He Hath Not Eat Paperbacks, As It Were

Paperback editions have not really been my focus for the past few years, bloggers, however it’s time I started diverting my attention to them, starting with a proper inventory of what I have amassed.  So here we go:

Imprint 1

Not very pretty, is it?  A rag-bag of worn spines and dirty pages with several titles missing completely.  Almost all of these will require upgrading.  The photo illustrates the difficulties encountered by Three Investigators collectors who are trying to achieve a nice uniform display of spines.  Some have large bold titles, others small bold or not bold.  Some have “ARMADA BOOKS” in text while others have the Armada logo.  Some have the number stated others don’t and the later ones have the number after “HITCHCOCK”, sometimes after the title, sometimes at the foot of the spine.  A dog’s breakfast frankly.  Anyway it looks like I’m going to need a Terror Castle, a Skeleton Island, a Fiery Eye, a Talking Skull, a Laughing Shadow, a Nervous Lion and an Invisible Dog at the very least, before I take uniformity and the tatty condition of some of these volumes into account.  Some major work to be done here, so it’s off to eBay for me.


Imprint 2

This is a bit more like it.  I’ve got loads of these with at least as many copies again as doubles.  The condition of these is much better than imprint 1 with most being in VG or better.  This is actually what a complete set of these looks like as Whispering Mummy, Singing Serpent, Monster Mountain and Death Trap Mine were not issued in this format.

Imprint 3

A pretty poor showing for this imprint as well as several missing titles, some of these are ex-library books.  Almost none of imprints 1 and 2 were taken by libraries who preferred hardbacks, but since by the time imprint 3 was available, alas hardbacks were no longer in print so these had to do.  From this set, I’m missing Terror Castle, Green Ghost, Fiery Eye, Silver Spider, Moaning Cave, Crooked Cat, Coughing Dragon, Shrinking House, Phantom Lake, Haunted Mirror, Invisible Dog, and Death Trap Mine.  Fuck sake that’s 12.

Imprint 4

This is a fairly pathetic collection, bloggers.  I have only 11 of the 29 available in this format.  Missing are: books 2 through to 15, Dead Man’s Riddle, Invisible Dog, Deadly Double and Two Toed Pigeon.  I think some of the earlier titles in this set will be fairly difficult to find.

Imprint 5

It just gets more and more desperate, bloggers as I survey my complete 5^th imprint collection, thus:

In fact there are 30 books in this set, so a quick calculation means that I’ve got 28 of them to go...

Paperback Omnibuses

My collection is again somewhat lacking in this department.  

I am short a ridiculous 16 books.

Crimebusters

This is more like it:

A full set in generally excellent condition!

Crimebusters Omnibuses

Once again a full set:  

These are hugely common.

So by my calculation, I need 7 imprint 1, 12 imprint 3, 18 imprint 4, 28 imprint 5 and 18 omnibuses giving a total of 83 books to go.  The game is afoot!

 

 

The Crooked Cat Will Mew, The Dog Will Have His Day

Check this out, bloggers.  I was in Byres Road a few weeks ago where I popped into the Oxfam bookshop (scene of some earlier triumphs – see this blog passim) where I chanced upon this really rather fetching large Crooked Cat:

It was priced up at £14.99 though, so I left it where it was.  Any bloggers from Glasgow’s West End might want to have a look to see if it’s still there.  £14.99 is too much to pay from a book dealer or an eBay seller so it’s really a fucking ridiculous price for a charity shop to be charging.

Small Hardbacks Continual Plodders Ever Won, Save Base Authority From Other’s Books

Casting an eye over my small hardback collection, bloggers, I’m struck by just how poor the condition of some of them, especially the later titles, are in.  Here they are, so see what you think:

Terror Castle

Generally sound, this is, and I’m pleased to have it, however the boards are a little bumpy at edges and there is a nasty nick on the spine which really spoils the look of the book on the shelf. 

Stuttering Parrot

 Really, really nice.  Clean, square, sharp.  Lovely biscuits.

Whispering Mummy

 Another really nice copy with bright boards.

Green Ghost

This is a great book that is as good as you could expect.

Vanishing Treasure

The top corner of the board is a bit bumped, otherwise lovely.

Skeleton Island

A tidy copy let down by the light foxing to page edges.

Fiery Eye

Not a bad copy, according to the inscription, this copy was given to “Gordon” from his own Mrs Robertson.  Hem hem.

Silver Spider

Nice all the way.  Ever noticed how the chapter headings in the UK edition have a page to themselves?  I reckon probably just to bulk out the page count.

Screaming Clock

Its fantastic, this one.  Looks as good as new.

Moaning Cave

Sticker residue, rubbing to board at bottom corner and foxing.  I could do with a fresh one of these.

Talking Skull

You can just about make out where the old Collins price sticker used to be on the cover.  The spine is a wee bit faded and the book looks generally “used”.

Laughing Shadow

Faded spine and brown pages.  I could do with hoarding another copy of this book.  Geddit?

Crooked Cat

Again, some fading to the spine, otherwise this book looks as new and is clearly unread.

Coughing Dragon

It took me several attempts, all documented here, to end up with a frankily average copy.  Some knocks to boards and foxing to edges.

Flaming Footprints

This is the best book in my collection. Why?  Have a look at page 155, which, due to a printing error, was blank when the book left the factory:

The previous owner has got themselves another copy of the book and copied the entire text onto the blank page.  How can anyone not love that?

Nervous Lion

A pretty tatty example of what I found to be a difficult book to find.

Singing Serpent

This is Joshua Chrichton’s old copy.  Thanks Josh for looking after it for me.  A nice, tight, clean book.

Shrinking House

The top corner of the fep has been torn off, otherwise a nice clean book.  Some minor foxing to top edge.

Phantom Lake

Quite nice, this one, of course the paper stock used in small hardbacks was upgraded in 1979 and books published in that year all have nice white pages. 

Monster Mountain

It’s in pretty rubbish condition, this.  Dirty page edges and worn boards.  To be fair, it’s a hard one to find in better condition. 

Haunted Mirror

A really good copy with clean fresh pages and boards.

Dead Man’s Riddle

A generally nice copy let down by wear to the spine.

Invisible Dog

Another nice tight copy but again with fading to spine.

Death Trap Mine

The problem with these last few books is that although they are all in generally great condition, the spines are for some reason worn and faded, even though the books have clearly not been read. 

So there we have it folks; a mixed bag, mostly let down by worn boards and faded spines.  Overall, these books are in nowhere near as good shape as their large counterparts, which is a shame, because to me the spine if one of the great features of this imprint.  Of these, I would consider upgrading  around a third of them, so there’s clearly work to be done on my small hardback front.