Surfing Alien

He's about the top classic pin-up pose guy in the digests to my eye. Something about the composition and fine lines.

I'd call that a good day!

Someone said Quarter Books?

You're really on the hunt for these prelims!

Wolf Trap Blonde is a great title and one of my favorite George Gross covers. She's trouble for sure.

Those are actually awesome! But my problem with all cardboard boxes is that you can't see through, and once the collection grows and time passes, your mind can't process the labels you put on a box the same way it can a view of the spines.

I use the 25 quart Sterilite containers from Home Depot. They can store 3 stacks of paperbacks each (I stack them with the spines out for easy identification) or 2 stacks of digests, or 1 stack of pulps/comics. Plus the lids lock and they're stackable. They're not perfect because they're fluted, so the bottom books are a little tight and the top ones a little loose, so you have to be careful putting them in. But it's a small inconvenience to be able to see what's in them without rooting through your boxes all the time.

Another group shot from sorting Avons. Etons are really Avons, just like Diversey. They were Avons short lived attempt at the longer format Signet size paperbacks. It's a short series but has some doozies in it. They followed the logo change from the classic circle enclosed logo to the "word as circle" logo (as I call it) just like the small format Avons did.

I usually buy first printings but I liked this Rader cover on the 3rd edition of Pattern for Panic so much that I couldn't resist. That's the thing with the Berkeley's - they're later editions of many Avon and other first pb's but so many of them have really cool covers. They are a second generation publisher but the art had improved greatly by that time with tons of McGuires and others using great compositions.

True. That happened with a lot of collectibles in the early 2000's as things that were locally scarce became easier to find on the internet. But I think enough time has passed since then for interest to pick up again.

I find that Howard strikes this Elegiac mood more with Kull than with Conan. Especially the period when the older Kull becomes King. The heavy weight of the crown, constant threat of usurpation and brooding on the fate of all men create an aura of wisdom and wondering well suited to front a backdrop of ancient lands, men and mythical beings that Howard so poetically describes.

Sweet early Dells The old PB's can get a little expensive at dealer retail, but there is still so much opportunity out there if you stay patient. It is a great thrill to unbox a nice 40's book for $5-20

Those are exceptional copies you posted. Dreamhaven isn't cheap but they do stock some high quality books for sure.

If you look at the little shelfie he posted a while back I think you'd agree he's on the right trail

Just reread, "The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune" in that Avon Fantasy Reader #2 I got. It's Kull but kind of a philosophical sword and sorcery. Even more powerful now that i'm older than when I first read it.

My favorite Conan story cover for content and color palette.

First Conan story on the cover. So eerie...

Trying to focus on Howard cover appearances while there is still time...

Awesome find! You have a good eye The Fantasy Reader cover is a pure paste up or light box creation! I have a ton of Avon's and they re-used art in so many ways, old front covers were pasted up on back covers, covers re-used multiple times for the same or different titles or across lines like paperbacks and comics. They were pretty thrifty lol!

The poor man's Spicys

Maybe they could move it to the pulp section and pin to the top of the page. It is the legacy no?

Sick Firing Squad cover on the usually tame Argosy

Alex's brother August Schomburg was a pretty good draftsman himself

I posted this in the Comics/Pulps/Paperbacks topic but I know there are a ton of these, certainly enough to support it's own thread. Most notably, dozens of Belarski Popular Library covers appeared first as pulp covers This 1947 Avon Fantasy Reader swiped Belarski's dragon from 1939 for a ride for the bizarre Harpy/Demon (My Copies) I'd like to go after more of these but for now, here's a couple images from the interwebs to show some of what's out there: 1944 1947 Summer 1949 1950 1943 1948

So many of these publishers re-used artwork, it's a collecting sub-set all its own.