Set Description:
This is probably my second favorite science fiction series (Star Trek being my first). I didn't discover that the comic and magazine series existed until I returned to the hobby in, coincidentally, 1999. I like both series, but the magazine seems to capture the tone of the show more than the comic.
Putting this run together was a bit of an experiment for me. I don't usually try and attain a "highest graded" set nor do I usually set out to purchase 9.8 copies of books. Typically, I try and submit the best copies I have and am generally pleased if books attain 9.6 with 9.8s being a nice bonus.
However, the price difference between already graded 9.8 copies and high-grade raw copies of this run offered by reputable dealers wasn't nearly as large as that for books from the big two publishers. That, combined with the low census numbers, made this seem like an appealing niche set, something that not everyone else has or is pursuing.
However, there has been a learning curve and at the end I'm not sure I would pursue another graded magazine collection. Certainly not one by Charlton - which is a hard choice as I would very much like to have a Six Million Dollar Man run - and certainly not trying to attain 9.8 copies.
When I look at the books in this run and I see the waves created and stress put on the spine by the pressure from the inner well as well as possible other post-slabbing damage, I feel that perhaps magazines - at least ones with a stapled spine - might not be good candidates for encapsulation.
I also think the lack of prescreening on magazine submissions combined with what I suspect is a slightly different grading scale than traditional comics, makes submitting raw magazines in an attempt to hit a certain grade a real gamble.
Overall, I'm proud to have this set, though I would probably feel more of a sense of accomplishment if I had submitted more of the books myself. And I think I will continue to put together a run of nice raw copies of these same books.
Yet, in trying to get raw copies, it impresses on me how infrequently really nice copies of these magazines turn up. Perhaps it's due to a general lack of interest in the property or in comic magazines in general (there's better representation of the comic run on the census) but I also think because of Charlton's poor printing practices that these are genuinely hard to find in high grade.
So while I spent more than I would have on a raw set and it times it was a bit of an eye-opening experience, I do feel a sense of satisfaction in having a high-grade CGC run of series that I feel a fondness for and not everyone is pursuing.
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