Comics, Pulps, and Paperbacks: Why such a discrepancy in values? 25 25

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/1/2023 at 12:35 PM, PopKulture said:

Messing around in the boxes a little…

The first twenty-one Bantam books:

Beautiful. I still dream of finding a copy of "The Great Gatsby" in the Dust Jacket

[Surfing Alien]

Some fun pickups

Haven't ever had a lot of Pony Books. They're pretty early, 1946. This one was in real nice shape but I can't quite figure out that art signature

 

Another for the pre-Atlas pile with a cool skull cover

 

I believe this is Robert McGinnis' first cover art

 

Rafael DeSoto cover art

 

A Lou Marchetti cover that a friend posted elsewhere and I had to find a copy. I had never seen this one before.

 

Finally a scarce Harry Whittington Berkley with a great Raymond Johnson cover, one I never had before.

[PopKulture]

On 11/2/2023 at 8:57 PM, Surfing Alien said:

Finally a scarce Harry Whittington Berkley with a great Raymond Johnson cover, one I never had before.

A very ambitious treatment of inter-tangled anatomy.  

[Surfing Alien]

Some Friday fun

Ace D1    Too Hot For Hell/The Grinning Gismo. Saunders covers on both sides. This is one I've had to be satisfied with my Fair/Good copy for all the time I've been on the boards here, just because really nice copies don't show up and I've never been in the right place at the right time. Finally fixed that 

 

 

Leg Artist   Red Circle #3   An early pre-Lion Book with a spectacular leg art cover. The Red Circle Books are altogether tough.

 

Martha Crane  Berkley G-83   Killer copy of a great Charles Copeland cover

 

Gang Mistress  Croydon Digest #34  Bernard Safran cover.  Y'all know how crazy I go about high grade Croydons and this one hits every note. The best I've seen.

 

 

Stable Boy   Beacon  B107  Walter Popp cover art. This one is both White Trash/Hillbilly and Black Americana at once - crazy stuff

 

 

[PopKulture]

On 11/3/2023 at 5:17 PM, Surfing Alien said:

Some Friday fun

Ace D1    Too Hot For Hell/The Grinning Gismo. Saunders covers on both sides. This is one I've had to be satisfied with my Fair/Good copy for all the time I've been on the boards here, just because really nice copies don't show up and I've never been in the right place at the right time. Finally fixed that 

You’re welcome - sort of. I saw that listing right away, thought about upgrading my lower grade copy, and saved it in my watchlist knowing it wouldn’t last long. As you alluded, it was probably something I should’ve popped on, but I don’t want to get into the habit of justifying those sorts of expenditures. I’ve always enjoyed collecting on a budget, and I have an innate aversion to the hundred dollar threshold. Pretty irrational, I know, since it’s something I’ve carried from the late 80’s! I should probably update the threshold…

I'm glad it went to someone who will appreciate it. 

[Darwination]

On 11/3/2023 at 5:29 PM, PopKulture said:

You’re welcome - sort of. I saw that listing right away, thought about upgrading my lower grade copy, and saved it in my watchlist knowing it wouldn’t last long. As you alluded, it was probably something I should’ve popped on, but I don’t want to get into the habit of justifying those sorts of expenditures. I’ve always enjoyed collecting on a budget, and I have an innate aversion to the hundred dollar threshold. Pretty irrational, I know, since it’s something I’ve carried from the late 80’s! I should probably update the threshold…

I'm glad it went to someone who will appreciate it. 

I saw an overpriced and beat-up copy of that one when I was looking around at some Saunders pbs just recently, good get.  The Too Hot for Hell side is the one I really like.

The fiery background on the Martha Crane bar scene makes it my favorite of the batch.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for black silk.

Stable Boy gets a what the hell is going on here double take with the awkward gawk and the horseshoe between the legs

Edited November 3, 2023 by Darwination

[PopKulture]

On 11/3/2023 at 5:48 PM, Darwination said:

The Too Hot for Hell side is the one I really like.

Me too. I never really liked Saunders women. His looser, more kinetic style works better with action scenes rather than seduction. 

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/3/2023 at 6:29 PM, PopKulture said:

saved it in my watchlist knowing it wouldn’t last long.

My watchlist "ended" list is littered with the soul-less, regretful memories of books I hesitated on  

If a high grade Ace D-1 isn't a hundred dollar book, none should be. I long ago crossed that threshold and beyond. At some point early on in my second collecting stage I realized I was accumulating a lot of cool books at low thresholds but the things I actually desired were usually too far and few between at cheap prices and, since Covid, much worse. So I pony up for books I want in high grade, but still always happy to find bargains. 

There's been nothing like the run up in comics and cards but vintage pbs have been chased by a noticeably larger base in the last couple of years. Still they are at such a paltry level relatively that I have no fear of a downturn

[PopKulture]

On 11/3/2023 at 6:02 PM, Surfing Alien said:

My watchlist "ended" list is littered with the soul-less, regretful memories of books I hesitated on  

If a high grade Ace D-1 isn't a hundred dollar book, none should be. I long ago crossed that threshold and beyond. At some point early on in my second collecting stage I realized I was accumulating a lot of cool books at low thresholds but the things I actually desired were usually too far and few between at cheap prices and, since Covid, much worse. So I pony up for books I want in high grade, but still always happy to find bargains. 

There's been nothing like the run up in comics and cards but vintage pbs have been chased by a noticeably larger base in the last couple of years. Still they are at such a paltry level relatively that I have no fear of a downturn

I agree, but I have seen paperbacks on the Bay go for more than ever before. I have a suspicion it’s a variant of the same FOMO that struck comics and then pulps. I think seasoned collectors are paying more and scrambling against a few new collectors (keyword “few”).

Those insane (FOMO) prices didn’t hold for most comics, they won’t hold for pulps, and I hope they don’t even happen for paperbacks.  

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/3/2023 at 6:48 PM, Darwination said:

I saw an overpriced and beat-up copy of that one when I was looking around at some Saunders pbs just recently, good get.  The Too Hot for Hell side is the one I really like.

The fiery background on the Martha Crane bar scene makes it my favorite of the batch.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for black silk.

Stable Boy gets a what the hell is going on here double take with the awkward gawk and the horseshoe between the legs

D-1 just does not show up in nice shape anymore so "overpriced" is very relative to the "beat-up"  There's quite a few pbs where a beat up copy still gets good coin.

Martha Crane is just sizzling, and yes, that dress makes it 

I don't know what the hell is going on with Stable Boy either but it is a genre of it's own, see poster in my hallway below

 

[Darwination]

Re:Saunders

I think I'm somewhere with you on that - like I don't think of him as one of the girlie pulp greats more like an all time great for spanning so many different eras and working in so many genres and types of publications.

Loose and kinetic probably describe my favorites of his from the saucy pulps where there's some body shape and composition things going on, almost balletic (am I allowed to use that word in a pulp thread?).  Not my pulps, I can't afford this mess

Ofc, my favorite of his has some of the flowing elements but could be called a pure pin-up, too

Edited November 3, 2023 by Darwination

[Darwination]

Race mixing is taboo enough in the 50s, but set it down South? Ultra taboo, lol.

Edited November 3, 2023 by Darwination

[PopKulture]

On 11/3/2023 at 6:10 PM, Darwination said:

 

I like that one a lot as well, but it does verge on pin-up, so compare that to an Elvgren or Buell: it's not even in the same league. That’s less a knock on Saunders and more a nod to the top-tier pin-up artists.  

Edited November 3, 2023 by PopKulture

[PopKulture]

On 11/3/2023 at 6:02 PM, Surfing Alien said:

If a high grade Ace D-1 isn't a hundred dollar book, none should be.

I know it’s in large part a perception issue on my end. I just always thought D-15 was the rising tide that lifted a boat - or book - like D-1. 

I mean, we don’t get that excited over Elmer Gantry or Death in the Library, and even less so for Saint Overboard and pitifully so for Life On The Mississippi.  

Of course, those aren’t PBO’s, so that’s part of it…  

Edited November 3, 2023 by PopKulture

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/3/2023 at 7:08 PM, PopKulture said:

Those insane (FOMO) prices .... I hope they don’t even happen for paperbacks.  

I don't think there's been real insanity with the PBs. Just a little more than normal inflation adjusted increase boosted by more market participation. In 1991 people freaked that Jon Warren priced a $4 minimum on a Fine book in his guide. A retailer would starve trying to sell $4 books today. A minty paperback with a nice cover should be worth $10 or more today imho. One that's rare and in demand in nice shape that was $40 in 1991 shouldn't be $40 today, and many of them aren't, they're a whole $75 or $80 now for the most part They've been left so far behind.

The fact that there's been a ton of exposure, especially on Facebook groups with thousands of members, including younger collectors, tells me that there's quite a few more new collectors than you suspect. That doesn't mean that there's not bargains, I've shown up at quite a few online auctions where I was pleasantly surprised at low turnout, but I'm always prepared to drop a bomb, if $100 could constitute a bomb in the collectible world, to get a book I want.

That said, I've been shocked here and there over the last few years, at how many other people wanted a book I wanted and crushed my bomb

 

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/3/2023 at 7:26 PM, PopKulture said:

I know it’s in large part a perception issue on my end. I just always thought D-15 was the rising tide that lifted a boat - or book - like D-1. 

I mean, we don’t get that excited over Elmer Gantry or Death in the Library, and even less so for Saint Overboard and pitifully so for Life On The Mississippi.  

Of course, those aren’t PBO’s, so that’s part of it…  

I think it is some perception. D-1 is a different animal than those other 1sts. A PBO like you said, but also a drug PBO, with Marijuana on the cover and a Saunders cover and very rare in high grade. I see 10 copies of D-15 for every D-1 I see. D-5 is incredibly tough as well and has Saunders best early Ace cover imho.

As for those other 1sts, I think Death In The Library is by far the most widely popular with an inventive cover and capable of pulling down good coin in high grade.

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/3/2023 at 7:10 PM, Darwination said:

some body shape and composition things going on, almost balletic

I think of these almost as really nice prelims for a finished painting. Great lines and just enough detail to sell the mag. You always have to remember that these guys got paid at a level where they would/should do just enough to sell the mag. Barye Phillips was much like Saunders in this way - guy painted a zillion covers, so many of his covers look beautiful but you look up close and there's not a hell of a lot of detail there, just amazing line work.

[OtherEric]

On 11/3/2023 at 4:34 PM, Surfing Alien said:

I think it is some perception. D-1 is a different animal than those other 1sts. A PBO like you said, but also a drug PBO, with Marijuana on the cover and a Saunders cover and very rare in high grade. I see 10 copies of D-15 for every D-1 I see. D-5 is incredibly tough as well and has Saunders best early Ace cover imho.

As for those other 1sts, I think Death In The Library is by far the most widely popular with an inventive cover and capable of pulling down good coin in high grade.

There's also the very simple fact that it's the first Ace Double, and the Ace Doubles have ALWAYS been coveted by collectors, at least since the early 80's in my personal experience and probably longer.

[OtherEric]

On 11/3/2023 at 4:26 PM, PopKulture said:

I mean, we don’t get that excited over Elmer Gantry or Death in the Library, and even less so for Saint Overboard and pitifully so for Life On The Mississippi.  

 

So help me, I used to have that edition of Life on the Mississippi.  I possibly still do in storage.  I didn't realize until a few days ago it was the first Bantam.

[Darwination]

I went looking to see if I had some of the preliminary material from The Atlantic in 1875 that went into Life on the Mississippi, but I guess I don't.  I do have at least the first installment of Pudd'nhead Wilson from The Century Illustrated Magazine, December '93

 

Of course, in my fashion, I've acquired a coverless copy

Don't let the rough looks fool you.  These 19th century magazines are in pretty great shape paper-wise.  They'll be around long after the pulps have crumbled to dust.  I'm pretty sure I have more Twain in the magazines, but the 19th century covers don't lend much of a clue as to the contents. 

I'd probably have more 19th century mags if they had figured out that changing the cover every month is a good idea...