Randall Dowling

Ace F-343. Cummings, Ray. The Exile of Time. VF+8.5. Exceptional copy with great colors and gloss and just a hint of some edge wear. Cool cover by Alex Schomburg. $20  Sold to goldust40
 

Croydon 15. Williams, Wright. Fool For Love. GD 3.0. Worn but complete and solid copy. Tough book to find in any condition. Cover art by L.B. Cole. $40  Sold to Robotman
 

Dell 11. Irish, William. Marihuana. FN/VF 7.0. A very glossy and clean copy with fresh colors. Just a bit of spine wear on an otherwise very nice looking bok. One of the most recognized covers in all paperbacks. This copy looks much better than the scans show.  $240  Sold to goldust40

Signet 1335. Switzer, Robert. The Living Idol. VG/FN 5.0. Nice solid copy with a bit of creasing as shown and a slight spine lean. Otherwise colorful and bright. Classic cover illustration by Robert Maguire. $10  Sold to OtherEric
 

Avon 43. Merritt, A. Burn Witch Burn. VG 4.0. Solid copy with bright colors but usual creases for the grade and slight spine slant. Early printing of this classic title. $10  Sold to OtherEric

United States Army. Pocket Guide to China. 1942. FN 6.0. General wear for the grade but all solid and attached. There's also a 1943 and 1944 reprint out there (which is marked 1943 or 1944 on the last page, this copy says 1942). Interior illustrations throughout by Milt Caniff that are incredibly racist and inappropriate by today's standards. Stuff like “How to spot a Jap”, etc. $60  Sold to TheComicsPreacher
 

Fantastic August 1955, Vol. 4 No. 4. VG/FN 5.0. Nice clean copy with wear associated with the grade. No major issues, just some minor creasing. Cool cover. $20  Sold to OtherEric
 

Avon Modern Short Story Monthly 50. O'hara, John. All the Girls He Wanted. VG/FN 5.0. Nice solid copy with bright colors and gloss. Minor wear associated with the given grade. This book is really weird. I can't find any comps or other copies for sale or recently sold. It's a digest from 1949 so I assume it predates the paperback version. It's also one of the last issues in the Modern Short Story Monthly series. $70

On 3/17/2024 at 8:13 PM, OtherEric said:

I presume you mean one of the new digests, not the ones from earlier in the sale?  If you are counting earlier ones, take.

It's yours, Eric. 

Falcon 42. Walton, Bryce. The Long Night. VG- 3.5. Great colors and gloss, it's all there but some creasing, a minor spine roll and a 1” spine split at the base are the major issues. Still, this is an incredibly tough book in any condition. Classic cover by Howell Dodd. $55

Backwoods Bride. Free to the first person to purchase a digest (cover is loose).  Claimed to OtherEric
 

Falcon 35. Wade, David. Raise the Devil!. FR/G 1.5. It's beat but complete, as they say, pretty much everything to see in the scans. Ridiculously scarce title with a classic cover by Howell Dodd. $50

Exotic Novel. Gordon, Luther. Pay For My Kiss. FN+ 5.5. A stunning copy of this very tough digest. Would grade higher but for a minor amount of rust on staples (very common for these digests). Classic cover art by Fred Rodewald. $75

Off Beat Detective Stories. September 1960. FN 6.0. Pretty copy with just a little bit of edge and corner wear. Otherwise a very bright and clean copy. $75 Sold to Jack Linguini @ 20% off
 

Just a quick note about digests.

Many of these titles are scarce in any condition.  They're incredibly hard to find current pricing on because certain books almost never come up for sale.  Even really low grade copies are fairly sought after, depending on the title.  But mainly, Phantoms, Falcons, Rainbows, Exotics, Ecstasys, and such are pretty tough.  I've been collecting them for several years now and there are still many titles that I've never seen for sale. 

On 3/17/2024 at 3:21 PM, oakman29 said:

I am no longer in this club, but seeking a new candidate now.

 

Hint, hint guys.....

Hey!  Congratulations, Dave! 

Okay, looks like 8:00 CST is when I'll start listing again (30 minutes from now).

On 3/17/2024 at 9:18 AM, AnkurJ said:

any pulps?

On 3/17/2024 at 11:52 AM, aardvark88 said:

Any Whiz-bang digests?

Yes, I have a handful of pulps and a few digests (non sci-fi) that I'll be listing with the next tranche.  I'm getting listings together now and will list more books tonight.  Not sure when yet but I'll post a heads up here 30 minutes or so before.

Thanks for the interest! 

Woah!! 

On 3/13/2024 at 12:11 AM, tth2 said:

I say nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

I just don't see the point of negotiating against one's self and not even asking Heritage the question because you've already convinced yourself that they'll say "No". If one asks Heritage to reduce their fees, the worst thing that can happen is that they say "No". 

Unless one has a pathological fear of rejection, what's the harm in trying?  It's not like they're going to blacklist you or send thugs to beat you up for having the temerity to ask.     

The fear of offending others is strong for many.  And they've grown up in an environment of shopping malls where the price is the price (actually not always, most people are shocked at how much you can negotiate and who is willing, but you understand my meaning).  So the idea of negotiating something like a declared premium from an auction house doesn't even enter their thought process.

Personally, I think the world would be a better and more honest place if more people tried to negotiate, as appropriate, with respect and no emotion.

On 3/12/2024 at 8:04 AM, Bookery said:

Pulp collectors seem to be a hardier lot than their comics counterparts.  They've not only dealt with, but embraced The Man in Purple, The Purple Cloud, The Purple Empire and the Purple Scar.  I suspect they won't be too daunted by the Purple Label!

I think you're correct about traditional pulp collectors.  But isn't part of the point of grading to bring in new collectors?  My guess is that many of them will turn their nose up at any restoration.  Experienced collectors of a given art form will know and understand the reality of work to restore pieces but the new money always seems to be more skittish about such things (understandably).

On 3/11/2024 at 5:55 PM, alecholland said:

Anyway, I think we have just uncovered several board members whose tastes/preferences either for financial reasons or just for a change of pace have switched to book collecting. Perhaps comic and/or pulp collecting has also lost some of it's appeal because the "thrill of the hunt" isn't there as much anymore as well. When I first started collecting comics again 20+ years ago, there were quite a few comics that I thought were rare or at least hard to find. However, I've since realized almost everything I want really isn't that tough to find anymore. Plus, the comics that are actually rare, I can no longer afford. So, paperback book collecting presents a new and exciting challenge for me and I think many other board members feel the same. It has much of the same appeal to me as comic collecting did when I first started - there is some fantastic cover art, some true rarities, and I enjoy kicking back on a lazy Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and reading for an hour or two. I also don't worry as much about accidentally chipping or bending the corner of a $20 paperback as much as I do a $200 comic if I decide to read it.

100% this.

You got some Bill Ward and Gene Bilbrew mixed in there as well.  I think one of them may be Stanton.  Paging @Surfing Alien