Michael Higgins is the proud owner of a piece of comic book--and Vs. System--history. After a long weekend, which saw DC Origins Sneak Preview Tournaments, the introduction of Marvel/DC Crossover events, and the largest Convention Championship Tournament, Higgins capped the weekend off by winning a copy of X-Men #1 that is conservatively estimated to be worth $5,000--twice what Bill Hodack won yesterday in a tournament nearly six times the size of this one.

This was the first in a series of events in which Upper Deck will be giving away valuable collectible comics that launched the careers of the comic book medium’s most popular characters. Higgins was playing a Common Enemy deck and soundly defeated Jason Dawson’s Big Brotherhood deck two games to zero in the finals. Just as the X-Men do on the cover of his prize, he beat back the forces of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and is now the proud owner of one of the most desirable comics from the Silver Age.

Upper Deck’s next $10,000 Convention Championships will be held at Wizard World Chicago just a week before GenCon Indy (invitations from the 10K event will be for the Pro Circuit event after GenCon Indy), and rumor has it that they will be giving away another comic milestone. They will definitely be giving away a copy of Fantastic Four #5, which is the first appearance of Doctor Doom. Further down the line they will be giving away the first appearance of Wolverine at San Diego ComiCon.

And remember if you can’t make it to any of these cool events you can read all about them here as they happen!

Final Standings

1. Michael Higgins
2. Jason Dawson
3-4. Steven Anderson
3-4. Jake McNeely
5-8. Randy Brown
5-8. Andrew Yip
5-8. Chris Starr
5-8. David Weitz