RARE Nancy Drew Cameo and Applewood Editions

One of my pet peeves is the overuse of the word rare to describe vintage series books on eBay. By definition, the word rare refers to something that seldom occurs—something that is infrequent. In the world of book collecting, a rare book is a book that comes up for sale once or twice every 10 years. Some people state that a truly rare book is one that a dealer will see only once or twice in his or her entire career. On eBay, the word rare is grossly overused. I understand why sellers use it; it draws people into viewing the listing, and it is shorter than the word scarce. I am one of those sellers who refuses to use the word unless I feel that a book is extremely uncommon. I am certain that this causes me to get fewer views on my listings, but I wish to avoid misleading buyers about the scarcity of certain books. The word rare is used on a majority of the listings for the Nancy Drew Cameo Editions (the book club editions illustrated by Polly Bolian) and the Applewood Facsimile Editions. These books are up for sale on eBay nearly all of the time. They cannot possibly be rare when they are always available. Granted, an occasional week or two may pass when a certain title may not be up for sale, but it does show up again and again. I just looked at closed eBay auctions for the last two weeks. For completed listings, it is only possible to search the titles, so I am likely missing a few books. I found the following listings for Cameo Editions: Wooden Lady w/DJ, closed 3/30/08 at $31.50 Wooden Lady w/DJ, closed 4/05/08 at $47.50 Wooden Lady, no DJ, closed 4/05/08 at $15.00 Scarlet Slipper, no DJ, closed without a buyer, 3/25/08 Ringmaster's Secret, no DJ, closed 4/01/08 at $0.99 Golden Pavilion, no DJ, closed 4/03/08 at $12.49 Golden Pavilion w/DJ, closed without a buyer, 4/05/08 Hidden Staircase w/DJ, closed 4/05/08 at $74.99 Witch Tree Symbol w/DJ, closed without a buyer, 4/05/08 Hidden Window, closed without a buyer, 4/05/08 Haunted Showboat, closed 4/05/08 at $15.00 There are several current listings that offer Cameo Editions: Lot of 5 with Velvet Mask, Scarlet Slipper, Hidden Window, Golden Pavilion, Witch Tree Scarlet Slipper w/DJ Witch Tree Symbol w/DJ Lot of 4 with Old Clock, Witch Tree Symbol, Velvet Mask, Hidden Window So, they are out there. Yes, they are scarce, and supply is less than demand. What I have noticed is that some buyers are now paying high prices for Cameo Editions that have reproduction dust jackets—sometimes as high as $100. Conversely, the Cameo Editions that have their original dust jackets seem to sell for lower prices than some of the ones with reproduction dust jackets. This is one of the most bewildering observations about eBay auctions. Let's go on to the RARE Applewood Editions which are selling for outrageously high prices. I searched completed listings for the last two weeks, again title only, and I came up with a total of 48 books. I have decided not to list all of them here as it would be too time-consuming. The very fact that there are 48 closed listings of Applewood Editions proves that the books are not rare. The prices range from a few dollars for a few scattered books up to near $100 for some of them. The sad thing is that several of the books that sold for under $10 were sold to someone who will be placing them back up for sale in a few weeks at grossly-inflated prices—and I'm sure the books will sell at the higher prices when that occurs. For current listings of Applewood Editions, there are 21 auctions plus 53 eBay store listings. The Applewoods are plentiful and are always up for sale, but for some reason people are willing to pay huge prices for them. I have been trying to figure out why some buyers seem to value the Applewood Facsimile Editions more highly than they do the older books which have the original dust jackets. Most collectors want to obtain older printings, especially first printings, as the older a book is, the closer it is to the author and the origin of the book. It is for the same reason that people collect autographs of celebrities. So why do so many newer Nancy Drew collectors want to pay far higher prices for the recent Applewood Editions than they do for the older editions? All that I can guess is that these people want something that is new and pristine, yet has the old artwork.