CGC Comics Registry Featured Set: Ultimate Marvel Transformers Prime

We are gassed up for this month's featured CGC Comics Registry Set, Ultimate Marvel Transformers Prime by user AlphaPrimeIan, who has collected the complete run of the 1984 comic book series by Marvel Comics. This set includes first printings in grades 9.8 or higher.

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“I started collecting comics while I was in elementary school. Transformers and GI Joe Saturday morning cartoons are what I waited for every week, and like The Dukes of Hazzard, I never missed an episode,” AlphaPrimeIan wrote on their CGC Comics Registry profile. “Then one day at the grocery store I spotted a comic book. It was an issue of the Transformers. It was about #8 or #9. My dad bought it for me. I was hooked.”

The Transformers debuted in 1984 as a line of toy robots created by Hasbro and Takara — bolstered by an animated television series and a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The franchise introduced fans to the Autobots and Decepticons, two warring factions of sentient robots from the planet Cybertron. With their unique ability to transform into vehicles or objects, the toys captured imaginations instantly. Marvel Comics played a significant role in building the lore, including Bob Budiansky and other creators who developed memorable characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron, grounding the series in rich storytelling.

The comic book series quickly found an audience, running for 80 issues in the US from 1984 to 1991, alongside an extended run in the UK. Its success helped elevate the Transformers from a toy line to a cultural phenomenon that would go on to dominate pop culture for decades.

“Over the years into the early ’90s I collected various titles until the prices became too great and I dropped the whole collecting of comics,” AlphaPrimeIan wrote. “Then in the middle of 2010, with no debt left to my name, I decided that I needed a hobby. I thought about comics again and went online and started to search and I visited a few stores online. I was hooked again. It wasn't till about four months later that I found eBay and a graded comic book. The rest they say is history!”

Some of the transformative comics in this month’s featured collection include:

• a Transformers #1 graded CGC 9.9 — first appearance of the Transformers
• a Transformers #3 graded CGC 9.8 — Spider-Man crossover
• a Transformers #8 graded CGC 9.8 — first appearance of the Dinobots
• a Transformers #10 graded CGC 9.8 — first appearance of the Constructicons and Devastator
• a Transformers #22 graded CGC 9.8 — Marvel 25th Anniversary Frame Cover
• a Transformers #24 graded CGC 9.8 — death of Optimus Prime
• a Transformers: The Movie #1 graded CGC 9.8 — adaptation of the movie
• a GI Joe and the Transformers #1 graded CGC 9.8 — first crossover of GI Joe and the Transformers

Comics such as these, and many more, helped this set with the Best Set Type Award in 2013.

About the CGC Comics Registry

The CGC Comics Registry is a place where comic book collectors come together to share their collections and knowledge with one another. It's a valuable resource for new collectors and experienced fans alike, with a wide range of collections on display. To participate, all you need is a free CGC Collectors account. The resource is an online community developed to increase the choices, convenience and education available to collectors.

The CGC Comics Registry has grown to more than 100,000 registered sets in the last year! There are now more than 625,000 books registered, and it is thrilling to see the steady, continued growth of the CGC Comics Registry. To learn more about how to navigate the CGC Comics Registry, click here.

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for TCGs, sports cards and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. The newest division of CGC, CGC Home Video, provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of home media, including Betamax tapes, DVDs and Blu-ray discs.