I’m five books away from completing a collection of a 29-book series. Five books! Those last ones are proving tough to find at decent prices, and these are paperbacks! Two of them I can’t even find as paperbacks, only hardcover or leather-bound editions. One of the books I’ve found in the paperback edition is at the (I think) insane price of $44 (plus shipping).
It’s a strange thing, as for decades I owned two of the books in this series. Then, this year I looked at “filling in the gaps” in my collection and looked at what it would take to get the other books in this series. In this case the gap was huge. The series was published in three states in the late 1980s, early 1990s—paperback, hardcover, and leather-bound. I went with paperbacks since I owned two books in that state; if I chose the hardcover route I’d need to get copies of those same books in that state. Plus, there’s the added expense, given the second-hand collector’s market and prices thereof. Although, as one of the paperbacks fell apart as I read it, perhaps this wasn’t the best investment. Glue is far from permanent.
There’s a strange sense of irony in trying to collect this series, as the publisher behind the series probably could have kept it going longer, but for the fact they flooded the market with a bunch of other series. That spate of different series flooded the market and led to the demise of said publisher, and probably affected the overall small press market in the early 1990s. It’s a case of too much of a good thing.
Nonetheless, I’m now on a hunt to try to locate those last five books in somewhat decent shape and also at somewhat palatable prices. Also, it’s strange to think that a third of the writers in this series have since passed, many while quite young. Thirty years many of them were in their prime. But then, that’s time for you.
I’m currently reading through all the books in order, although I’m a little peeved to have to skip a volume or two. I guess some writers are more collectible than others, right?
