CGC Announces Private Signing Event with Ian McDiarmid

CGC is thrilled to announce a private signing with actor Ian McDiarmid!

Making his stage acting debut in Hamlet in 1972, McDiarmid joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974, and has since starred in a number of Shakespearean plays including Macbeth, The Tempest and King Lear. McDiarmid has still maintained a strong presence in the theater and notably received an Olivier Award for Best Actor and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his stage performances.

After a smaller role in the movie Dragonslayer, McDiarmid was cast as the role of the Sith Emperor Palpatine by George Lucas for The Return of the Jedi in 1983. With this casting his destiny was sealed! After an amazing performance as the iconic villain, he would forever be linked to Star Wars mythos.

Sixteen years after Return of the Jedi, he reprised the role as the character’s younger incarnation of Senator (and later Chancellor) Palpatine and Sith Lord Darth Sidious in the prequel films: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. McDiarmid returned to the role of Palpatine on screen in the 2019 film The Rise of Skywalker. Since this time, he has also reprised the role in Disney+’s hit shows Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Bad Batch and Tales of the Jedi.

Click images to enlarge.

For this exclusive event, ALL CGC members, including free CGC members, can submit books directly to CGC headquarters in Sarasota, Florida. CGC must receive all submissions for this event by October 12, 2025.

If the CGC Private Signing needs to be rescheduled, CGC will securely store all submissions in its vault until the event can be rescheduled.

After the submitted books are signed, CGC will grade and encapsulate them with an estimated turnaround time of six weeks. If CGC pressing is also requested, the turnaround time is estimated at eight weeks. After grading and encapsulation, the collectibles will be shipped back to their owners.

The CGC Comics Signing fee for Ian McDiarmid is $220 per item and includes:

• Ian McDiarmid’s signature.
• Estimated turnaround time of six weeks for CGC grading
• Estimated turnaround time of eight weeks for CGC grading and CGC pressing (an additional $20 fee applies for CGC pressing)
• Encapsulation with the iconic yellow CGC Signature Series label

The CGC Cards Signing fee for Ian McDiarmid is $200 per item and includes:

• Ian McDiarmid’s Signature
• Estimated turnaround time of six weeks for CGC grading
• Encapsulation with the iconic yellow CGC Signature Series label

The CGC Comics Signing fee with a character name for Ian McDiarmid is $245 per item and includes:

• Ian McDiarmid’s signature with a character name
• Estimated turnaround time of six weeks for CGC grading
• Estimated turnaround time of eight weeks for CGC grading and CGC pressing (an additional $20 fee applies for CGC pressing)
• Encapsulation with the iconic yellow CGC Signature Series label

The CGC Comics Signing fee with a short quote for Ian McDiarmid is $250 per item and includes:

• Ian McDiarmid’s signature.
• a short quote (6 words or less)
• Estimated turnaround time of six weeks for CGC grading
• Estimated turnaround time of eight weeks for CGC grading and CGC pressing (an additional $20 fee applies for CGC pressing)
• Encapsulation with the iconic yellow CGC Signature Series label

The CGC Comics Signing fee with a long quote for Ian McDiarmid is $280 per item and includes:

• Ian McDiarmid’s signature.
• a long quote (8 words or more)
• Estimated turnaround time of six weeks for CGC grading
• Estimated turnaround time of eight weeks for CGC grading and CGC pressing (an additional $20 fee applies for CGC pressing)
• Encapsulation with the iconic yellow CGC Signature Series label
• IMPORTANT: He will not write "Have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Plageuis the Wise"

Submission Instructions

For this CGC Private Signing event, you can ship submissions directly to CGC with a FREE membership. Paid memberships are also available and include additional benefits. For more information and to join, visit CGCcomics.com/join.

To submit books for the signing:

• Log onto your account or sign up for an account HERE.
• Click Submit in the CGC website navigation and select Submission Forms.
• Next to Comics / Magazines / Pulps, select Online Form.
• Click Start New Order.
• Select Comic or Magazine, then select CGC Signature Series, then select In-House Private Signing and choose one of the following from the dropdown menu section:
  IAN MCDIARMID, SIGNATURE; IAN MCDIARMID, CHARACTER NAME; IAN MCDIARMID, SHORT QUOTE or IAN MCDIARMID, LONG QUOTE. Under Primary Services, select Authentication & Grading and, if you would like it, Pressing. Then click Add Comic.
• Enter the information requested for your comic, and make sure to check the box next to Ian McDiarmid under Private Signing Details.
• If a qualifying custom label is available, you will have the option to click the Custom Label box and make a selection to add one of CGC’s custom labels to your submission for qualifying books.
• Select Add Comic, and then repeat if there are additional books in your submission. If there are no additional books in your submission, click on Review Cart and proceed to checkout.
• Note: If you want to submit magazines, please group them together on their own private signing form separate from comic submissions. The same rule applies for any custom labels. Please group them together on their own private signing form separate from non-custom labels. To see the available labels, click HERE.
• Put ALL ungraded books in window bags or they will not be accepted.
• Books that are already certified by CGC, including CGC Signature Series books, can be submitted for this event. CGC will remove a CGC-certified book from its holder for an additional $5 fee.
• Carefully package books in a box for shipment.
• IMPORTANT: Please write IM on all sides of the outside of the box. You must initial the outside of the box or we will not be able to honor the submission for this signing.
• Books will be safely stored by CGC until the event, and books will be received into the CGC system when they arrive at the facility. (Please note: Payments are processed as they normally are at the time of the collectibles’ arrival at CGC.)
• Once books are signed, they will start an expedited CGC grading process.

To submit cards for the signing:

• Log onto your account or sign up for an account HERE.
• Click Submit in the CGC Cards website navigation and select Submission Form.
• Click on the link to the CGC Cards Online Form.
• Select "Mail-In or Show Drop-Off" under Select Submission Method.
• Select "Grading" under Select Primary Service.
• Choose IAN MCDIARMID, SIGNATURE under Select Tier.
• Enter the information requested for your card.
• Select Add to Cart, and then repeat if there are additional cards in your submission. If there are no additional cards in your submission, click on the cart icon and proceed to checkout.
• Carefully package cards in a box for shipment.
• IMPORTANT: Please write IM on all sides of the outside of the box. You must initial the outside of the box or we will not be able to honor the submission for this signing.
• Cards will be received into the CGC Cards system when they arrive and will be safely stored by CGC Cards until the event. (Please note: Payments are processed as they normally are at the time of the collectibles' arrival at CGC.)
• Once cards are signed, they will start an expedited CGC Cards grading process.

PLEASE NOTE:

All submissions must be received by CGC no later than October 12, 2025, to qualify for this private signing event. No change requests will be accepted after October 12, 2025.

*Cannot be combined with other CGC Private Signing events.

**If you submit a CGC-graded collectible that needs to be removed from its original holder by CGC, the collectible will need to go through the certification and encapsulation process again, and there is no guarantee that it will receive the same grade.

***Paid membership discounts do not apply to this Private Signing.

****Marker color requests are welcome but not guaranteed. Marker color choice and signature placement are at the final discretion of the signer.

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for sports cards, TCGs and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. CGC Home Video provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes, DVD, Blu-ray and more. CGC also offers seamless solutions for autograph collectors with CGC Signature Series and JSA Authentic Autograph services.