Books: Why do they increase in value? (Dune PB)

     I was on eBay, checking on the steady rise of value of Fantasy and Science Fiction, when I came about this listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-FRANK-HERBERT-DUNE-True-1st-EDITION-PAPERBACK-/290954701196?pt=Antiquarian_Collectible&hash=item43be40698c

    Right now, there are no other Dune first edition paper backs on eBay. Not a single one. Obviously this person, this smart business minded person had the sense to notice that and get one up for about six times it's value. Will it sell? In my experience with such things, sometimes it will. Once I sold a Neuromancer, a book I found commonly at Paperback Exchanges in the area with great frequency, for about double its going rate, only because it's the only one I saw on there in a while.

     Is it gouging? I don't think so. Will it cause a artificial inflation of the market? Possibly. Much the way prices of popular vintage video games have skyrocketed over the years. When I collected video games they were so cheap, I could pick up two or three uncommon games for a few bucks. I bought five copies of Secret of Mana for Super Nintendo, because it was my favorite game and the save battery would go dead, for $3 each. You get the point. The same thing that effects anything vintage and collectible, happens with books.. for the following reasons.

Why Books go up in Price:

1) The condition of a book always get worse with time.
2) Authors die.
3) Movies/TV Shows get made.
4) Book are reprinted.
5) Books are out of print.
6) Internet/Social Media Trending

Roll 1D6 two times with the above table to tabulate a response from the market.

     Example: The Hobbit

    J.R.R. Tolkien is dead, the books went out of print, books are reprinted in the millions, movies get made, it trends on the interwebs, and booyah, books = bank.

    When I was taking the pictures of my Dune first editions for this post on my keyboard, I was thinking, "Do I have $600.00 worth of books on my desk right now?" The answer is, and I'm pretty sure you all will agree with me, is.. no. Scrutinize the condition, the fading, the whatever it takes, never pay $300 for a Dune first edition. I don't care how big a fan you are.

Video Blog #1 Book Case Overview

     I thought that this would be a good way for people to see some of my more visible and not in storage collection in my downstairs living room. Most of my series stuff and vintage end up here. Most of my pick-ups and unrecorded books end up here as well, so you might recognize some if you follow the blog. My wife recognizes them as junk, and space taker-uppers.

     It's a mess I know. I need more shelves both up and downstairs. I'm working on it. These videos are part of the "Some of the Books I own" post.

A very, very good Top 50 Sci-Fi List.

    
     I'm at like 99% original content, pictures and the like, but I had to pass this Flavorwire Top 50 Science Fiction book link along to who ever reads the blog.

http://flavorwire.com/408275/50-sci-fifantasy-novels-that-everyone-should-read/view-all

     Fantastic list of great and different books, put together by someone who has actually read them. I love to see this kind of stuff hit the front page of Reddit. Anyways, go over to Flavorwire and check out the list. How many have you read?

Mac Bolan Book Adventure Quest

 

     Kind of a slow day, work-wise.. especially for a Thursday. I went out and built some displays, and started to feel a bit adventurous.. Time make Jared happy and go on a Mac Bolan Book Adventure Quest.. of epic questing. Now where is that picture he sent me on Facebook?

 

 

     Yes, he used a picture from my blog to help me find books for him. I brought the picture up on my phone, showed it to my buddy at the Flea Market.. and..

 

 

     ..Bam! .50 cents of happiness. Angry black man on the cover and all. The best covers are on old Mac Bolan novels. At this point I head over to a place I knew had quite a good selection of Executioner, and called him.





 

     About 10 pictures and 5 phone calls later, we narrowed down the list to a select few morsels.

 



     For some reason this is only picture I could find with the books I bought, but I think I bought five. They are in a box downstairs ready to be shipped when the box gets full. Ill have to check that out. As you can see, I also nabbed a couple of books for myself. I told myself I would go to one more store and check out whats new.

 
     I walked in, and the owner had put this aside for me. A whole box of vintage Daw classics from the 70's and 80's. All in unread condition. My budget spent, I asked her if she could cut me some kind of deal, which she refused almost right away. I insisted, she called someone and shot me down again. The final price was $3.50 a book, and I'd have to buy them all. Average selling price on eBay is not really much more than that, so I can guess where she got her price. I few in the box go for around $10.00.. I decided to pass. I know what your thinking. How could I pass on such a great offer? Well, I have about a third of them in my collection already, and Daw books are only worth something if the cover art is awesome, or they are super early editions. These were kind good condition, mostly later editions, and not the greatest cover art. She did agree to put them back under the table and wait for me to call her before she heads to eBay with them. A huge let down, but I did get some other good ones..

     My cat, Artax, smelled something funny on the books. Some great cool first editions, one in particular I really liked by Isaac Asimov.

     First edition Face and Fancy. Kind of like a precursor to the Book of Facts he released years later. Cover art is strange and wonderful, and cat-attracting. I spent my $10.00 allowance today, but since I had such good fortune finding a few gems, I decided to take one more side trip.

     All the book hunting makes you hungry, so after careful consideration, my son and I decided it would be best to have pizza and discuss the finer points in life, the world, and everything.

Garage Sale Saturday: Old Macgregor

 

     Had a few minutes before my wife really got out of bed so I took a fast little spin down the street where the houses are nicer, and people behave differently, often badly, because they have more money than most people. That said..

 

 

     Two Super old books, randomly picked from a couple of old snobs asking too much money for everything. Some how, I got away with these two gems for.. .25 cents.

 

     Twenty-five cents. Take that rich people.

 

 

 

 





Super Thrift Shopping.. at Super Thrift.

    
     So decided to give this super huge Thrift Store by the train tracks another chance. It's pretty ghetto. Nothing electronic I bought from there ever works. It's 99% clothes, and it smells like Kenny Rogers in there. Not the chicken place, I mean, Kenny-fucking-Rogers.

     Some first edition, late printing Harry Potter books.. always good for a quick eBay turn-around..l but alas.. $3.99 each! I don't think so Super Thrift. Shame on you.

 

 

     Look what we have here. C.O.P.S. VHS tape. Fantastic short-lived cartoon from my youth. Great animation for it's day. Also, I saw some PC games, both without the codes. A used copy of Ever Quest II, a failed MMORPG, for $10. (sarcasm) Sign me up!

 





      Fail again guys. The shirts were super organized by color and type. The pants too. No books, no cool things to show you. I'm out of here.

Another box in the mail! What could it be?

What could it be? Wait, its books! It says so right on it.

 

      SO my mom must have been busy lately, because she surprised with me with a big box of books this morning! The box weighed in at around thirty pounds. I see she did not cross out the remote on the box, so I'm assuming it includes one for the purposes of this blog post.

 

     This morning was also daddy-boy day, so I had help setting everything up, and unwrapping.

 



Contents when first opened, my offspring tore it from my greedy hands.

 

A kids book for Major II! He read all of it right away.

 

Whats this I see? Some IF mags from the sixties! Awesome.

 

A closer look, relics of the past.

 

I love Spam. Its healthy, salty, jellied covered quasi-meat, makes me purr. The texture? Sublime.

 

A TV Guide for my Trekkie wife. Janeway is a bitch, for the record. At this pointed, Major spotted something for him I missed.

 

Toy Story cards from the very first Toy Story! Of course, they had to be played with right away.

 

All the books out of the box. Wow! It's like finding One Eyed Willy's Rich Stuff.

 

 A little up close HD images so you can zoom in and see the titles. All are early or first editions.

 

Really cool "Ace Double". Two books in one.

 

     Tons of books I did not have just fell in to my lap this morning, what a rare treat. Thanks Mom for hunting down some good classics for me. I saw your note that mentioned you supplemented the contents of the box with your own private stash. Well, you know your books will be in a good place. Of note: H.G. Wells early edition paper backs,  Animal Farm second printing, two Ace Doubles which in my experience are pretty rare, especially in this condition. As customary, gifted books do not get researched on eBay, but you can pretty much guess what some of this is worth.

 

     Spirits high, and morale boosted, father and son had one more adventure....

 



..We were hungry. Thanks grandma for the cool stuff.