COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Adventures of Superman 498 Modern
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Grade:
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9.8
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Certification #:
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2120276016
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Owner:
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Iconic1s
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Finding a 9.8 copy of this book was very difficult (for me), especially for a first printing with a healthy census inventory! This was the last first printing from this entire set that I needed at 9.8 and it took me over two years of actively searching to get my hands on one. Its addition put my set at 92 of 98 books graded at least 9.8. Read on to learn how I ended up with FOUR copies of a book that was so difficult to find even one of.
This book replaced a 9.6 ss book that I had in this slot. When I originally added the 9.6, I had four empty slots and was trying to get my set to 100 percent completion. I had the books for the other empty slots submitted to CGC at the time and was waiting on grades.
I was trying to either buy a 9.8 of this book or find a raw copy worthy of submission before putting a book in this slot. It should have been relatively easy to find with 17 Universal and 5 Signature Series in the census at the time, but a 9.8 never came up for sale during the entire time I was building my Base Set. This was also the last of the four printings of Adventures of Superman 498 that I needed 9.8!
I had bought multiple lots/copies of this book raw. I eventually had over 50 copies of this book, with no 9.8 candidates among them. I finally decided to buy the 9.6 ss in order to get a book in this slot to achieve 100 percent completion. All things considered, a 9.6 ss was nothing to be ashamed of either. I also figured that with my luck sometimes that if I went ahead and bought the 9.6 then a 9.8 would pop up for sale right away. This book did not make it that easy though!
During my search for this book, I met a CGC forum member through a WTB post I started; he had recently bought a large collection of 1990's raw books. He had a great looking copy of this book, as well as Action Comics 690 that I also had 9.6 at the time, and submitted them to CGC for me. I committed to buy both if they come back 9.8. The Adventures of Superman 498 ended up grading 9.2. On the bright side, the Action Comics 690 came back 9.8 which finished up all of my Reign of the Supermen books graded 9.8, and also made this book the last of the first printings I needed in 9.8 for this entire storyline.
I then met another member through the same WTB post and he sent in a copy of this book for me as well. His copy also looked great so I once again crossed my fingers. In the meantime, I finally found three nice raw copies that I thought all had 9.8 potential. I submitted them for pressing and grading in two different submissions due to the timing of finding them, while waiting on the other member’s copy to be graded.
At long last there was some success with this book… the second forum member’s book graded 9.8 and I quickly agreed to the purchase. I was finally able to include a picture of all four printings of this book graded 9.8; check out the second printing of this book to see it... as of this writing, this is the only set where this is possible!
Thank you sd2416 for your help finding this book.
The grade date of this book is 26 May 2020 and it is the 18th 9.8 Universal Label book to join the census.
My wife and I were fortunate enough to see Engelbert Humperdinck in concert in January 2020. He was 83 years old at the time and put on an amazing show. For a long time, the 9.8 of this book reminded me of the lyrics from one of the songs he performed that evening. The song was originally an Italian pop song from 1962 and Engelbert first recorded it in English in 1968.
Tell me when will you be mine,
Tell me quando quando quando…
I no longer have to wonder quando I will have this book in this set, here it is!
Update #1 - two of the books I had already submitted when I got this one have since received 9.8's! It's crazy how things work out; I had the toughest time finding the first 9.8 copy of this book and now I have three! The grade date for the two I submitted is 2 July 2020.
Update #2 - the last copy of this book I had submitted also received 9.8, grade date 16 July 2020! This was the same submission that I also had two copies of Adventures of Superman 505 Collector's Edition also receive 9.8's so it was a really good one! Now I somehow have FOUR 9.8 copies of a book that I couldn't find for two years! When it rains it pours I guess! Just crazy!
I included a picture of all four of the 9.8 copies of this book in the second picture slot. After all the effort it took to find them, and the strange twists and turns resulting in a pretty crazy result, I decided they should all be on display!
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