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

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.

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"

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.

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"

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

Sweet pickups @OtherEric. Early Avons like that Sayers are keepers for sure. With no organized base to record them, any very sharp copy of the "earlies" might be one of the best extant. The Coblentz is a classic (and a current want! one of the only classic Avon sci-fi's I haven't re-acquired yet). I need to read that Heinlein story to remember if I know it. I definitely had that Perma back in the 80's I have one for tonight Been looking for a decent copy since Pat posted his eons ago I'll keep looking for an affordable sharp copy of the first pb edition, which is the Digest sized Avon MMM #27, but this is a nice collectible copy that I can still read

That's quite a haul! I could comment on all of 'em but the Croydon is in amazing shape for a Croydon. It has all the hallmarks of Bernard Safran, who did the majority of them. Looking at bookscans, the cover is a reverse of #60, which is also uncredited in all the guides I have. Dell was quite demure about depicting women but there were exceptions to the rule. The Case of the Seven Sneezes by Boucher always comes to mind but I've found another one that should be arriving soon

Got in some beautiful condition 40's mystery titles, including Popular Library #2. You don't see these earlies like this every day Never seen this great Gregg cover before I like when they're so square they stand up by themselves on their side And finally, picked up a decent 1st print of Candide with its whimsical blurbs and cover...

Thanks... the Stork covers are printed on cheap, non glossy, paper so have a lot of condition issues. They all have a "soft focus" look and were all from Cole's "Star" imprints so shared many traits. One was Rodewald, the other was authors. Ralph Carter also wrote "Shadows of Lust", one of Cole's best signed vintage paperback comic book look/sleaze covers

Congrats! I've never even seen that one before and it checks all the boxes! So glad you're almost done. I can start my own quest I live in the Florida swamplands so it's personal now with Harry I just got a pretty copy of the 6th out of the 8 Stork Books and I have both L. B. Coles already so am looking forward to finding the last 2 I need and closing that classic run out

322 Carter Brown novels according to Wiki

He earned his pay on that one. The babe is luscious but look at that wicker chair detail. That's some work right there for a commercial piece.

Nice. We haven't talked about him much here but he's a giant and sooo prolific. I am really tempted to collect some of those early Carter Brown Signets just for the covers of those looong leggy femmes he did but there's so many of them i'm afraid to jump in

Funny that @PopKulture posted those sweet stacks of Pockets and I had a little bunch on the way. They came in even nicer in hand today. The Connecticut Yankee is 1st print, fresh & pristine. It's one of those Pocket "classics" we talked about a while ago that is really sci-fi/fantasy The Finney is real sharp as well and a nice cover. I didn't know a mystery was his 1st novel. probably every one here has posted this one... it's got a little writing on it but not too bad Finally, I have this one but it has a lot of edgewear. This one is very sharp and fresh like the Connecticut Yankee but has that one bad crease. Kind of a qualified grade book. I'm gonna have to think about which one to keep

You, sir, are on the right track Su-wheat!!!

These fared a bit better than "Torture Garden" I think it's the only Diversey #1 i've never had a copy of. Classic Driben cover of a dangerous blonde with a "stogie" And a real nice copy of one of my favorite Harry Barton Monarch covers. Just a great pose & composition

I get this all the time but i'll take it over the alternative except for the "on the book" part

To be fair, the seller was a pro about it, straight refund, no return, but we both lamented the fate of such a nice copy of a classic cover after surviving 60 years He did wrap it in cardboard as well that is not in pics but it just got crushed somewhere...

Alas this one did not fare so well. I know we all have USPS horror stories, this one stung because it's my favorite Berkley cover along with Black Opium, and difficult to find as nice as it was with the white cover I mean, you really have to be trying, to fold a book so hard that the pressurized corner explodes into dust

Finally got some more digests in A couple of George Gross beauts... A super hi-grade Belarski Nurse Digest and a "BIG" Rainbow that's a little beat on the spine but was a great add-in since I don't have one at all

Nice gritty thing it is but no info that I can see quickly

That's a good day sir 🤟🤟🤟 Don't think that Dell is a later print. No sure way to tell that I know of but most of these were one and done, even the bestsellers. I have seen a few of, what do look like, later printings and they're usually skinnier and they'll have later numbers advertised in the back. That's about all you got to go by.

I like the war books but can't collect everything so I usually sell them when I get them. They do have a following though. They sell consistently at the right price. Here's a couple of pretty cool ones from my original collection that was in that long box I uncovered in the garage a couple weeks back.

Sweet books. I don't think I ever noticed quite how see-through that Yankee Pasha outfit top was Crazy for a Dell