waaaghboss Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 12 hours ago, Bookery said: Unfortunately, I don't have an e-file of the final version (my original was stylistically different, then Heritage sent a PDF file of a preliminary version from which corrections were made, a total revamp of the fonts was done, and the final product sent off to the printers). Pages will be difficult to scan with a standard device without taking a physical copy apart, as the inner-margins are narrow. Fair enough. I ordered mine a few days ago, and I'm looking forward to getting it, as I can't find any pulp price resources online other than sludging through sold ebay/auction listings. Out of curiosity how do you compile prices for these books? Watching various auction sites, they seem to be all over the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookery Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 7 hours ago, waaaghboss said: Out of curiosity how do you compile prices for these books? Watching various auction sites, they seem to be all over the place. Hopefully, that's where the art, or expertise, of the compiler comes into play. This is why I disagree with comics collectors who say there is no need for price guides anymore, since that information is "all available on the internet". For the advanced collector, yes, they can gather that information (though it's time consuming). But for the individual who casually checks out a valuation from time to time, it's not as simple as one might think. The majority of my customers really don't understand how to read GPA results, for example. It's not a matter of looking up the last GPA for a 5.5. What are the prices above and below this level? Are they running consistent, or at odds with the 5.5? Is the trend moving up or down? How do similar issues fare? Etc. I check auction records, eBay sales, dealer listings, and my own years of experience. On some rare items, for which sales records are few if any, it comes down sometimes to just a "gut feel" for how this item will do when it comes up at auction. How do other issues from this publisher, artist, author, do in the marketplace, even if there are no prior records for this specific issue? And I talk with dealers and ask questions. "Sure, Title-X is scarce, but the art and contents are routine, so why did issues just triple in price in the past 3 auctions?". "Oh, that's because 'Bob' and 'Joe' are engaged in a bidding war to complete their runs... once that's over, the prices will settle back to where they were". (The above scenario happens more often than you think). Of course, as more data comes into play, as those rare issues surface from time to time, the compiler adjusts and corrects for the next edition (if any). Now... I'll admit up front, that on pricing I tend to bias toward the conservative. Since the new guide went to the printers, there have already been auction sales surpassing my valuations. If these new levels hold up, then prices will rise in future editions. If they are outliers, then I won't have jumped the gun on them. Whenever you put out a data source that includes pricing in that data, the volume will forever be tagged as a "price guide". But first and foremost I want to get the hard data correct... proper issue descriptions, volume numbers, content, author's 1st appearance, correct artist, etc. This is what I personally find most interesting. I strive to be as accurate as possible on pricing... but unlike the "hard data" it still boils down to an educated opinion. And it is constantly in flux. RedFury, Point Five and waaaghboss 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfing Alien Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 2 hours ago, Bookery said: Now... I'll admit up front, that on pricing I tend to bias toward the conservative. Since the new guide went to the printers, there have already been auction sales surpassing my valuations. If these new levels hold up, then prices will rise in future editions. If they are outliers, then I won't have jumped the gun on them. Thanks for taking this conservative, Overstreet type approach, it's better for the hobby. As someone who has just recently started collecting them again and never had full knowledge of what was in all those runs, I will value the data itself at least as much as the pricing. If you get the pricing relation between more and less desirable issues in the runs, that is more important than being "perfect" in pricing (which can never happen). In the six months or so since i've started picking things up again, it is very hard to determine a fair price because ebay, which i'm sure has the highest volume of listings, seems to have been flooded with low and mid grade pulps at what seem to be high prices, and most of them haven't sold. I suspect it might have to do with dealers and old timers trying to cash in after all those prices achieved by Yakimas in the Crain auction and general interest from collectors like me who would like cool old paper, see pretty pictures on the Internet but can't swim in the GA comic pool. That said, like I advise about vintage paperbacks, I know there's things that come up that you better grab them if you want them now because you may not see them again at a fair price if you wait. But it's very hard to do the all research yourself on the internet, because of factors like I mentioned above. Auctions are different but 95% of ebay is BIN and it's tough to follow outside auctions unless someone like you knows where they all are. It's a huge task, thanks for taking it on. Bookery 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) Tim First off, thanks for your efforts. I know it is a labor of love. It is a gift for collectors to have all that incredible info at our fingertips. It is very much appreciated. As far as pricing goes, I take it for what it is, a guide. Not cast in stone and always evolving. Like Overstreet or any printed guide. It is impossible to be 100% current. Heck, I follow the GA comic market pretty close and am always shocked at what some stuff goes for. A conservative approach seems smarter to me. Pulps are a real niche hobby. They are so undiscovered and rare in many cases that any available copy can be a bargain. Take Zeppelin Stories. I have one issue discovered years ago by luck. I can count on a couple of fingers how many copies I’ve seen in the past 30 years or so ago. How does one price one of those? I would just auction it off if I wanted to sell it. I’m pretty sure it would sell for a price that would astound me. There are many other pulps that fall into that category. And, there are so many pulps I’ve never seen or heard of that would be on my want list if I knew about them. Your books provide me a lot of info as to what they are. A blessing and a curse...Thanks again, my copy is on order and I am spreading the news! Hopefully, there is some info with back stories on the few pulp pedigrees like Yakima and Strausser ect. I love those stories and there don’t seem to be many of them. They also seem to be closely guarded secrets among those “in the know”. Edited February 12, 2020 by Robot Man Ricksneatstuff, Bookery and jimjum12 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookery Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 21 minutes ago, Robot Man said: Tim First off, thanks for your efforts. I know it is a labor of love. It is a gift for collectors to have all that incredible info at our fingertips. It is very much appreciated. As far as pricing goes, I take it for what it is, a guide. Not cast in stone and always evolving. Like Overstreet or any printed guide. It is impossible to be 100% current. Heck, I follow the GA comic market pretty close and am always shocked at what some stuff goes for. A conservative approach seems smarter to me. Pulps are a real niche hobby. They are so undiscovered and rare in many cases that any available copy can be a bargain. Take Zeppelin Stories. I have one issue discovered years ago by luck. I can count on a couple of fingers how many copies I’ve seen in the past 30 years or so ago. How does one price one of those? I would just auction it off if I wanted to sell it. I’m pretty sure it would sell for a price that would astound me. There are many other pulps that fall into that category. And, there are so many pulps I’ve never seen or heard of that would be on my want list if I knew about them. Your books provide me a lot of info as to what they are. A blessing and a curse...Thanks again, my copy is on order and I am spreading the news! Hopefully, there is some info with back stories on the few pulp pedigrees like Yakima and Strausser ect. I love those stories and there don’t seem to be many of them. They also seem to be closely guarded secrets among those “in the know”. There's nothing on the pedigrees in this edition, since I really don't have enough knowledge about them (I have some slight knowledge of the Strassers, since one of my regular customers used to own some, but sold them a long time ago... the Shadows he had were among some of the copies that resurfaced recently). Everything in this guide was written by me, save for Jim Steranko's foreword. If there are later editions to come, I suspect, once it's been out there from a known publisher such as Heritage, it will be easier to solicit articles and market reports from others. Heritage should probably do an auction recap as well, but it should come from someone on their end. Articles on collecting or pulp history from folks like Ed Hulse, Doug Ellis, David Saunders, etc., would be nice additions, if they were so inclined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecollectron Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 I ordered a copy from Heritage. Looking forward to it! waaaghboss 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post N e r V Posted February 13, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted February 13, 2020 (edited) 15 hours ago, Robot Man said: Tim First off, thanks for your efforts. I know it is a labor of love. It is a gift for collectors to have all that incredible info at our fingertips. It is very much appreciated. As far as pricing goes, I take it for what it is, a guide. Not cast in stone and always evolving. Like Overstreet or any printed guide. It is impossible to be 100% current. Heck, I follow the GA comic market pretty close and am always shocked at what some stuff goes for. A conservative approach seems smarter to me. Pulps are a real niche hobby. They are so undiscovered and rare in many cases that any available copy can be a bargain. Take Zeppelin Stories. I have one issue discovered years ago by luck. I can count on a couple of fingers how many copies I’ve seen in the past 30 years or so ago. How does one price one of those? I would just auction it off if I wanted to sell it. I’m pretty sure it would sell for a price that would astound me. There are many other pulps that fall into that category. And, there are so many pulps I’ve never seen or heard of that would be on my want list if I knew about them. Your books provide me a lot of info as to what they are. A blessing and a curse...Thanks again, my copy is on order and I am spreading the news! Hopefully, there is some info with back stories on the few pulp pedigrees like Yakima and Strausser ect. I love those stories and there don’t seem to be many of them. They also seem to be closely guarded secrets among those “in the know”. The mighty Zep rules... Edited February 13, 2020 by N e r V HRCostigan, RedFury, OtherEric and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Bat Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Balloon Juice! Ha ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat-Man_America Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 My copy arrived Wednesday afternoon (that was fast). OtherEric, comicjack, RedFury and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Yates Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Does this 2020 edition identify cover, and interior illustrators for each issue of a given series, Phantom Detective, for example? One earlier edition did, and the next didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waaaghboss Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) Just got my copy and I'm happy with it. Easy layout, nice sized text. Currently going thorough some of my books with the "help" of my 65lb lapdog. Edited February 17, 2020 by waaaghboss comicjack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookery Posted February 18, 2020 Author Share Posted February 18, 2020 22 hours ago, C Yates said: Does this 2020 edition identify cover, and interior illustrators for each issue of a given series, Phantom Detective, for example? One earlier edition did, and the next didn't. No (actually none of the editions identified interior art). Each title gives an account of the cover artists to be expected with a given title, but not on an issue-by-issue basis. As the guide grew to be more comprehensive in titles covered, it would just get too big to list everything by individual issues (though I've done a bit more of that in this edition than the 2005 one). The first guide came out in 2001, and there really wasn't much data out there beyond specific title checklist volumes. But now with Galactic Central's outstanding efforts, anything I did in trying to provide complete artist and author credits issue by issue would simply duplicate what is already out there. So I try to concentrate on what isn't covered there... prices, of course, but also "key" issues, 1st appearances, character introductions, comparative scarcity, and what is the flavor or historical importance of a given title. A guide is just that... something that leads you through a subject in a way that hopefully inspires one to seek out even more information from a variety of sources. Overstreet is often dismissed as just a "price guide", but the other data it contained is what gave me an interest in comics decades ago, and led to an accumulation of numerous reference books since. Pat Calhoun, Cat-Man_America, frozentundraguy and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuscemasAvengers Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Fresh outta the box! RedFury 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedFury Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Hi Tim, I wondered if you could comment on the change from G - VG - F pricing spreads in the previous guides to the G - VG - VF pricing spread in the newest one? I'm not sure which I prefer, or even if it matters, but I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the change. Thanks, Todd sacentaur 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Bookery Posted February 18, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 18, 2020 28 minutes ago, RedFury said: Hi Tim, I wondered if you could comment on the change from G - VG - F pricing spreads in the previous guides to the G - VG - VF pricing spread in the newest one? I'm not sure which I prefer, or even if it matters, but I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the change. Thanks, Todd Excellent question, as I anticipated this might be a bit of a controversial move. But in the past several years, a lot of interest in pulps has been coming from comics collectors (the two threads in this golden-age forum are exhibits). Nearly all paper collectibles have been moving toward some sort of 10-point scale. If someone cites something as being an 8 out of possible 10 on a scale, one has a pretty good idea of what to expect whether it is a comic, magazine, movie poster, card, etc. "Fine" being the top grade for pulps came from the rare book market. But pulps are not a book, they are a periodical. When an auction or sales listing comes up with a near-immaculate pulp copy, but it is described as "fine", many of the potential buyers out there will conclude that the item in question is mid-grade. Very Fine (8.0) is more descriptive of what a truly sharp example of a pulp magazine is. The three columns in this 2020 edition represent "good" (2.0), "very good" (4.0) and "very fine" (8.0). Figure a Fine (6.0) would generally fall about halfway between the "very good" and "very fine" price. I chose these three categories, because the vast majority of pulps will fall into the 2.0 to 4.0 category. But it is also necessary to know what a high grade (though not perfect) copy would be "worth". The other grades and valuations can readily be extrapolated from the 3 columns given. Unlike comics, I don't really see the necessity of going into half-grades as the pulps are more fragile and (I think anyway) more problematic when trying to differentiate into that small of subdivisions. RedFury, jimjum12, Cat-Man_America and 3 others 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waaaghboss Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 (edited) I just got a second copy in the mail. Looking at my credit card I wasnt charged for it. Still reccomend anyone whose the fence to order one, it's a nice resource. Edited February 18, 2020 by waaaghboss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Ordered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Got my copy today as well. It's going to keep me busy for quite a while. I have a hunch this is one of my books that will get well worn from use fairly quickly.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 6 hours ago, OtherEric said: Got my copy today as well. It's going to keep me busy for quite a while. I have a hunch this is one of my books that will get well worn from use fairly quickly.... My copy of the previous one is pretty battered. Creased and the pages have come unglued from the cover. New one on order! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookery Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 It probably isn't considered "good business" to highlight one's deficiencies, but as stated previously, I'm a fanatic for getting information right. So if nobody minds, I will periodically correct errors in the guide here, so that anyone interested can make corrections to their copies (a "bonus" that will be uniquely available to these boards). One of the problems I have is that with each of the three editions, I've re-structured the format. So while old errors get corrected, new ones arise. I'm pretty satisfied with the current form, so should there be later editions down the road, there should be less chance for fresh typos, etc., that don't involve added information. Anyone else can feel free to post any problems they've found as well (however, I'm not looking for pricing opinions since they will be forever evolving, but actual typos of significance or data-entry mistakes). Here's a few I've already spotted -- CORRECTIONS p.54 "Clues" -- typo; VF price for May 1943 issue should read 180. p.90 "Famous Fantastic Mysteries" 1941 Dec: data error - no Lovecraft reprint in this issue. p.282 "McClary" entry -- typo, "sciencefiction" appears without hyphen. p.296 "Jan, Alfred" entry -- typo, should read "From Spicy to Bland". OtherEric 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
