Huge Hardcover Score at Life's Treasures Thrift

Don't sleep on thrift stores, ladies and gentlemen. 

My wife woke up this morning and declared it a Garage Sale Day, and by the rules of Mother's Day weekend, you are not allowed to say no.. and I wanted to go anyways. We drove around for what seemed like an hour, and it was so hot so only saw a few sales. After a quick coffee, we decided to hit the thrift stores in our area. I've been to life's treasures only once before, and it was more of a clothing store than anything, but things had changed in the year or so since I've stopped by.

While my son went straight to the VHS tapes, I went over to the book shelves. First thing I noticed in the bins were 100's of science fiction and fantasy books, all .50 cents each and in really good shape.

Bins and bins of 80's and 90's modern fantasy and science fiction. Nothing really crazy in terms of value, but if you were looking to complete a lesser known series without hitting ebay, you could easily get that done here. A quick inspection and I only picked out four paperbacks that had a value of over $10, all Timescape novels by Pournelle. Not sure why, but Timescape is really hot right now. I was ready to leave when I decided to just give the hard covers a once over like I always do, and I never expect much to be honest. Hard covers are heavy, take up a ton of space, and the liklihood of me finding anything rare is.. well, rare.

The motherlode 

The first bookcase I looked in, you can see in the brown bookcase above in the first picture of the bins. It was 100% filled with 60, 70's and early 80's first edition and book club edition science fiction and fantasy hard covers in amazing condition. All but a few looks unread, or near mint. Two full bookcases! I asked the wife to bring me over a cart so I could unload some of the more familiar authors and see what I'm looking at. I'm nervous even writing this; I left about 100 more hard covers at the store. I right about to buy new tires for my truck, so I'm making some kind of attempt to save money, so I grabbed the 30 I thought would be the best at the moment.

What a find. It's been since I went back to the Book Rack over two years ago since I've seen some BCE and old school hard backs in the wild, but these were only $2 each, and the book rack charged low eBay pricing. BCE Books from the late 70's must be made out of different paper or something, because they always look pretty decent and the when the dust jackets are on, they are in great shape with little wear.

These all-in-one series anthonologies always peak my interest. I like boxed sets, and this has the same appeal. These are mail away first editions from 1978, have all the maps and fun of the original first editions and have unique cover art. The Boris cover Zalazny's were really awesome, shared the same cover, and I'm glad I picked them up. Overall, a great score, and I hope I can make it back soon with some more cash to pick up another haul of these books before they are gone. I secretly hope someone is reading this and heads down to Life's Treasures Thrift to pick up some books and benefits from this in some way. Even the paperbacks would be special to someone who is just starting their collection and wants to pick up a couple of boxes on the cheap.

Thanks for reading. 

Robert Asprin: Thieves' World

    It's no secret I'm a huge fan of Thieves' World. Growing up, and especially in middle school, anything Robert Asprin was my kind of fantasy. Mix a little humor, with equal parts high fantasy, and add a splash of random nuttiness and you find yourself at one of the greatest fantasy book series collaborations of all time.

     For me it started back in the early 80's, and reading the back of this book in the library started a whole realm of free thinking and imagination brewing in my adolescent mind. Some of the authors I followed through the years, most really, originated in the storytelling in this very first book. Robert Asprin also caught my attention with other series, notably, MythAdventures and Phule's Company. Admittedly I did not read Phule's Company until I was an adult, but loved it all the same.

     Another few authors that have contributed a lot to the series, Jody Lynn Nye and Lynn Abbey, kept my interest in other series all through the 80's and early 90's. These are still common to find books, being available in a multitude of different omnibuses, comics, and reprints. A first edition first printing paperback sells for around $15 on ebay. The role playing game Sanctuary fetches around $50, and anything autographed by Asprin or Abbey can drive up the price a little bit, but the books are not in high demand at the moment. I've had a great deal of luck getting first editions on Amazon, ebay, and thrift stores around my area.

     Do yourself a favor, buy these books while they are cheap. They have a cult following for a reason, the world is immerse, the characters priceless and the stories you will remember forever.

*Note* I took all the pictures at my desk in my office. The autographed copy I have is the book cover only, given out at conventions during a book promotion tour for the original Thieves' World. Yes I used my broken iPhone, but i realized it still takes great close up photos!

Vintage Science Fiction Book Covers: Part 3

     Welcome to part three of Science Fiction Book Covers. In the last two installments, I used books from the book cases in the living room, now i'm in the office, and it's much easier to reach over to the left and grab some stuff. I took the pictures over an old issue of Epic I was reading. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks for reading. Until next time.

Science Fiction Magazine Advertisements - Part 1

     I was looking over at the book case in my office, and picked off a few old sci-fi magazines I've bought recently, some not so recently. The advertisements are things of legend. Some of the things that were being sold.. just wow. Scroll down and see for yourself. (Click to enlarge)

     I plan on doing many more of these as I organize my collection of old Science Fiction rags. Check back soon.