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The 9.8 SS X-Men #94-143 Odyssey

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RockMyAmadeus

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This has been a set that has long been a dream of mine. Batman is my favorite single character in comics; the X-Men are my favorite team. I don't know how much of that is due to the fact that, when I first got into comics, X-Men, especially from the Bronze Age, were "out of reach" expensive. GS #1? X-Men #94? Yeah, ok. Not going to happen.

But, as I slowly filled out my collection, I tended to buy more and more copies of X-Men...starting with the "cheap" #150-ish to #260. I think my first Byrne X-Men was #141 that I paid $7 for from the Land of Nevawuz in 1990, I believe. Sadly, X-Men got really hot again in 1991, and stores jacked up their prices accordingly. I wish I had known then what I know now...the $3-$4 or so I spent for copies of #183, 178, 194, etc, still aren't worth that. Sigh.

In any event, I started to buy earlier and earlier, and by the time of eBay in the late 90s, I could finally afford "the big ones." And, by that time, the entire market took a dump, so it was a great time to be buying. I don't remember the first #94 I ever bought...I know I TRIED to buy one in a Scott's Valley comic store in 1995-1996, but that guy would not budge off of his mid-grade copy at $150 (more than OPG, for those wondering.)

But, somewhere in the early 2000s, I completed this run, and kept buying and buying and buying, focusing more on the Byrne and earlier run, and stopping buying the vastly overprinted #150-up....except, of course, the keys, which I can never get enough of. I probably have a long box just of Mutant Massacre (#210-213.)

In any event...in the last couple of years, I've wanted to translate that into a 9.8 set, signed, at least by Claremont, since Byrne won't sign, and Cockrum is no longer with us. Here, then, are the results of the last couple of years of effort:

1356450536_xmen95.thumb.jpg.2742145b8a2e5386c8a19f1e805a6014.jpg

631655080_xmen102.thumb.jpg.e8c0b390b480ea5f360b37906d731458.jpg2047321306_xmen103.thumb.jpg.8e324a2baad441b640ea651bb8fde2bb.jpg487357646_xmen1052.thumb.jpg.277abc501415015c2a7f5ac683e43894.jpg1005719491_xmen1082.thumb.jpg.a502ada1908d5531b35aa222dad5a61c.jpg859243807_xmen1102.thumb.jpg.67cc605e55adf72c5857216f4d2fc744.jpg2028342600_xmen1112.thumb.jpg.cebf30cc3d817e2fbaf99c52df57667f.jpg1594134336_xmen112.thumb.jpg.74624dfd77f69e1ef0a9a90c9a7363d4.jpg783752425_xmen113.thumb.jpg.c7a6d705e43257b3e317fcacfc0191cb.jpg463190261_xmen114.thumb.jpg.101e70b49ca7b9a3307978a2b325f0cb.jpg673040720_xmen115.thumb.jpg.f6347abac07e8260afa07f6e24533499.jpg1238223212_xmen1162.thumb.jpg.65127ddf170de6d7bb36aae2a98a364d.jpg1136601043_xmen117.thumb.jpg.07a7e204918b326add9f5c5d7c79a2a9.jpg1758401377_xmen118.thumb.jpg.d24f793ee533f7933d1c03e6396426df.jpg360339269_xmen121.thumb.jpg.2b46cdaf554ac7fc2eb99ab5d226a1ce.jpg856966553_xmen123.thumb.jpg.1eeb9a8dd53fc653a53d48e8c9beb6df.jpg1822671541_xmen1242.thumb.jpg.c514a32296ec827987c24bc4dfe186da.jpg296293938_xmen125.thumb.jpg.5162256c97e225f65a032cd16024605a.jpg66234775_xmen1262.thumb.jpg.aa6140a0b14e7ba6c9660dc61ab76bc2.jpg

1755336110_xmen127.thumb.jpg.c5ce53395f8560cdc6504fa86117ce75.jpg421132020_xmen128.thumb.jpg.7bbd4aba97adfe67de4be779a0758652.jpg

314342403_xmen130.thumb.jpg.2cb00b29be1b079b11adaeeb734c7a8b.jpg597886352_xmen1332.thumb.jpg.81ef3f0ef95ffdb70bef2a5dff8ace41.jpg368051802_xmen134.thumb.jpg.3ee428a64acf7dd0ee38dbc1b09ad331.jpg1634183308_xmen135.thumb.jpg.8deb93aa466d47c2f7e9643cfd809f2f.jpg979415562_xmen136.thumb.jpg.e42698671e0e47dceb03740ffc1febfc.jpg1823274859_xmen138(2).thumb.jpg.eaa66a1af463e6e69d71a7b6b7f12357.jpg1908954106_xmen139.thumb.jpg.9c78bf8c243e151ec3ddbf6d3d540b49.jpg

977847226_xmen140.thumb.jpg.c9b036d90def47bb2b1f7e0e6dc237e8.jpg663441152_xmen143.thumb.jpg.07dd7aa419662eb304f8dab0a90fc6b4.jpg

So, I have a #127, #130, and #140 on their way back from CGC as we speak...so that makes 30 of the 50 different books.

#94 is going to be expensive, but not too difficult when I can gather the $$. Of course, I'm missing most of the big guns...#96-#101 especially. They are tough, tough books in 9.8, especially #97-#99. 

And, of course, some of the more expensive, like #104, 107, 109, 120, 129 are also missing. I have a #141 that should have graded 9.8, but a grader saw something that wasn't there, and graded it 9.4. It will go back for review at some point.

But, hey...60% there. Of course, I also have a ton of 9.4s and 9.6s as a result, but hey..at least they're not worthless! And...I do have some of the most difficult books, like #114 and #116, which are a BEAR in 9.8. Just hideously difficult. They have some of the lowest 9.8 counts of the entire run, so...yay!

When I get the others, I'll post them.

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26 Comments


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Thank you for sharing.  Always nice to hear other people's comic collecting stories.  I wish you the best of luck in obtaining the remaining books you need.  A complete signed run of X-Men from #94 and up would be incredible.  The search is fun, but finally getting them is going to be better! :)

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Wow, simply amazing RMA! Thank you for taking the time to share this with us. It looks like you and I have a few interests in common, such as love of Death and Return of Superman variants, Batman and the Bryne/Claremont X-Men run. Good luck obtaining the rest of the books you need!

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:headbang:    

I remember that 94 in SV. It was eventually bleached pure white by the time they went out of business.   :ohnoez:

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8 hours ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

Good luck on completing this run. 

Why no #137? 

#137 is a strange beast. I'm not willing to risk cracking a 9.8 and having it grade "something else", and I'm not at all confident that I could get a 9.4 or 9.6 and have it grade 9.8.

I have never been able to grade glued spine books the way CGC grades them. I don't know what they hit, and I don't know what they overlook, beyond broad strokes.

That's one I'll probably end up buying already signed: no risk.

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4 hours ago, Alf Pogs said:

:headbang:    

I remember that 94 in SV. It was eventually bleached pure white by the time they went out of business.   :ohnoez:

You DO remember that one! I didn't mention that it was sitting in the afternoon sun, day after day after day, getting bleachier and bleachier and bleachier.

Made me sad. :(

True story: guy kicked me out of the store for "hiding" some back issues. :D I did that a lot in my early 20s...didn't want it to sell, but didn't have the money, so I'd hide the books I wanted in a run of Godzilla or something and come back and buy them when I finally had some money. ;)

While I certainly understand why you wouldn't want your back stock out of order, his reaction was a bit extreme, in my view. I certainly wasn't shoplifting, and I would have eventually bought them. And, as the X-Men #94 story shows, they were terrible businessmen...

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23 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Godzilla

Hey! There is nothing wrong with Godzilla comic's :roflmao:I'm actually trying to complete at 9.8 run!

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Your 114 is amazing!  :x

It might have been you when I first walked into that shop in SV. There was a guy arguing with the owner over the 94. He was saying you are ruining it in the sun and the owner said it is not for sale just for show. I had 106 up to almost current but new issues were so bad I lost interest in completing 94-105 so I looked and it and just kinda laughed. I always felt it was over priced and the supply was tightly controlled. I have a nice looking copy with a ripped back cover that I am happy with now. 

GS#1?

 

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This is amazing!  One of my long-term collecting goals is to have a straight run of X-Men/Uncanny-Xmen until at least issue 400...they've always held a special place in my heart since watching the cartoon as a kid in the 90s.  

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12 hours ago, Alf Pogs said:

Your 114 is amazing!  :x

It might have been you when I first walked into that shop in SV. There was a guy arguing with the owner over the 94. He was saying you are ruining it in the sun and the owner said it is not for sale just for show.

 

That would be very coincidental if that was me in the shop when you happened to come in, 20+ years ago! But I do remember having some form of that conversation with the guy. Cue Twilight Zone theme.

Do you remember the store further along the coast...maybe, I want to say, in Capitola or Soquel....that was a comic store/pet store? Very nice guy, but he was apparently getting out of comics around 1996...and I thought I was scoring big when I bought several long boxes of new-ish comics, mostly Image, for "half price" (meaning $1.25-$1.50 each.)

This would have included stellars like pre-Ellis Stormwatch, Brigade, Cyber Force, Youngblood. If only I had waited...the heyday of eBay was just around the corner...

:facepalm:

Oh well, he was a nice guy, and he treated me with respect, so hopefully the money helped him out. :)

 

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14 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

comic store/pet store

on 41st ave. it was "Atomic Comics" at one time

when the fish tanks move in, that's the cue to buy your comics somewhere else  lol

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