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

[OtherEric]

On 10/31/2021 at 10:59 PM, Randall Dowling said:

I'm in the same place.  I love the look of fresh, glossy copies of the doubles and I have a lot of them.  But it's a long way to go to complete the set.  Feels like a 10-15 year goal if I embark on it.  Especially when I'm working on a Midwood run, an Ace F-series run, a Popular Library run, etc.  Then toss in various digest runs and man, it's a tall climb to the top!

My challenge is creating bookends (metaphorical) for where to start and stop pursuits.  Still working on it.

I've got most of the trickier SF D- and S- series Ace SF books already, at least:  Cry Plague, Conan the Conqueror, all the PKD books (except possibly the 2nd print of Solar Lottery, D-340.  I know I used to have a copy, but may have gotten rid of it when I got the D-103), the Ellison SF double, and so on.  So I'll continue working on the basis of "I'll grab the D- and S- books when I see them affordable" and eventually decide how serious I want to be about everything rather than just the SF.  For now, I'll keep grabbing everything as I find it cheaply,  since I figure a nice mix of spines looks good even if it's heavily biased towards SF.

[frozentundraguy]

It took me about 5 years to collect all of the Ace "D" sci-fi doubles. I was collecting and reading them pretty much in sync until the last few months. At that point nearing my goal I sped up the pace I was adding books just to complete the collection.  I didn't keep track of where I bought each book, but I found quite a few of the books at Uncle Hugo's science fiction book store. Sadly that burned down last May. The owner is still raising money to relocate and rebuild.

[OtherEric]

Today's pickups at a local store:

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/1/2021 at 1:59 AM, Randall Dowling said:

My challenge is creating bookends (metaphorical) for where to start and stop pursuits.  Still working on it.

The human condition   Back in the 20th century, many collectors were completists and would go for full runs of favorite titles. Lance Casebeer (somewhat) famously accumulated all the big runs in the 70's & '80's. My friend Bruce Brenner still has all the Avons and all of his Ray Johnson books even though he no longer collects.

It's kind of impossible today, because although the internet has improved overall access to books, the days of finding hordes of vintage pb's in every bookstore for 10 cents to a dollar is gone. Buying on line takes time and money as the bottom line price for any vintage pb has gone up since the 80's when old timers complained about Warren having minimum prices of $5 for fine copies. That's not to say there aren't bargains on line, but they disappear quickly and most books that anyone desires are $10 - $100 and up in nice shape. That adds up quick in runs with 500 - 1000 titles.

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/2/2021 at 6:17 PM, OtherEric said:

Today's pickups at a local store:

 

The Ace avalanche continues I love the crush of humanity struggling under the Abomination and the Dean Owen book is one you don't see much.

[Surfing Alien]

Here's my mail call

2 more Woolrich/Irish earlies that I didn't have. I Wouldn't Be In Your Shoes doesn't have any other vintage editions I'm aware of. Black Curtain was reprinted as a nice Dell mapback.

Also finally found a nice upgrade for my Martian Chronicles. They're usually beat up.

[Pat Calhoun]

this is no doubt only part of 'I Wouldn't Be In Your Shoes'.

Edited November 3, 2021 by Pat Calhoun

[Pat Calhoun]

Lance Casebeer held summer 'cons' at his house in Portland OR back in the day: made it to a few in early '90s: pb heaven: got my 'Fright' at one...

[PopKulture]

On 11/2/2021 at 6:02 PM, Surfing Alien said:

 Lance Casebeer (somewhat) famously accumulated all the big runs in the 70's & '80's.

 

That adds up quick in runs with 500 - 1000 titles.

I still have a few hundred Casebeer books which made their way to a midwestern show more than a decade ago. Some had the famous (or infamous) Casebeer color touches and some didn't. If it wasn't obnoxiously obvious, some of those books made my core boxes with a little note in the bag denoting "From the Collection of Lance Casebeer." If I already had an equal or superior copy, I just kept the Casebeer books with their original post-it notations in their original bags as part of a quirky chapter in paperback collecting history.

Regarding run collecting, I still fill holes when I can do it on the cheap, which means rarely buying on eBay because the postage kills you - that's what really adds up over the years. And frankly, I still like too many publishers to get caught in that cumulative postal trap. Take Pocket, for instance: I'm that guy who likes all those vegetable gardening and Vogue dressmaking editions. Again, I think them quirky and worth preservation.  I'm more of a generalist than a run collector - albeit a generalist who likes way too much stuff, such that it starts to look like I'm a completist.  

Edited November 3, 2021 by PopKulture

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/3/2021 at 5:55 PM, PopKulture said:

I'm that guy who likes all those vegetable gardening and Vogue dressmaking editions.

YOU're that guy!  Seriously, I know what you mean, the ebay postage adds up so i'll always look for more books from the same seller to bundle if I can. 

I'm a generalist in that there's a wide swath of what i'll pick up, especially if they're minty and relatively inexpensive, beyond my core collections of Digests, Woolrich, Peanuts, Heinlein, Ray Johnson covers etc.

[mrwoogieman]

Picked these up at the local outdoor flea this morning. I just kept stacking them up at 3 for $5!

[Surfing Alien]

A lot of sweet Ace's around here lately.  I grabbed this decent enough copy of Spiderweb, a tough book without creases but this was a real bargain so will do for now.

 

While I was putting it away in my Ace box, I figured I'd do a group shot of important early doubles. I have most but not every one I want of the first 100, notably missing the D-7 Whittington and some need upgrading but I'm getting there. They look nice lined up together.

 

[Pat Calhoun]

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/9/2021 at 8:40 PM, Pat Calhoun said:

What a classic book!  Harry Whittington and Rafael DeSoto It doesn't get much better 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Surfing Alien
correct artist

[OtherEric]

On 11/9/2021 at 2:52 PM, Surfing Alien said:

A lot of sweet Ace's around here lately.  I grabbed this decent enough copy of Spiderweb, a tough book without creases but this was a real bargain so will do for now.

 

While I was putting it away in my Ace box, I figured I'd do a group shot of important early doubles. I have most but not every one I want of the first 100, notably missing the D-7 Whittington and some need upgrading but I'm getting there. They look nice lined up together.

 

Your Spiderweb actually looks similar to my copy, down to the creases near the spine and lower right corner... not a perfect match, but I think I could mistake your copy for mine if I didn't have them both to compare.

I've got half of the 10 books you show, I guess I'm off to a decent start on these given that I only started getting non-SF doubles 3 years ago or so...

[Pat Calhoun]

flip side of D-59

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/10/2021 at 1:04 PM, OtherEric said:

Your Spiderweb actually looks similar to my copy, down to the creases near the spine and lower right corner... not a perfect match, but I think I could mistake your copy for mine if I didn't have them both to compare.

I've got half of the 10 books you show, I guess I'm off to a decent start on these given that I only started getting non-SF doubles 3 years ago or so...

It's amazing how many copies of this book have that kind of creasing on the lower right corner (and the ubiquitous spine crease). Look at this copy on the Ace site at UNCW

http://people.uncw.edu/smithms/dD-series/dD-059a.jpg

 

You're surely on a good start with these since you got the most costly one (if not the rarest as you've noted! I think D-7 is tougher to find for sure, although if it regularly sold for $500, more copies might surface)

 

 

 

 

 

[Surfing Alien]

On 11/10/2021 at 2:45 PM, Pat Calhoun said:

flip side of D-59

This cover isn't credited anywhere but looks kind of like Belarski to me. The front cover is credited to Harry Barton. I corrected my post above on D-7 - that's Rafael DeSoto, not Barton as I originally posted    The back cover is uncredited but the men's tall thin faces look a lot like the guy on the front cover.

[OtherEric]

On 11/10/2021 at 11:45 AM, Pat Calhoun said:

flip side of D-59

Here's a few more flip sides.  Which raises the question... it's pretty clear on these books which is the headline book and which is the also-ran.  (The D-1 is arguably the exception, but even there I think most people view Too Hot for Hell as the 'front').  I can think of several single-author doubles where both sides are equally in demand, but are there any multiple creator doubles where both sides are in demand beyond the normal run in the range?  The only one I can think of off the top of my head is D-227; Gunner Cade is a well-regarded title and Crisis in 2140 is wanted by the H. Beam Piper fans (like me!) because Ace never reprinted it when they finally brought back the rest of Piper's works in the late 70's- early 80's.  But it's a pretty weak candidate, I think.

[OtherEric]

And for fun, here are the flip sides of the PKD doubles: