Gear IX

I love gearing up my toons and find it to be one of the most satisfying and rewarding things to do in this game. Been playing non stop since end November but still haven't managed to get up to that magical Gear IX on any of my guys. I currently have JC Dooku and Sid sitting at Gear VII, but they look to be a far distance away from achieving Gear IX... I have a whole bunch of others guys at Gear VII. Anyways, the main reason for this discussion is to simply ask if anyone has managed to achieve Gear IX on any of their guys yet? Or if not has anyone seen a Toon equipped to Gear IX (if so I'd love to see what the Gear ring looks like around the characters face image)