(Possibly) The Largest Forgotten Realms Book Collection

      I started reading Forgotten Realms in middle school. I was already playing Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition or AD&D for a few years already, had a subscription to Dragon Magazine, and most of our campaigns were in either the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance settings. Learning about the characters in depth that were already talked about in the modules, was fantasy coming to life for me. As the books were released, I would buy them new for the $3-$5 price from Books-a-million near my house. Oh, a new Drizzt book!? Had to grab it. It got to the point where several were coming out per month and it was hard to keep up with the buying. I realized a long time ago I would not be able to afford hard covers and special editions, and all the modules from the gaming store. If I saw something at a thrift store or paperback exchange, I would just scoop it up, and quickly run home to read it. That I know of, I'm missing some of the later stuff when I stopped buying new, and some rare stuff that I'm working on getting now that everything is in one place. 

     Please enjoy these pictures of the bookcase directly to the left of my desk as of this writing. Not pictured are the tons of hard covers in the garage storage I'll get to finding some day, as well as all the D&D books based on Forgotten Realms across varying editions. 

• 250 books-ish
• I don't sell them unless I have doubles that are not edition or cover differences
• My wife sold some of the special edition stuff without me knowing, but only two books
• Need like 80 more to complete it

Pictures from the 1978 Dune Calendar

Pictures from the 1985 Tolkien Calendar

 

Goodwill Megastore Bins - Don't waste your time

I had to see what was going on.

     I see these videos on Tiktok and Youtube of people finding awesome scores at these giant Goodwill stores with big blue bins, and I had to see it for myself. I often drive by an industrial complex in Orlando that has what seems like 20 giant buildings knitted together, with no entrance or exit that I can see. In the picture above, I thought that was the front door to the Goodwill, but it was a giant empty room with old cubicles, and the lights were off. As a matter of fact, from the road to the third parking lot in, I had no idea where to go. Even when I did find the entrance by following people that were walking, I had to park very far away and get in line with everyone else. The eventual front door had no posted hours, no goodwill sign above the door, and just appeared like all the other doors.

I think I was in a restricted area?

     This place was massive. There was a caution tape fenced in area where there was a ton of people going through bins of clothes. I would say 99% of all the bins are just clothes and shoes. There was a ton of staff standing around talking in spanish, and I went up to one of these ladies to ask if I could look at the other areas behind the tape, and she shook her head no, then yes, then walked away to her friends. When I walked away, she yelled happily at me, and then her friend laughed and they started singing really loud. I'm not making this up, I felt like I was in bizarro world. I watched one Spanish family just walk around the perimeter of the warehouse where I took the picture above looking back. There were bins of books, trash, and broken electronics towards this perimeter, and no one stopped to yell or sing at me, so I called it good. 

All trash.

     Surprise, it was all junk. Anything that looked remotely cool was just in terrible condition. Two bins of books out of the hundreds is this huge building. I could not dig to the bottom because of the sheer weight of everything on top. I again attempted to communicate with an employee and ask if I could go to the other side where the bathrooms were, as I saw more bins over there, and she made some strange gesture and showed me the plastic bag in her pocket. I went up to the front and again, all Spanish and zero english. I can speak a little spanish, so I tried, and was told no, you can't go over there. I asked if anyone knew english and they all shook their head no. One more quick look around and I noticed all the staff were Spanish, and customers as well. Did I go in the wrong door? Was I not supposed to be here? Confused, I left empty handed. 

Takeaways:

• Entrance not clearly marked
• Nothing clearly marked
• Nothing priced that I could tell
• Crippling language barrier that I eventually figured out
• Staff not professional, helpful, and acted strange
• Layout is confusing, and seems to be confusing to everyone else too
• Not sure what I'm supposed to be doing
• Had to park over 1000 feet away
• I'm not sure if there was more store, or different stores, or what

End of the Year Update - 2024

 

I think it's been a good year.

     No posts since July, but there has been a ton of book hunting, just at a lot of the same spots. Even at some of the far away places I've been, there has been recent returns to those places to find books to sell and collect. Recently the wife and I purchased a small camper that fits 3 adults and their dogs, so we can go to different places and explore a little further. My wife has recently taken up reading again and switched over to a category known as Romantasy.. or romantic fantasy for the uninitiated. 

Still tons of books.

     I've picked up more than we have sold on the eBay store, and we are currently sitting at 243 books listed on the ebay store. The average sale is around $14, which is the price of a $10 book plus shipping. We average about $600 a month in sales, and of course some months are better than others. We will go two weeks without a sale, then have some much we can't keep up. Picking up new inventory has been easy as there is a ton of thrift stores that have books that need to be gone through before they are trashed (gasp) and we save anything that could net us $7 and over on profit. It's been a struggle to stay motivated to out on Saturdays for some garage sales, but we have been doing it recently to get fresh inventory on the site. I lost motivation to update the Instagram, but I did today with some fresh books we found over the weekend.

Piles have been listed.

     I find myself less attached to the books that I want, and If I already have a servicable copy, I'm okay selling something in classic condition. A good example of this is when we sold a first edition "Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep", but I have a later printing that I'm okay with hanging on to that has little value. Some books are coming up far less often than they were: Dune. We could find Dune books everywhere for 10 cents, now there is zero inventory anything. We made a small killing on my existing Dune inventory, but I still retain copies that I can read that I don't really want to sell. The feeling of value overall has changed for me as a collector. Conan books are still hot, and I can find them readily enough, so I just cycle those through.

Expanding our horizons.

     I plan on expanding the blog some with horror and movie adaptation reviews in the near future, as I've taken a liking to them and find them pretty often- sometimes with surprising values attached to them. Graphic novels have been an interest, as well as story and poem books that are linked to fantasy series of note. What does 2025 have to bring? I think with the blog it comes to motivation to post my travels more, get thoughts and feelings out, and overall I think I just need to read more. Reading in general is tough and there is so only so many hours in the day; just now my wife asked me to build her something for the orchids, and I plan on washing the cars before this afternoon. Tasks pile up, and we become trees in our old age, the branches are our hands.. reaching for the only thing that could stop us- Time. 

See you next year. 

U.S. 41 Books in Springhill is a Crumbling Gem

It may not look like much. 

     I saw this store when looking up bookstores in google maps in an attempt to plot out a thrifting trip for the wife and I, and to be honest, passed over it the first time we went up that way. It's kind of out of the way, and reviews were not the best. I would not miss it this time, and after lunch, we made it our last stop on the way back from Tampa.

There was a lot to take in.

     Gary, the owner introduced himself, explained the pricing- which was 50% cover sticker price, and said to yell if I need help. Right away the musty smell of old books and dust mixed with Florida dirt assaulted me. There was no AC, but some fans were on pointed out into the store. Several spots of the ceiling were falling down or weak in places. In short: I was home.

      Everything was in alphabetical order, and the better condition books were in bags. Nothing was "falling apart" as mentioned in some of the google reviews. It was hot for sure, and the lighting was not the best, but this made it feel like a treasure hunt to me. The fantasy and science fiction shelves where brimming with classics and the obscure. I had a hard time just focusing my attention on one area to research and start separating the books. My wife occasionally handed me a book she recognized, and I made a little pile as I walked around. 

     I noticed a part of the building in the back that was all vintage Sci-fi and Fantasy hardbacks, but the roof appeared to be leaking and it was closed with plastic covering anything. I took these pictures so I could look later on and see if there was anything I wanted. There was so much I passed up because the heat was getting to me, but there was nothing I would not do again. I had a really good conversation with Gary, he said he was there 35 years in the same spot, but business was tougher now than ever. We talked about trends, trading books in, and Star Trek. 100% I will make a list and come back here, and you should too. Yeah it's hot, yeah its dusty, but it's perfect. I'll do another post of what I picked later on down the line. 

Until next time. 

First Edition Hunt: Below the Root - Zilpha Snyder

 

     I knew almost nothing about this author or book when I saw this at a thrift store indoor market a few weekends back. I've seen enough books to know when something stands out, so I move it from pile A, over to pile B. 50 cents and I was on my way, with no internet to speak of, it was a small risk to take at that price. 

    Zilpha Keatley was an award winning children's author, but branched out a few times to write some Fantasy. She wrote 46 books in her life, and this one and the trilogy it's in, spawned a pretty good video game by the same name.  Unique for the time, the video game was written by her because she did not like how the first book ended, and has some negative reaction with fans. She used the video game as a sequel to the first book, and she considered it canon, and a correction to the plot device she created. Below the Root is considered a very uncommon book, and the other two books in the trilogy, even more so in any condition. That I have been collecting for 20+ years and have not come across one, is really something. 

     This particular copy sold right away, and the images are from that eBay post. The sale price for this book in "good" condition was $35 + $5 shipping. In perfect condition could go up to $50 for a first Tor printing. In hardcover, you can almost use your imagination as very few copies come up for sale. 

Happy hunting. 

Reseller Retrospective 2: Books sold in the second month of the eBay store

 

The books are taking over.

     Well, it's month two of nearly continuous operation of the eBay store, with a few multi-day sanity breaks in-between. My wife and I have fallen into sync and found our cadence with finding books, listing them, shipping prep, and final shipping to the customer. For those following along, this is a follow up to the previous post, found here. I went out to find books three times in the Month of April, finding several books in the process. In one instance at a hospice thrift store, I found five first/first Stephen King books, including IT, in mint unread condition; those books have been listed but not sold yet. I have found more books to list and inventory than we sold, so overall, I think this could be very sustainable long term. The amount listed below is before shipping, (I charge $5 for PB and $6 for HC) and estimated eBay fees. 

• $12 - Brazen Gambit - Lynn Abbey - First Dark Sun PB 1994
• $15 - God Emperor Dune - Frank Herbert - BCE HC
• $15 - Witch World - Andre Norton - First PB 1963
• $50 - Heretics of Dune - Frank Herbert - First/First HC
• $46 - The Man Who Rode Thunder - Williams Rankin - 1965 PB
• $9 - Infernal Idol  - Henry Seymour - 1969 First PB
• $10 - A Voyage to Arcturus - David Lindsay 1973 PB
• $13 - Children of Dune - Frank Herbert - 1984 PB
• $40 - Focus on Biology
• $35 - I, Robot - Isaac Asimov - BCE 1950 HC
• $10 - The Mousetrap - Agatha Christie - 1969 First PB
• $15 - The Belgariad Part Two - David Eddings - BCE HC
• $9 - The Abyss - Orson Scott Card - First PB
• $11 - The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester - First Timescape PB 1978
• $28 - Highlander - Garry Kilworth - First PB 1998
• $11 - Deception Well - Linda Nagata - BCE HC 1978
• $15 - Charnel House - Graham Masterton - First HC 1978
• $12 - Swords Against Darkness IV - Andrew Offutt - First PB 1979
• $22 - Dangerous Visions - Harlan Ellison - First HC 1967
• $10 - The Forever War - Joe Haldeman - PB 1976
• $10 - Ringworld - Larry Niven - 3rd printing 1971 PB
• $12 - Picnic on Paradise - Joanna Russ 1979 PB
• $25 - The Djinn - Graham Masterton - First PB 1977
• $10 - A Feast Unknown - Phillip Jose Farmer - First 1980
• $6 - Deus Irae - Phillip K Dick/Zelazny - 1977 PB
• $12 - Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut - First 1970 PB

     In the month of April we made $471.73 net from 26 book sales, give or take a few bucks we made on shipping. Our 60 day total is now $1,193.10. The average price of books sold was a paltry $17.80, and our overhead on shipping media mail averaged $5.30 cents per book, which is envelope plus media mail average $4.40 shipping, and the little fake library cards and a protective bag we add in each package to solicit positive reviews and add a personal touch. (See results below)

     It's worth noting we are having issues with book storage, moved some boxes to the garage, and the desks are overflowing. The top of my son's piano has turned into a staging area for books waiting to be shipped or listed, and the plastic totes behind me have turned into the collection for current listed inventory. There has been a few moments where it has taken more than 5 minutes to find a book when sold, so we are working on a better way to keep things organized; more to come on that. I feel that our little sanity breaks of 4-5 days did not help the book sales and keep the inventory fresh, so it's been hard to keep motivated when I work a 50+ hour a month job and my wife homeschools all day. Tough changing gears! We felt discouraged when there was 3-4 days without a book sale, only to be rewarded with multiple days in a row of sales, or multiple in one day. I think it's just staying motivated and consistent overall that will keep this train on the tracks. So far in May we have already sold six books with a value of $193, so it's looking like a record month.

See you in May for Reseller Retrospective Part 3!

I bought a crusty old collection.

 

The pictures don't do the level of filth any justice

     I get excited about little things, and seeing pictures of crusty old books for a super cheap price real close to my house would qualify as one of those little things. I answered the post above within an hour of it online, and after work the next day, I head over to Dunedin with some old boxes and prepared to load up. From the pictures alone I could see about 350 books of varying quality, so I got $40 out of the ATM and set that as my budget. 

     I did not know what to expect, but I'll describe this the best way I can. The house looked to be 30 years overgrown. There was no front path leading up to the house, and the driveway and front yard was covered in old wood and appliances. This was a pretty nice neighborhood, so to see this was pretty unexpected. The owner met me on the front lawn for my appointment, and led me around to the alternate front door which was framed out of wood and had some pool screen on it. There were book cases inside the front door that was missing, and a sign with an allergy warning in spray paint. I do have horrendous allergies, but I can also smell a deal, so I'm not going to let that stop me. It's clear there has not been anyone inside this house for over 20 years, and there was no power or AC. I've been having an issue seeing in the dark in my old age, so was only able to pull books out by the light of my phone, so was not able to take any pictures of inside the house, as that would require me to put the light away. Because of the aforementioned issue with the light, some of the books I picked up had some horrible spines that I did not notice. You can't win them all! There were actually several bookcases, and the one in the picture above was the worst of the bunch.

The Take

     I left behind hundreds of books in the worst condition I've ever seen, from fire damage to water damage, missing covers and spines, to infestation of something else entirely. Every book was stuck together with the one next to it, and in the case of the Ace Doubles, they might as well counted as one book. The ones I picked up were all in the fair-to-poor range of condition, and as they were only 10 cents each, I picked out the best 200 or so and loaded 5 large boxes, and at the end just starting throwing random books in the boxes to get my money's worth. The new owner of the house counted nothing, offered to give me everything including the book cases, and offered me lemonade, which I turned down. The books I did grab that were in poor shape were first edition classics in their own right- I left two deteriorating first edition I, Robots with missing covers, things I normally would be over the moon about. The Dune books were in surprising shape and will be on eBay soon, as were some old classics that cleaned up with alcohol and a rag. I counted, and of the "listable" books, we have $484 in eBay value for $40, plus some cool books to add to the collection or sell on Instagram on the cheap. Some pretty cool standouts below: