COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Adventures of Superman 498 Signature
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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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1614272010
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Owner:
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Iconic1s
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
I upgraded this slot to this triple signed signature series 9.8 book in March 2025… this was after my set was already 100 percent complete and all 9.8 or above. Once I had finished my competitive set by adding the last 9.8 I decided to continue to upgrade slots when possible. I first added a Shaquille O’Neal signed book, then a Dan Jurgens signed book, and then this one. This book was auction style, and I watched it for a week before sniping it for $280.00 with just a couple of seconds left.
Finding my original 9.8 copy of this book was very difficult (for me), especially for a first printing with a healthy census inventory at the time! It 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 (at the time… set later increased to 99) books graded in at least 9.8. Read on to learn how I ended up with FOUR Universal copies of a book that was so difficult to find even one of. It’s a little wild that I now have this triple signed signature series copy!
This slot was first occupied by a 9.6 ss book. 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 at CGC at the time and was awaiting 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 set. This was also the last of the four printings of Adventures of Superman 498 that I needed in 9.8!
I had bought multiple lots and copies of this book raw. I eventually had over 50 raw copies, with no 9.8 candidates among them. I finally decided to buy the 9.6 ss 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 hoped that with my luck 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, 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, as well as Action Comics 690 that I also had in 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 made this set the first to do so); it 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 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… 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... at the time, this was the only set where that was possible!
Thank you sd2416 for your help finding that book. The grade date was 26 May 2020 and it was the 18th 9.8 Universal Label book to join the census.
On a side note… 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 had to wonder quando I would have this book in this set, there it was!
Not long after that, two of the books I had submitted received 9.8's! It's crazy how things worked out; I had the toughest time finding the first 9.8 copy of this book and then I suddenly had three! The grade date for those two were 2 July 2020.
Then… the last copy of this book I had submitted also received 9.8 with a grade date of 16 July 2020! That same submission had two copies of Adventures of Superman 505 Collector's Edition receive 9.8's so it was a good one! So, I ended up having 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, along with this signature series 9.8. After all the effort it took to find them, and the strange twists and turns resulting in an incredibly successful result, I decided they should all be on display!
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