Nancy Drew Matte Picture Covers with Double Oval Endpapers

I have always dismissed the Nancy Drew matte picture cover editions with the double oval endpapers as being of no interest and of minimal value.  Most other collectors have had the same opinion and continue to feel that way.  During the last few years, I have begun to reconsider my stance on these books.  

I know of a few people who seek out these books.  I have been aware of that for several years, which is when my opinion began to shift.  In early October, I found some very nice examples of the books in a local store.

A Mystery Concerning a Few Nancy Drew Books Found Locally

I was impressed by how nice of condition the books were in, and I was also surprised that some of the books were from 1987. 

In late October, I found more of them and wrote about the books on Facebook.

I purchased some more Nancy Drew books with double oval endpapers today in a local store.  I am confident that these books are from the same original source as the ones I blogged about earlier in the month.  I purchased these books today since I already have some of the books that are likely from the same original set.  I love acquiring groups of books that have been together all along.  

Like the books I previously purchased, these books have nice white paper that has not yellowed.  The books are in excellent condition with the only flaw being some bumping on the spines.  These books are stated as being 1985 and 1986 printings on the copyright page.

These are the photos that I used in my Facebook post.

I have now found another group of the matte books with the double oval endpapers.  This time some of the books have good quality paper, while others have poor quality paper.

I am confident that this new group of books has been together from the beginning due to the markings on the back covers.  Five of the books have a price sticker from the same place, while all of the books have had the price obscured with marker.

Since this group has paper of varying quality, I looked for printing dates and other differences.  None of these books contain any information about when they were printed.  The last title listed on the back cover means nothing, since all books with double oval endpapers list to Thirteenth Pearl. 

I did spot one difference.  Some of the books have a UPC while others do not.  My purchases from October all have a UPC, and all of those books have good quality paper.  For this most recent purchase, two books have a UPC while the rest do not.  The two books with a UPC have good quality paper.  Five of the seven books without the UPC have poor quality paper.  The books with the UPC must have been printed later, and these books have good quality paper.  

The matte Nancy Drew books had good quality paper throughout the 1960s and 1970s when the books had the blue multi or black and white multi endpapers.  When the books switched to double oval endpapers, the paper quality became poor.  At some point during the run of the books with the double oval endpapers, the UPC codes were introduced on the books and the paper quality improved to the same as it was during the 1960s and 1970s.  

The paper quality didn't necessarily change at the same time as the change in the endpapers or the introduction of the UPC code.  I will have to see more books before I can draw any conclusions about that.  Since pretty much all collectors have dismissed these books as being of no interest, we don't know that much about them.

Farah's Guide states that the books with double oval endpapers were in print from 1982 through 1986.  I have always believed that to be true and have never questioned it.  Based on my own observations, it's apparent that the books with double oval endpapers were in print until 1987.  I have several of the matte books with double oval endpapers that are stated as 1987 printings.   

David Farah has never been very interested in the picture cover editions (he told me this), especially any printings after 1979.  For that reason, his guide has only sketchy details for anything from after 1979 and some information, like for the books with double oval endpapers, is approximate.  Note to certain people:  This is not a criticism, so consider controlling your reaction.

According to Hardy and Hardy Investigations, the Hardy Boys books were published in the matte edition with double oval endpapers from 1980 through 1987.  The Nancy Drew books would have been published in the matte edition with the double oval endpapers during the same years.  So, I'm going with 1980 through 1987 for the Nancy Drew books.

We know that the flashlight editions began in 1987, so the transition occurred during that year.  I suspect that the transition from black and white multi endpapers to double oval endpapers occurred during 1980.  Likely, the entire duration of the double oval endpapers was probably right at seven years.

Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, I considered the books with double oval endpapers to be pretty common.  I felt like they were going to become increasingly common in the secondhand market, like on eBay.  That hasn't happened.  Rather, the flashlight editions have become extremely common in the secondhand market, since they have been in print for close to 35 years.

The matte books with double oval endpapers actually aren't that common.  The double oval endpapers were used for fewer years than the black and white multi endpapers.  The matte books with double oval endpapers are a bit hard to find in nice shape.  These books were made from cheaper materials similar to the book club editions and the very first picture cover editions of 1962.  Many of the books have poor quality paper that is now noticeably yellowed.  

Now that I have acquired a number of these books in very nice condition and with good quality paper, my opinion of them has improved greatly.  I am beginning to like them a lot.

This photo shows what I have at present.

Only two of the books have poor quality paper, and all of the books are in excellent condition.  They look really nice on the shelf.  

I don't necessarily want to build a set of these books.  I will keep the ones I have for now, since I am interested in learning more about the variations.  I will likely not keep the books indefinitely, since a set of them would take up shelf space that I do not have.