The matte picture cover editions of these two titles are scarce; the flashlight edition picture covers are quite common. At the time of this writing, current eBay listings show 34 copies of Mystery of Crocodile Island up for sale. 29 copies are the flashlight edition, and only five copies are the matte picture cover edition. For The Thirteenth Pearl, 48 copies are up for sale. 41 copies are the flashlight edition, and only seven copies are the matte picture cover edition. The flashlight edition of both titles is very easy to find as compared to the matte edition.
This photo shows the front cover of the matte picture cover edition of both books.
The matte picture cover edition has a cover that is not glossy. The books do not have a flashlight logo near the top edge.
The flashlight edition books have been in print since 1986. #1 The Secret of the Old Clock and other lower-numbered books are probably available in slightly higher quantities, simply because people tend to buy the early books first. However, the entire set of #1-56 has been available for 32 years in the flashlight edition. No previous format of Nancy Drew was ever in print for 32 years. All copies of Nancy Drew #1-56 in the flashlight edition are extremely common and are more common than any other format of Nancy Drew book.
Seen below is a scan of the front cover of the flashlight edition of Nancy Drew #55 and #56. The books have a glossy cover and the flashlight logo near the top edge.
The flashlight edition of #55 and #56 should be purchased if you need to complete your set of flashlight editions or if you simply need a copy of the book to read. If your objective is acquisition of a scarce book, then purchase the matte picture cover edition of #55 and #56.
5 comments:
So the books are out there, but they are flashlight editions??? The Matte Yellowback editions are more elusive?
I personally consider ALL flashlight editions as NOT scarce, NOT rare (even those last few that were not issued in Yellowback) You can easily find them for $1 at used bookstores.
I agree about the flashlight editions, and in case I wasn't clear enough, I have changed the wording of one sentence and made it bold. I have read comments where people are buying up extra copies of the flashlight editions of #55 and #56 because they think ALL copies of #55 and #56 are scarce. Not at all.
We had a large donation of Hardy Boys flashlight editions for the last Friends of the Library sale, and even at 50 cents each, they didn't sell very quickly. They were in great condition, and I was a little surprised they didn't sell better.
I played about $10 more that what Farrahs guide suggest for a matte #55 first edition. From what I've seen, #56 has typically been going for about double. Its one of the few 1st edition mattes I'm missing, but its been hard to find a reasonably priced one.
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