Congratulations, 2017 CGC Registry Award Winners!

Congratulations 2017 CGC Registry Award Winners

We would like to thank all of the participants in the CGC Registry and congratulate everyone on their individual accomplishments in every set.

The CGC Registry has grown to over 67,000 registered sets in the last year! There are now more than 3,900 competitive set types and we continue to receive new set type requests daily. The possibilities are endless and it is thrilling to see how the CGC Registry has evolved over time.

Our Mission was to choose three sets each in six competitive categories - Best Golden Age, Best Silver Age, Best Bronze Age, Best Modern Age, Best Copper Age and Best Presented. Additionally we had the task of choosing one winner for Best Magazine set, three outstanding message board contributors and just one registry participant for Overall Achievement in Comics Collecting.

Our team of judges reviewed all of the top sets across every category in the Comics Registry and after much deliberation, selected the following winners. Congratulations to all!

CGC 2017 Award for Achievement in Comics Collecting

The 2017 Achievement in Collecting Comics award goes to Colorado Comics! Third in Overall Points, Colorado Comics has images for ninety-nine percent of his registered books and three of his sets rank as first place registry sets! Colorado Comics is focused on high grade Silver Age Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four titles with a smattering of modern sets in their early stages. Congratulations Colorado Comics for winning the 2017 Achievement in Collecting Comics Award!! Colorado Comics homepage.

Best Golden Age Sets

telerites - Thrilling Goodness! - Thrilling Comics (1940)

Here is a full 80 issue run of Thrilling comics. It was the longest running title in the Golden Age produced by the Nedor Comic Group. Thank you "telerites" for finally completing this run and downloading images of all these scarce books for our enjoyment!!

fantasyland15 - Cryptology Rules OK - Tales from the Crypt

It’s long overdue for the Registry Awards to recognize an EC collection. Here we have a near set of "Tales From The Crypt". And they are ALL GAINES FILE COPIES! WOW! Congratulations to "Fantasyland" and Hope you can get that #37 and finish off the set!

srbenn - A Trio of Superheroes - World’s Finest (1941)

This title features two of the most iconic superheroes ever created (Superman & Batman) in each issue. The early Golden Age portion of this set is complete, and only a hand full are missing over the 1st two decades. Congratulations to "srbenn" for assembling such a beautiful run of an often underappreciated title!

Best Silver Age Sets

4GEMWORKS - 4GEMWORKS COMPLETE FOUR COLOR EMPORIUM - Four Color (complete)

An impressive near complete set of some of the most hard-to-find-in-any-grade books! Beautifully presented with descriptions and images on most, this set showcases not only books, but the passion this set owner has for collecting.

Shivabali - Kirby’s Krackle - Jack Kirby Cover Set

A massive update this year with a bevy of 9.6/9.8 additions of beautiful Jack Kirby covers from classic Silver Age runs from the likes of Journey, Thor, FF and Captain America. Though only at 16% complete, this set would impress Kirby the King himself had he seen it! A fantastic beginning effort!

Zabra - The Zabra Collection-PRIMARY SET - Action Comics (Complete)

A large number of additions to this set over the past year, with not only impressive grades on some tough books, but also pedigrees on many and extensive write-ups on all entries!

Best Bronze Age Sets

JKirbyfan - The Old Gods Died! - Kirby Fourth World

Jack Kirby was the undisputed “King” of comics, and his Bronze Age work at DC is some of his most fun stuff! This set, which focuses on his “Fourth World” saga, is a stunning achievement. All 55 books are present, with nine of them being 9.6, and all the rest being 9.8! Add to that the awesome pictures that include each entry, and that earns JKirbyfan a well-deserved award. Congratulations!

Shivabali - Bronze This - Marvel Bronze Age 1st Issues (1970-1982)

Marvel’s popularity exploded in the ‘70s. Where Marvel had been reduced to 6 titles in the early ‘60s, their success brought forth a plethora of new characters and new titles. Trying to get a #1 issue from every new series from 1970-1982 would mean getting all 202 issues that comprise the “Marvel Bronze Age 1st issue” set. Shivabali is about 70% of the way there, and what he’s already achieved is extremely impressive. The vast majority are 9.8s, with nothing below a 9.2. Some of the stand-outs include Giant-Size X-Men #1, X-Men #94 and Conan #1, all in 9.8!

jjbjheartman - Trekkie at heart - Star Trek (Gold Key 1967)

From way back when the original STAR TREK series was still being produced comes this series from Gold Key. Running 61 issues (65 if you include the hard-to-find variants for issues 2 and 3), this series ran from 1967-1979. This set from jjbjheartman contains all but one of those 65 issues, with the majority in 9.6 and 9.8! A very impressive feat, as Gold Keys can be hard to acquire in high grade.

Best Copper Age Sets

Shivabali - Shiny Coppers - Marvel Copper Age 1st Appearances

Shivabali’s set “Shiny Coppers” contains 153 of the 155 books needed to have every copper age first appearance. The majority of the books in the set are 9.8 or higher and over half of the collection is Signature series!!! Some of the highlights of his collection are Marvel Super Heroes #8 in 10.0, New Mutants #98 in 9.9,Transformers #1 in 9.9,Uncanny X-Men #266 & 281 in 9.9,Web of Spider-Man #1 in 9.9 & Wolverine Limited Series #1 in 9.9. CONGRATS!!!!

Ogami - Ogami and Son’s Samurai Services - Lone Wolf & Cub

Ogami’s set “Ogami and Son’s Samurai Services” showcases a very impressive collection of Lone Wolf & Cub comic books. The majority of the books in the set are signature series and all his books are in high grade! Ogami also managed to secure on a multiple number of his books, rare signatures from the writer Kazuo Koike and also a sketch by him on his Lone Wolf & Cub #1 second printing which is pretty much unheard of! And Ogami also has in this set Lone Wolf & Cub #1 first printing in 10.0!!!! Amazing! Ogami shows his love for the comic by giving a very in-depth description of his fandom of the creators, the history of the characters and also explaining in detail how he managed to bring some of the books into his collection. Ogami also supplements these entries with pictures of additional items associated with the characters and other graded books from his collection to further show his love of all things Lone Wolf & Cub. Congrats Ogami!!!!

ironcorn - Star Trek (Marvel) - Star Trek (Marvel)

ironcorn’s complete set of Star Trek Marvel comics are all in 9.8. Several of the books are signed by the creators of the series as well as stars of the tv show/movies. Ironcorn’s set also contains good descriptions & photos of each issue. A very fun set of books! Congrats!

Best Modern Age Sets

WILDBILL2000 - WILD BILL Zenescope Black Diamond - Zenescope Black Diamond

Congratulations to Wild Bill 2000. This is an amazing set of high grade modern comics. While the set may only contain a total of 16 comics 9 of the issues are graded at an outstanding 9.9. In addition to all of that, every book in the collection signature series having been signed by at least one member of the creative team. Finally I will point out that this collection is made up of the black diamond variant covers across multiple titles and some of them can be difficult to find in such high grade. Great job!

AlphaPrimeIan - Infiltration Prime - Transformers: Infiltration

It is always cool to see someone come back to half-finished set after a few years and then knock it out of the park. This is the case with AlphaPrimelan’s Transformers: Infiltration set. Now complete it contains all variants and each book is graded at least 9.8 including five 9.9 copies. What really helps push this to the top is that this collection now contains nice images and detailed description for almost every book.

kthuluu - Preach It Brother - Preacher Complete Set

The presumable elder one kthuluu has put together an amazing collection of Preacher. A solid 9.8 run of every issue of Preacher including all special printings and one-shot comics. This set has been getting better and better through-out the last few years and it is inspiring to see that level of dedication.

Best Presented Sets

labratnotinclud ed - Wolverine(1988) - Wolverine (1988)

Labratnotincluded, your hard work would definitely make Logan proud, Bub! Your countless hours of finding so many high grade, non-signature series issues must have been quite an undertaking, and it shows! Congratulations on a beautiful collection!

Brandon Shepherd - My Introduction to Comic Collecting - Superman (Doomsday Death Funeral Return)

Don’t worry, Brandon Shepherd, we won’t turn you away like the Black Lighting was in the SNL skit. We think that your Superman (Doomsday Death Funeral Return) Set is turning into something special! Keep up the good work and thanks for the walk down memory lane.

mttemp - Whitman Lady - Whitman Pre-Pack and Scarce Issues

You’re right, The Whitman Lady, it certainly is a different time, but we are in love with your timeless collection. One can’t help slipping back into our childhood looking through your massive collection… and don’t feel bad. You aren’t the only one who made “additions” with your Crayolas back in the day… If we only knew then…

Best Magazine Set

Rune - The Barbarian Master Set - Savage Tales

This appropriately titled set displays some of the finest examples of Savage Tales ever graded by CGC. Detailed descriptions accompany each issue along with high quality photos of both the front and back covers. The owner also owns & displays Ken Barr’s original art for the Annual, confirming that this is not just a hobby, but a passion. And so, to quote the set owner (who gives due credit to Dr. Jones) – “This should be in a museum!”

Best Custom Set

Lookin4Newsstands - 1st cover appearances

The Best Custom Set award this year goes to Lookin4Newsstands with his “1st Cover Appearances” set focusing on his favorite characters first appearances on the cover. It is mostly high grade and Lookin4Newsstands also provided pictures & comments for almost all of the books in this fun custom set. Congratulations, Looking4Newsstands!

Best Forumites

greggy
Crassus
Deadone

Best in Set Type

We would also like to acknowledge the top set in each set type. See our 2017 Awards Archive page for the Best in Set Type winners. 2017 Awards Archive

2017 Awards Archive

Special note: In response to participant feedback, an opt-out feature has been added on the edit set page for users with a No. 1 set who wish to NOT receive a certificate in the mail. If your set is No. 1 at the award deadline and you choose to opt out of receiving the certificate, your set is still named No. 1 and gets the award icon online. Opting out only means you wouldn’t receive the paper certificate in the mail.