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

[PopKulture]

On 8/31/2020 at 4:36 PM, damonwad said:

Does anyone know how to tell the first printings of the early Avon's? 

Do they need to have the Globe endpapers?  Do they also need a certain number of available Avon titles listed on back (this copy has 16)?

I believe only the first sixteen had globe endpapers, and as Surfing Alien mentioned in his reply, the numbers listed in a given edition should correspond within one or two to the equivalent (nn) number, just like a Classic Illustrated comic's HRN (or highest recorded number) helps determine if it's a first edition. 

[Surfing Alien]

10 hours ago, PopKulture said:

I believe only the first sixteen had globe endpapers, and as Surfing Alien mentioned in his reply, the numbers listed in a given edition should correspond within one or two to the equivalent (nn) number, just like a Classic Illustrated comic's HRN (or highest recorded number) helps determine if it's a first edition. 

The couple of sources i've seen say it's the first 16 as well. I've never had a copy of 16, or 17 (The Agony Column by Earl Derr Biggers) but we know Damonwad's 16 has them so that's a start

[Surfing Alien]

On 9/30/2020 at 10:56 PM, PopKulture said:

That's a nice number two! I have a number one, but none of the other first five Popular's. I think they're easily tougher than the first several Avon or Dell's.  

It's funny, when I sold my collection way back, I kept my #1 and #3, probably for that reason. So now I have all 3 no numbers  #1 could use an upgrade but i'm not complaining. #3 is the 1st "Popular Library"

[Pat Calhoun]

#4

[damonwad]

18 hours ago, PopKulture said:

I believe only the first sixteen had globe endpapers, and as Surfing Alien mentioned in his reply, the numbers listed in a given edition should correspond within one or two to the equivalent (nn) number, just like a Classic Illustrated comic's HRN (or highest recorded number) helps determine if it's a first edition. 

Thanks for the info. and I like the CI analogy. 

Here's the back to my copy of Murder at Midnight (#16) with 16 titles randomly listed.

 

[damonwad]

7 hours ago, Surfing Alien said:

It's funny, when I sold my collection way back, I kept my #1 and #3, probably for that reason. So now I have all 3 no numbers  #1 could use an upgrade but i'm not complaining. #3 is the 1st "Popular Library"

Very cool.

I love these early books by the big publishers and wouldn't be complaining about the #1 either.

[Westy Steve]

Hey guys,

For fun I looked up one of my favorite books to find out what an upgrade would cost me.  Campus Tramp, by Shaw.  I was kind of surprised to find none on ebay and only one on Abebooks.  And it wasn't exactly inexpensive.

So then I looked up a few of my heavy hitters...not as many on the market and the ones I saw were markedly more expensive.

Do you think this is due to Covid?  I didn't expect that kind of movement, but perhaps this is anecdotal data.

Steve

Edited October 6, 2020 by Westy Steve

[Surfing Alien]

8 hours ago, Westy Steve said:

Hey guys,

For fun I looked up one of my favorite books to find out what an upgrade would cost me.  Campus Tramp, by Shaw.  I was kind of surprised to find none on ebay and only one on Abebooks.  And it wasn't exactly inexpensive.

So then I looked up a few of my heavy hitters...not as many on the market and the ones I saw were markedly more expensive.

Do you think this is due to Covid?  I didn't expect that kind of movement, but perhaps this is anecdotal data.

Steve

DOn

 

Hey there

Don't think it has anything to do with Covid. That's just not a high print run book, and desired more because it's a somewhat noted author and a risky cover, so it'll be hit or miss finding one at all.

Any book dealer is going to charge some bucks for it, but you could still get lucky to find one in a lot of 10 books for $20 from someone on the 'bay who doesn't know what it is. That goes for many books that don't carry the author's actual name.

Generally speaking though, good material doesn't go cheap-cheap on ebay unless it's an inexperienced seller in the field. I've gotten lucky lately on a few auctions that were poorly described but most of the sellers who auction regularly get multiple bidders on anything cool. There's tons of scarce books on BIN's (and bargains to be had if you know what you're looking for and the seller is taking offers.)

You've gotten good at picking scarcer things, so i'm not surprised you don't see lots of them. I've ponied up for some very nice books that have surfaced lately, but also gotten some great bargains (to my mind) on auctions.

From what I sell of my undercopies and non-focused books, i'd say the market is solid. I only have a basic store but a few things seem to sell every week, so I keep rotating more in.

Don't know if that helps, I don't think it's a gold rush out there but scarce stuff isn't flooding the market cheaply from what I've seen.

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Surfing Alien
correction

[frozentundraguy]

I enjoyed Woolrich's book Phantom Lady so much that I ordered two more of his novels, which just arrived a couple of days ago. As excellent as his writing is, he is rated the 4th best crime writer of his era behind behind Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler.

[OtherEric]

7 minutes ago, frozentundraguy said:

I enjoyed Woolrich's book Phantom Lady so much that I ordered two more of his novels, which just arrived a couple of days ago. As excellent as his writing is, he is rated the 4th best crime writer of his era behind behind Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler.

 

I keep meaning to read some of these books I've picked up inexpensively over the past year or so.  The only Woolrich I've tracked down is a few Argosy's with his stories, though; and I think the only Hammett I've ever read was The Maltese Falcon back in high school.

Where did you find the list of crime writers, and who else was on it?

[Surfing Alien]

26 minutes ago, OtherEric said:

I keep meaning to read some of these books I've picked up inexpensively over the past year or so.  The only Woolrich I've tracked down is a few Argosy's with his stories, though; and I think the only Hammett I've ever read was The Maltese Falcon back in high school.

Where did you find the list of crime writers, and who else was on it?

Hear hear... I pick up way more than I can read, mostly because I love the covers. I'd love to know the ratings source. I just finished this classic...

It was actually very cool stories...some terms dated but I see what was meant by his very terse plot and prose...  Plus I love classic cars so those descriptions were great. 

I don't know what the next generation will make of it though. I don't think they know what any of these things are...  Their experience is so internal.  My kid is extremely bright and well rounded but had no clue who Eddie Van Halen was until I told her he played the solo on "Beat It"

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Surfing Alien

[frozentundraguy]

36 minutes ago, OtherEric said:

I keep meaning to read some of these books I've picked up inexpensively over the past year or so.  The only Woolrich I've tracked down is a few Argosy's with his stories, though; and I think the only Hammett I've ever read was The Maltese Falcon back in high school.

Where did you find the list of crime writers, and who else was on it?

I found the author list in the wiki article on Wollrich. The article did not list any other writers. One possible omission in the article, which lists the works of Irish/Woolrich, is that there is no mention of his novel Deadly Night Call.

[Pat Calhoun]

Deadly Night Call is a story collection, as are the other five in this image

[Surfing Alien]

11 hours ago, Pat Calhoun said:

Deadly Night Call is a story collection, as are the other five in this image

 

All the articles i've read, including Wiki, are pretty spotty on bibliography. This is the best i've found online, but it doesn't list these short story collections, just the stories themselves. It is good though, for separating the novels from the shorts, and lists the1st appearances as well.

https://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/biblio/woolrich.html

Quite an output.

 

[Surfing Alien]

Here's a new arrival that i'm really excited about. I don't have much interest in most Harlequins but there's a couple dozen that are ultra cool and anyone who's ever tried to acquire some know they are impossible to find without being creased to death.

This is definitely the craziest Harlequin cover and on a core sci-fi classic. It appears unread and it is signed by Van Vogt to boot. The later Beacon printing as "The Mating Cry" is cool but much more common. This copy has found its home 

 

 

 

 

[OtherEric]

On 10/3/2020 at 3:37 PM, damonwad said:

Thanks for the info. and I like the CI analogy. 

Here's the back to my copy of Murder at Midnight (#16) with 16 titles randomly listed.

 

That back cover matches perfectly the book I picked up today; although the interior only goes up to 12, which is in fact the number of the book.  It does have the Globe endpapers as well:

[damonwad]

31 minutes ago, OtherEric said:

That back cover matches perfectly the book I picked up today; although the interior only goes up to 12, which is in fact the number of the book.  It does have the Globe endpapers as well:

Nice. 

While picking up some more copies (I'll scan and post later), I've been able to add to the info from Surfing Alien and PopKulture on the Globe endpapers.

First printings of Avon #1-12 should have 12 titles listed on the back and the Globe endpapers.

First printings of Avon #13-16 should have 16 titles on the back plus the Globe endpapers.

2nd printings of Avon #1-12 were also printed with 16 titles on the back and Globe endpapers. 

 

Here's a back cover from an ebay listing of #12 (Mosquitoes) with Globe endpapers and 16 titles on back. They just moved the first 12 titles down and added the 4 new books to the top.

 

 

[OtherEric]

57 minutes ago, damonwad said:

Nice. 

While picking up some more copies (I'll scan and post later), I've been able to add to the info from Surfing Alien and PopKulture on the Globe endpapers.

First printings of Avon #1-12 should have 12 titles listed on the back and the Globe endpapers.

First printings of Avon #13-16 should have 16 titles on the back plus the Globe endpapers.

2nd printings of Avon #1-12 were also printed with 16 titles on the back and Globe endpapers. 

 

Here's a back cover from an ebay listing of #12 (Mosquitoes) with Globe endpapers and 16 titles on back. They just moved the first 12 titles down and added the 4 new books to the top.

 

 

That's the cover I have on my copy; it's the interior list of titles that only goes to 12.

Thank you for the info on 2nd printing of 1-12; almost every reference I can find says that if it has globe endpapers, it's a first print.  Given that the interior list only goes to 12, it's possible that they had extra interiors they added a latter run of covers to.  (I know from collecting Oz books that a book with mixed states of covers and interiors is not uncommon.)

[damonwad]

1 hour ago, OtherEric said:

That's the cover I have on my copy; it's the interior list of titles that only goes to 12.

Thank you for the info on 2nd printing of 1-12; almost every reference I can find says that if it has globe endpapers, it's a first print.  Given that the interior list only goes to 12, it's possible that they had extra interiors they added a latter run of covers to.  (I know from collecting Oz books that a book with mixed states of covers and interiors is not uncommon.)

That makes sense on the extra interiors. I wonder if any of the first 12 titles have 16 titles listed on the interior.

Here are my recent Avon pick-ups. 

 

Elmer Gantry (Avon #1). Globe end papers with 12 titles listed in interior.

 

The Big Four (Avon #3). Globe endpapers with 12 titles listed in interior.

 

The Corpse in the Green Pyjamas (Avon #8). Globe endpapers with 12 titles listed in the interior.

 

Mystery at Spanish Hacienda (Avon #13). Globe endpapers and 16 titles listed in interior.

 

Wow. I just realized what an Avon nerd I am. 

 

[OtherEric]

1 minute ago, damonwad said:

Wow. I just realized what an Avon nerd I am. 

 

Nothing wrong with that.  For me it's Ace D-Series books that I just can't resist.  Avons, I figure I've got a nice little collection that at least shows good examples of the run.