rjpb Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 What are considered to be the scarcest pulps? I realize there are some that are probably scarce, but demand is not really there, so I'm wondering about ones which due to cover or content would be more collectible. I've read that the Thrill Books are pretty rare along with some of the early Weird Tales, and esoteric stuff like Zepplin Stories and I'm guessing most truly scarce pulps would be from prior to 1930. IngelsFan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htp Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 Curious as well. I've coveted a Submarine Stories for a while, no luck yet. FoggyNelson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post RedFury Posted December 18, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 18, 2021 (edited) On 12/17/2021 at 2:49 PM, htp said: Curious as well. I've coveted a Submarine Stories for a while, no luck yet. I've been after them for several years now and have managed to get two. I have some Navy Stories as well. All are very scarce. Edited December 18, 2021 by RedFury Zolnerowich, FoggyNelson, comicjack and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Bookery Posted December 18, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 18, 2021 There are certain publishers whose titles seem to generally be scarce (with a few exceptions). Hersey, Dell, Ramer, come to mind. Oddly enough, the titles and issues most sought by collectors are often not the rarest. There is no such thing as a rare science-fiction pulp... and probably only a few that are truly uncommon. Early Weird Tales are tough... but there are a number of complete collections out there, so not that rare. The Spicys are more common than is often realized, though there are issues here and there that are genuinely difficult. As already mentioned, true rarities would include Submarine Stories, Navy Stories, Zeppelin Stories, Cabaret Stories ( 1 & 2 are the most "common" in this run... for years it was though there were only 6 issues, but awhile back issues 7 & 8 turned up). I've never seen an issue of Fire Fighters in person. Clayton's Danger Trail title is pretty scarce. The Blue Moon has to rank in the top 10. Other contenders off the top of my head... Newspaper Adventure Stories, New York Stories, The Ocean, Pep Tec Tales (this might be British, however), Popular Engineering Stories, Prize Air Pilot Stories, Red Blooded Stories, Scarlet Gang Smashers, Stage and Screen Stories, Triple-X (they turn up, but since it ran 103 issues, unlike many of the short-run titles above, they seem few and far between), and many more possibilities. When it comes to the pseudo-pulp girly-style magazines of the 20s and 30s, there are still issues being discovered. rjpb, damonwad, waaaghboss and 6 others 7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyNelson Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 Submarine stories sweet cover👍‼️😷 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpb Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 Thanks Bookery, that's the type of info I was looking for. jimjum12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Bookery Posted December 23, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 23, 2021 Here's a sampling of some of the pulps I used to own that I'd classify as scarce to rare... asimovpulps, waaaghboss, rjpb and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyNelson Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Some of those above a stunning😷👍‼️ Makes me want🥰 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarg Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 On 12/23/2021 at 9:24 AM, Bookery said: Here's a sampling of some of the pulps I used to own that I'd classify as scarce to rare... What the heck is happening on this cover? Is that Joan of Arc? Kind of weird to have the protagonist looking away from the viewer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyNelson Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 Love, crime detective above a photo cover from what movie I wonder? 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjum12 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 On 12/23/2021 at 10:24 AM, Bookery said: GOD BLESS... -jimbo(a friend of jesus) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpb Posted December 24, 2021 Author Share Posted December 24, 2021 On 12/23/2021 at 7:24 AM, Bookery said: Here's a sampling of some of the pulps I used to own that I'd classify as scarce to rare... Thanks for sharing these. Now I'm thinking I should have bid more on a copy of that Snappy Romances I saw at auction recently. Is it a squarebound pulp, or magazine format like the other Edmar publications I've seen? I love the spicy fiction/pinup magazines from the 30s, and appreciate that they get lumped in with pulps due to the era, cross-over collecting, and ease of buying and selling, but do they really qualify as pulps? jimjum12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 Wouldn’t All Story Oct 1912 (first Tarzan), be up at the top of the list? I have heard it referred as the Action #1 of pulps. jimjum12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjpb Posted December 24, 2021 Author Share Posted December 24, 2021 On 12/24/2021 at 11:43 AM, Robot Man said: Wouldn’t All Story Oct 1912 (first Tarzan), be up at the top of the list? I have heard it referred as the Action #1 of pulps. Most valuable I suspect, but among the scarcest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherEric Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 On 12/24/2021 at 2:32 PM, rjpb said: Most valuable I suspect, but among the scarcest? I think it's probably slightly more common than the average issue from around then. But the numbers for any issue of any pulp that's 109 years old are incredibly low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedFury Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 I don't have any hard data on the All-Story, Oct 1912, but my sense is it's pretty scarce. My only hesitation from flat out declaring it "scarce" or "rare" is my suspicion that quite a few are locked up in Burroughs collections. rjpb, asimovpulps, Bugfarm and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoggyNelson Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 On 12/17/2021 at 2:49 PM, htp said: Curious as well. I've coveted a Submarine Stories for a while, no luck yet. I been noticing how cool those are myself😷👍‼️ 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookery Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 On 12/24/2021 at 9:41 AM, FoggyNelson said: Love, crime detective above a photo cover from what movie I wonder? I think it's just an art-studio photo-- possibly just purchased for use, or possibly shot specifically for this issue. I don't recall seeing the image anywhere else. It's like with photo-cover romance comics... some were from movies (which are often identified) but many are just professional model photo-sets. rjpb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookery Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 On 12/24/2021 at 1:15 PM, rjpb said: Thanks for sharing these. Now I'm thinking I should have bid more on a copy of that Snappy Romances I saw at auction recently. Is it a squarebound pulp, or magazine format like the other Edmar publications I've seen? I love the spicy fiction/pinup magazines from the 30s, and appreciate that they get lumped in with pulps due to the era, cross-over collecting, and ease of buying and selling, but do they really qualify as pulps? It's been a long time since I owned it... I have it listed in my guide as a bedsheet, which would generally indicate a squarebound format. But it may have been a large thickish stapled publication... I honestly can't recall at this point. If it is indeed stapled, it probably shouldn't be technically described as a bedsheet. rjpb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookery Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 On 12/23/2021 at 9:17 PM, Sarg said: What the heck is happening on this cover? Is that Joan of Arc? Kind of weird to have the protagonist looking away from the viewer. Scrap Book is a bizarre publication anyway. The early issues were released each month in 2 volumes... one volume contained mostly fiction, while the other was primarily non-fiction. After a couple of years like this, they combined content into a single volume. jimjum12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
