Set Description:
Synopsis: This is a complete set of 89 books with a minimum grade of 9.4, which has topped the registry for six years. The vast majority of our books are 9.8s (70) with 77 books topping the census. Moreover, 34 of our books come from Pedigree Collections, including 14 from the Pacific Coast Collection. The highlight of this set are Issues #1-4, which all come from the Pacific Coast Collection and are all highest graded examples, with our Issues #1 and #3 being single highest graded and #2 being 1 of 2. As of June 2026, 16 of our books are single highest graded examples.
Background: This is a mixed set including books from 11 different DC titles plus the 15-issue 80-page DC Giant run from 1964-1965.
Our Collection: We found this one to be an extremely difficult set to complete because the books come from so many different titles. We originally just acquired the Giant Flashes as past of that set. We later added the Giant JLAs and the Giant World’s Finests, but only as parts of those collections. It was not until my friend Mark in England decided to break up and sell his award winning set of Gorgeous Giants, which were auctioned off on Heritage in August 2019, that we started buying additional books. We finally completed the set in 2023 and moved the minimum grade up to 9.4 in 2026.
The problem with collecting these books on any semblance of a budget is that many of the books are seemingly impossible to find in high grade unless they come up all at once.Twice we could have pretty much finished this set by buying every book in an auction, but finances did not permit buying so many books at once. Moreover, since all the books fit into other sets, some like the Batmans, which are more heavily collected, are far harder to find than others.
On the plus side, it seems that a large percentage of my friend Mark’s (Colmoreman’s) Gorgeous Giants set were acquired by one collector, who decided to sell them on Heritage in late 2021 giving us a second shot at many of those books. We did not get them all by any means, but we were able to grab enough to jumpstart this set with a couple of dozen high-grade books. We have also started to just fill some slots with 9.6s rather than waiting for highest-graded examples to come on the market.
While finishing this set has become more of a priority for us, most of the missing issues remain difficult to find, at least in 9.6/9.8. If we ever finish this one with 9.6/9.8s, it better win a Best Silver Age Award, it’s a bear.
2024 Update: Ah, the collector’s quagmire every time they get close to the finish line on a set. We still need just three books to finish the quest we started five years ago to complete this set and there are copies of all three books available today at reasonable prices, if we want to lower the bar to 8.5-9.0 and settle for third or fourth highest graded copies: what to do? So far, we have set a bar for this set at both a 9.4 in actual grade and at least second highest graded in the census. Now here we are five years in needing just three books and there are copies of all three books available that are not overly expensive. I guess we will follow my friend Brad Gaucher’s lead and just wait, because as he says in his write-up for his registry leading Brave and Bold set, he knows he will just end up replacing any slot-fillers he buys. But it is so tempting to just pull the trigger and finish this one, especially because the census for each book is relatively low and it could be a very long wait.
But this one does raise again the other question whether it is wise to register your sets, as there are also two of the books available that pass our bar if we are willing to give the sellers basically a 1000% profit on books they recently bought. Are they asking for so much because they know we need these books from our registry? I really cannot answer that one, but right now I am leaning very heavily to maybe in the future not registering any set until it is finished.
January 2025 Update: We broke down and bought two slot fillers in 2024 for this set leaving us one book from the finish line, although both are books we would like to upgrade. One of those two acquisitions lowered the floor for the set to 9.2, but we can’t seem to find even that high a grade for the remaining missing book. Hopefully, 2025 will be the year we finally finish this one.
June 2025 Update: I wish I could say that we found a 9.4/9.6 copy of the last book, but I did happen upon a 9.0 Don and Maggie and figured what the Hell. It at least gives us all the books and hopefully a higher one will come along, but for now we can celebrate the fact that we completed another set, even if we lowered the bar to 9.0 to do so.
July 2026 Update: Well, we finally found upgrades for our two lowest graded books in this set raising the minimum grade of our set to 9.4. We’re pretty pleased to have finally finished this one at the level we established as a goal when we started collecting these books many years ago. We set the bar at 9.4 at the time since there are some issues where that is the highest grade in the census. There are still a few books out there we would upgrade given the opportunity, but it’s a pretty sweet set of books!
Current Stats:
89/89 Books
70 9.8s-All Highest Graded
14 9.6s-5 Highest Graded
5 9.4s-2 Highest Graded
50 WP
36 OW/W
2 OW
1 Cr/OW
16 Single Highest Graded
76 Highest Graded
10 Second Highest Graded
1 Third Highest Graded
35 Pedigrees
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| The gallery tab shows only items with images. Click the thumbnails to enlarge. |
| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 1 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 1 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
3936470002
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Owner Comments
As could be expected, 80-page Giant #1 features DC stalwart, Superman. Our 9.8 emanates from the Pacific Coast Collection, which is considered to be the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface. The Pacific Coast collection was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
Our 9.8 is the single highest graded copy ever certified by CGC. It is also the first of four straight Pacific Coast copies, all of which are highest graded examples. We acquired the book from another private collector in August 2021.*
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 2 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 2 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0107264007
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Owner Comments
I think I may actually prefer the back cover to the front cover of this issue. Our 9.8 emanates from the Pacific Coast Collection, which is considered to be the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface. The Pacific Coast collection was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
Our book is one of two highest graded copies in the census. We acquired the book from the 8/5/2021 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 3 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 3 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0048366002
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Owner Comments
Issue #3 features the first giant Lois Lane. Our 9.8 comes from the Pacific Coast Collection and is the single highest graded copy. Considered the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface, the Pacific Coast collection was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
We acquired the book from the 8/5/2021 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 4 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 4 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0270676001
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Owner Comments
Ou 9.4 copy of DC Giant #4 featuring the Flash is one of three high graded copies and comes from the Pacific Coast Collection. Considered the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface, the Pacific Coast collection was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
We acquired the book in the 8/3/2019 Heritage Auction of Colmoreman’s #1 registry set.
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 5 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 5 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2015673021
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Owner Comments
Little by little we are knocking them down. Issue #5 is the first Batman feature in this series featuring stories from both the Detective and Batman titles. Unfortunately, we missed the Pacific Coast 9.8 of this one, which sure would have been nice to go with our PC opines of Issues #1-4 and #6, but our WP 9.6 is one of three highest graded copies trailing only the PC copy. We acquired the book from the 4/24/22023 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 6 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 6 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0048366005
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Owner Comments
Issue #6 features Superman for the second time and the first time since Issue #1. Our 9.8 comes from the Pacific Coast Collection and is the single highest graded copy. Considered the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface, the Pacific Coast collection was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
We acquired the book from the 8/5/2021 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 7 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 7 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4713023006
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Owner Comments
Issue #7 features Sgt. Rock's Prize Battle Tales. This was the last book we needed to complete this set and, while I certainly did not like buying a book graded this low, at least it is a pedigree. Honestly, I just wanted to complete something this year with the hopes of finding a better copy later and I found this one about 30-minutes before it was auctioned off on Heritage on June 9, 2025. It was relatively inexpensive and, FWIW, I do think it looks better than the current grade, so I was pleased to get it-I think I was the only bidder LOL.
I just got the book back in its new holder with a gold pedigree label and I must repeat, it looks a lot better than the grade. It did at least get a page bump when it was reholdered.
2026 Update: Well, I did not get the 9.6 I wanted, but we did pick up a 9.4 of this one in the 6/26/2016 Heriatge Auction. The book comes from The Jack and Joan Homkow Private Collection and is tied for second highest graded trailing a pair of 9.6s.
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 8 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 8 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4068910009
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Owner Comments
Issue #8 features more secret origins, Our WP 9.8 is tied with the Pacific Coast copy for highest graded in the census. We acquired the book from the 4/17/2022 Heritage Auction.*
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 9 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 9 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0104535037
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Owner Comments
This 9.8 comes from the Western Penn Collection and is one of two highest graded examples in the census. Surfacing in the '90s, much of this collection's history is shrouded in mystery. We know that both a father and his son accumulated the collection from the '60s to '80s, and there was allegedly a cache of Golden Age comics as well that may have been sold earlier (to date only a handful of Tarzans prior to 1961 have been CGC graded). Stuart Friedlander brought the collection to market, and several Silver Age publishers were represented, although Marvel was the predominant company. Known for very high grades and exceptional page quality starting in 1961, the Western Penn copies have been well documented, but do not exhibit any identifying marks.
We acquired the book from the 6/16/2022 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 10 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 10 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0179993001
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Owner Comments
Issue #10 features Superboy for the first time. Our WP 9.8 is the single highest graded copy in the census. We acquired the book from the 8/5/2021 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 11 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 11 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1135995013
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Owner Comments
Issue #11 features the great Superman-Lex Luthor duals. Our 9.8 is one of two highest graded copies. We acquired the book from the 8/5/2021 Heritage Auction.
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 12 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 12 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1031946003
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Owner Comments
Batman takes his turns again in the July 1965 80-page Giant #12. Our 9.6 comes from the Savannah Collection and is one of three highest graded examples. We acquired the book from My Comic Shop in September 2021.
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 13 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 13 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4068906009
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Owner Comments
Issue #13 features a number of Jimmy Olsen reprints. Our WP 9.8 comes from the Pacific Coast Collection and is the single highest graded copy in the census. Considered the greatest Silver Age collection to ever surface, the Pacific Coast collection was brought to market by Robert Roter after he discovered portions of it for sale on eBay in 1999. The books were marketed through PCE over the next several years and contained over 7,000 comics and magazines that included Marvel, DC, and Gold Key among others, covering a time span between 1961 and 1977. Many of the highest graded Marvel and DC issues from the early '60s hail from this collection with exceptional page quality. The books do not exhibit any distinguishing markings.
We definitely overpaid for this one, but as most true collectors have probably experienced, you sometimes have to pay an over the market price to acquire a book that is not otherwise available on the market and it’s our sixth Pacific Coast pedigree out of the first 13 issues in this title. We acquired the book off the make an offer option on the Heritage Exchange.*
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 14 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 14 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4068906010
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Owner Comments
Giant #14 once again features Lois Lane. For whatever reason, this book seems to be one of the rarer books in high grade in this title our WP 9.6 is the sole 9.6 in the census trailing a single 9.8. We acquired the book from Cedar Chest Comics in November 2021.*
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| Slot: |
80 Page Giant 15 |
| Item: |
80 Page Giant 15 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
4713023011
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Owner Comments
This book is most definitely just a slot filler, but I got tired of looking at three open slots and wanted to make a tiny bit of progress towards completing this one. Consequently, I lowered our bar and acquired our first third highest graded first 9.2 copy. The book crimes from the CRAZY ED’S COMICS Collection and was acquired in the 9/19/2024 CL Auction.
2026 Update: Well, I did not get the 9.6 I wanted, but we did pick up a 9.4 of this one in the 6/26/2016 Heriatge Auction. The book comes from The Jack and Joan Homkow Private Collection and is tied for second highest graded trailing a pair of 9.6s. The best thing about this and our #7 9.4, which we picked up in the same auction is that it raised the minimum grade of this complete set to 9.4.
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