asimovpulps

I've been waiting with bated breath for reactions now that the Heritage Auction is over....so I'll jump start things a bit! I've included some screen shots of final prices I was tracking. Two caveats: 1) My bias is towards the older sci fi pulps (Astounding/Amazing/etc from 20s-40s), so not sure if these rang true across all genres, and 2) I'm much newer to pulp collecting than most boardies, so these observations only cover what I've seen in the last ~6 months...and I would love to hear from folks who've seen the ups and downs of pulps over the years! 1) Prices were....high ! The FN Buck Rogers pulp went for $4,320 with buyer premium which is the most I've ever seen. Same goes for many other issues. Not listed below, but one issue went for less than I expected: the August 1939 Astounding with Robert Heinlein's first story - final price with BP was $132 for FN- 5.5. Thought that would get closer to $200 2) Across the board, these were nicer examples than 99% of what I've seen over the last 6 months. eBay auctions are usually in the Fair to VG- range (despite many claims of VG+ to FN- ), and HA were solidly in the VG+ to FN. I know there's a premium for the nicer issues, but curious if others think these higher prices will trickle down at all. I've already seen one eBay listing pop up referencing the HA auction for the Buck Rogers pulp. 3) @Bookery made a great comment in an older thread that it's hard to gauge overall trends from these auctions because a high price might just be "Bob and Joe both wanted that issue to complete a set and bid it up". Many auctions had 10+ bidders, but none I tracked had more than 15....so agreed it's hard to gauge what this means for prices of lower grade issues. Lots of trackers though, so people (like me) are interested! My 2 cents - I'm guessing there will be a short term pop in low grade listings from speculators at sky high prices...and then it will die down in a few months as they sit unsold...unless HA has another Pulp auction up their sleeves. 4) I might need to find a new hobby if these prices are indicative of a new trend I got into pulp collecting because I couldn't afford a first edition of Asimov's Foundation novel...and that opened a can of worms of pulp collecting which has only accelerated over the past few months....It's been a really fun ride, but the calculus changes when the chances of snagging a rare pulp at a reasonable price disappear with speculation. Unlike Comics, there isn't a continuing supply of Pulps to satiate future speculators, so price increases would seem somewhat inevitable over time. Agree/Disagree/Wise words from folks who have gone through this before? Thanks!

A little late, but here's the highlight of my last batch - Astounding August 1939 with Robert Heinlein's first story. Nicer than my other copy and got a great deal on it along with a few others from ~1938-1942 including the first two Asimov Foundation stories. May and June 1942 bedsheets - already have a copy of each but couldn't pass up getting another given it's my favorite story. Interested to see what the Heinlein issue goes for in the Heritage auction - I think there are 1-2 up.

Mail day! Fun one came in today, Amazing Stories - March 1929, featuring Airlords of Han which is the second Buck Rogers story to appear in Amazing Stories (after August 1928). Also the first Buck Rogers story with a cover which is pretty cool. Small chip on the bottom right corner, otherwise in fantastic shape and looks unread. A few other fun ones en route arriving next week, but was excited to post this one.

Finally.....been looking for a copy of the April 1928 Amazing Stories for a while. I have some Astounding bedsheets from the 40s, but was shocked at the sheer size of this one when it arrived. It's the only pulp I grabbed specifically for the cover, as I tend to focus on authors/stories. No time for scan, sorry for the glare!

Fun one in the mail today! My first Lovecraft pulp, not a bad one to start with. February 1936 Astounding Stories with At the Mountains of Madness on the cover. Pretty decent shape all things considered and I got a pretty good deal on it....of course now I feel the urge to complete the set which is not currently within the budget...

Completing the Foundation series was what got me into pulp collecting in the first place, I'm excited you're getting close and happy to have made a small contribution I'm curious which ones you have left to complete the set?

Glad you did - that's a nice copy! Here's some info on the Three Laws of Robotics - it's the backbone of Isaac Asimov's I, Robot series and shows up in some other sci fi stories/media as well (apparently in Alien, which I didn't realize): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics. There's even a Zeroth law, though that was added later... First Law A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Second Law A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. Third Law A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law

A nice way to start the weekend, just got these in the mail today! Took me a while to track either of these down and somehow found them in the same place. Nightfall by Isaac Asimov. Astounding - September 1941. First time Asimov appeared on the Cover for Astounding Strange Playfellow ("Robbie") by Isaac Asimov. Super Science Stories - September 1940. The first of the I, Robot stories. Apparently Asimov didn't like the title which is why he later changed it (editor Frederick Pohl chose the original title).

Ha yes you're right, I actually didn't realize I'd included that last image but glad I did (and corrected original post). I know of one or two of the June 1942 issues floating around depending on your price range (that issue seems to be generally over priced unfortunately...), and surprisingly a complete run of the Campbell edited Astounding issues for sale as well - feel free to shoot me a message and I can share links to both.

@OtherEric we have similar tastes! The Recruiting Station issue with the 3 Laws of Robotics is a tough find, that one took me a while...and my copy is pretty poor. Do you happen to have the Deadline issue (March 1944)? Cool backstory on that one. The H.P. Lovecraft issues are very cool as well. I have to admit I've never actually read Lovecraft, any suggestions for first stories to dive into? Few other pulps (digests + bedsheets technically) from the Foundation series:

First two Asimov stories in Amazing Stories: March + May 1939. Lower grade, but untrimmed I believe (hard to see on scan) @Hap Hazard very jealous!

Hi everyone, first time posting pictures so I'll start relatively small and happy to share more if there's any interest! I recently started collecting sci fi pulps of my favorite stories - my goal was to collect all of the original Astounding issues with Asimov's Foundation stories (11 in total from May 1942 - January 1950) after I realized a first edition novel was way out of my price range. Finally completed the set - here are some scans of my favorites and some other interesting issues I've started picking up with Asimov, Heinlein, etc. Collection is growing slowly, but I'm already hooked. Thanks @thunsicker for the suggestion to post here

Hi everyone! New to the boards and collecting as well - I just started collecting Sci Fi pulps a couple of months ago when I was looking for a first edition of the Isaac Asimov Foundation novels (too rich for my blood unfortunately...) and stumbled across Astounding Science Fiction where he originally published them as short stories in the 40s/50s. Many sleepless nights and eBay searches later...and I just completed the entire run of Foundation stories in Astounding Science Fiction, and picked up a few other interesting Golden Age pulps along the way. None of my friends cared, so here I am!