CGC Cards Grades Elusive Spider-Man What If Parallel from 2018 Marvel Masterpieces

CGC Cards recently certified a rare Spider-Man parallel from the 2018 Upper Deck Marvel Masterpieces set. The Spider-Man Marvel Masterpieces (2018) Upper Deck - #PETG5 What If Clear Parallel received a grade of CGC Gem Mint 10 and is only the second graded example in the CGC Cards Population Report.

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Online card collecting apps have become a popular way for collectors to track their collections in a mobile-friendly way. Some online apps even allow collectors to build decks and play online matches with each other, while others offer real-time purchase options for cards and other collectibles. In 2016, Upper Deck joined these online apps with their own online marketplace: e-Pack.

e-Pack is an online platform that allows users to instantly purchase digital packs through the app. These packs can be opened at any time, revealing digital cards from a particular set. Most of these cards can be redeemed for physical versions of these cards, which Upper Deck then mails to the user.

In 2018, Upper Deck released their annual Marvel Masterpieces set. To commemorate both the set release and e-Pack’s rising success, Upper Deck released a special campaign directed at Marvel collectors. 2018 Marvel Masterpieces contained a series of “What If” parallel cards that depicted alternate covers of classic comics. Collectors who pulled every card in the What If series through e-packs could submit their collections to Upper Deck for review. Those who were confirmed to have a full collection could redeem their e-Pack cards for a special “Achievement” What If parallel that came in three types: rainbow, gold and clear.

Those Achievement parallels did not come easily. There were 90 total cards in the What If parallel series, each spread across four tiers depending on rarity and the number of cards printed. The tiers were as follows:

• Tier 1 included 36 cards, each containing a serial number of #/1499
• Tier 2 included 27 cards, each containing a serial number of #/999
• Tier 3 included 18 cards, each containing a serial number of #/499
• Tier 4 included 9 cards, each containing a serial number of #/50

To redeem their cards for the Spider-Man What If Clear Parallel, collectors needed to assemble a full set of What If cards, including all nine of the Tier 4 cards. Since all of the Tier 4 cards were numbered through 50 — meaning that only 50 copies of each card were printed — only 50 complete sets of What If parallels were possible. Furthermore, collectors had to choose to redeem their digital e-Pack cards to Upper Deck to receive the Spider-Man Clear parallel — it wasn’t an automatic process or reward. This makes the Spider-Man What If Clear Parallel extremely rare!

Do you have a rare card like the Spider-Man What If Clear Parallel? Submit it to CGC Cards today for expert authentication, grading and encapsulation services! Learn how to submit by clicking here.