Trixie Belden Series Titles and Collecting Information

This is the text of an eBay guide that I created in 2006.  The guides are now orphaned pages that can only be found through an Internet search.  eBay plans to delete the guides in April 2018.

I left a note in this guide about eBay hiding the pictures, since it shows how inept eBay can be at times.  

This eBay guide was viewed approximately 22,000 times.

July 31, 2006

The Trixie Belden series is a series of books originally published by the Western Publishing Company under the divisions of Whitman and Golden from 1948 to 1986.  More recently, Random House has reprinted the earlier titles in the series.  Most of the titles in the series are still out of print.

The series was created by Julie Campbell Tatham, who quit writing the series after the first six titles.  Beginning with volume 7, the series was written by a variety of authors under the pseudonym of Kathryn Kenny.

List of titles:

  1. The Secret of the Mansion, 1948
  2. The Red Trailer Mystery, 1950
  3. The Gatehouse Mystery, 1951
  4. The Mysterious Visitor, 1954
  5. The Mystery Off Glen Road, 1956
  6. Mystery in Arizona, 1958
  7. The Mysterious Code, 1961
  8. The Black Jacket Mystery, 1961
  9. The Happy Valley Mystery, 1962
10. The Marshland Mystery, 1962
11. The Mystery at Bob-White Cave, 1963
12. The Mystery of the Blinking Eye, 1963
13. The Mystery on Cobbett's Island, 1964
14. The Mystery of the Emeralds, 1965
15. The Mystery on the Mississippi, 1965
16. The Mystery of the Missing Heiress, 1970
17. The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest, 1977
18. The Mystery of the Phantom Grasshopper, 1977
19. The Secret of the Unseen Treasure, 1977
20. The Mystery Off Old Telegraph Road, 1978
21. The Mystery of the Castaway Children, 1978
22. The Mystery on Mead's Mountain, 1978
23. The Mystery of the Queen's Necklace, 1979
24. The Mystery at Saratoga, 1979
25. The Sasquatch Mystery, 1979
26. The Mystery of the Headless Horseman, 1979
27. The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon, 1979
28. The Hudson River Mystery, 1979
29. The Mystery of the Velvet Gown, 1980
30. The Mystery of the Midnight Marauder, 1980
31. The Mystery at Maypenny's, 1980
32. The Mystery of the Whispering Witch, 1980
33. The Mystery of the Vanishing Victim, 1980
34. The Mystery of the Missing Millionaire, 1980
35. The Mystery of the Memorial Day Fire, 1984
36. The Mystery of the Antique Doll, 1984
37. The Pet Show Mystery, 1985
38. The Indian Burial Ground Mystery, 1985
39. The Mystery of the Galloping Ghost, 1986

Prices:

The purpose of this guide is to provide a starting place for buyers and sellers who are interested in the Trixie Belden series.  This guide does not attempt to give the value of the different Trixie Belden books.  The values are constantly changing based on supply and demand.  If I were to attempt to give values, they would soon be meaningless.  There are way too many factors to consider.  The only statement that can be made with certainty is that the last few titles in the series are much more difficult to acquire and do consistently sell for higher prices.

If you are planning to sell some Trixie Belden books and need to get an idea of the current pricing, search the completed Trixie Belden auctions on eBay to get an idea of the selling prices.  If you are planning to buy Trixie Belden books, you should also search the completed auctions to see what the selling prices are.

Formats:

Note:  There are supposed to be pictures in this section, but I have noticed that eBay doesn't always show them.  Sometimes eBay will show some of the pictures and not the rest.  I cannot do anything to make eBay show them each time.   Try reloading or go to my About Me page, visit my series book website, click on the Trixie Belden section, and look at the pictures there.  I am very aware that this section is incomprehensible without the pictures, and I do apologize.

The series has been printed in a wide variety of formats during its years of publication.  The first three books were originally printed in hardcover with dust jacket from 1948 to 1953.  Early reprints of these books were printed with the same cover art but with boards protected with cellophane.  Unfortunately, the cellophane is very prone to peeling.

 Volumes 4 through 10 were also printed in the Cello Edition.

The next format of Trixie Belden books was printed from 1954 to 1964.  These books are known as the Cameo Editions, because a cameo picture of Trixie appears in the upper left corner of the front cover.

Volumes 1 through 13 were printed in the Cameo Edition.

After the Cameo Editions come the Deluxe Editions which were printed from 1965 to 1967.  The Deluxe Editions are tall books that have several color pictures scattered throughout the text.

Volumes 1 through 15 were printed in the Deluxe Edition. 

The Thin Hardcover Editions were printed during the early 1970s, and these books were made with cheap materials have have not lasted well.

Volumes 1 through 16 were printed in the Thin Hardcover Edition.

In 1977, the series changed to paperback with the publication of volume 17.  The earlier paperback editions are known as the Oval editions.

Volumes 1 through 34 were printed in the Oval edition.

In 1984, the paperbacks changed style and cover art, and these paperbacks are known as the Square editions.

Volumes 35 through 38, as well as most of the earlier titles in the series, were printed in the Square edition.  Some scattered volumes were never printed in the Square edition.

Random House is currently reprinting the Trixie Belden series, and the earlier titles are now back in print.  Unfortunately, the majority of the titles in the series remain out of print.  The high-numbered titles in the series went through fewer print runs and are much more difficult to acquire than the earlier titles in the series.