Surfing Alien

So I get to my hotel in Glendale and on the wall behind the Customer Rep is a sign for "The Paperback Brewing Company" which is down the road from the hotel https://paperback.la/ Doesn't seem any relationship to the show but I may have to go down a can of "Hollywood Hellcats"

I think the small cadre nature of these little board threads blinds some folks to who is out there buying. Having been going after high level books for several years now, there's a lot more competition for nice books everywhere I look in the last couple of years. Very few bargains slip through the cracks unnoticed and I think it has to be the thousands of people on FB and Instagram groups that have crowded the doorways.

To supplement what has already been said here, I am going to be asking the dealers at the LA Vintage Paperback show the title question and will report back with their answers

Some Friday Fun with two of my favorite vintage PB series... The Kings Mistress by Jean Plaidy Pyramid Giant G42 Topless GGA cover art is uncredited. My Gun, Her Body by Jeff Bogar Lion Books No. 79 An early cover by Robert Maguire. Now that is a hard-boiled title!

Of course you have the rarest one Pat

Of course, now I'll be looking for a 2nd print of No. 43. I gotta know that HRN

It's real pretty and fresh. I got it recently and when I looked I saw the printing info and thought of your question again and realized I had all 3 So figured I'd share

Some Print-run Fun The Avon Merritt "Burn Witch Burn" trifecta. Avon Murder Mystery Monthly No.5, Avon No. 43, Avon No. 392. Cover art by William Forrest Inside No. 392, it gives the printing info that MMM No. 5 was printed in December 1942 with a 100,000 print run, No. 43 was January 1944 with a 100,000 print run, there was a second print run of No. 43 in April 1946 with a 50,000 print run (HRN probably around no. 80-100, I don't have one to compare, this one is the 1st print) and finally No. 392 in October 1951 with another 200,000 for a total of 450,000 copies

We call 'em "Fridge Magnet" covers https://www.ebay.com/itm/325928279967?itmmeta=01HRWM9JFJ0P407FN0PVMTJS2P&hash=item4be2d6df9f:g:GaEAAOSwLYhleuM6&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwFJq3Yqvb8snBpHUM47uISstVrE5tc58f0z0pMIxbJJdPlb%2FIzgShiWZb85lcP7U89CPxRWsjr0PVGuSWY4vqaz%2BsTmeYqbKBXq4Pevncd%2F8q2jUWWnikOC4axbQmIpSmsy%2BKH7HQFc7uKbSDhR7NyffMmZZYLleSWBF3gKDSGNACTKjAzPivh%2FyndKSQ8PKcte%2FSzZqCtBvcK1%2F8nHR%2F9hwDRJ5ncADFfMTUD460sacXw8v7WaxCAffM3LLBOALkA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_KnppTHYw https://www.ebay.com/itm/224997718935?itmmeta=01HRWM9JFJS29H2J01JDYMYCSZ&hash=item3462e8bb97:g:7bIAAOSwpk5iilm7&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8EBJiuV1xt7VtDlRX5qNt5lpBigPEvcmOKEyzu8Vf7yuiayXndumcZT9MVl4j5QqAFn3z8FU5uga%2FV9Wd1omlUVTHYaqwsK%2FtlcK3BhrGUdlzCjASYlQmGO%2F7zNKbKTSePJ2Xgzb4%2F7Ibp%2BVSjGEBIPyfejDG2irOBbmjboY8z%2F2afx49JZ3z8bDT%2FtDswKszn6zghZw2ZLG090QBd2Wg3l0EdOyDrtTwHrOY4sMd%2B68wQ3dzw%2FKBi96bctYTXNTUHn%2FJSaw7BM2I1YUQ7dIjCgyZWL5vg34PKvLP6wvMNbLiwMfgLxonkpgz6ZJjUGYuA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_KnppTHYw But they're available in Metal signs as well, I've seen a few https://fineartamerica.com/featured/tv-tramps-vintage-pulp-fiction-paperback-big-88-artworks.html?product=metal-print Tons of regular posters though https://www.ebay.com/itm/204412320613?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D259212%26meid%3D911f4e73b65a42489410958718fc52cb%26pid%3D101875%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D364370174563%26itm%3D204412320613%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D4429486%26algv%3DSimplAMLv11WebTrimmedV3MskuWithLambda85KnnRecallV1V2V4ItemNrtInQueryAndCassiniVisualRankerAndBertRecallWithVMEV3CPCAutoWithCassiniEmbRecallManual%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p4429486.c101875.m1851&itmprp=cksum%3A204412320613911f4e73b65a42489410958718fc52cb|enc%3AAQAJAAABcLSVkHmTL63bebovD9RfpraPWbY9f4anjbziTIaEIOVXg2DWhVLks3Lfqff9vxxfjIh4XEXusIehlT2iEH8%2BCxXNySMxlDIQJ3g86%2Bx3AAIAq9gznqdGSR72ksP41kjzPN1reUbVsJuld0S4i4qXlQfTmkMeIJTCXTM8mLpr7ju2fMvruDu87ZX%2B4bShOvD%2B4iLPsuBo11OGQSn5b7Y6RRbVlyVtYdbjBpCIzjBsOAUm5wzJYCLVQ%2FcEivYnMx9Ds1%2B7PC12X1aXz%2B4CwzRoU04bumXTD2b9IeyA7uM90tfiAcmT94%2FG6zuZLs%2B02UC4TmdCbRsCgIwRI6qETQCn7uhTa1vKvI%2BFDNyXV5e9%2BVXpqcPce6%2FaUqNjoFt09hRdXxmRK07fxLfr5kPI2JwFP8P8uqXPBmb%2Bn03AgGcsgJuk5AFmZN22AcGZxy8aeyD0Rc%2FtWA1jTtz87Fw12zDqvkgeZsOeTHmkV4LP6Od%2BAgyj|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A4429486&itmmeta=01HRWN0B5EQD1XTFV0WN3XM9GB

I suspect it's a little of all of the above ^ Our little main thread has always had interest but there's definitely been some enhanced spirit lately with great participation by new folks (to these parts of the board) I've had an Ebay store since 1998 but ramped it up quite a bit when I started actively collecting pb's again, around 2017. I sell very steadily out of the store but hadn't thought to do a board sale until I saw Randall Dowling sell some vintage pb's early last year and quite a few got "takes" so I decided to do one and sure enough, people bought books. Part of the perception of what makes something "hot" is what you see. With no visible sales here, no one saw these pretty things unless they came nosing around the pulp section. I'm positive the sales threads we've been doing has created some interest, just by their happening and folks seeing cool looking books. There's no doubt that tons of vintage pb's have the same cool cover appeal to comic collectors, and then there is the crossover appeal stated above that everyone has favorite books, authors and topics like Science Fiction or Noir, that would spur them to buy books regardless of how cool the cover is. But if they don't see them, they don't know what they are or might not think to acquire them. It isn't just here though, there has been a ton of interest spurred by Facebook and Instagram groups that have orders of magnitude higher participation than these boards. I see people of all ages in those groups - plenty of young writers who love noir, for instance (though plenty of us old codgers too ) The competition for high grade books is palpably higher these days, whether on the bay or elsewhere on the web. Many books that used to be of the variety that there were always 5 or 10 copies for sale are no longer that way. But it is always highly variable in the pb field. You can see three copies of a tough book surface in a month, but then not see another for a year. All that said, they're still dirt cheap compared to so many other collectibles, so I think it's pretty easy to hit that "Take" when you see something like a great Belarski or Maguire GGA cover for $30 or $50 or even $100. There's a pretty big sweet spot between $20 - $100 where so many great books lie.

Pick Up and Just Friends are definitely Ward. I'm not any expert on the others but I agree that Bilbrew and maybe Stanton are in there. Screen Test and Dealer's Luck look like Bilbrew to me Nice "Pickups" Mark - a little late reading eh

This later print of "The Amboy Dukes" is a "Stone Cold Classic" IMHO and a great asset to historians due to the incredible info inside... Although not indicative totally because it may have been Avon's biggest seller ever, but this book is still a pretty thing to acquire in high grade... The Brooklyn Bridge over the classic "Clinch" pose hits every button for this kid.

Problem is, gear takes up a lot of space. We're comfortable right now but not rich, have a fair sized house but guitars are like wimmen, they have things attached to them Like 20 medium to large amplifiers, boxes of pedals, cables, footswitches and every other imaginable appendage. The Lady of the house is an elementary school teacher and, unless you know the breed, you'd be amazed at the footprint of 20 odd years of teaching gear

30-ish I thought I had gotten it below that but we recently re-carpeted the house and had to pull everything out of every closet and I had to sheepishly confess it had crept above 30 so been selling a couple off. GAS is a tough habit to kick

*Update* Blazed through the second half yesterday. "Wow" is the word. Seldom do these noirs sustain such an even pacing throughout. Lots of tough turns of phrasing and memorable truths about life, death and love. All the elements of great plotting are here. The climax (perfectly captured by Copeland on the second paperback edition) is quite memorable and the fall and resolution not the usual throw aways. Highly recommended.

I was out of the house most of the day yesterday so didn't have a chance to respond to this. An epic post and no derailing done. I do have to say, the more cards that boardies reveal about their life away from collectibles, the more I like just about every one of y'all. And yeah I do have more than two guitars but just having one makes you cool in my book

That cover is by Raymond Johnson

Thanks Douglas. You know I collect any vintage pb with "Girl" in the title and this one has kept eluding me. I'm never not amazed at how many suitors show up to bid for her charms when she's available

Starving artist, a concept as old as time itself

Can't resist... cannot believe... 💞

Those Chartered Mysteries are tough in any kind of decent grade. The cover paper used was thin and brittle

Anywhere from 50-200k by the late 1940's. Most second and later printings of "Round Circle Avons" had printing information inside. Incredibly, "Neon Wilderness" by Algren, with the famous Ray Johnson prostitute in red dress cover, sold a million copies in its various printings, but it's very hard to find today.

Some killer books in that spread