The-Collector

On 4/19/2024 at 11:14 AM, johnenock said:

Only one vintage, but I did complete my Glen cook paperback collection today! Much nicer than the scan.

 

One of the very best!

On 4/14/2024 at 3:10 AM, Darwination said:

 

I think I predicted elsewhere that the McCauley will blow the estimate out of the water, but that's pure conjecture.

Agree. HA's estimates are all over the place take this one for example: https://fineart.ha.com/itm/pulp-pulp-like-digests-and-paperback-art/john-schoenherr-american-1935-2010-space-viking-analog-magazine-cover-november-1962gouache-on-board12-x-12/a/8161-71464.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116

 

On 4/5/2024 at 9:46 AM, johnenock said:

You Can trade comics for paperbacks, WHAT?!?!

A truly unread and probably unopened copy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want!! Lovely copy. 

On 3/23/2024 at 5:19 AM, jimjum12 said:

The stars aligned and I finally landed a pretty copy of this, not unread but real decent. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Lovely. I particularly like books where the PB is the true 1st edition. 

On 3/20/2024 at 5:04 PM, adamstrange said:

 

Wow!!!

On 3/20/2024 at 3:19 PM, Darwination said:

I feel like I know my way around comics and magazines pretty well, but these paperbacks give me fits.  Is there some place I can find a list of Superior paperbacks like the one above?

It's hard especially with non-US books. I don't know of any organised source like Comic Books Plus or the Grand Comics Database. I mostly just google a lot and look through posts on the FB paperback group and Instagram. For sci fi isfdb.org is pretty comprehensive and includes scans of nearly all covers. 

If anyone sees a nice copy of Narco Nymphos at the show let me know! 

On 3/18/2024 at 10:51 AM, Robot Man said:

A few Digests. I like these generally better than PBs. Easier to pick out on a table but less of them to choose from.

A cool dope book I had never seen. “Dream Club” and another LB Cole cover I didn’t have.

 

Awesome pick ups!! Dream club is a tougher book. It was originally printed with the title "Beyond Desire" which is even harder to find. 

On 3/17/2024 at 10:42 AM, Surfing Alien said:

 I wouldn't advise anyone to "bet the farm" on any collectible, you might wind up the proud owner of crates full of Beanie Babies and no food 

As James mentioned, I don't see any chance of a meteoric rise in prices for pbs, but there has been a steady uptick since I started buying again 7 years ago, moreso recently. As with most things, it's the higher grades and better books for the most part.

I don't agree that pbs were saved more than comics were though. They were passed around and were throwaways when printed as well and, unlike comics, never had word out in the non-collector world whereas comics have been hoarded by condition conscious  collectors at least since the 1960's and by the 1980's, as my friend RD says, (paraphrasing here) every grandma in an antique stall in Podunk had her VG copy of Dippity Duck #392 in a Mylar and priced at $55.

Whereas old paperbacks were just that. Junk, thrown in a corner of the stall where the brittle spine glue dried up further until it cracks when you open the cover and the pages flutter unfettered about the stall 

Not saying there haven't been plenty of die hard collectors all along. Just nowhere near the preservation base due to lack of value and knowledge. 

I've only ever bought pbs with side money, steadily though, and over the years you can put together some nice runs of things.

Awesome collection. I NEED that LoTR set. And If you got that Army Romances spring edition from CC I think you were bidding against me. 

On 3/17/2024 at 2:59 AM, Darwination said:

Reasonably affordable probably doesn't apply to this batch, though, eh?

Junkie is William Burroughs' first novel - what's the flipside?  (What a nice copy!)  I grew up in Lawrence, KS, and met Burroughs once as a kid (he offered a group of us Lemonade -).  Of course the townie stories and lore meanders into surreal territory

That Fraternity of Shame cover is wild. Anybody know the artist?

I believe the cover is Bonfils. You are right they aren't cheap items, but relative to PCH they are a bargain. 

On 3/17/2024 at 4:01 AM, Robot Man said:

 

Great stuff RM. That copy of Marijuana Girl is very nice!

On 3/14/2024 at 2:29 AM, Bookery said:

Mostly, but that's probably true of any "vintage" collectible.  Paperbacks are a slow market in my area, however, oddly enough, I probably have more young people in their 20s coming in looking for old paperbacks than old comics.  I just got in a want-list a couple of days ago from a young woman in her 20s that includes Ursula Le Guin, PKD, Joanna Russ, Barry Malzberg, Robert Silverberg, etc.  Apparently, there are a number of role-playing games based off old sf authors, and players are seeking the original stories out as source material, reviving interest.  Of course, I can sell any edition from any era of Lovecraft, Howard and Ellison.  And there are still Frazetta-cover fans. The oldest stuff is actually slower-moving... old Avons, Dell mapbacks, early Pocket Books.

I think the sci fi connection is important. I originally got into PBs because of my love of sci fi. There are multiple Instagram accounts devoted to sci fi and paperback art with 100k or more followers. And their followers are avid and active. 

On 3/12/2024 at 2:29 AM, shadroch said:

What is the audience for these vintage paperbacks?  It seems to me the buyers tend to be older white men. I cant recall the last time I sold a 1950s/60s paperback to anyone under 55.  That doesn't speak well for the future. 

I'm 35 and actively collecting. But I might be the exception proving the rule. 

On 3/7/2024 at 1:28 AM, ThothAmon said:

Love the file copy. Do you know what it was filed for?

Another anti-communist rarity (1 other copy on census). Lower grade than I usually like but I've been looking for a long time: 

 

On 2/27/2024 at 8:53 AM, lou_fine said:

Well, looks like we got the obvious answer to my question which I had posted here last week:    

Although he was not doing the scanning himself, it look like the loss of Rob is clearly evident as he was probably the go to guy in terms of coordinating everything to ensure that all of the auctions was set up to run properly.  

Rob has left CC? That explains why my emails have gone unanswered. 

On 11/14/2023 at 4:36 PM, Bookery said:

As an addendum to my above comment, last week Heritage held a heavily-hyped auction of original silent film posters, all linen-backed.  Even if you didn't recognize the stars, the art on some of these is gorgeous.  I thought about bidding just to have a couple for store decoration, but ultimately didn't get around to it.  They had several hundred posters, and the highest price paid for any of them was $1400.  When was the last time you saw any Heritage auction where the high end topped out at only $1400?  Many of the posters sold for under $200, which probably wouldn't even cover the cost of linen-backing.  Factor in to all of this is a point many are missing... today's generation isn't collecting much of anything.  They download entertainment and discard it when they're finished.  This is something new we haven't seen before.  Maybe this will be temporary, maybe not... but as homes get more expensive and people move into smaller and smaller dwellings, combined with a digital world... we may ultimately see the end of collecting as a "thing" altogether.  Once upon a time everybody's home had bookshelves and a library of some sort, large or small.  Check out your real estate listings of modern million-dollar homes... look through the photos... not a bookshelf in sight.

I'd be surprised if physical collecting ceases to be a thing unless we cease to be physical beings. Most of those homes are staged and they remove personal items before selling. I also think Genz do collect e.g., some of the prices being paid for 2000s era digital cameras are surprising. 

I don't like to speculate on collectibles but If I had to pick I'd say tech and science will continue on an upward trend in the long term. Especially stuff related to AI or early digital art. I'd also include within that influential sci fi books e.g. Neuromancer, Snow Crash, Red Mars or anything that has captured tech bros' imaginations. D&D and videogame art also seem promising. 

In the short term vinyl is in the process of taking taking off. And as soon as HA has some signature auctions I'd expect to see prices increase substantially. 

On 8/16/2023 at 12:41 PM, Surfing Alien said:

Scrape? What scrape    If you're talking about that area at the middle spine with white coloring, I'd think that's either minor color rubbing or color skip from the press. Minor either way and nice book regardless

 

Thanks! That was my thought too.