Scarcity of Original Text Nancy Drew Picture Cover Books

One of the more scarce original text PCs

The values for most Nancy Drew picture cover editions are trending well above the Farah's Guide values.  I have previously mentioned the scarcity of certain original text Nancy Drew picture cover editions. Some of them sell faster than others, and those same books tend to be the ones that I have more trouble finding extras of in order to sell.

I get most of the picture cover books I sell by purchasing large lots of picture cover books.  I try to acquire lots that contain key volumes that I consider more difficult to find, and I try to purchase lots that contain more original text books than revised text books.  I don't always succeed, and condition is also a deciding factor.

The lots I purchase vary as to what is contained within them, and this depends upon what the original owner purchased and exactly when the original owner purchased the books.

This means that what I purchase is not necessarily an accurate cross-section of what exists, since multiple factors are at play.  Still, certain books do show up far less often than others.  I thought about Farah's Guide and decided to compare what I have found to be more scarce with what should be more scarce.

But first, we need to revisit the topic of Farah's Guide and actual printings since many collectors have incorrect assumptions about the data presented in Farah's Guide.

Farah's Guide documents a list of printings for each title.  When Farah assigns a code of 1970A-57 to a particular book, he is suggesting that the book was printed in 1970 and is the 57th printing. 

However, a good many collectors do not understand that Farah's list of printings is actually a list of every single documented variation in the book's boards, illustrations, text, interior lists, and exterior lists since the first printing.  Farah did not have the actual data from the bindery to assign dates and printing numbers.  He made educated guesses, and these guesses are pretty accurate.  For the majority, they are correct.  But not always.

Broken Locket "man with pipe" cover art with 1965 text

Some Farah's Guide printings from the middle part of the 1960s are unbelievably difficult to find.  One example is the third picture cover printing of The Clue of the Broken Locket.  This printing has the "man with pipe" cover art paired with the 1965 text.  The "man with pipe" does not appear in the revised text, so the cover art does not match the story.  This printing most likely consists of the boards from Farah's second picture cover printing paired with the text block of Farah's fourth picture cover printing.  This means that the third picture cover printing is not a printing at all, but rather a combination of what Farah calls the second and fourth picture cover printings.

Label from inside of Kingsport Press file copy

I mention this because we need to understand that some Farah's Guide printings may consist of a very small number of books.  According to limited data discovered from file copies of books, we know that printings from the 1960s had around 10,000 copies apiece.  Variants, such as the third picture cover printing of Broken Locket, are so scarce that most likely no more than around a thousand were bound.  They were not full printings even though they appear to be full printings as listed in Farah's Guide.

Even though I know that some Farah's Guide printings are not actually full print runs, for clarity, I will always refer to them as printings since that is the convention that was established 30 years ago.

I went through Farah's Guide and made note of how many original text picture cover printings exist for each title.  #1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 are not listed here because they were never printed in the original text in the picture cover format.

 #5 - 5 printings
 #7 - 1 printing
 #8 - 8 printings
 #9 - 5 printings
#10 - 3 printings
#11 - 2 printings
#12 - 11 printings
#13 - 15 printings
#14 - 7 printings
#15 - 11 printings
#16 - 8 printings
#17 - 13 printings
#18 - 11 printings
#19 - 6 printings
#20 - 9 printings
#21 - 6 printings
#22 - 10 printings
#23 - 16 printings (8 printings with the 1st art and 8 printings with the 2nd art)
#24 - 15 printings (3 printings with the 1st art and 12 printings with the 2nd art)
#25 - 3 printings
#26 - 6 printings
#27 - 6 printings
#28 - 8 printings
#29 - 7 printings
#30 - 8 printings
#31 - 13 printings
#32 - 13 printings
#33 - 14 printings
#34 - 15 printings

Here are the books reordered by least number of printings to greatest number of printings.  I have put the ones that I consider harder to find in red and easier to find in blue, based on my acquisitions and sales over the last four years.  My opinion is neutral on the titles that I kept in black.

 #7 - 1 printing
#11 - 2 printings 
#10 - 3 printings
#25 - 3 printings
 #5 - 5 printings
 #9 - 5 printings
#19 - 6 printings
#21 - 6 printings
#26 - 6 printings
#27 - 6 printings
#14 - 7 printings
#29 - 7 printings
 #8 - 8 printings
#16 - 8 printings
#28 - 8 printings
#30 - 8 printings
#20 - 9 printings
#22 - 10 printings
#15 - 10 printings
#12 - 11 printings
#18 - 11 printings
#17 - 13 printings
#31 - 13 printings
#32 - 13 printings
#33 - 14 printings
#13 - 15 printings
#34 - 15 printings
#24 - 15 printings (3 printings with the 1st art and 12 printings with the 2nd art)
#23 - 16 printings (8 printings with the 1st art and 8 printings with the 2nd art)

Of the ones I listed in red, I have the most trouble with #7 (by far the toughest), 11, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24 (1st art only), 25, 26, and 28.   Of the ones listed in blue, I tend to have the most extras for #15, 17, 31, 33, and 34.

I kept #18 in red because it was very difficult for me to acquire extras for around three of the last four years.  During the last year, #18 has been much easier for me to find, and I have several extras currently in reserve.  The number of printings indicates that it might be easier to find than I previously thought.

Some of the books, like #8, 9, and 29, have fewer printings in the original text than many other titles, yet I have never noticed them to be particularly scarce.  It could be that those titles had larger print runs than some of the other titles that went through more printings. 

Based on what I have noticed for series books in general and with respect to general human behavior, I believe that around the first 5 to 10 volumes in any series had either more printings or much larger printings, since those books tend to be more abundant.  People who purchase books for children and grandchildren are most likely to pick up the early titles.  That would cause those titles to sell in greater abundance over the years that a series was actively in print.

As with other series, the middle titles seem to be harder to find than the earlier or later titles.

Note:  As always, absolutely no criticism of Farah's Guide is present here.  Please do not read intent into my commentary that is not here.  Farah's Guide is essential to collecting Nancy Drew books, and this post would not have been possible without the data from the guide.

Nancy Drew #45 The Spider Sapphire Mystery

In Nancy Drew #45, The Spider Sapphire Mystery, Nancy makes plans to go on a safari in Kenya with Bess, George, Ned, Burt, Dave, and a bunch of students from Emerson.  Coincidentally, Nancy's father has been hired to defend a man accused of stealing a fabulous sapphire that contains a spider.  This man has created a synthetic spider sapphire, and some men from Kenya have accused him of stealing the real spider sapphire from its owner.

The mystery opens with three men surrounding Nancy's car with their vehicles and running off.  Ah, one of the many Nancy Drew mysteries that begins with people harassing Nancy for no apparent reason.  If the criminals would simply stay away from Nancy, they would stand a far greater chance of getting away with their crimes.  But no, they chase after Nancy constantly.  It is all too easy.

The vehicle scene is the first of many instances where the book seems illogical.  Okay, so Nancy can't get out of her car because the convertible's top won't open and she can't open the doors.  Nothing is mentioned about the windows.  Couldn't Nancy have lowered a window and simply climbed out?  I am baffled.

Unknown to Nancy, Ned gets kidnapped by Swahili Joe.  Someone then calls Nancy and tells her that Ned won't be going to Africa.  Nancy investigates and discovers that Ned has disappeared.  Again, the criminals alert Nancy that a problem exists, thus speeding up the discovery that Ned has been kidnapped.

On page 34, Nancy and her friends are attacked by men with guns.  The men get tackled and drop their guns.  So what do Nancy and George do?  They grab the guns and throw them into the nearby stream.  The guns would have given Nancy and her friends added protection against the men. 

On page 37, the young people discover that someone has scratched "SJ" on a tree trunk with an arrow pointing left.  On page 38, Nancy explains that she believes that "Ned felt that it would not be safe to scratch his own initials, but we'd recognize SJ if we were able to follow his clues."  Um... Ned scratching anything on the tree with an arrow is rather obvious.  Somehow, I expect the villains would get upset about the arrow regardless of the initials next to it.  Why would it matter? 

I had to laugh when Bess pulls a box of crackers and a candy bar out of her purse for Ned.  She explains she always has a snack ready for an emergency.

On page 49, Nancy rather easily learns a song in Swahili from Madame Bulawaya, and is able to sing it flawlessly.  Of course later in the story, Nancy is able to sing the song in Kenya, also flawlessly.  There is nothing that Nancy can't do!

On page 50, Madame Bulawaya requests that Nancy help find her brother, Tizam, who disappeared in Kenya sometime before.  Guess what?  Tizam has a connection to the spider sapphire case; the villains pinned the blame on him!  Isn't it amazing that every random person Nancy meets has a connection to the mystery?

Oh, it gets better.  In Kenya, it seems that everyone knows Tizam.  And of course, while Nancy and her friends go sightseeing, they stumble across Tizam himself.  Amazing!  Tizam has amnesia, which Nancy is able to cure immediately by singing the Swahili song to him.  You go girl!

At the time this story was written, Kenya had a population of 10 million. Nancy has such incredible luck that in a nation of 10 million people, every single person she meets knows about her mystery.  Wow.

An obnoxious young woman named Gwen Taylor goes on the safari with the Emerson students.  Gwen is self-absorbed, snobbish, and wears a wig, which is snatched away by a baboon on page 78.  Gwen is devastated, but not for long.  Bess goes to Gwen's room, gives her some friendly advice, and Gwen emerges from her room within one hour with her hair styled.  Gwen's personality somehow changes completely because of the talk with Bess, or perhaps because Bess showed her how to style her hair.  Now everyone likes Gwen and is eager to be around her.

The villains are pretty mean in this book.  Ned is abducted.  George is abducted and taken into the jungle where wild animals roam.  The villains burn all of Nancy, Bess, and George's clothing.  They beat up Ned, Burt, and Dave.  They put acid on Nancy's suitcase handle.

Nancy and Ned submerge their hands in oil to counteract the effect of the acid.  They are apparently cured immediately and do not seek medical attention.  Nancy is indestructible, so naturally, the acid wouldn't harm her.

I was curious as to whether oil would be a correct remedy for contact with acid.  I ran some Google searches, and it seems that submerging an acid burn in water is the most common remedy.  I found no mention of oil in the top results.  I did find one page that mentions that mixing acid and oil will cause a chemical reaction.

On page 161, Nancy, Bess, and George return to the hotel and speak with Ned, Burt, and Dave about the mystery in a corner of the lobby.  In the middle of this passage is the statement, "Gwen, in the meantime, had asked to be excused and had gone to her room."  Huh?  Gwen is not part of the discussion, so far as I can tell, and mentioning her name is totally random.  I don't think I missed anything, but I will confess that by this point in the book, I had begun skimming the text.  The book had gotten to be very annoying, and I wanted it to be over.

Most everything about this book is stupid, and I did not enjoy it.  The book is mainly good for laughs.

Nancy Drew #44 The Clue in the Crossword Cipher

In Nancy Drew #44, The Clue in the Crossword Cipher, Carla Ponce invites Nancy Drew and her friends to come to Peru to solve the mystery of her wooden plaque that has a crossword cipher carved into it.  The cipher is hundreds of years old and features a strange message on one side and a monkey on the other.

A gang of criminals, headed by the mysterious El Gato, has been harassing Carla.  As soon as Carla invites Nancy to Peru, the criminals begin harassing Nancy as well.  El Gato and his allies continue annoying Nancy and her friends in South America as they work towards solving the mystery.

These later Nancy Drew books tend to feature villains that chase after Nancy constantly.  This book is no exception, but at least the chronology makes more sense than in some of the other books.  The villains were already after Carla Ponce's wooden plaque and harassing her.  When Carla enlists Nancy's help, the villains quite naturally begin harassing Nancy as well. Fortunately, they do not begin harassing Nancy before she knows about the mystery.

In Peru, Nancy is told to check with a man who sells wooden products in Lima.  His assistant just happens to be Luis Llosa, which is a strange coincidence.  Luis Llosa is the villain who is after Carla's wooden plaque.

On page 78, Señora Violetta is at police headquarters with Nancy and her friends.  After they leave, they go to a church service and then back to the hotel.  I find it strange that this woman who just met the girls takes them to church.  Page 78 also has a mistake in which Señora Violetta suddenly becomes Señor Violetta.

On page 80, Nancy is standing near a door of the plane when the door comes open.  Nancy is nearly sucked out of the plane, but of course she isn't.  In real life, I think she would have been sucked out, and that would have been the end of Nancy.

The girls go sightseeing at the ruins of Machu Picchu.  On page 108, the villain paints a large red cat on the ruins when the girls aren't looking.  Really?  Couldn't he do better than that?

On page 121, Bess is told that her weight must be more than 100 pounds since the alpaca carrying her refuses to stand up.  Bess grins and refuses to reveal her weight.  Making a big deal out of Bess weighing more than 100 pounds seems odd to me.  All of the girls would have to weigh above 100 pounds unless they all have small frames and are under around 4' 10".  Somehow, I doubt that all of them are that small.

On page 123, Nancy sees "a huge bundle of thatch rolling at fast speed in her direction."  When the thatch reaches her, "Nancy gave a mighty leap and hurdled the bundle."  Wow.  Nancy must be some athlete.  I guess we already knew that.

On page 149, Luis Llosa throws a bomb with a lighted fuse into the room where Nancy is.  The bomb is thrown towards Nancy.  Needless to say, Nancy does not have a scratch on her.  When Bess exclaims about how lucky Nancy is, Nancy comments that she "doubted that the bomb could have killed her."  Really, Nancy, you can't be serious.  Sadly, I'm sure Harriet Adams was serious when she wrote that.

I enjoyed this story more than I did The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes or The Mystery of the 99 Steps, but I still did not enjoy it very much.  This is a travelogue book and the type of Nancy Drew book that I never like quite as much as the ones set in River Heights.

Nancy Drew #43 The Mystery of the 99 Steps

In Nancy Drew #43, The Mystery of the 99 Steps, Nancy and her father depart for Paris to solve two different cases.  Mr. Drew has been asked to find out what has frightened a certain financier into selling his stocks.  Nancy has been asked by Mrs. Blair, a River Heights resident, to find out where she saw a long flight of stairs with 99 steps.  Mrs. Blair has recurring nightmares about the 99 steps.

Needless to say, Mr. Drew's case and Nancy's mystery are connected and have the same set of villains.  What are the chances of Mrs. Blair's childhood mystery connecting with Mr. Drew's current case?  Amazing!

From the beginning of the story, Nancy gets warning messages from Monsieur Neuf, or "Mr. Nine."  So, some Frenchman calling himself Mr. Nine warns Nancy about going to France.  Once again, the villains give Nancy lots of clues.  If they'd just leave her alone, she'd have so much more trouble bringing them to justice!

This book is full of incidents and remarks that seem a bit stupid.

On page 34, a prowler at the Drew home uses stilts.  Perhaps this was done to disguise his footprints, but a towel or bag tied over each shoe would have the same effect and might even make it easier to walk.  Even better, why not just wear someone else's shoes?  These villains!

Perhaps the villains have mental problems.  On page 36, the villain leaves a warning message, "BEWARE THE GREEN LION!"  The message is propped up inside Nancy's car.  Nancy figures out that the statement has to do with alchemy, so of course the villain has revealed himself as being tied to alchemy.  Continuing the tradition of these higher-numbered Nancy Drew books, the villains hand Nancy her clues on a silver platter.

On page 116, Nancy is with Henri Durant, who met up with Nancy after he went on an errand for his father.  While he is with Nancy, a telephone message is given to Henri, telling him that he is to call his father.  As soon as Henri walks off, Nancy is attacked.  It seems strange to me that the villains know enough about Henri to be able to give a plausible excuse to get him away from Nancy.  I just find it hard to believe.

On page 137, Bess remarks that Louis Aubert "must be a good mechanic to know how to damage brakes."  Nancy informs Bess that since Aubert is a scientist that he probably knows a good bit about machinery, which means that he would know how to damage brakes.  I don't follow the reasoning.  Sure, this is possible, but being a scientist who practices alchemy is not the same as being a mechanic who repairs vehicles.

On page 167, Nancy, Bess, George, two policemen, and Mr. Drew all go into the villains' hideout and secrete themselves behind some bins.  I am amazed that every single person went down into the cellar and not one person remained outside as a lookout.  Not surprising, every single one of them gets trapped in the cellar by the villain.  Of course, they manage to escape, but still, their behavior is ignorant.

I did not enjoy this story very much.  The Mystery of the 99 Steps is a travelogue Nancy Drew book with some incredible coincidences that have little believability. 

Nancy Drew #42 The Phantom of Pine Hill

In Nancy Drew #42, The Phantom of Pine Hill, Nancy travels to Emerson with Bess and George for Emerson University's June Week celebration.  Upon their arrival, the girls discover that their reservations have been lost, and they have no room.  Ned obtains lodging for the girls at Uncle John Rorick's home, upon the condition that the girls discover the phantom of Pine Hill.

A strange light is seen in the woods at night, and an intruder keeps entering the library, even though Uncle John has changed the locks.  Nancy and her friends learn that a ship called the Lucy Belle sank in the river in 1835.  The ship reputedly carried a fortune in gold.  Mr. Rorick tells the girls that the ship also contained some wedding gifts for Miss Abigail Rorick.

One theory about the phantom is that somebody is searching Mr. Rorick's library in order to find a clue that will lead to the missing treasure.  Book collectors will appreciate that Mr. Rorick's library contains thousands of books.  Nancy and her friends even find money hidden in some of the books.  Mr. Rorick uses books with titles such as The Roaring Twenties and The Roaring River in order to remember which books contain money.  "Roaring" is a reference to Mr. Rorick's name.

The housekeeper, Mrs. Holman, reminds Nancy of Hannah.  She also reminds me of Hannah.  In fact, I could swear that she is written exactly like Hannah and is actually Hannah in disguise.

In the woods, one of the villains tries to scare Nancy by dropping a piece of paper that has extremely large thumbprints on it.  Um, okay.  It just seems bizarre.

The illustration on page 87 does not match the description of Nancy's attire from page 85.  Nancy is supposed to be wearing a "pretty dress" with a "full-length smock over it" in order to keep it clean for church.  Nancy wears pants in the illustration.

Mr. Rorick's coin collection is valuable.  I always thought so as a child, but now I have a new perspective.  The most valuable coin was given as being worth $7,500.  That coin sold for $1,380,000 in a 2008 auction.  Mr. Rorick's coin collection is worth millions of dollars in today's money.  Wow.

I thought it was a nice touch making Bess the hero near the end of the book.  Way to go, Bess!

The Phantom of Pine Hill is an enjoyable mystery.  Even though Nancy is away at Emerson, the story has the feel of a book set in River Heights.  Nancy Drew books set in River Heights have always been my favorites. 

Nancy Drew #41 The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes

In Nancy Drew #41, The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes, Nancy learns of an heirloom her maternal great-grandmother, Lady Douglas, was planning to give her.  The heirloom has disappeared and was possibly stolen!

Bess has won a vacation for two people to her choice of destination by entering a photograph of Nancy sleuthing.  Nancy will be famous because the picture will appear in a popular magazine.  Nancy is dismayed that she will be likely recognized while in Scotland, but she suggests that Bess and George use the prize to journey to Scotland with her.

When Ned learns about the trip to Scotland, he tells her that he read a story about a group of thieves who are stealing sheep and lambs in the Highlands of Scotland.  He suggests that Nancy try to solve that mystery.

Of course the missing heirloom and the stolen sheep end up being connected.  At least the first half of the book consists of the bad guys attacking Nancy and chasing after her, trying to keep her from arriving at her destination in Scotland.  This is not a mystery; it is a game of cat and mouse.  Since the villains chase after Nancy constantly, attacking her, and giving her warnings, she knows who they are.  The villains quite directly give Nancy all of her clues.

I mentioned in my review of The Secret of the Golden Pavilion that a lot of information about Hawaii was given, and that it detracted from the story for me.  That is nothing compared to the amount of historic and geographic information about Scotland.  Some entire chapters are devoted to sightseeing rather than anything to do with a mystery.  Of course, the villains attack Nancy and her friends on every sightseeing trip, so I suppose we can consider each trip to be part of the mystery.  That is, we can consider each trip to be part of the elaborate game of cat and mouse.

On page 5, Ned tells Nancy that she needs to be back by June 10 so that she can be at Emerson for a special event.  The event occurs in The Phantom of Pine Hill, so this is a rare example of two Nancy Drew books fitting together chronologically.

On page 52, a houseboat tips over.  The illustration depicts the houseboat tipped over in the water.  It seems to me that water would have seeped into the houseboat, but nothing about this is mentioned in the text.  The way the text reads, I get the idea that the houseboat was never in the water in the first place, which is strange since it is a houseboat.

The coincidences are a bit too much in this mystery.  The girls rescue the people in the houseboat and learn of a nearby houseboat with strange occupants.  Of course those occupants are the villains in this non-mystery.

The villains make a painting that can only be viewed by taking a circular object, such as a glass, and making it into a circular mirror by painting the glass with a reflective coating.  I can't understand why the villains would use such a difficult method of communication.  Actually, they did it so that the readers could learn about an interesting method of viewing a painting.

The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes was not enjoyable to me, since it has very little mystery and consists of the villains chasing after Nancy and attacking her all the time.  The entire story seems pointless.

Dana Girls Values

This is my attempt to place a value on the books from the Dana Girls series.  Keep in mind that prices are always changing based on supply and demand, and that even if my values are accurate as of today, they will not be accurate in the future. The values could go either up or down.  Furthermore, this is solely my opinion.

The early purple books with lavender and green dust jackets used to sell for $300 to $500 each.  The prices are now usually well below $100.  I checked recent listings, and I noticed that some sellers only try to get around $20 for the books with lavender and green dust jackets.  They succeed at only getting $20 since the auction receives only one bid.

I believe that the lavender and green jackets are still worth at least $100 each, when in excellent condition without fading, even though most sellers price them lower.  The lavender and green jackets have always been extremely hard to find, and they are still extremely hard to find in nice condition.

The purple books that are missing the dust jackets are worth around $20 to $25 each if the books have the four glossy internal illustrations.  The purple books that are missing the dust jackets and have only the glossy frontispiece illustration are worth around $10 to $15 each.

The Dana Girls breeder set dust jackets, described here, are the most desired of the lavender and green dust jackets.  These books with their dust jackets in excellent condition are each most likely worth $150 to $200 or more.  While a Dana Girls price guide has never been published, we do know the first printing points for the breeder set dust jackets.  This means that we can value them higher since we know that they are the first printings of the very first Dana Girls books ever published.  For other books, we do not know the first printing points, so placing a value on a first printing is about impossible.

The books with blue and red dust jackets vary depending upon whether the books are blue books with poor quality paper, purple books with poor quality paper, or purple books with good quality paper.  The most valuable blue and red jackets are the ones on purple books with good quality paper.  Those books and jackets are worth $50 to $75 each.  The blue and red dust jackets the other two types of books are worth $20 to $50 each.  Remember that these prices are for nice jackets without fading.  Most examples that surface are faded.

The tweed books with dust jackets do not tend to sell when they are priced at $40 and up.  The top range appears to be $20 to $30 with around $35 as a higher end price.  Sierra Gold in dust jacket used to sell for $100 and up, but the value has now dropped to around $50.

The tweed books without dust jackets sell for $6 to $10 each, depending upon condition.  Like with the Nancy Drew series, tweed Dana Girls books with poor condition dust jackets tend to sell for less than tweed Dana Girls books that are missing their jackets.  A buyer might be willing to pay $10 for a tweed Dana Girls book that is missing the dust jacket, but would not be willing to pay more than $5 for a tweed Dana Girls book with a poor condition dust jacket.

The Dana Girls beige spine picture cover editions are currently high in demand.  #1-16 and #18 went out of print when the series was reprinted later in the white spine edition, so those titles are particularly in demand.  Even though #17 was reprinted, it is in demand.  #19-26 are easy to find in the later white spine edition, and this has suppressed the value of the beige spine picture cover editions.

#27-30 were also reprinted in the white spine edition.  The later reprints may have suppressed the values of #27-29 slightly, but the value of #30 Phantom Surfer is not affected by the later reprint.  #30 consistently sells for high prices due to the extreme scarcity.

The middle beige spine picture covers are harder to find than the ones with higher and lower numbers, with the exception of #27-30.  I change my mind frequently on the exact range of titles that is hardest to find, but it is somewhere between #5 and #21, with the very hardest to find ones centered around #9-16.  Here is a list of all 30 beige spine picture covers with an attempt at pricing them.  The prices given are for books in excellent condition with very light wear.

#1 Study Lamp - $10
#2 Lone Tree Cottage -  $10
#3 Shadow of the Tower - $10
 #4 Three-Cornered Mystery - $10
 #5 Secret at the Hermitage - $12
 #6 Circle of Footprints - $15
#7 Mystery of the Locked Room - $20
#8 Clue in the Cobweb - $20
#9 Gatehouse Mystery - $20
 #10 Mysterious Fireplace - $20
#11 Clue of the Rusty Key - $20
 #12 Portrait in the Sand - $20
 #13 Old Well - $20
 #14 Clue in the Ivy - $20
#15 Jade Ring - $20
#16 Crossroads - $20
 #17 Gallery - $20
#18 Black Flower - $20
#19 Winking Ruby - $20
 #20 Swiss Chalet - $20
 #21 Haunted Lagoon - $20
#22 Bamboo Bird - $15
#23 Sierra Gold - $15
#24 Lost Lake - $15
#25 Stone Tiger - $15
#26 Frozen Fountain - $15
#27 Silver Dolphin - $20-$35
#28 Wax Queen - $40-$60
 #29 Minstrel's Guitar - $50-$75
#30 Phantom Surfer $100-$200

These prices reflect how I have priced my Dana Girls books in the last year or so.  I have experimented with pricing by gradually raising the prices.  I don't want to gouge, so I have raised prices gradually and tended not to go over $20 for most of the middle-range titles.  I suspect that some buyers would be willing to pay well above $20 for many of the middle-range titles, even though I have been hesitant to go that far.

First picture cover editions are worth more than later printing picture covers.  If a Dana Girls picture cover in excellent condition is worth $20, then the same book in a first printing picture cover is worth a higher amount, such as $30.

The first printing picture covers for #1 up to #23 list to #23 Sierra Gold on the back cover.  On the inside, the books list Nancy Drew to #39 Dancing Puppet and Dana Girls to #23 Sierra Gold.  I am not sure offhand about the points for #25 and 26.  #27, 28, and 29 list to #27 on the back cover, and #30 lists to #30. 

Here is a list of the 17 white spine picture cover books with approximate prices.

#1-13 around $5 to $10 each
#14 Curious Coronation $10-20
#15 Hundred-Year - $15-$25
#16 Mountain-Peak - $25-$45
#17 Witch's Omen $75-$100

Dana Girls pricing has tended to stay lower than Nancy Drew pricing due to the absence of a guide.  If a guide were published that placed a value such as $50 on the middle-range beige spine picture cover editions, sellers would price them that high and buyers would accept it.  We tend to be more cautious when an authority has not declared a value.  This also works in favor of buyers, who do not have to pay quite as high of prices.

I have not given examples of all formats here.  If you are someone who is trying to place a value on some Dana Girls books that you plan to sell, please visit my Dana Girls Formats Page to make sure you know exactly what you have.  Also keep in mind that well-worn books are generally worth only 10% to 25% as much as a copy in excellent condition.  If an excellent condition book is worth $20, then a well-worn book is worth $2 to $5.