Hardcover Yellow Spine Nancy Drew #154 The Legend of the Emerald Lady

My hardcover library edition set of Nancy Drew #57-175 is complete, but I am interested in variations, especially the books with the yellow spines.

I spotted a small bulk lot of Nancy Drew books on eBay.  (Click on images in order to see them better.)

I spotted the hardcover edition of Nancy Drew #154 and saw that it had a yellow spine.  I wanted it.  Unfortunately, the listing was priced a bit high for me considering that the rest of the books were of no interest.

Just a few days before, I had acquired a certain book at well below value.  I won't say which book or how much, but I realized that it would cover the cost of this lot.  No problem.  I purchased the lot.

The bulk lot cost $33.63 including shipping and tax, which is rather high for just the one book of interest.  In my records, I ended up adding a certain amount to the cost of the other book that was purchased at well below value, bringing this lot's cost down to a fair amount.

Most of the flashlight editions were rebound by Perma-Bound.

Notice that The Sky Phantom is taller than the other flashlight editions.  The Sky Phantom is the only one in the original binding.  Most books rebound for library use are trimmed down and shorter than the original editions.

I am not interested in building a set of the Perma-Bound flashlight editions.  I have a rather large collection of library editions, and I decided a number of years ago to focus on the more special ones.  I no longer collect all library edition variants.

I expect to offer the Perma-Bound flashlight editions in individual listings on eBay sometime soon.  If they don't sell within a certain amount of time, then I will place them in a bulk lot with other books.

I removed the library stickers from #154.

The book is now shelved with the rest of my books.

I love the yellow spines.

A Great Nancy Drew Hardcover Digest Find

A couple weeks ago, I posted about some books that I purchased on eBay on December 5.

Spying Some Hardcover Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Digests

I wrote:

This happened yesterday.  I was at home, awaiting for it to be time to leave for my appointment.  I checked eBay and looked at a bulk listing of green APC Nancy Drew books.  I was using the zoom feature on the image and stopped when I reached the lower right corner.

WHAT WERE THOSE BOOKS ON THE FLOOR?!

I saw what I felt certain was a hardcover Hardy Boys Digest plus some other possible hardcover Hardy Boys Digest books.  I saw Nancy Drew Ghost Stories but couldn't tell for certain if it was hardcover. 

I checked the seller's other listings, but the books hadn't been listed.  I kept a tab open on the seller's listings page, sorted by newest first.  I came back and refreshed every so often.  Finally, the books appeared, and I got them!  This never would have happened if I hadn't taken the day off for my appointment.

These are the seller's pictures of the books.

Based on the seller's photos, I expected the Nancy Drew books to be very nice and the Hardy Boys books to be average copies.  I thought that I would end up keeping most of the Nancy Drew books and around three of the Hardy Boys books.

The books were supposed to arrive on December 12.  I checked the tracking that morning and was distressed to see that the postal service had marked the package as having an "insufficient address" and that it was being returned to the sender.  This occurred just two minutes after the package arrived at the Oklahoma City distribution center, so I was pretty sure that an entire truckload of packages got marked as being returned to sender.  No doubt, a bunch of locals were quite upset that day.

I figured that the package would arrive the next day.  Even so, I was nervous until the tracking finally updated the next morning, showing that the package was out for delivery.  I finally received the books.

As expected, the Nancy Drew books are very nice.  The Hardy Boys books are in average condition with a bit of wear and not better than my copies, and I am keeping only two of them.  

The Nancy Drew books are great.  Remember to click on images to see them at a higher resolution.

The Nancy Drew books are all Demco Turtleback editions.  The spines look very nice.  The books will look beautiful on the shelf.  The drawback is that the cover art is not reproduced well on many of the books.  The Search for Cindy Austin is particularly bad.

I cannot part with any of these books.  I will keep all 18 of the Nancy Drew books.  I am going to have to make a decision about whether I keep all of the books I already had along with these new ones or whether I can sell a few of the books I already had.  I think that perhaps a few of the ones I already had will be upgraded by these books.  For other books like Cindy Austin, I will have to keep both copies.  I think in most cases that I will keep both copies.

Another reason these books should be kept is that many of them have cover art that is more uncommon.  It's really neat to have a hardcover copy of some of the difficult to find cover art such as the one seen on Fenley Place.

Even though I wish the Hardy Boys part of the purchase had been better, I am thrilled about the Nancy Drew books.

Spying Some Hardcover Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Digests

This happened yesterday.  I was at home, awaiting for it to be time to leave for my appointment.  I checked eBay and looked at a bulk listing of green APC Nancy Drew books.  I was using the zoom feature on the image and stopped when I reached the lower right corner.

WHAT WERE THOSE BOOKS ON THE FLOOR?!

I saw what I felt certain was a hardcover Hardy Boys Digest plus some other possible hardcover Hardy Boys Digest books.  I saw Nancy Drew Ghost Stories but couldn't tell for certain if it was hardcover. 

I checked the seller's other listings, but the books hadn't been listed.  I kept a tab open on the seller's listings page, sorted by newest first.  I came back and refreshed every so often.  Finally, the books appeared, and I got them!  This never would have happened if I hadn't taken the day off for my appointment.

I didn't take the time to check the books before buying them.  With library editions, I have to buy first.  The Nancy Drew lot looks to be really good, possibly outstanding.  I can see that I likely will be keeping at least 13 of the books as upgrades.  I prefer the binding where the book is an actual picture cover rather than having a laminated cover.  Of course, I take anything I can get, but I love upgrading to the style that I like the best.

The Hardy Boys books don't look to be in as good of condition, but the seller's photo isn't as sharp making it hard to tell.  I know that I will be keeping at least three of the Hardy Boys books, but I can't tell on the rest.  I will have to compare the books to what I have once they have arrived.

This is so exciting.  Even though I do now have the complete set of Nancy Drew #57-175 in hardcover library editions, my set still needs work.  It's great to have an opportunity to upgrade some of the books.

More Nancy Drew Digest Hardcovers + Digest Values

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.

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.

Removing Library Stickers from Library Editions

I acquired some more hardcover Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Digest books.  The books featured in this post are the ones that I will keep.  

I remove the library stickers from the outside of library editions whenever possible.  I never touch anything on the inside of the book, since I prefer that information to remain.  I don't mind having library discards in my library edition sets, since nearly all existing copies came from libraries.  I want the books to look nice on the shelf, which is why I remove the stickers.

For this group of seven books, I spent close to two hours removing the stickers.  I first used a hair dryer to loosen the adhesive on the tape, and then I pulled the tape off of the books.  The removal of the tape partially removed the stickers.  After I removed the tape from all of the books, I used lighter fluid on the stickers, scraping each sticker off bit by bit.  Finally, I went back and removed the stickiness that remained on each book.

These pictures show the process.  The first photo in each sequence is of the books with the library stickers.  The second photo shows the books after the tape had been removed.  The third photo shows the books after the lighter fluid had been used to remove the stickers.

Nancy Drew #155 Tornado Alley has the white spine, and I will keep it in addition to the yellow spine hardcover that I already had.

Nancy Drew #171 Grand Opera and #172 Riding Club Crime will be kept in addition to the books I already had.  They are in slightly lesser condition but the print on the spine is darker and easier to read.  The presentation of the spines is very important to me, and this is the reason why I remove the library stickers.

Nancy Drew #173 Great Lakes will replace the book I already had.  I like the binding of the new book better.  

Hardy Boys #159 Daredevils is a title that I did not have in hardcover.

Hardy Boys #178 Black Rhino is a slight upgrade to the copy I had.

Hardy Boys Ghost Stories is a title that I did not have in hardcover.

These pictures show these new books on the shelf with my other books.

Those Last Six Elusive Hardcover Nancy Drew Digest Books

It's been over two years since I last reported on my progress in building a set of the Nancy Drew Digests in hardcover.  At that time, I needed six more books to complete the set.

148. On the Trail of Trouble, 1999
158. The Curse of the Black Cat, 2001
160. The Clue on the Crystal Dove, 2001
169. The Mistletoe Mystery, 2002
170. No Strings Attached, 2003
175. Werewolf in a Winter Wonderland, 2003

For those who haven't read my previous posts, here is an explanation.  Nancy Drew #57 through 175 were published in softcover by Simon and Schuster.  The Wanderer titles, #57-78, were printed in hardcover with dust jacket in limited quantities and are now very hard to find.  #79 through 175 were never issued in hardcover by the publisher, although hardcover copies do exist.  Some copies of #79 through 175 (as well as #57-78) were rebound in hardcover at the request of libraries.  The hardcover library editions are extremely hard to find for most titles in the set.

I decided in around 2001 that I wanted hardcover copies of #57-175 to use as my reading copies.  The last time that I read through the Nancy Drew Digest set, I had around two-thirds of the books in hardcover.  For the titles that I didn't have in hardcover, it wasn't easy reading my "as new" softcover copies without damaging them.  However, I managed.

In 2018, I wrote about my experience in building a set of hardcover books, and I explained that since the books weren't issued in a set, I couldn't be sure whether all of the books actually exist in hardcover.  For over a year, I have no longer had any doubt.  I saw a picture of a copy of #158 in hardcover that someone had checked out from a library.  Another collector found a copy of #175 in hardcover.  I concluded that if #175 exists in hardcover, then my other missing titles must exist.  I knew they were all out there, and I just had to find them.

It was not until the fall of 2020 that I purchased any of the six remaining books.  I was able to acquire #169 and #170.

A catastrophic ice storm hit during the last week in October, causing much chaos.  I was without power for 109 hours.  Of course it was during the power outage that a very nice copy of #175 in hardcover sold on eBay in an auction with some other high-numbered hardcover titles.  I did have internet, but I was so distracted that I somehow didn't check eBay carefully enough.  I didn't see the auction until it was over.  

I was devastated.  I was depressed for around three weeks after I noticed the auction that I missed.  The ice storm was certainly a cause for my depression, but the missed auction was what got to me the most.  I was so sad.  I was down to needing just four books, and I had missed out on an auction for what might very well be the most elusive one.

In January, I saw a bulk lot of hardcover library discards that included #160, one of the titles that I needed.  I purchased the lot and then waited for the books to arrive.  This transaction nearly turned into a package disaster, like so many that I have detailed over the years.  I wrote about it on Facebook on the day that the package arrived.

This package arrived today, with one end of the package torn and gaping open.  I was so annoyed, actually rather angry, when I saw it.  I just KNEW that I had lost some hardcover Nancy Drew Digest books.  I purchased these books just to get #160.  If #160 should happen to be missing, then....!!!  I yanked the box open from the damaged end and literally dumped the contents onto the floor.  I didn't care, and I knew that the books would not get damaged.  I had to know.  First, I counted the books.  They appeared to be all present.  And then I found #160.  Yay!

That was on January 19.  I had acquired #160, taking me down to needing just three titles.  Of course, it would have been just two titles if I hadn't missed that auction.  I couldn't help but think about that.  

In April, I was gifted with hardcover copies of #148, 158, and 175.  

So it worked out in the end, thanks to a friend.  I now have all Nancy Drew books from #57 through #175 in hardcover library editions.  So yes, they do all exist.  I have them.

My quest for all digest titles in hardcover took 20 years to complete.

While my quest to obtain all titles is over, I do need to upgrade some books.  I am still keeping a watch out for any hardcover digest books that I can upgrade.  I am grateful, however, that my set is now complete.  Awhile back I reported how Nancy Drew library editions have come into vogue.  There has been less interest in the hardcover digest books than in the library editions of #1-56.  However, that does seem to be changing.  I know of a few more people who are now interested in building sets of #57-175 in hardcover.  As the competition increases, I can relax, knowing that I have completed my set.

Only Six More Books to Go...

I am on a quest to build a complete set of Nancy Drew #57 through #175 in hardcover library editions.  I have worked on this set since 2001.  For the last couple of years, I have worked harder at locating the books.  Additionally, a few of you are now keeping an eye out for the books I do not have.

Since I wrote about my search last summer, I have acquired three more books.

115. The Suspect in the Smoke, 1993
122. The Message in the Haunted Mansion, 1994
130. The Sign of the Falcon, 1996

I acquired #130 on August 20, 2018, thanks to a fellow collector's sharp eyes.  I acquired #122 on September 24, 2018 and #115 on March 1, 2019.  These three books were the lowest-numbered books that I needed.

I still need the following books.

148. On the Trail of Trouble, 1999
158. The Curse of the Black Cat, 2001
160. The Clue on the Crystal Dove, 2001
169. The Mistletoe Mystery, 2002
170. No Strings Attached, 2003
175. Werewolf in a Winter Wonderland, 2003

I don't know if I can complete the set, since Nancy Drew #57-175 were never issued as a set in hardcover.  The hardcover books that I have acquired came from random softcover books that were sent to binderies by libraries to be rebound as hardcover books.  Not all softcover titles were necessarily ever rebound as hardcover books.  The higher the number in the set, the fewer copies that were printed in softcover.  This results in fewer copies that could have been rebound as hardcover books.

I have attempted to build sets of other library bindings for Nancy Drew #1-56.  I have run into problems since sometimes certain volumes were never bound in a particular type of binding.  Consider the binding that I refer to as the Cameo library binding.  On this page, you'll notice that I do not picture #12 Hollow Oak.  The page was put together over a decade ago.  I have far more examples of the Cameo library binding than what I have pictured on the site.  I have still never seen an example of #12 Hollow Oak.  I have all of #1-11 and #13-34 in multiple copies of each in different binding colors, but I have never found #12 Hollow Oak.

That's why I can't be sure that all of Nancy Drew #57-175 were rebound as hardcover library editions.

So now I am down to where it gets really hard to acquire the final titles, if they exist.  #169 almost certainly exists since Amazon has a product page for the library edition.  For the other titles, I consider it likely that #148 exists, somewhat likely that #158 and #160 exist, and possible that #170 exists.  I don't know about #175, but I am ever hopeful that all of the books exist in hardcover.

Continuing the Search for Hardcover Nancy Drew Digest Books

I have written of my quest to find the hardcover library editions of all of the Nancy Drew Digest books from #57 up through #175.  I have been working on this set for over 17 years.  My earliest hardcover Nancy Drew Digest books were acquired on May 21, 2001.

Building a Set of Hardcover Nancy Drew Digest Books

13 More Nancy Drew Digest Hardcover Books Left to Find

On August 8, 2017 and December 22, 2017, I acquired three more of the books taking the total I needed down to just 10 books.

I continually tell people that eBay should be checked every single day.  Even if eBay has nothing of interest for 30 or more straight days, keep checking.  eBay is my primary source for these books, since typically all sellers photograph their books.  They can be spotted easily.

By the way, I do not have memorized which of these books that I need.  I know I need #175, but I do not know the other titles offhand.  I have to look at my list or check my shelf.  So...

In the late afternoon of June 13, I was checking eBay and spotted a hardcover library edition of Nancy Drew #114 The Search for the Silver Persian.  It had just been listed.  As I stated, I do not have the titles that I need memorized, but this one seemed like it might be one of them.  I dashed to the other side of the house to look at my books.  Sure enough, my books skipped from #113 to #116.  I dashed back to make the purchase.

This seller only accepts credit cards, so I had to enter a credit card number.  Annoying, but whatever.  The card failed due to an eBay glitch.  On June 13, eBay had glitches everywhere.  I could not even look at many of my own listings because of errors.  I tried again, feeling a bit stressed because I did not want someone to get the book.  The card failed again.  I then tried another card.  Yay!  It worked.  I got the book purchased.

The book arrived today.

I now need just nine more hardcover Nancy Drew Digest books.  The following books are the ones that I still need.

115. The Suspect in the Smoke, 1993
122. The Message in the Haunted Mansion, 1994
130. The Sign of the Falcon, 1996
148. On the Trail of Trouble, 1999
158. The Curse of the Black Cat, 2001
160. The Clue on the Crystal Dove, 2001
169. The Mistletoe Mystery, 2002
170. No Strings Attached, 2003
175. Werewolf in a Winter Wonderland, 2003

Here are all of my books.  Click on any image to see a larger version.

Even though I am building a set of the Nancy Drew Digest books in hardcover, the books were not issued in a set.  In fact, not all of the books may even exist in hardcover.  Notice that my books are an eclectic mixture of different types of bindings.  Binderies rebind books that libraries send them.  There is no guarantee that a softcover copy of every Nancy Drew title from #57 up through #175 was sent to a bindery to be rebound as a hardcover.  That is why I do not know if I can ever complete the set.  I do believe it quite likely that the lower-numbered titles that I need were rebound as hardcovers.  I am not so sure about the higher-numbered ones, but I will continue my quest.

13 More Nancy Drew Digest Hardcover Books Left to Find

In November in my post, "Building a Set of Hardcover Nancy Drew Digest Books," I wrote of my quest to acquire the complete set of Nancy Drew Digest books, #57-175, in hardcover editions.  In November I had acquired 12 more titles to bring the number needed down to just 14 more books.

Today I acquired the lowest-numbered title that I needed, #109 The Mystery of the Masked Rider.  I really appreciate everyone who doesn't check eBay well and lets me get these books when they show up.  There is a reason why I continue to tell people that they should always search eBay everyday.  You never know what might show up.

Now I need just 13 more hardcover Nancy Drew Digest books.

114. The Search for the Silver Persian, 1993
115. The Suspect in the Smoke, 1993
122. The Message in the Haunted Mansion, 1994
123. The Clue on the Silver Screen, 1995
130. The Sign of the Falcon, 1996
145. The Missing Horse Mystery, 1998
148. On the Trail of Trouble, 1999
158. The Curse of the Black Cat, 2001
160. The Clue on the Crystal Dove, 2001
168. The Bike Tour Mystery, 2002
169. The Mistletoe Mystery, 2002
170. No Strings Attached, 2003
175. Werewolf in a Winter Wonderland, 2003

I have been very skeptical of whether I can acquire #175 in a hardcover binding.  The final titles of any series are always harder to find in library bindings.  However, I have recently acquired Hardy Boys #190 in a hardcover library binding, along with some other very high-numbered titles.  #190 was the final Hardy Boys Digest book.

If the final Hardy Boys Digest book exists in hardcover, then I have hope that the final Nancy Drew Digest book also exists in hardcover.

I concluded my November post with the following statement.  "Keeping in mind that this recent transaction is an anomaly, my present acquisition rate of just one or two per year means that I cannot expect my set to be complete for at least another seven years.  I am not sure that I will complete the set, but I am ever hopeful and enjoy the process."

I noted my acquisition rate at "one or two per year."  After that November acquisition, it took six months for me to find the next title that I needed.  More than likely, I will have to wait for around another six months before I find the next one.  

Building a Set of Hardcover Nancy Drew Digest Books

I have been working on building a complete set of the Nancy Drew digest books, #57-175, in hardcover since 2001.  It's been 15 years, and the set is still not complete.

I began building the set because at that time I did not like softcover books at all.  I first decided to build a set of the Wanderer books with dust jackets, #57-78, and quickly expanded to library bindings of all of #57 -175.

As the years have passed, the frequency with which I find hardcover digests that I need has decreased significantly.  Hardcover versions of #130 and up are extremely scarce. They exist, but most of them are still in the hands of the original owners.

Earlier this year I tallied what I needed and was shocked that I only needed 29 of the digests in hardcover.  I spent some time during the summer searching for the 29 books I needed in hardcover.  I was able to locate three of them, bringing the number I needed down to 26 books.

I have never felt that I would ever complete the set, but that kind of difficult goal is fun to work towards as a collector.  Finishing the set would still be quite improbable, but I was thrilled to see that I was beginning to get closer.

After a recent unexpected acquisition, I now see completion of the set as distinctively more possible, although still quite difficult.

I saw a near-complete set of Nancy Drew digests for sale for $300 and realized that some of the high-numbered books were hardcover editions.  I wasn't sure how many, and the seller's price was too high for me to purchase without knowing for sure what the lot contained.  Also, the listing had some contradictory information that concerned me.  The seller's picture is seen below.  The Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books at the end of the second shelf were not part of the lot, which I knew.  Remember that you can click on any image to see a larger version.

A few Aladdin books on the top shelf are missing the Aladdin icon at the top spine, which reveals them to be rebound hardcover books.  The variance in heights for the books on the second shelf shows that some are rebound hardcover books.  But I couldn't tell how many for sure.  I inquired about which books were hardcover and learned that the lot contained 27 hardcover books including at least 10 of my needed 26 books.

I purchased the lot, even though the price was still too high for me.  15 years ago, I never paid more than $5 per hardcover digest book.  In recent years, I have paid $5 to $10.  When I realized that I needed only 29 hardcover digest books, I decided that I would be willing to pay $10 to $20 each for the remaining books if in very good condition.  That's why I decided to purchase this expensive lot.

I was nervous waiting for the books to arrive, since I knew from past experience that bulk lots are almost always stacked in a box and mailed with no protection.  That was certainly the case with these books, but fortunately, nothing was damaged since the books were not able to shift much inside the box.

I was happy when I removed the books from the box and discovered a total of 32 hardcover books in the lot, which was five more than I was told.

These are the hardcover books that I received.

I was thrilled to discover that nearly all of the hardcover books are not library discards. While building a set of hardcover Nancy Drew digests is very difficult, acquiring those hardcover books in copies that are not from libraries is nearly impossible.

Only six of the books are library discards, and I quickly recognized those six books.  I knew the scuff on the spine of #89, and I recognized the way "discard" was written inside the books.  #89, 90, 92, 96, 120, and 143 used to be my books, and #89 with the scuffed spine is the book scanned years ago for my website.  I upgraded them and sold them, and now I have them back again.  I am a little dismayed that I have them back again while at the same time I am amused.  This is not the first time books have come back to me.

I am keeping all 26 of the books that are not library discards, and I will sell the six books that came back to me.  I will also sell the large number of softcover books that came in the lot.  This purchase was well worth the cost considering what I added to my collection.  Of the 26 books, five books are upgrades of copies in my collection.  Nine books are variants of books already in my collection, and I will keep both versions.  The remaining 12 books are new additions to my hardcover digest set.  Here are the books that I will keep.

This purchase brings the number of hardcover digest books that I need down from 26 to just 14 more books.  The following books are the only books that I still need in hardcover.

109. The Mystery of the Masked Rider, 1992 (read update)
114. The Search for the Silver Persian, 1993
115. The Suspect in the Smoke, 1993
122. The Message in the Haunted Mansion, 1994
123. The Clue on the Silver Screen, 1995
130. The Sign of the Falcon, 1996
145. The Missing Horse Mystery, 1998
148. On the Trail of Trouble, 1999
158. The Curse of the Black Cat, 2001
160. The Clue on the Crystal Dove, 2001
168. The Bike Tour Mystery, 2002
169. The Mistletoe Mystery, 2002
170. No Strings Attached, 2003
175. Werewolf in a Winter Wonderland, 2003

It's interesting that I still need a few that are not particularly high-numbered.  However, some of the mid-range titles are harder to find even in softcover, such as #114 and #122, which is why I have not yet found them in hardcover.  Since all titles from #130 and up are quite hard to find in hardcover, I am actually surprised that I now have as many of those titles as I do.

Here are all of my books together on the shelf.  The back shelf starts with #57 on the left and goes through #84. The front shelf begins with #85 on the left and ends with Ghost Stories on the right.

I was asked earlier this year how to find the Nancy Drew digest books in hardcover.  I have some methods that have helped me locate them, but I am not willing to divulge everything I know until I complete my set.  The primary method, however, is obvious and can be inferred from this post:  Be observant.

Keeping in mind that this recent transaction is an anomaly, my present acquisition rate of just one or two per year means that I cannot expect my set to be complete for at least another seven years.  I am not sure that I will complete the set, but I am ever hopeful and enjoy the process.