Dear TDT members.

I open here my new thread dealing with YEARBOOKS.

Due to my new purchase of Stephen King Lisbon High School 1964 Yearbook, (soon I will load up some pics from it) I thought it would be interesting to invite you to show YOUR private YB's from the good old days of your life in elementary/high schools, universities, mililitary service, etc.

I browsed and collected all the information below from the Internet and use it as an introduction to this new thread, to give you some clue about this kind of item, the YEARBOOK.
Though it is a long introduction (I couldn't make it shorter as all is important info). I hope you find it enjoing and interesting.

There is a larger market for vintage yearbooks than many people think. All yearbooks have value, but those picturing a celebrity – whether it be a movie star, singer, politician, FAMOUS AUTHOR, etc. – ARE ESPECIALLY PRIZED of these reasons:

1) Sometimes it’s very hard to find original yearbooks as many of them are REPRINTS or DIGITAL. Elvis Presley, for instance, had him made reprinted. But, according to an authoritative source specializing in vintage yearbooks, “there has never seen a Stephen King yearbook being reprinted” because of its VERY HARD AVAILABILITY (unless the school had all the copy and photos used in the original which in SK’ case has no chance). The original copy is one to hold on to.
After you’ve found a vintage yearbook, check to make sure it is a first edition: You have to compare the copyright date on the back of the title page with the date on the front of the title page. The majority of yearbooks are not reprinted, but it can happen, and obviously the most valuable books are normally the first editions.

2) Yearbooks commemorate special moments, record important facts and data, and become treasured memorabilia. Yearbooks reveal previously unseen photographs of celebrities at school and college. They offer a glimpse into the younger lives of some of the world’s best known celebs before they hit the big time. Yearbooks contain graduation and candid photos, which add insight into a celeb’s extracurricular activities in school and will give people a chance to look deeper into details of their adorable celebs life that they would not have otherwise been able to find. Some become the ultimate acquisition for a celebrity super fan: If, for example, you have an original yearbook with photos of STEPHEN KING - your yearbook could be worth a lot of money ESPECIALLY IF STEPHEN KING SIGNED IT. That just might turn the tables in your favor if someone really wanted to purchase the yearbook with his signature only because that's the school Stephen King attended.

There are many serious fans who strive to build great collections of Stephen King memorabilia as a testament to their love of and interest in him. These yearbooks include pictures of every student, as well as important facts and can truly give an authentic glimpse into the life of Stephen King in any particular year.

3) A yearbook is something special in that not everyone can get their hands on one, making them a valuable edition for any collection.

4) Only a SMALL FRACTION of student annuals ever reach the collectors market, as people keep their annuals for sentimental reasons.

5) Annuals are also popular because it gives collectors a glimpse into the celebrity’s past, from before they were stars. Yearbooks provide details about individuals found
nowhere else, and the pictures found in yearbooks are generally not available from any other source.

6) The thing about high school yearbooks is that THEY'RE DEFINITELY LIMITED. There`s no glut of high school yearbooks, as there is with baseball cards or even autographs. The numbers are low, some 500 to 1,000, depending on class size. Sometimes the school says it doesn`t have any, which in itself makes reprint impossible (unless the school had all the copy and photos used in the original). Yearbooks from urban high schools tend to be large, professionally done, and contain pictures and information about a wide range of school activities. High school yearbooks from rural and county district schools generally are more modest in size and scope. Rural high schools had fewer students (as the one Stephen King attended), smaller budgets, and a smaller market for yearbook sales.
So school size (number of books made), and popularity ofcourse, can make Stephen King’s YBs expensive who today is considered the most dominating author in the horror literature but then, before almost 50 years, he was in a school of only 77, in other words ONLY A 100 OR SO YEARBOOKS WERE PRINTED.

7) Just about everyone has at least one yearbook from their old high school tucked away, somewhere, in an attic or basement, seldom looked at, all but forgotten. Some tossed in the trash. Many people LOST their old yearbooks while moving or in disasters: after wildfires there are many inquiries from people looking to replace annuals (reprints) that were lost in the fires. Some yearbooks lost in basement floods.

8) Most of the time, the senior yearbook is considered most valuable, but on occasion, the UNDERCLASS YEARBOOK may be of more value if there was not a senior yearbook produced, or the celeb is only profiled in his senior annual but glorified in a paragraph or pictured within the junior yearbook.

9) After you’ve found a vintage yearbook, check to make sure it is an ORIGINAL FIRST EDITION: You have to compare the copyright date on the back of the title page with the date on the front of the title page. The majority of yearbooks are not reprinted, but it can happen, and obviously the most valuable books are normally the first editions.
Original yearbooks in fact are such a specialty type item that they need to be accepted by the purchaser in whatever condition they can be found in, as yearbook replacement is not an easy science.
Some would probably say that though used with some mild shelf wear, as collectable they should be with tight binding and text and clean pages, with no must or mildew or missing pieces, and without inscription of previous owner name. But a collector of yearbooks will snap any yearbook IF ONLY SIGNED BY A VERY FAMOUS, SOUGHT-AFTER CELEB, like STEPHEN KING.
In other words:though the condition of the yearbook might affect its value, in fact the age, or condition has much less bearing on its value than WHO (and this ought to be a BIG WHO) might be in it.

10) One of the things best about old yearbooks is that they are dated. Dates are important to collectors, and knowing the exact date of a famous celeb is an opportunity to observe the events of this person in a single year in his past.

11) Old YBs featuring future celebrities ARE BIG MONEY. (A book would get a higher price, for instance, if sold at Sotheby's, than say on eBay). There are no price guides, and very few are even mentioned in general guides. Common sense is your best bet when determining what a particular yearbook is worth to you. Anyhow old yearbooks of a very famous person have much to offer. Of course the age and scarcity of the book and the popularity of the celebrity determine the price.

Yearbooks are, for the most part, relatively inexpensive, yet a handful are exceedingly scarce and desirable. There were, for instance, only 24 students in John Steinbeck's high school class of 1919 in Salinas, California and his yearbook is one of the rarest and most sought-after pieces of Steinbeckiana. An unsigned copy once (in 1989) offered for $12,000. The value of Elvis Presley 1951 Hume High School graduation yearbook signed by him is $4500 (in 2008). There are only about 12 known to exist. Someone was trying to sell a Barack H. Obama high school yearbook for more than $30,000.00!!!
STEPHEN KING’S ELEMENTARY & HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOKS ARE ALWAYS BIG MONEY & COLLECTIBLE SOUGHT-AFTER PIECES OF KINGIANA.