Surfing Alien

The whole "Paperbacks From Hell" thing puzzled me when I first saw it but I recognize it now for what it is

All the crazily priced CGC pulps on the bay now seem to be sitting. As well they should. Very few overall look to have sold.

The thing that puzzles me the most is the thousands of modern trade paperbacks listed on ABE for hundreds of dollars each, I mean there are thousands of them, to the point of being highly distracting when doing a search sometimes. All books that can be had for $10-30 but someone is listing tons of them like this. I keep thinking it's some kind of inventory/tax scam

One of those books that I'd get, just for the Hector Garrido cover art - no one cares about the book I've always had other more important things to go after when one has come up though, it's just not an important book to me but one I wouldn't say no to a gift

A few observations/agreements here - Paperbacks are still dirt cheap compared to other collectibles - I've been buying and selling for years now and the vast majority of cool books can be had between $20 and $100 whether golden age or newer. There's no one search that can dragnet the field. The listing methods vary so widely, I know of recent sales higher than those but they are still pretty rare, if only because the truly rare never come to market. The market is highly cyclical/volatile. I've seen collections with the real goods come to well advertised auction/market that caused a plethora of 3 figure sales in a short time, and I've seen droughts of such things so no narrow time period can capture what's happeneing. That said, there's plenty of 80's books that go for high dollar - the Halloweens included. I didn't even know about those until I happened cross a minty copy of "III" about a year ago and it sold very quickly for $125 in my store. Many books in the 80's had relatively small print runs and there's a ton of fans out there to support them.

Sweet copy. I love that cover but man those add up quick in the storage space department

But...but ... that's the very definition of a wraparound cover Love looking at this one. I have a nice copy but really want a 9.0 or better. It's very tough to find without wear on those dark spine edges. I know we've been over this book before, but you don't need a hi-res image to see that the folds of the stage curtains at the left of the top front cover are painted, uninterrupted into the spine panel, and that the floor at the bottom left front is painted over and under the dancing Salome and head of John the Baptist at the bottom spine area. It is also apparent that the plate protrudes onto the front panel and her dress on the spine protrudes into the front and back panel. The stage curtain was just an ingenious way for him to create a screen in the middle of the painting to create some separation between the main scene and the other acts in the book. Now if you want to argue that it's not a wrap around because it does not all depict one scene, that's a different argument imho

Wisdom right there I have no idea how my daughter could be graduating college this year I love how well she is adulting but I sure miss her toddler-hood, it all happens so fast

Oh, Salome is a wraparound for sure. Probably the greatest in all of the paperbacks, (possibly tied with the Gold Medal "Seminole") Look at the floor she dances on. Goes straight around to the back. Not even questionable

Nappi Nurses

I like a nice minty fresh Dell once in a while. They have a certain charm.

Crime Detective March 1940.

When in doubt about Avon covers, get both

I like 'em

This is not a test, of the emergency broadcast system...

True, but those aren't vintage. If we start posting newer books, the next thing you know @Randall Dowling will be showing off his Sweet Valley High set

Some Friday fun ... "Maniac Rendezvous" by Marc Brandel Avon No. 387 Cover art by Don Brockell (credited inside) This was considered classic back in the day. I've always wanted a copy but never got one I really like the title font as well as the art generally. "Strangers On A Train" by Patricia Highsmith Bantam No. 905 Cover art by Stanley Zuckerberg. Highsmiths early pbs are all pretty tough and pricey from what I can see. Took a chance and lucked into this one for a song.

Well said, about as well as it can be said. Turning a blind eye to stereotypical paper won't make it go away and better to try to understand it imho. You couldn't remotely be an Avon completist or even serious collector without having some of them, whether its racial, nationality or gender types. For the record, no one on the Raymond Johnson panel I put together for his bio thinks Raymond Johnson did that cover. More likely it was Bill Randall, Robert Hilbert or some other Avon stalwart.

Well, Warren's guide has 41,000 pb listings so I guess there's an end somewhere

Excellent - those rarely go under the radar I won some cool things Easter night too as bidding seemed very subdued

More Fridge Magnet RayJo

Some would say Avati and not Avati back then But I always loved the slightly cartoonish renderings of the pulp influenced artists rather than the "gritty realists"

Another Ray Johnson confection.

Raymond Johnson's cover run at Avon in the early 1950's was astonishing. Belarski at Popular was the only comparable dynasty, and I love his run, but Johnson broke everything out of the confines of the cover space with huge figures in off-set layouts with bright colors and that smooth shading

That's like the Avon Hall of Fame right there