Comics, Pulps, and Paperbacks: Why such a discrepancy in values? 25 25

[moonpool]

And Homicide Hotel is definitely the winner, but a very nice group overall.

[Surfing Alien]

8 hours ago, moonpool said:

 I greatly prefer that most paperbacks have no ultra complex grade/rarity 4th dimension algorithm.    It's truly a poor man's collectible, and I hope it stays that way.

Early Dells

Sweet early Dells   The old PB's can get a little expensive at dealer retail, but there is still so much opportunity out there if you stay patient. It is a great thrill to unbox a nice 40's book for $5-20

[moonpool]

Sweet early Dells   The old PB's can get a little expensive at dealer retail, but there is still so much opportunity out there if you stay patient. It is a great thrill to unbox a nice 40's book for $5-20

 

True enough.  However, dealers now don't compare to prices pre-internet with the paper auctions. I feel like prices went down after ebay.

[Surfing Alien]

5 hours ago, moonpool said:

True enough.  However, dealers now don't compare to prices pre-internet with the paper auctions. I feel like prices went down after ebay.

True. That happened with a lot of collectibles in the early 2000's as things that were locally scarce became easier to find on the internet. But I think enough time has passed since then for interest to pick up again.

[damonwad]

On 7/11/2020 at 1:14 PM, Westy Steve said:

Lol.

 

Damonwad, Since I’m still fresh from the factory if there’s any advice that I can give I’d be happy to provide it.  My one piece of unsolicited advice is “be picky”. Try to find books that have more than just a sexy  cover on it, look for important authors or higher grade or scarcity too. 

Thanks. I'm learning from and appreciate your posts and obvious enthusiasm for collecting pb's. I'll definitely contact you if something comes to mind.

Just about 11 months ago, before buying my first book, I got some great starting help from Pat Calhoun. That, some reference books, and going through this thread a couple of times to absorb other boardie knowledge got me going.

Like you advise, I've been pretty picky and am trying to mostly stick with higher grade books. I also read or plan on reading copies of every book I buy, so the thought of getting too far behind keeps me from buying everything in sight. 

For me, collecting the books is just part of the fun, since I'm being exposed to so many authors I wasn't even aware of a year ago. Cheap prices (compared to comics) don't hurt either.

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by damonwad

[damonwad]

Two covers that caught my eye.

It's funny how I see the Moon Pool cover differently after reading the book. The cover shows a scene that happens in the story and the blurb at top doesn't lie, but the combination of the two give a false impression. They definitely knew how to sell books.

 

[damonwad]

A couple that I bought for the covers.

I usually buy first printings but I liked this Rader cover on the 3rd edition of Pattern for Panic so much that I couldn't resist. I'll also be on the look out for the Maguire cover on the 2nd edition.

 

 

This is my first jd book. I've been holding off buying in the genre because I'm afraid they'll be terrible reads but this one was too pretty to pass up so I'll give it a try and hope I'm wrong.

 

[Westy Steve]

1 hour ago, damonwad said:

Thanks. I'm learning from and appreciate your posts and obvious enthusiasm for collecting pb's. I'll definitely contact you if something comes to mind.

Just about 11 months ago, before buying my first book, I got some great starting help from Pat Calhoun. That, some reference books, and going through this thread a couple of times to absorb other boardie knowledge got me going.

Like you advise, I've been pretty picky and am trying to mostly stick with higher grade books. I also read or plan on reading copies of every book I buy, so the thought of getting too far behind keeps me from buying everything in sight. 

For me, collecting the books is just part of the fun, since I'm being exposed to so many authors I wasn't even aware of a year ago. Cheap prices (compared to comics) don't hurt either.

 

11 months?   I guess I have to hand in my fez. 

[Surfing Alien]

I usually buy first printings but I liked this Rader cover on the 3rd edition of Pattern for Panic so much that I couldn't resist. 

That's the thing with the Berkeley's - they're later editions of many Avon and other first pb's but so many of them have really cool covers. They are a second generation publisher but the art had improved greatly by that time with tons of McGuires and others using great compositions.

 

[Randall Dowling]

1 hour ago, damonwad said:

Two covers that caught my eye.

It's funny how I see the Moon Pool cover differently after reading the book. The cover shows a scene that happens in the story and the blurb at top doesn't lie, but the combination of the two give a false impression. They definitely knew how to sell books.

 

Those are both pretty looking copies and Wild Town in particular can get pricey!  Great stuff!! 

[Randall Dowling]

1 hour ago, damonwad said:

This is my first jd book. I've been holding off buying in the genre because I'm afraid they'll be terrible reads but this one was too pretty to pass up so I'll give it a try and hope I'm wrong.

 

I don't think they're that bad for reading.  Harlan Ellison got his start doing a bunch of those and I think they're pretty interesting.  

[damonwad]

26 minutes ago, Randall Dowling said:

I don't think they're that bad for reading.  Harlan Ellison got his start doing a bunch of those and I think they're pretty interesting.  

That's good to know and I forgot about Ellison. I'll have to find some of his.

[damonwad]

47 minutes ago, Westy Steve said:

11 months?   I guess I have to hand in my fez. 

 I think once they give you the fez they can't take it back.

[Surfing Alien]

Another group shot from sorting Avons. Etons are really Avons, just like Diversey. They were Avons short lived attempt at the longer format Signet size paperbacks. It's a short series but has some doozies in it. They followed the logo change from the classic circle enclosed logo to the "word as circle" logo (as I call it) just like the small format Avons did.

[frozentundraguy]

Thinking about it I cannot recall if I have thanked Pat Calhoun for sharing his PB expertise along with some websites he mentioned that have been of great assistance.

Now that I have been at this for several years, does anyone have tips for storing PB's once the bookshelves are full?

[OtherEric]

1 hour ago, frozentundraguy said:

Thinking about it I cannot recall if I have thanked Pat Calhoun for sharing his PB expertise along with some websites he mentioned that have been of great assistance.

Now that I have been at this for several years, does anyone have tips for storing PB's once the bookshelves are full?

Buy more bookshelves?

I'm not the person to ask, I just have boxes of books in my storage unit...

[Surfing Alien]

12 hours ago, frozentundraguy said:

anyone have tips for storing PB's once the bookshelves are full?

I use the 25 quart Sterilite containers from Home Depot. They can store 3 stacks of paperbacks each (I stack them with the spines out for easy identification) or 2 stacks of digests, or 1 stack of pulps/comics. Plus the lids lock and they're stackable.

They're not perfect because they're fluted, so the bottom books are a little tight and the top ones a little loose, so you have to be careful putting them in. But it's a small inconvenience to be able to see what's in them without rooting through your boxes all the time.

[frozentundraguy]

4 hours ago, Surfing Alien said:

I use the 25 quart Sterilite containers from Home Depot. They can store 3 stacks of paperbacks each (I stack them with the spines out for easy identification) or 2 stacks of digests, or 1 stack of pulps/comics. Plus the lids lock and they're stackable.

They're not perfect because they're fluted, so the bottom books are a little tight and the top ones a little loose, so you have to be careful putting them in. But it's a small inconvenience to be able to see what's in them without rooting through your boxes all the time.

Those boxes look like an excellent solution.  I have one pretty flat plastic storage box that's full. I'm also using a desk drawer for the current overflow of  a dozen books or so.

[Randall Dowling]

4 hours ago, Surfing Alien said:

Thieves Like Us!  

[adamstrange]

20 hours ago, frozentundraguy said:

Now that I have been at this for several years, does anyone have tips for storing PB's once the bookshelves are full?

Buy more bookcases...