Rick Hall

This all depends on what you are collecting. If you are looking for the "Batwoman" issue of Weird Tales in order to read the stories, you will find solid readable copies that are overpriced. If you are looking for the "Batwoman" issue of Weird Tales just to own the pulp and look at the cover, you will not find many "High Grade" copies. Those lower grade copies will be "overpriced for its grade". A "High Grade" copy will be priced even higher. No "Exceptionally High Grade" copies will be there. They will pass hands-to-hand, the transaction having already been completed. Or those copies will be put up for auction. After all, it is just another Brundage pastel in an issue of WeirdTales. This one just has been tagged as "Iconic".

True Crime magazines are not pulp magazines. Canadian True Crime magazines will be very similar to US True Crime magazines. Canadian pulps are usually Canadian editions of US Pulps. Some few are regular pulps, generally with unknown authors. Yes, Canadian magazines are quite scarce.

As this is a UK pulp [7D is the price], is would indeed be rare in the States.

All issues of Munsey from that era are rere.

"The biggest majority of buyers are looking for covers and writers. " Pulp collectors are looking for the stories. A slabbed pulp with a story from a favored author, a story that cannot be read, or reread, is an expensive. useless geegaw.

"Great cover and great title", not to my eye. But the stories inside are horrible.

It is the most expensive pulp. Itis not the rarest pulp. There are many copies in collections. [It being the first Tarzan, many copies have been in collections for 90 to 100 years.].

But a slabbed pulp cannot be read. Any slabbed pulp that I buy will get cracked out of the holder so I can read the pulp. You're not here to "save the copies for future collectors".

You do not mean "Comic Book CoIlectors". You mean "CoIlectors of slabbed Comic Book". How can one read a slabbed comic book or pulp? Several collectors just loved that cover.

There were three issues of the B.O.B. Bulletin.

Poor man’s Man of Bronze published in 1933. Generally found in poor condition. Still $100 book in that condition. "Generally found in poor condition." This happens to be a very nice copy.. The six "Ideal LIbrary" books, 3 Doc Savage & 3 Shadow, was a very inexpensive line of books. printed on bad paper and flimsy covers. I would grade this as Poor+. [Nearly exceptional copy.] Now, to be truthful, these are no longer "books to be read", the paper is much too brittle. The "Ideal LIbrary" books are fetish objects, items to be looked upon and revered. It is nothing like Big Little Book. It is four times as large and has no illustrations. It is a book. The cover is from the cover of the first Doc Savage pulp. And yes, the original painting still exists. .

These were published by one of Martin Goodman's many shell companies. Timely, "TImely Comics", only did comic books. This would be called a "Goodman Pulp".

The Shudder Pulps, some of the worst pulp magazine stories I have ever tried to read.

"Appreciate your posting this question. I recently picked up some "bedsheet" size pulps (which is what I think you're referring to as "magazine" size) at a local estate sale. They are 8.5 inches x 11.5 inches . Obviously much too large for even Magazine Bags. I haven't tried this, but I think they might fit in the bags CGC slabs are sent with. I'd much rather use bags/boards that are properly sized exactly for the purpose, but I don't believe anyone makes them. I would also note bag/board is only half the battle - would love to have a proper storage box as well!" If you search outside of the comic book bags, 9 and 9 1/2 inch wide bags are out here. Magazine-sized backing boards are easy to find. My bedsheets fit perfectly well in a magazine box.

Posted August 23, 2021 "I’ve been getting into pulps slowly over the last couple of years. Is Hubbard really heavily collected?" > Only by Scientologists. They have pushed up the prices on pulps with L Ron's stories. "For me that cover is the big draw; there are quite a few Popular Detectives with incredible cover art." I have never bought a pulp because of the cover. "I’m curious to see if the pulp market is as cover-driven as comic books (particularly pre-code)." > No. Pulps are collected primarily for the fiction. "I know previous generations collected them for their content, but with CGC slabbing pulps I could see that shifting." Not among pulp collectors. How does one read the fiction in a slabbed pulp? It not as if you can read the stories online.

Track down Michelle Nolan. She has an extensive collection of sport pulps.

"When it comes to comics and pulps, everything is wide open. I pick these up when in nice shape and cheap which they usually are. The colvers are always so bright with a lot of action." Non-Sport pulps are rarely cheap. Sport pulps in a sport card shop are priced to the Ionosphere. Your issue of Argosy is a general-interest pulp with a sport-themed cover. "Guess I should probably actually try and read one one of these days." That is how they are best enjoyed.

"I like those old football helmets 🏈🤣🤣 not very protective back then though😀🏈😷" The modern helmet, being hard-shelled, has become a weapon. IN the '30s, nobody tackled head first.

"The magazines above are, in my opinion, pulp magazines. Just because a story is heralded as "true" doesn't mean they aren't fiction. Many of the same authors and artists that worked in the pulps worked in the True (detective,confessions, etc.) magazines as well as the Men's Adventure Magazines (sweat mags). The digests that came after the pulps often get excluded, too, for their size or maybe because of the fact there could be so much reprinted material, but I tend to think of those as pulps as well." Does "pulp magazine" mean any magazine that is mostly fiction? Is there a difference from a "Pulp Magazine" and a "Fiction Magazine"? If Stag and Saga are pulps, so are the "True Romance" magazines of the 50s. Even "Woman's Day" and "Family Circle" carried some fiction. Popular Science carried a fiction story fo 18 months back in the late 20s. The more publications that are grouped into a category, in this case "Pulp Magazine", the weaker the distinction between that category and other categories. A pulp magazine is best categorized by the nature of the fiction there in. There are digest-size magazines that are pulps. But most digest-size magazines that are all-fiction, or nearly so, are Digests. Originally, most digest-sized magazines were pulps in a smaller, "more modern" format. But over time, the nature of the fiction gradually changed to the point where one can easily tell there has been a change. Over time there was an "evolutionary change". Pulps evolved into Digests. It is not the paper. Some early pulps were printed on very nice paper, paper much better than "pulp paper". Canadian pulps were printed on pulp paper, but a much nicer grade of pulp paper. It is not the cover price. Some publishers toyed with nickel pulps. Annuals or "quarterly reissues" cost 50 cents. It is not the authors. Authors gonna auth. Editorial requirements changed. Authors had to change their style to sell their work. The readers changed what they wanted to read.

"Is it accurate to say that a lot of the early issues are pretty scarce? And at what point do issues stop being scarce?" > It depends on who is looking for that issue. For you guys who would use the standard places on the internet, the early 30s. For a civilian, the two reprints published in the mid-70s would be next to impossible to find. For me, I have been attending pulp conventions for 30 years. I know whom to talk to: the major pulp dealers who set up at conventions, heavy-duty SF collectors, and they have connections I don't have: mid-to-late 20s. Not that I'd pay less for them; but I'd get the word. It pays for others to know what you collect. I am one of the small-time dealers in pulp hobby. Half a dozen times over the years I have stumbled across something ulra-rare and I knew a collector who might be interested. My dealer stock is never known for its rarity. But, when I call somebody, they are ready to be surprised. Do not worry about rarity, buy what you like. Nobody bought stock because they had pretty stock certificates.

"People don't buy these for the cover art, do they? " > The VAST majority of pulp collectors do not buy pulps for the cover art. They buy pulps so they can read the stories.

"People don't buy these for the cover art, do they? " > The VAST majority of pulp collectors do not buy pulps for the cover art. They buy pulps so they can read the stories.

There are two kinds of trimming: Most printers did not trim the pulps they printed, Some publishers trimmed the free edge, others trimmed top & bottom, still others trimmed all three sides. A few issues came from the printer, or printers, both trimmed AND untrimmed. Those issues have been documented. Pulps "Trimmed, as published", will be graded as they were produced. It appears that pulps "trimmed aftermarket" will have the grading reflect the trimming as well.

" I would like to know if there are any close to accurate pricing resources out there." > The best resources are the pulp conventions. Heritage is not a good resource for common stuff. It is "High Market" for the most rare, high demand items. For average stuff, the Heritage fees are a turn-off for me. Adventure House is not a good resource for pulps, retail, and at auction. "Unfortunately, the market is too volatile at the moment for an accurate general purpose resource." > The pulp market has ALWAYS been volatile. "If you can track down a copy of the guide @Bookery did a few years ago, it's a great starting point." > There were two editions and both of them were out-of-date very quickly. Fictionmags.com is a great resource for checklists of issues and author/artist data. But no prices. "My goal is to collect Near Fine or better 50's books for now and branch out later to the pricier books. One thing I have noticed: If the cover has SPICY on it get ready to open up the wallet!" > The "Spicy" titles, and the "Speed" titles, the entire line was re-named, are avidly collected. The "Saucy" titles were another company. Are you looking at the Spicy's to read the stories or for just the covers? "Fine or better" for pulp magazines means you are looking at the top 5% or LESS of the pulps in the market. "There are a few sellers on eBay that offer the kind of books I want." Go to a pulp convention. PulpFest (Pittsburgh) is a 50-year-old annual multi-day show. Windy City (Chicago) has been an annual multi-day show for more than 20 years. PulpAdvenure Con runs a one-day show twice a year, these past 20 years; once in New Jersey and once in Florida. You can see, smell, and touch the pulps at a con. You can get answers to questions beyond the ken of mortal man. You can meet the collectors. You can meet the big dealers in the hobby.