CGC Registry

Phoenix/Byrne UK/MJ run


Set Type: X-Men (1963) The Claremont Run 94-279 U.K Editions/Price Variants
Owner: DaveNix
Last Modified: 4/30/2026
Views: 237

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Score: 9578
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Set Description:

The rarest high-grade collection of the classic Claremont/Byrne X-Men run — with a few extras thrown in for good measure.

John Byrne brought me into comic collecting with the cover of Fantastic Four #239 — the first comic I ever bought off the rack at my small-town neighborhood drug store. I was a little late to the party to catch Byrne and Claremont’s magic on X-Men when it was coming out, but I made up for it. As a young man serving in the U.S. Navy, I hunted those back issues with a paper checklist tucked in my back pocket. That was comic collecting. The thrill of the hunt.

Years later, comics fell to the wayside — until COVID gave me time to fall in love with them again. But now? The hunt felt different. Too easy. Just a matter of narrowing down your eBay filters. And then… I saw her.

Phoenix, rising from the water on the cover of X-Men #101. Beautiful. And as a UK Price Variant? Extremely rare. I had to have her. That 9.4 CGC slab became the cornerstone of a new passion. UK price variants typically make up just 3–5% of the U.S. print run, and even fewer survive in high grade. For X-Men #101, as of September 2025, there are:

253 U.S. copies graded 9.8

1 UK Price Variant in 9.8

Just 7 UK 9.6s — compared to 564 U.S.

The hunt was back on.

I quickly discovered that issues like #102–107, #121–122, #137, and #142–143 weren’t published as UK price variants — but many exist as Mark Jewelers variants (again ~3–5% of print runs), with the notable exception of #137. For that penultimate chapter of Phoenix, I tracked down a CGC 9.8 signed by both Chris Claremont and John Byrne. I also added a 9.8 Canadian Price Variant of Phoenix: The Untold Story — and why not toss in Marvel Team-Up #53–54, Byrne’s first X-Men art, in UK editions?

I’m shooting for 9.4 or better across the board — and I’ve still got a ways to go. But the hunt? That’s the fun. That’s the whole point.

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