Even though I now have all of Nancy Drew #57-175 in hardcover library editions, I am still interested in upgrades and variants. I recently purchased three hardcover books with yellow spines.
I really enjoy the look of the yellow spine digest books and would love to get more of them in hardcover.
The Yellow Spine Nancy Drew Aladdin Books
However, I suspect that I am in the minority among collectors in how I feel about the yellow spine Aladdin books. When I offer softcover Nancy Drew digest books for sale, the yellow spine books are slower to sell. They often get passed over multiple times for the equivalent book in the white spine Minstrel edition. I can understand why, since the Minstrel edition is the original format. Most collectors want to get the earliest printing possible and prefer the original format.
I remember when the books were first reissued in the yellow spine format during the final couple of years that the books were in print. Those of us who were avid collectors of the softcover books went around to our local stores trying to get all of the variants. There are interesting spine misprints, including a funny one where #110 has "BOOK TITLE" printed on the spine instead of the actual title.
The Yellow Spine Nancy Drew Aladdin Books
However, I suspect that I am in the minority among collectors in how I feel about the yellow spine Aladdin books. When I offer softcover Nancy Drew digest books for sale, the yellow spine books are slower to sell. They often get passed over multiple times for the equivalent book in the white spine Minstrel edition. I can understand why, since the Minstrel edition is the original format. Most collectors want to get the earliest printing possible and prefer the original format.
I remember when the books were first reissued in the yellow spine format during the final couple of years that the books were in print. Those of us who were avid collectors of the softcover books went around to our local stores trying to get all of the variants. There are interesting spine misprints, including a funny one where #110 has "BOOK TITLE" printed on the spine instead of the actual title.
I had a blast collecting all of the interesting spine variants for the yellow spine books. Now 20 years later, I'm not sure that any of the people collecting the digest softcovers are even aware of the variants. These books seem to be largely ignored.
Remember that you can always click on a picture to see a larger version.
Interest in the softcover digests has increased in recent years. In very good condition, the books are worth around $10 each. Some books like #100 and ones with scarce cover art are worth more, while others like all of the yellow spine books are worth less.
Interest in the hardcover digests has also increased in just the last few years. There are now several people working on building complete sets of #57-175. The value of the hardcover digests is on the increase, but it has not gone up that much as of yet. If additional collectors should decide to work on sets, then that could change.
I feel that the hardcover digests in very good condition are worth around $10 to $15. An eBay seller has been trying to sell some of the books for $20 to $30 each for quite some time. I think at least of one of the books may have sold awhile back, but the remaining books are priced at $20 and have not sold. They are still priced too high for most people who are building sets, so I believe $15 is about the limit of what people will pay for most of the hardcover books.
The three hardcover yellow spine books featured in this post were part of a bulk lot that was priced higher than I would have liked. I was uninterested in the rest of the books. Lots containing library editions typically also include many books that are of very low value, but the sellers don't see it that way. I decided that if I considered my cost to be $12 each for each of the hardcover yellow spine books, then the lot was worth purchasing and I could break even on the rest of the books.
If you have some interest in either the softcover or hardcover Nancy Drew digest books and have not begun acquiring the books, don't wait much longer. I believe that within a couple more years that the books will be in much greater demand than they are right now. The prices will most likely increase.
Interest in the hardcover digests has also increased in just the last few years. There are now several people working on building complete sets of #57-175. The value of the hardcover digests is on the increase, but it has not gone up that much as of yet. If additional collectors should decide to work on sets, then that could change.
I feel that the hardcover digests in very good condition are worth around $10 to $15. An eBay seller has been trying to sell some of the books for $20 to $30 each for quite some time. I think at least of one of the books may have sold awhile back, but the remaining books are priced at $20 and have not sold. They are still priced too high for most people who are building sets, so I believe $15 is about the limit of what people will pay for most of the hardcover books.
The three hardcover yellow spine books featured in this post were part of a bulk lot that was priced higher than I would have liked. I was uninterested in the rest of the books. Lots containing library editions typically also include many books that are of very low value, but the sellers don't see it that way. I decided that if I considered my cost to be $12 each for each of the hardcover yellow spine books, then the lot was worth purchasing and I could break even on the rest of the books.
If you have some interest in either the softcover or hardcover Nancy Drew digest books and have not begun acquiring the books, don't wait much longer. I believe that within a couple more years that the books will be in much greater demand than they are right now. The prices will most likely increase.
4 comments:
I have been expanding my collection to include various cover art and spines for the paperbacks. The Aladdin yellow spine is “on the list” and as you described is overlooked. I do have a question on the checkerboards. I have amassed a close to complete collection for both Minstrel and Wanderer checkerboards. What I am curious about is if Wanderer checkerboards we’re published for all 57-78, or partially published? For example, book 58, The Flying Saucer Mystery, was a Wanderer checkerboard cover ever published? I have both checkerboard cover arts for Minstrel but have not found the Wanderer checkerboard equivalent. I have also not seen 72, 73, 74 Wanderer checkerboard. Just curious if the Wanderer check boards even exist for this handful of books?
Thank you
I don't have any of #58, 72, 73, or 74 in Wanderer with checkerboard. However, I don't know if I have everything that exists, so it's possible that one or more of them do exist.
Hello and Thank you.. and so the hunt continues
I didn't realize there were this many variations. I went through the PB's I was going to sell and took most of them out of the sale box since they were variants. It'll be a bit hard to document which I have an which I'm missing, but I'll definitely be on the lookout now.
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