For This Is the Day... That a Superman Died
Justice League America 70 Fourth Printing

COMIC DETAILS

Comic Description: Justice League America #70 Universal
Grade: 9.8
Page Quality: WHITE
Certification #: 3718920003
Owner: Iconic1s

SET DETAILS

Winning Set: For This Is the Day... That a Superman Died
Date Added: 2/19/2021
Research: See CGC's Census Report for this Comic

Owner's Description

<i>This is the third book to occupy this slot; it's the <b>first 9.8 copy to enter the census...</b> and it's <b>from my own submission!</b></i>

This book replaced a 9.6 that was the highest graded at the time, along with only one 9.6 Signature Series, when I added it. The 9.6 had replaced a 9.0, and all three have been from my own submissions.

Early in my efforts to build this set, I bought the 9.0 in a stack of later printings off of eBay. Most were damaged in shipping. I didn't think it would grade 9.8 but I sent it to CGC anyways. When I added the 9.0 I was working hard to get everything at 9.8 and I thought about not listing it. Ultimately I decided it was the best I could do at the time so I went ahead and added it.

I then found the 9.6 ss mentioned above on eBay and completed the purchase for $129.99 figuring I'd send it in for CPR. The seller immediately cancelled my order and refunded my money. It ended up that he was in Hong Kong and this was right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that the book was in a storage unit that he could not get to at the time. We kept in touch for a while and he said he would reserve the book for me and we could complete the purchase as soon as he was able to ship it. He eventually stopped responding to messages and I just hope he is okay.

I found the 9.6 that replaced the 9.0 in the nine book <i>Funeral for a Friend</i> Collector’s Pack (a picture of the pack is included in the Justice League America 71 slot of this set). I have now opened two of the <i>Funeral for a Friend</i> packs and neither yielded a 9.8 of this book. I had high hopes for that copy when I ordered it but the seller did a really bad packing job… the pack was placed in a larger box with no packing and banged back and forth end to end the entire trip. The 9.6 had some blunted corners due to this ride and I actually just sent it in through CCS with a few other books at the last minute. CCS must have given it some attention because I never expected that it would end up sharing the top spot in the census at the time!

I was happy at the time to just have a copy graded when I added the 9.0, but I was really happy to share the top census spot with the 9.6. <i>I really wanted this book in 9.8 though so I kept plugging away!</i>

My search continued when another CGC board member, <i>waaaghboss</i>, sent me a raw copy. That copy became my second 9.6! So close but yet so far! Thanks <i>waaghboss</i>!

In June 2020 I bought the 9.8 copy you see here in the sealed Toys R Us two pack shown in the second picture slot. <i>Yes, that is the actual two pack this book came from!</i> I learned through buying and opening these packs that defects shown in the shrink wrap are not always defects with the book; thank goodness! The reverse side had Superman 74 third printing (which had no chance at 9.8) and I got this pack off of eBay for $14.99... it looked <i>pretty</i> good so I submitted it in September of that year along with a couple other books.

I then bought another copy of this book along with a Superman 76 in another sealed Toys R Us two pack. The copy of this book looked <i>really</i> good except for the cover being slid up, and some indents from the shrink wrap. From the eBay listing, the Superman 76 seemed to have issues but it looked like it had a shot at 9.8 (with pressing) when I took it out of the wrap. I created a post on the CGC Forums to ask about the cover issue; you can check it out here:

https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/476640-cover-slid-up-on-book-need-advice-please/

I felt like the shrink wrap indents would easily press out and CCS said they would reposition the cover. I decided to send both books in together for fast track pressing and grading because I felt like that copy had the best shot of all the books I had so far gotten my hands on. I sent both because they had already spent so much time together in the shrink wrap that it didn't seem right to separate them when they both had a shot at 9.8. It would've been cool if they both earned 9.8's with sequential certification numbers after spending so much time back to back. Ultimately the Superman 76 came back 9.8 (yay!) but the copy of this book got 9.6 (bummer!). That made three 9.6's in my collection!

In the meantime I had also been gathering other raw copies of this book when they presented themselves included in lots and such. I eventually had seven other raw copies that, all things considered, I thought deserved a shot at submission... <i>this is not a hard book to find at all, just very hard in high grade.</i>

In early February 2021 I resubmitted my third 9.6 (the one from the Superman 76 two pack) for CPR along with the seven raw copies. I didn’t feel that there were any <i>super-solid</i> 9.8 candidates among the bunch of raws but I was hoping to squeak one out with pressing. With only two books left to find in 9.8, including this one, I was pulling out all the stops!

<i>And then...</i>

I was sitting at the breakfast table on Friday, 19 February 2021 and refreshed my submissions page... the submission from September 2020 had finally went to <i>Finalized / Imaged / Shipped</i> and holy (insert expletive here), this book received a 9.8! I also had a second copy of Justice League America 69 third printing receive 9.8 and the third book from that submission, a copy of Batman Beyond 1 received a 9.6!

<i><b>The addition of this book left me with only one 9.8 remaining to make this set all 9.8 or above!</b></i>

What a journey it was to find this book, I literally searched everywhere from China to the United States and all places in between! I am really proud to have finally made a 9.8 copy of this book a reality! It wasn't easy.

I added a picture of all four printings in 9.8 with the first printing of this book... check it out!

Note - it will be interesting to see how the other eight I have submitted do! I will update this description when I get results!
  
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