CGC Signature Series: Astonishing Cover Price Variant Rarity

By Benjamin Nobel, January 2025

At the time Amazing Spider-Man #252 was published, Marvel had been averaging ASM print runs of 470,527 copies per issue over the preceding 12 months. As an “event” issue, #252 was widely ordered, collected, and preserved, as evidenced by the massive CGC census counts sitting here in January of 2025: there are over twenty-five thousand census copies, including over 2,200 in 9.8, and eight 9.9’s:

How should a collector who wants a 1st print copy and cares about rarity approach such a common-but-critically-important key issue? Had you asked any comic collector a decade ago, the near-universal answer you would have heard was “go for the highest grade.”

But collectors have gotten smarter; today, the answer you might get would be “go for a newsstand variant.” And as we know, there are not one but two newsstand choices for the issue, because #252 falls into the 1980’s CPV publication window: (1) 60¢ cover price copies (sold on US newsstands), and (2) the dramatically-more-rare 75¢ cover price variants (sold on Canadian newsstands).

“It’s the same reasoning as buying a 9.8 instead of a 9.0: how do you make a really common comic scarce? You look for the highest possible grade. How do you make a really common comic even scarcer? Look for a variant. So there’s the US newsstand and there’s the Canadian newsstand … any type of variant makes a common item scarcer and this is what people like.”

— Doug Sulipa, 2024, 54:56, Canadian Price Variants: A Guide

Go for variants and go for grade — in combination, these are two excellent ways to improve scarcity (e.g. just 63 of the 2,290 total census copies of #252 in 9.8 are 75¢ variants — that’s 2.75%); but today, I’d like to discuss one additional collecting angle, which can add absolutely astonishing levels of rarity to a cover price variant, and is activated by the collector themselves: the addition of CGC Signature Series.

The CGC census gives collectors great data to study, like the 60¢ ASM #252 census table shown earlier: For each grade tier on the scale to 10, CGC helpfully publishes the number of copies they have graded from their inception to date, for the following four categories: (a) Universal [blue label], (b) Qualified [green label], (c) Signature Series [yellow label], and (d) Restored [purple label]. Most collectors are seeking comics from categories (a) and (c); meanwhile (b) and (d) are typically dreaded by submitters.

Newsstand Edition census data broadly speaking is not yet revealed as of this writing (because CGC uses the pedigree data field for that notation, and that field is not represented yet in the online census data). However, 75 cent variant newsstand data has meanwhile been accumulating onto the census for about a quarter century now (Greg Holland’s website has the ASM #252 CPV census numbers backwards to 2001), because the higher cover price causes CGC to maintain a distinct variant entry for the issue in their database. Which means each of the four labeling categories is broken down for our newsstand cover price variants — revealing that in the 9.8 grade tier, there presently exist just seven Signature Series 9.8’s among 75¢ variants for issue #252:

Let that sink in: Compared to the 8 census copies with 60¢ cover price in 9.9 (arguably a pursuit not worthy of your time or money), there are 7 CGC Signature Series copies of the 75¢ variant in CGC 9.8, for ASM #252.

Before you start arguing with me, let me admit: Clearly there’s a difference in kind for this comparison, because CGC Signature Series 75¢ copies didn’t happen in May of 1984, with 7 survivors today in 9.8… No, all seven of these census copies were “created” by a collector taking their unsigned 75¢ variant NM/MT condition survivor and having it signed under the Signature Series.

A couple of important points about this: (1) Since CGC Signature Series copies are created after publication, therefore you or I can “aspire to make more of them,” and (2) their value is derivative: as collectors, how much we’re willing to spend on an already-created CGC SS copy is going to relate very closely to the cost of acquiring an unsigned copy plus the cost of participating in future signing opportunities (in other words, the cost in dollars, time, and risk, to re-create a comparable CGC SS copy).

However, this point — about “re-creation cost” driving CGC SS value — eventually collapses, under the weight of one of the unstoppable forces of nature: death.

Sorry to bring it up, because death is something most of us don’t like to think about… We tend to push those thoughts into the mind’s corner; until someone close to us suddenly dies unexpectedly and we’re then forced to think about it intensely. And, like it or not, death and CGC SS values floating above replacement cost, are two concepts that are inextricably tied together.

When I wrote my “comic book collecting manifesto” a decade ago, one of my top ten collecting “themes” was Stan Lee CGC Signature Series — here’s what I wrote:

“Stan The Man! Stan Lee is like no other figure in comics — the man is an icon. Everyone has a favorite Marvel comic book, usually an X-Men or a Spider-Man or an Incredible Hulk. And as of this writing it is still possible to participate in a Stan Lee signing at a convention, where he will autograph your favorite comic book for you.

The number of comics that have been autographed by this legend is still, currently, increasing. But some day, there will be a finite number of comics that have been signed by Stan Lee and that will be it… At that point, there are bound to be many attempted forgeries; but any comics that have been signed under the CGC Signature Series will be trusted, with his autograph witnessed and certified to be authentic by CGC.

This unique class of certification and the limited number of comics signed by Stan Lee under the Signature Series will effectively make Stan Lee CGC Signature Series comic books in a class of their own — a sort of “variant” if you will. Another way to think about this, is that for any conceivable comic book issue a collector might possibly want signed by Stan Lee, there will at some future date be some fixed limited number of Stan Lee CGC Signature Series copies of that issue. For some comics this might amount to only a handful of copies. For more obscure comics, it might be possible to have in your collection the one and only copy of the issue ever signed by Stan Lee under the Signature Series.

As far as the idea of “rarity” is concerned, this dynamic is very interesting for a collector to consider.”

— Me, 2015, Rare Comics To Collect

Stan Lee died on November 12, 2018. The January 2019 CGC census showed a total of three ASM #252 CGC Signature Series 75¢ variant copies in 9.8 back then. [More about Stan Lee CGC SS.]

So with ASM #252 we’ve started with one of the most common-yet-critical key issues of the 1980’s, and by applying just a few different themes — high grade, 75¢ newsstand variant, and Stan Lee Signature Series — we are down to a literal handful of collectibles that fall into the intersection of those themes. [The census doesn’t tell us who signed each copy, but happily, I’m able to picture 2 out of the 3 in 9.8 at the time of Stan Lee’s death and obviously he hasn’t signed any of the copies created since; but keep in mind it is always possible someone “upgraded” a lower grade at a later date, or that mis-labeled copies also exist.]

Another mega-key of the 1980’s, Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 (featuring the origin of the alien symbiote), has a copy in existence that has all of those same themes plus one more, a “double cover” manufacturing error, which very likely results in a copy that is one-of-a-kind…

… and with an asking price to match:

Now obviously that is just an asking price and isn’t a sale. But we can all understand how the owner arrived at such an astronomical ask, right?

With fine art, a bidder on an important painting can think to themselves, “there’s only one of these in the whole world”… and that thought can persuade them to bid huge dollar amounts. Indeed, if your home burned down in a wildfire, with such a fine art painting inside, it isn’t as if you can just go out and buy it again. With comic books, we almost never have that one-of-a-kind situation. Yet, with this Secret Wars example above, we’ve got a comic book collectible that is irreplaceable (absent a time machine, there’s no possible way to re-create another like it to match those same four attributes [(1) cover price variant, (2) 9.8, (3) Stan Lee Signature Series, (4) Double Cover]) and thus it arguably fits that very same description you’d use with fine art: “there’s only one of these in the whole world.”

Lest the above example re-enforce the impression many collectors have, that CGC Signature Series is too expensive, “pricing them out” of this collecting category, allow me to next present an example on the other end of the price spectrum. The CGC SS cover price variant below sold at auction for a mere $63; the now-irreplaceable signature is from the late Len Wein.

How many of those 5 Signature Series copies were signed by Len Wein? At most four (based on the census shortly after his death); and the census shows just one copy in 9.8 today. Indeed, the intersection of CGC Signature Series, newsstand, and cover price variants, allows collectors to achieve collectibles approaching fine-art-level rarity…

And speaking of fine art, how about adding actual original artwork to your CGC Signature Series book? The artist signing your book might also be willing to draw something.

Historically collectors achieved sketches like this by going to conventions and waiting in lines (or enlisting facilitators to do so on your behalf)… although this pursuit can be hit and miss, and not all artists offer sketches at conventions for various reasons [the highly-talented Stuart Immonen created a series of 50 reasons to stop sketching at conventions that give an entertaining inside look at what it is like to offer sketches at conventions, from the artist’s perspective].

But lately, CGC has been offering a number of in-house signing opportunities where sketches are sometimes available, including from superstar creator John Romita Jr.:

A note: for this article, I’ve “crowdsourced” a number of incredible CGC Signature Series examples, as well as some of my own, and I want to pause here to say thank-you to everyone who was willing to share photos/scans with me for use in this article. Note that for each of the shared examples I’ll be featuring today, because they reside in private collections, I’ve blurred out the serial numbers. Below is a cover price variant newsstand copy of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16, with sketch by John Romita Jr. created during the above-mentioned CGC signing + remarque opportunity:

The legendary John Romita Sr. was also an artist on this particular issue, but he passed away on June 12, 2023. Romita Sr. was also an artist on mega-key issue Amazing Spider-Man #238 (an issue which Tim Bildhauser once called “the KING of CPVs”). Below is a now-irreplaceable CGC Signature Series cover price variant newsstand copy of ASM #238, signed by the late John Romita Sr., together with John Romita Jr., and Roger Stern as well:

With great thanks again to everyone who responded to my crowdsourcing effort, I will next share a sampling in succession, of some stand-out CGC Signature Series cover price variants from the three Type 1A categories — Canadian Price Variants, Australian Price Variants, and U.K. Price Variants — as well as $3.99 Newsstand Editions (where similarly CGC maintains a distinct variant database entry and thus we can see separate census data), and one Type 1B price variant. Scroll and enjoy! 🙂

The above examples certainly reveal shockingly low CGC census counts, but these are just examples out of the universe of comics where CGC SS copies actually exist… I’m sure the thought crossed your mind, as you were scrolling, “Gosh, I wonder what important issues still have ZERO Signature Series price variant copies on record?”

Here below are a sampling of such examples — i.e. where you can be the first to create one (census data as of this writing, in January 2025):

⦿ Iron Man #282 APV — 1st full appearance of War Machine

⦿ X-Men #282 APV — 1st appearance of Bishop

⦿ Batman #386 CPV — 1st appearance of Black Mask

⦿ Thundercats #1 CPV — 1st appearance of Thundercats in comics

⦿ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #23 CPV — 1st appearance of Slash in comics

⦿ Voltron #1 CPV — 1st appearance of Voltron in comics

⦿ Sonic #0 CPV — First mini-series issue

⦿ Swamp Thing #20 CPV — Alan Moore’s historic Swamp Thing run begins

These are just a sampling; there are sooooo many more (Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica #320 for instance, I left out of the above list because even if you wanted a CGC SS copy, the issue’s writer Frank Doyle is no longer with us, and neither is the issue’s artist Dan DeCarlo). Scrolling the CPV Top 100 list can give you additional low-census ideas to explore.

The final thought I want to leave you with is to keep your mind open to the possibility of making cheap CGC SS acquisitions to bolster your collection. It was abundantly clear from the responses to my “crowdsourcing” effort for this article, that there is a perception out there that Signature Series is too expensive a collectible category to even enter. But I assure you, the opportunity to win these at auction cheaply is absolutely out there if you are willing to be patient and pick your spots (remember that Legends #3 $63 example sale I mentioned earlier, for a CGC SS 9.4 — that’s a mere $7 above the current 9.2 guide value for the CPV raw!). Collectors I’ve talked to who create CGC SS copies will very often try to submit two+ copies with the idea to “keep one, sell one”… a feat that is not always possible when it comes to our price variants, but I’ve heard enough examples (and done so myself) to know that people try. Which means the extras will sometimes appear for auction — e.g. in Comiclink’s auction this month there are two CGC SS CPVs, and two CGC SS UKPVs, at $1 opening bid and no-reserve (I do not know the sellers), including X-Men #101 (1st appearance of Phoenix), New Mutants #1 (2nd appearance of the New Mutants), and X-Men #201 (1st appearance of Nathan Summers [Cable]).

Happy Collecting! 🙂

– Ben