"Colophon page" is a familiar term for Arkham House collectors. Most (but not all) AH books have the print run, edition, and information regarding the printer and the paper/binding materials on the last page of the book, whereas the date, author, title, and AH imprint are on the traditional copyright page up front. Thus the last page is commonly called the Colophon page for Arkham books.
Very true. I believe traditionally the term 'Colophon' was used to indicate a printer's mark or stamp, and that evolved into a page with the publisher's information regarding print run, publish date, etc. The copyright page as we know it today came later on and sometimes combines both sets of information into one location.Originally Posted by divemaster
Copyright page, I knew that!
Hi, I was just wondering ... When are an author's books most valuable? I was reading a thread either here or on skcollector and it said something like: First editions lost value, gift/artist editions stay the same, signed limiteds only go up in value ... I'm just curious about how the value of the books change ... I mean, obviously a Carrie first edition wasn't always worth thousands of dollars ... But if it's $2,500 this year, besides normal economy inflation, is it going to gain value over time? Or has it "peaked"?
Also, I assume if/when (you never know) King dies, the books will become even more valuable, correct? Or ... no? Some of you have been collecting for a long long time, you've seen authors come and go. I've only been a collector for a few months, I know nothing, lol.
Shannon
*edit: value as in money, not as in "how much it's worth to the collector", lol, this is strictly a $$$ question
Well... my humble opinion is that there is no other value than 'how much it's worth to a collector' as you put it. Someone who doesn't collect King is not going to pay hundreds of dollars for a 1st edition CARRIE, even when we as collectors have collectively agreed (more or less) that the book has a certain value.
There are not enough new collectors of King to replace the ones who no longer collect. (for whatever reason)
Therefore the market is smaller, and the prices go down. Exceptions are ultra rare, one off items.
The books released after 2005 can all be bought for the list price or less. Including Signed Lettered, Numbered and Gift Editions.
If you're "collecting" King as an investment you may as well stop now. If you're collecting King because you love the stories and the books and the minutia and the value is secondary, then continue and enjoy the ride. Things are "worth" whatever someone else is willing to pay for them. Sometimes that's quite a bit, and sometimes it's less than the cost of the sticky hard candy on the bottom shelf at the 7-11. That's collecting. You should be doing it for the <3 and not for the $.
Yup...sad, but true. Not sure WHY the collector's stopped coming.
I believe it had a lot to do with the forgeries...I think that burned so many would-be collectors that it wrecked the market for good.
The original five 1st editions will always be worth $$ because they appeal to ALL book collectors - Carrie, Stand, etc. But these new books? Nobody cares. At least nobody brand new to the collecting.
And of course, not only are there no new collectors, but many old collectors are jumping off too...I collected seriously for 10 years, but not so much anymore. Oh well...
Gotcha, thanks for the info guys. I love the sport of collecting King, lol, it's all I seem to think about anymore, as sad as that seems. When I'm home, I'm doing King collecting stuff, when I'm at work, I'm always looking for a chance when my boss is away so I can play, lol.
I was just thinking of making some extra cash, like for example: Legacies S/L was $200 from the publisher, I bought it a little while after, a month or two, from Betts for $250. Now, I look on Ebay, and one copy sold for $355 (with 24 bids, lol, wow) and the other for $449. If I would have bought a few originally and sold them now, that's quite a little bit of profit made. My question, let's take this title--Legacies S/L--as an example, is it peaking now, or in 2, 5, 10, 20 years will it be worth even more?
Shannon, I would not invest in King books with the idea of making money off of them. You are bound to lose in the long run. As has been stated, King items, especially the newer items, have dropped in price, and there is absolutely NO indication that they will rise. Of course, if I could predict the future...
I remember back before DTV came out, the trade editions of DTIV (Wizard and Glass) were selling in the $200 range. This has also dropped quite a bit since then. There's no good way of predicting what the market will do.
John
I've been buying King books for roughly two years and there's not one I can think of that I can sell for a profit.
When a new King limited is released, there's always a bunch of them that are listed on eBay immediately and these usually command higher prices because people who missed out want to get hold of a copy. But after this brief surge, prices drop significantly. At least that's my perception.
It's even worse with proofs. The first ones to appear on ebay go for extortionate prices, but 6 months later they can be bought for a fraction of the price.
If they can be found at all. Some proofs just seem to disappear. The US Cell is a great example of this.It's even worse with proofs. The first ones to appear on ebay go for extortionate prices, but 6 months later they can be bought for a fraction of the price.
John
In the past few months, I have purchased three first editions of "The Waste Lands". All three books are in really good shape, but one has a chipped dust jacket. One of them is still shrink wrapped. I paid a total of $103 for these books, with visions of dollar signs dancing in my head. But, then a funny thing happened: I fell in love with having those books on my shelf. Waste Lands is probably my favorite DT book. I kind of half-heartedly threw them up on eBay, to appease my wife mainly, but I was secretly hoping they wouldn't sell. I just don't have the heart to make money doing this, and I don't really need $100 that bad.
To Shannon's specific point, it's really impossible to know what is going to happen to prices in the future. If I knew that Gunslinger 1sts would be worth $5000 in 5 years, I would start buying them up like crazy but so would everyone else. EBay is a pretty efficient marketplace, and I think that any margin would disappear quickly. Also, let's say Legacies S/L is worth $400 now, and I think it is going to be worth $1,000 in twenty years. I wouldn't bother buying it, because the rate of return on that investment (less than 5% per year) is pretty poor. So, look around at all the S/Ls that are going for $400 today. If you think they will be selling for $2500 in twenty years, then they are a sound investment (rate between 9% and 10%) per year, and you might be able to make some money with them. However, there is a non-intrinsic value in having these books on your shelf, and you need to take that into consideration.
Long story short, buy books because you like them. Buy stocks if you want to make some money.
The return on stock is terrible. Buy "proper" art for real money.
You mean "proper" art like this:The return on stock is terrible. Buy "proper" art for real money.
LOL LOL J/K.....and yes I do own this. I'm hoping my $30 investment will be big in twenty years.
Not all stock.The return on stock is terrible. Buy "proper" art for real money.
I almost bought that piece. I like it.You mean "proper" art like this:The return on stock is terrible. Buy "proper" art for real money.
LOL LOL J/K.....and yes I do own this. I'm hoping my $30 investment will be big in twenty years.
RF....It looks really nice in person. Thanks for not bidding on it as my limit was the starting price of $30!
Stocks or art (or books!), it's all about your knowledge. You don't usually just stumble on a good stock and get rich, there's a lot of homework involved in addition to a little bit of luck; they always say "Buy what you know". Back when I started, I bought what I knew and it turned out to be my best buy yet ... Marvel Comics. I started buying in 2000 when they were coming out of bankruptcy and price was $3.50/share. Last year they got bought out by Disney for $55/share; I made $9K when that happened. Wish they were all like that; my next best has only gained 237% (so far). Guaranteed I'll do better with my stocks than my King collection!
As others have said, you really can't be in it for cash on the short haul. However if you can add 20-25 years to any smart purchase you will more than likely realize a profit. So buy now for the Grandkids later!!!! After you're as dead as King at one point or another!!! LOL
28 in 23 (?)!!!!
63 in '23!!!!!!!!!!
My Collection: https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ion-Merlin1958
The Houston Astros cheated Major League Baseball from 2017-18!!!! Is that how we teach our kids to play the game now?????
Wondering what the going rate is for all 5 of the Fantasy & Science Fiction editions from the late 70's / early 80's with DT1 The Gunslinger. They are all in good/great shape with the The Gunslinger having a shipping label on the back and a second copy of The Dark Man with a shipping label on the cover.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.....
Prices are all over the place but with a bit of patience (from the buyer's perspective) the whole set can be had for as little as $40. I'd say that a pristine set without address labels can go for $80-100. Maybe other members have a different opinion.
thanks Michael....I've looked around and they do seem to be all over the place...ABE has sets at 500-700 and figured that was a wheee bit high. I've seen singles of the later issues at 30-40. I have a set and curious what they are going for. they are all in great shape so we'll see what I can get.
appreciate the input!
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