Darwination

decided to hit the local bookstore

The Kump girlie auction at HA was pure insanity.  Prices have been going up for a while but the last year has been nuts.  Cold speculation in a lot of pulp areas with the coming of CGC, but we will see.
 
I have watched the girlies pretty closely for about 15 years.  There are still so many issues I've never seen once and many others only once.  Something like Pep or Spicy isn't like that (pretty sure Pep was Donenfeld's main meal ticket before Spicy Detective came along), but there are stretches of far more htf issues even in the main titles.  And if you are including some of the earlier Breezy/Snappy Stories romance books, for very high circulation titles, they can be ghosty..
My peeve right now are the flippers.  There's one who buys with one account and sells with another who always beats me in auction.  A girlie I had never seen was up, and I took good swing, 200 plus, very high for me.  The winner got it, cleaned and maybe pressed and now and lists it a week later for $500.  All is fair in love and war, I guess, and I might occasionally pick a book up to flip, but I would far rather get beat by a fellow collector. 
 
Still, it has been a few neat years as maybe higher prices have shaken the tree.  I still marvel when some amazing girlie I never knew existed pops up out of nowhere

It's a grim and macabre thing, eh?  In order for hidden away rarities to come to market, someone has to die. 
A pulp collecting friend in Czechoslovakia passed quickly during Covid before I ever heard any news directly, and I have no idea what happened to his incredible collection that he always made sound like it was kept hoarder-style in giant stacks all over the house.  Having had hoarders pass in my own family, I know the urge to throw it all out is enormous, so hopefully that's not what happened (and his peeps at the very least make some dough from it). 
Ufi did leave behind some nice pulps behind for the rest of us, though:

https://archive.org/search?query=ufikus

Those are great looking early (and earliest) mapbacks. 
I must have been distracted by the books, since I just noticed your unicorn joke. Ha.

This has been brought up a few times over the years, but I personally have no idea how to do this.  The problem is with protecting copyright.  Even my 2nd bound edition was scanned (by a person who was on these boards at the time, no less) and put on the internet for free.  Judging by the downloads it got, I'm guessing it cost me a couple of hundred sales.  I would think a digital version would be even easier to swipe.  On the other hand.... there's no real profit to be made on a reference book anyway, so I've pondered just putting it out there for free.  But even then, there's a danger in someone downloading the data, altering the pricing, and using it to fool buyers or sellers.  I would have to pay someone to set it all up, attach it to my website (or start a new one), make sure it's secure (if that's even possible)... all of which would require putting even more money into it, which makes little sense especially if its made free.  I never expected it to make money as a book, but I figured it might at least help drive collections my way.  It never did.  It just ended up making info available to eBay sellers and auction houses, which is where the vast majority of pulps are now being sold.
Surprisingly, that data seems to have held up pretty well.  The pulps I identified as being scarce 20 years ago, still turn up less frequently than surrounding issues of titles.  I thought with more attention on pulps, and maybe more issues coming onto market because of it, the perceived scarcity levels might change... but I haven't seen that happening.
I'm not anti-slab by any means, but I'm not personally a big fan.  However, I actually see less of a "problem" slabbing pulps than comics.  With comics, you are missing out on all of that interior art and story, and there are hundreds (thousands?) of comics that will never be reprinted.  But with pulps, pretty much every significant author and story has been reprinted, often many times.  There is no trouble finding anything you want to read by Chandler, Hammett, Lovecraft, Howard, Bradbury, Derleth, L'Amour, Bloch, etc., etc.  Almost all of science-fiction that appeared in the pulps has been reprinted, save for a few authors who are probably too dated and hackneyed to be of interest to modern readers anyway.  The hero pulps have all been reprinted.  And original pulps are often difficult if not unpleasant to try to read and flip through.  So in many ways, pulps are actually even better candidates for slabbing than comics, especially now that it appears the overwhelming interest in pulps is for the cover art. 

Must be sitting on a detached cover copy of this one. FX Leyendecker

New upgrade with white pages.

Repricing coming soon 

Oh snap I won one lol.  Restored which doesn't bother me, needed this to fill a hole in my run for a while 😀

 

Yeah, I noticed the Popular Detective did very well. It seems like those might be a little scarcer than I might imagine. It's not really a title I chase, though I wish I had been, as this kind of opened me up to the great covers.  The asian swordswoman did spectacularly well which shows taste on a couple collector's part as well as fat wallets that I'd prefer weren't in muh pulps. The hanging skeleton cover, too, I think is fantastic (as well as a good Bergey):

Also the Detective Story have done very well lately.  It seems weird I've seen so many copies of some of the iconic issues. Earlier eras are very hard to find.
The 600+ FFM blows my mind   Also the really high prices for Amazing Stories??  I'm not really a Planet Stories guy, though I do consider many of the covers classic, and I found myself wishing I'd picked up more in the past just because of these prices. Same with other late era Fiction House like Lariat/Wings/Jungle Stories.  But then I checked myself with the thought that I'm a collector and not a speculator, so the prices don't matter OUTSIDE OF ME EVER AFFORDING PULPS AGAIN
The old timers with full runs of SF pulps bought at a dollar or two apiece are sitting pretty though, for real.  Methinks some collectors have caught the bug and haven't figured out what titles or eras are common.  Or maybe they just see the high grade and pounce. Once again, I'm gobsmacked.
I was admiring the All-Story Monahan octopus cover and was happy to see it do well even if I thought there were a couple of others that might do better than they did.  Maybe the wonders and subtle covers of All-Story and Argosy won't play to the newcomers.
I skipped the Saunders Complete Detective when I posted the ones I like in the auction because it's so well known, but I understand why it's iconic.  I don't think I ever would, but if I did shell out for a nice copy, I don't think I could live with a stamp in the skin tones.  I'd rather have more imperfections elsewhere than stamps or stains in skin tones. 
The Detective Trails has a "total spine split" - what does that even mean? Detached cover?  I believe it is very scarce, but I'm still surprised at the price as the cover doesn't really appeal to me.
The "Marvel" books have always done well but might do even better with the comics crowd coming in.  It sure seems like I've seen a lot of copies of some of them, so demand must be high to command the prices.
There were still at least a bit of reasonable prices in there.  In particular there was a Pep that never ever pops up that went for under 150.  That sucker likely would have gotten much more on eBay which is weird, but likely the girlie collectors weren't tuned in.
It was fun to watch some of it, but I didn't place a single bid.  It makes me feel like I've sat down at the wrong poker table, as I can barely afford the ante

Yeah, I noticed the Popular Detective did very well. It seems like those might be a little scarcer than I might imagine. It's not really a title I chase, though I wish I had been, as this kind of opened me up to the great covers.  The asian swordswoman did spectacularly well which shows taste on a couple collector's part as well as fat wallets that I'd prefer weren't in muh pulps. The hanging skeleton cover, too, I think is fantastic (as well as a good Bergey):

Also the Detective Story have done very well lately.  It seems weird I've seen so many copies of some of the iconic issues. Earlier eras are very hard to find.
The 600+ FFM blows my mind   Also the really high prices for Amazing Stories??  I'm not really a Planet Stories guy, though I do consider many of the covers classic, and I found myself wishing I'd picked up more in the past just because of these prices. Same with other late era Fiction House like Lariat/Wings/Jungle Stories.  But then I checked myself with the thought that I'm a collector and not a speculator, so the prices don't matter OUTSIDE OF ME EVER AFFORDING PULPS AGAIN
The old timers with full runs of SF pulps bought at a dollar or two apiece are sitting pretty though, for real.  Methinks some collectors have caught the bug and haven't figured out what titles or eras are common.  Or maybe they just see the high grade and pounce. Once again, I'm gobsmacked.
I was admiring the All-Story Monahan octopus cover and was happy to see it do well even if I thought there were a couple of others that might do better than they did.  Maybe the wonders and subtle covers of All-Story and Argosy won't play to the newcomers.
I skipped the Saunders Complete Detective when I posted the ones I like in the auction because it's so well known, but I understand why it's iconic.  I don't think I ever would, but if I did shell out for a nice copy, I don't think I could live with a stamp in the skin tones.  I'd rather have more imperfections elsewhere than stamps or stains in skin tones. 
The Detective Trails has a "total spine split" - what does that even mean? Detached cover?  I believe it is very scarce, but I'm still surprised at the price as the cover doesn't really appeal to me.
The "Marvel" books have always done well but might do even better with the comics crowd coming in.  It sure seems like I've seen a lot of copies of some of them, so demand must be high to command the prices.
There were still at least a bit of reasonable prices in there.  In particular there was a Pep that never ever pops up that went for under 150.  That sucker likely would have gotten much more on eBay which is weird, but likely the girlie collectors weren't tuned in.
It was fun to watch some of it, but I didn't place a single bid.  It makes me feel like I've sat down at the wrong poker table, as I can barely afford the ante

Yeah, I noticed the Popular Detective did very well. It seems like those might be a little scarcer than I might imagine. It's not really a title I chase, though I wish I had been, as this kind of opened me up to the great covers.  The asian swordswoman did spectacularly well which shows taste on a couple collector's part as well as fat wallets that I'd prefer weren't in muh pulps. The hanging skeleton cover, too, I think is fantastic (as well as a good Bergey):

Also the Detective Story have done very well lately.  It seems weird I've seen so many copies of some of the iconic issues. Earlier eras are very hard to find.
The 600+ FFM blows my mind   Also the really high prices for Amazing Stories??  I'm not really a Planet Stories guy, though I do consider many of the covers classic, and I found myself wishing I'd picked up more in the past just because of these prices. Same with other late era Fiction House like Lariat/Wings/Jungle Stories.  But then I checked myself with the thought that I'm a collector and not a speculator, so the prices don't matter OUTSIDE OF ME EVER AFFORDING PULPS AGAIN
The old timers with full runs of SF pulps bought at a dollar or two apiece are sitting pretty though, for real.  Methinks some collectors have caught the bug and haven't figured out what titles or eras are common.  Or maybe they just see the high grade and pounce. Once again, I'm gobsmacked.
I was admiring the All-Story Monahan octopus cover and was happy to see it do well even if I thought there were a couple of others that might do better than they did.  Maybe the wonders and subtle covers of All-Story and Argosy won't play to the newcomers.
I skipped the Saunders Complete Detective when I posted the ones I like in the auction because it's so well known, but I understand why it's iconic.  I don't think I ever would, but if I did shell out for a nice copy, I don't think I could live with a stamp in the skin tones.  I'd rather have more imperfections elsewhere than stamps or stains in skin tones. 
The Detective Trails has a "total spine split" - what does that even mean? Detached cover?  I believe it is very scarce, but I'm still surprised at the price as the cover doesn't really appeal to me.
The "Marvel" books have always done well but might do even better with the comics crowd coming in.  It sure seems like I've seen a lot of copies of some of them, so demand must be high to command the prices.
There were still at least a bit of reasonable prices in there.  In particular there was a Pep that never ever pops up that went for under 150.  That sucker likely would have gotten much more on eBay which is weird, but likely the girlie collectors weren't tuned in.
It was fun to watch some of it, but I didn't place a single bid.  It makes me feel like I've sat down at the wrong poker table, as I can barely afford the ante

Yeah, it's gotta be Betty! 
That issue has a Harlan Ellison story in it.  It looks like most of the other issues have many Robert Silverberg stories by various pen names.  It's kind of an odd run, maybe a little bit more transgressive than other MAMs of the era and seems to command higher prices than your average title.
I stuck an old scan of the next issue up here:
https://archive.org/details/exotic-adventures-v-01n-03-1958.-gladiator-darwination-mc-coy-ia
https://www.mediafire.com/file_premium/4dl52tb7jll9lqr/Exotic_Adventures_v01n03_%28c.1959.Gladiator%29%28Darwination-McCoy%29.cbr/file
A splash from this one I found funny for a Silverberg story:
 

Yeah, I noticed the Popular Detective did very well. It seems like those might be a little scarcer than I might imagine. It's not really a title I chase, though I wish I had been, as this kind of opened me up to the great covers.  The asian swordswoman did spectacularly well which shows taste on a couple collector's part as well as fat wallets that I'd prefer weren't in muh pulps. The hanging skeleton cover, too, I think is fantastic (as well as a good Bergey):

Also the Detective Story have done very well lately.  It seems weird I've seen so many copies of some of the iconic issues. Earlier eras are very hard to find.
The 600+ FFM blows my mind   Also the really high prices for Amazing Stories??  I'm not really a Planet Stories guy, though I do consider many of the covers classic, and I found myself wishing I'd picked up more in the past just because of these prices. Same with other late era Fiction House like Lariat/Wings/Jungle Stories.  But then I checked myself with the thought that I'm a collector and not a speculator, so the prices don't matter OUTSIDE OF ME EVER AFFORDING PULPS AGAIN
The old timers with full runs of SF pulps bought at a dollar or two apiece are sitting pretty though, for real.  Methinks some collectors have caught the bug and haven't figured out what titles or eras are common.  Or maybe they just see the high grade and pounce. Once again, I'm gobsmacked.
I was admiring the All-Story Monahan octopus cover and was happy to see it do well even if I thought there were a couple of others that might do better than they did.  Maybe the wonders and subtle covers of All-Story and Argosy won't play to the newcomers.
I skipped the Saunders Complete Detective when I posted the ones I like in the auction because it's so well known, but I understand why it's iconic.  I don't think I ever would, but if I did shell out for a nice copy, I don't think I could live with a stamp in the skin tones.  I'd rather have more imperfections elsewhere than stamps or stains in skin tones. 
The Detective Trails has a "total spine split" - what does that even mean? Detached cover?  I believe it is very scarce, but I'm still surprised at the price as the cover doesn't really appeal to me.
The "Marvel" books have always done well but might do even better with the comics crowd coming in.  It sure seems like I've seen a lot of copies of some of them, so demand must be high to command the prices.
There were still at least a bit of reasonable prices in there.  In particular there was a Pep that never ever pops up that went for under 150.  That sucker likely would have gotten much more on eBay which is weird, but likely the girlie collectors weren't tuned in.
It was fun to watch some of it, but I didn't place a single bid.  It makes me feel like I've sat down at the wrong poker table, as I can barely afford the ante

I'd post the ones I'm looking at, but I'm just hoping no one else is looking at them anyways
Not that I can ever afford any HA books. 
I'm definitely curious to see what the waters are like this time around, as the pulps are bound to come back to Earth sooner or later.  Maybe.

it looks like desirable pulps above VG+ went for a super premium, likely a result of the pending pulp Slabageddon.

Yeah, it's gotta be Betty! 
That issue has a Harlan Ellison story in it.  It looks like most of the other issues have many Robert Silverberg stories by various pen names.  It's kind of an odd run, maybe a little bit more transgressive than other MAMs of the era and seems to command higher prices than your average title.
I stuck an old scan of the next issue up here:
https://archive.org/details/exotic-adventures-v-01n-03-1958.-gladiator-darwination-mc-coy-ia
https://www.mediafire.com/file_premium/4dl52tb7jll9lqr/Exotic_Adventures_v01n03_%28c.1959.Gladiator%29%28Darwination-McCoy%29.cbr/file
A splash from this one I found funny for a Silverberg story:
 

A new pickup.

Not mine, but I like the swipes

That eye is so damn creepy.