 201 and the artist change. We are about to enter one of the very sickest eras of the run, and a new peak as far as art goes. 

 

Quite a cool cover here and different from the other #200's.

Speaking of #201, mine is currently at CGC. Fingers crossed that it comes back as a 9.8. This is my 3rd copy of #201 and probably the best one yet.

First appearance of Bludd.

[newshane]

SPAWN 201 - CGC 9.8 

For me, this is a key issue. Szymon Kudranski beings as the featured artist. His work is INCREDIBLE. I think I may like his run on the series better than any other! I was a big fan of the Philip Tan era, but I think Kudranski knocks it out of the park. I just love the look. So dark. Very appropriate for the character! 

Also note "Will Carlton" as the new writer. That's a pseudonym used by Todd McFarlane himself. I always wanted to request a Will Carlton signature, but my facilitator was too chicken excrement to ask Todd. To my knowledge, there's never been a Will Carlton signature. 

I think Todd was testing the waters here, wondering if he was a good writer or not. Of course, I'm a notorious cynic. So, who knows? 

Sick cover. Very difficult book, as well. 

 

[oldmilwaukee6er]

On 9/19/2023 at 9:41 PM, newshane said:

I called it quits at issue 275. 

 

I've been thinking of stopping at 350. With the new titles and variants it's a lot. I have 3 short boxes for Spawn 1-299, and filling 5 more since 300. 

[newshane]

On 9/23/2023 at 8:33 AM, oldmilwaukee6er said:

I've been thinking of stopping at 350. With the new titles and variants it's a lot. I have 3 short boxes for Spawn 1-299, and filling 5 more since 300. 

Yeah, the number of variants is out of control, and it’s been that way for too long. But, people keep buying them. 
 

I admired Todd back in the 90s because he avoided all of the gimmick covers. Unfortunately, he made up for it. Sadly, mist of the variants aren’t even that interesting. You will see soon. There is a very long stretch where every issue had a black and white variant. 
 

This, along with the unmanageable size of the collection, was one of the main reasons I sold out. The stress of keeping up was too much. The unannounced “ultra rare” convention variants were the last straw. As vigilant as I was, I wouldn’t even hear about some if them until after the fact…even with all my connections. It was just too much stress to keep up, and it took all the fun out of collecting. 
 

I sold out, bought some truly rare Golden Age, and I’ve never looked back. 

[newshane]

SPAWN 202 - CGC 9.8 - SIGNATURE SERIES - SIGNED BY JOHN LEGUIZAMO 

Not the biggest fan of him anymore, but I thought it would be really cool to get John Leguizamo's signature on this book, which prominently features Clown on the cover. 

If you don't know already, Leguizamo was cast to portray Clown in the Spawn movie. I think he did a PERFECT job, and definitely had the look. His casting was probably one of the only redeemable aspects of the film. 

 

 

[AC Skywalker]

On 9/9/2023 at 2:30 PM, newshane said:

SPAWN 199 - CGC 9.9 

Yet another Violator cover in mint condition! Just a gorgeous book all around, and this is STILL the lone top census copy! 

 

This is such an underrated cover, amazing in a 9.9!

[newshane]

SPAWN 203 - CGC 9.8 

I had a very difficult time finding this one in grade. Tough book. One of the last I tracked down. 

 

[newshane]

SPAWN 204 - CGC 9.8 

I freaking love Kudranski! Perfect artist for Spawn! Too bad the print runs are sinking to a new low. There was an obvious bump for issue 200, but then things settle back down...quickly. These are some of the more difficult books. 

Looking at the cover...I think about all the damage Spawn has taken over the years. 

 

[LadyDeath]

I often wonder if a 9.8 (or even 9.6) for issue 156 will ever be unearthed.

[newshane]

On 9/26/2023 at 10:53 AM, LadyDeath said:

I often wonder if a 9.8 (or even 9.6) for issue 156 will ever be unearthed.

We have talked about that here. 

I'm pretty bleak on the idea that it will ever happen, but I have been very surprised at the jump in census numbers on some of these issues. I honestly wonder where they came from. 

So, even though I'm of the opinion that we will never see one, I've also learned to never say never. 

[newshane]

SPAWN 205 - CGC 9.8 

My wife was always super supportive of my weird fascination with collecting Spawn. She even encouraged it. She was the one who encouraged me to buy the 185 Sketch, which at the time was by far the most I'd ever spent on a comic. She was quite amused at the way I would handle the books, and was even more amused by the obsessive way in which I would package them for shipment. 

This is probably the book that I most regret selling, for the simple reason that my wife purchased it raw years ago while she was visiting her parents in Indiana. Maybe she just got really lucky, but she actually bought a peerless copy! I sent it off (unpressed) and it came back a CGC 9.8. 

This particular copy is quite sentimental for those reasons. Looking back, it was foolish of me to sell it, but part of the appeal to the new owner was letting it go as one massive (99% complete) 9.8 run. I could have made more money selling them individually, but the cost in time spent packaging and shipping just wasn't going to work for me. I refuse to cut corners when shipping books, and packing, the way I insist on doing it, is quite a process. You can check out my Kudos thread for other people's opinions. 

It would be cool if I could track down this copy again one day. It's not breaking my heart or anything, but it would be cool! Like the man who sells his Camaro as a teenager, only to track it back down decades later. 

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by newshane

[LadyDeath]

On 9/26/2023 at 9:28 PM, newshane said:

We have talked about that here. 

I'm pretty bleak on the idea that it will ever happen, but I have been very surprised at the jump in census numbers on some of these issues. I honestly wonder where they came from. 

So, even though I'm of the opinion that we will never see one, I've also learned to never say never. 

Well said. I recently checked issue 149 and didn't realize it had so many 9.8s.

[captainzombie]

On 9/26/2023 at 8:28 PM, newshane said:

We have talked about that here. 

I'm pretty bleak on the idea that it will ever happen, but I have been very surprised at the jump in census numbers on some of these issues. I honestly wonder where they came from. 

So, even though I'm of the opinion that we will never see one, I've also learned to never say never. 

It would be wild if a 9.6 or 9.8 would see the light of day. I went and double checked my raw copy last night, and its probably a 9.4 at best. If a 9.8 ever surfaces, it would be one Spawn book that could probably fetch in the 4 digit range since it is so rare in a high grade.

[newshane]

SPAWN 206 - CGC 9.8 

 

[newshane]

SPAWN 207 - CGC 9.8 

One of my very favorite Kudranski covers. This was a gorgeous book.