Nancy Drew #40 The Moonstone Castle Mystery

In Nancy Drew #40, The Moonstone Castle Mystery, Nancy receives a moonstone in the mail.  The package contains a note informing Nancy that the moonstone is for good luck and that she will need it in the next few weeks.  Meanwhile, Mr. Drew enlists Nancy's help in solving the mystery of what happened to Joanie Horton.  Joanie's grandparents last saw her 15 years ago when they left for Africa as missionaries.  The Bowens were abducted in Africa and only recently released.  They returned to find that Joanie had disappeared soon after they left for Africa.

Nancy, Bess, and George travel to Deep River to investigate what happened to Joanie Horton.  Ned, Burt, and Dave join them later.

Not too long after the girls arrive in Deep River, they learn about a young woman named Jody.  When Nancy finds out that Jody was adopted, she suspects that Jody might be the missing Joanie Horton.  Anyone who lives near Deep River who was adopted has to be Joanie Horton.  After all, nobody else anywhere near Deep River has ever been adopted.

On page 82, Nancy sees a photo of Jody, who is described as having dark hair.  On page 99, Joanie is described as having blond curls.  Since the assumption is that Jody and Joanie are the same person, I was confused about the change in hair color.

The girls also investigate Moonstone Castle, which is conveniently part of the mystery.  How neat that every place Nancy goes and every person she meets is part of her mystery!

During one of the girls' visits to the Moonstone Castle, they anchor down the drawbridge so that no one from inside the castle can raise the drawbridge.  They use rocks and wire.  The girls are quite proud of themselves since they have anchored the drawbridge so that no one can raise it from inside the castle.  Exactly what would stop someone from leaving the castle, removing the wire, and then raising the drawbridge?  The girls act like whoever is in the castle will not ever come outside.

The criminals in this story are extremely dumb.  They swindled Joanie out of her inheritance 15 years ago, and now, 15 years later, they are still in the same area swindling people out of their inheritances.  It seems that the criminals should have moved their operations to another part of the country.  If they had, Nancy would not have caught them!

Page 89 has an illustration that is captioned " 'So you found me out!' Nancy exclaimed."  In the illustration, Nancy has a smile on her face.  The illustration depicts a scene from pages 86 and 87.

In her high-pitched voice, she asked, "Well, how are you, Nancy Drew, detective?"

When confronted with a startling statement, Nancy usually was able to hide her surprise.  This time she did not succeed—Mrs. Hemstead's greeting was too astounding.

"So you've found me out, "she said, after a moment.  "Who told you?"

Nancy doesn't sound like she is smiling at that moment; she seems taken aback and at a loss for words, so the caption does not fit.  The following passage from page 88 would have worked out much better.

Smiling, she said, "I just learned something amazing that happened in your town this morning."

Instantly the old lady leaned forward expectantly.  "What was it?" she asked eagerly.

The young sleuth laughed.  "Oh, I can keep secrets, too."

That last statement should have been the caption.

The Moonstone Castle Mystery is an enjoyable read that is an above average mystery for these later books.  While the mystery consists of a bunch of coincidences, it is still quite engaging.

Nancy Drew #39 Clue of the Dancing Puppet

In Nancy Drew #39, The Clue of the Dancing Puppet, Bess has taken on an acting job with the Footlighters, an amateur group that performs at the Van Pelt estate.  Coincidentally, Mr. Drew is asked by Hamilton Spencer, who runs the Footlighters, to investigate a life-sized dancing puppet that appears on the lawn at night.  Since Bess already is a member of the Footlighters, it is decided that Nancy and George should join as well.  All three girls move into the Van Pelt mansion so that they can investigate.

Immediately after the girls' arrival, Nancy investigates the attic and is hit on the head with a cannonball.  The girls later conclude that the cannonball was removed from a chest in the barn's loft.  Consider that Nancy is struck by the cannonball very shortly after her arrival at the estate.  So apparently, someone went to the barn the moment Nancy arrived, climbed to the loft and grabbed a cannonball, climbed back down, went up to the attic, threw the cannonball at Nancy's head, and ran off.  Interesting.

Like with the flower pot in The Mystery of the Fire Dragon, Nancy could have easily been killed by being struck on the head with a cannonball.  In fact, she probably would have been killed.  Of course, Nancy is fine.

On page 142, Nancy and some detectives knock on a door as they search for information.  Nobody answers.  Nancy makes a wild guess that probably the criminals use a password and that if they can give the correct password, the door will be opened.  Nancy suggests the name of a restaurant, Green Acres.  Amazingly, Nancy is right.  How random!

The Clue of the Dancing Puppet is not so contrived as some of the other Nancy Drew books from this era, which makes for an above average mystery for this group of books.

Nancy Drew Wanderer Hardcover Book Find Part 2

I wrote about my purchase of four Nancy Drew hardcover Wanderer editions with dust jackets on eBay.  This post is a continuation of that topic.

As I mentioned, collectors would prefer to have first printing books with white paper that are not library discards and are in excellent condition.  Since the first printing Wanderer books tend not to have white paper, collectors must make a decision about what is most important.  The preference for books that are not library discards outweighs all other considerations.

I had originally intended to swap the jackets on #75 The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery, keeping my jacket with the new book, since my book is a library discard.  I realized that my jacket is slightly faded, while the new jacket with the hard crease at the top is not faded at all.  Uh-oh.

I first ironed the new jacket on very low heat.  I only iron jackets in special situations like this one, and the process is always stressful, since much could go wrong very easily. I place paper on either side of the jacket and only have the iron on a small area and just briefly.  I did get the jacket to lay somewhat more flat, even though the crease will remain.

I took the book and placed it in my book press in the following fashion in order to force the outer spine to lay more flat.

I left it for over a week.  I did improve the upper spine, although it is still not even.  My old jacket has lots of surface impact marks.  Someone must have taken a pen to the mylar-enclosed jacket and scribbled over the front cover many times, since the jacket shows all of those indentations.  That made me decide to keep the new creased jacket along with the bumped book.  A creased jacket without the other flaws is better than the one I had.  Unfortunately, even my new jacket can still use an upgrade.

My old #75 is the first printing with yellowed paper and is a library discard.  My new #75 is the second printing with white paper and is not a library discard.  I have downgraded from a first printing to a second printing but upgraded the condition.

My old #60 is a library discard with very light wear.  It has the library pocket, so even with very light wear, the pocket decreases the desirability significantly among collectors.  The jacket has light wear but does have some surface impact marks.  The book is the first printing with yellowed paper.

My new #60 is not a library discard.  The jacket and book are in close to "as new" condition.  The book has a price written inside.  The book is the third printing with white paper.  Again, I have downgraded from a first printing to a third printing but upgraded the condition.

Both copies of #67 are first printings with yellowed paper.  My old book is a library discard while the new book is not.  My old #67 has moderate wear, and the jacket has surface impact marks.  My new #67 is in the same condition as #60 described above, which makes it an upgrade.

My old #70 is the second printing with slightly yellowed paper.  It is a library discard that has a very nice jacket with minor surface impact marks.  My new #70 is also the second printing, but the paper is slightly more yellowed.  It is not a library discard, and both the book and jacket are in close to "as new" condition.  I have downgraded to a book with slightly more yellowed paper, but otherwise, the book is an upgrade.

I decided to keep all four new books and all four new jackets, even though not all of the new books are first printings.  Here is a group photo showing my old books on the left and my new books on the right.

You can see that the condition of the books on the left is noticeably worse than the ones on the right, even though the books on the left are in great shape overall for library discards.  I have upgraded my Wanderer books and jackets so many times that I have lost count.  I have also swapped out dust jackets a number of times as well in order to keep a library discard book with less wear and match it with a better jacket from a library discard book that had more wear.  The desire has always been to have a book with as little wear as possible paired with a jacket with as little wear as possible that also does not have a library sticker on the spine. 

Here are some photos comparing the old and new books and jackets.  For each book, the first photo is of the old book and jacket, and the second photo is of the new book and jacket.  You will not notice much visible difference in the condition of the jackets, since the main difference has to do with the absence of the many surface impact marks in the new jackets.

I also photographed all of the jackets so that you can see the variances in the back panels, including codes and other information.  If I wished to be obsessive, I could convince myself to keep the variants.  However, I will not be keeping the extras.

This experience has caused me to re-evaluate what I think the Wanderer books and jackets are worth.  Since I have dealt primarily in library discards over the years, my opinion has always been that #57-60 or so are worth less than $20 and that the other titles are worth up to $50, depending upon which title and the condition of the jacket.  Library discards that have jackets without library stickers are valued at the top end of the range, and library discards with stickers on the jackets are valued less.  The more wear to the books and jackets, the less they are worth.

If I consider library discards to be worth up to $50, then books that are not library discards and are in "as new" condition must be worth considerably more.  I don't think it would be a stretch to say that #57-75 in that sort of condition are worth $75 to $100 each.  #76 and #77 would likely be worth $100 to $150 each.  #78 is worth whatever one is willing to pay.  I've always considered it to be worth more than $200.  I paid close to $300 for mine.

I can only recall seeing #78 twice on eBay in the last 15 years.  One time was in a complete set of Wanderer hardcover editions.  The books in that set were not library discards and appeared to be in close to "as new" condition.  That set sold for approximately $1,000, and this was at least 10 years ago.  The other time I saw #78 was probably during the same time period in an auction for a library discard in rough shape.  I believe it may have sold for around $50.  I did not bid on that auction, and as many years passed with none coming up for sale, I realized that I should have gone for it.

I have discussed the Wanderer hardcover editions with a few collectors in recent weeks.  One collector wondered whether it is just a few of us who value the books so highly and wondered whether the books are really worth what a few of us think they are worth.  Certainly, only some collectors would be willing to pay high prices.  I contend that since most all collectors who desire these books wish to avoid library discards, the ones that are not library discards are worth far more, especially if in "as new" condition.

Last, I believe the seller may have made a mistake by using the fixed-price format.  One collector expressed disappointment that he missed out on the books, and I suspect that some of you may feel the same way after reading through all of this.  If the seller had used the auction format and had the opening bid prices placed at the Buy It Now amounts of $40 to $65, I believe that at least some of the books might have sold for higher prices.  We'll never know.

Nancy Drew Wanderer Hardcover Book Find Part 1

Last month, I happened to notice some Nancy Drew Wanderer hardcover editions with dust jackets around three hours after the seller listed the books in fixed-price listings on eBay.  This is the group picture of the books that the seller placed in each listing.

The seller also included photos of each book and jacket in each listing.  The seller did not state that the books were not library discards, but it was safe to assume that the books had never been in libraries.

The jackets appeared to be in outstanding condition, and the books appeared to be for the most part in the same condition.  Both the jacket and book for The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery were severely bumped at the top edge.  One of the Hardy Boys books was warped.

The seller's prices ranged from $40 to $65 per book.

Nancy Drew #60 - $50
Nancy Drew #67 - $65
Nancy Drew #68 - $65
Nancy Drew #70 - $65
Nancy Drew #74 - $50 (later reduced to $40)
Nancy Drew #75 - $40
Nancy Drew #77 - $65

The seller also had the following two Hardy Boys books, which were not of interest to me.

Hardy Boys #83 - $40
Hardy Boys #85 - $60

The prices were a little high for my taste, but I knew that some of the Nancy Drew books would be upgrades.  I got out my books and compared them carefully to these books.  I determined that #68, 74, and 77 would not be upgrades, so I removed those books from consideration. 

Another problem was that several of these books were not first printings, but mine were.  My books were library discards, but these were not.  These were obviously in better condition than mine.  I decided that I wanted to purchase #67 and #70 for sure.

I next looked at #60.  I did not like the $50 price, because #60 is one of the easier titles to find.  However, it is only easier to find as a library discard.  This book was not a library discard.  Therefore, I would be silly to pass on it when the book would be a significant upgrade, albeit a later printing than mine.  I decided to purchase #60.

Finally, I looked at #75.  I decided that I could swap books and jackets, keeping my jacket with that book.  I didn't like the bumped area, but a book in excellent condition that was not a library discard was still better than mine, even with a bumped upper spine.

I ended up purchasing #60, 67, 70, and 75.  The two Hardy Boys books sold that same day to two other people, probably both Hardy Boys collectors.  Nancy Drew #68 and #77 sold the next day.  It took awhile for #74 to sell, and the seller lowered the price of it before it sold.

When I received my books in the mail, I was extremely pleased with the condition.  As expected, the books are not library discards and are all in excellent condition, with the exception of #75.  The jackets are in outstanding condition and could be classified in "as new" condition, with the exception of #75.

Next, I had to make a decision about the books and jackets.  The first printing Wanderer books tend to have yellowed paper.  The later printing Wanderer books tend to have excellent quality white paper that has not even slightly yellowed.  The later printing books are actually nicer than the first printing books.

I asked on my Facebook page soon after receiving these books what others thought about what was most important about the Wanderer hardcover books.  I already knew that others' responses would probably support my own beliefs, but I wanted to see what they would say.  I asked what was most important from the following options.

a) first printing with yellowed paper
or
b) later printing with white paper

c) first printing in very good condition
or
d) later printing in close to "as new" condition

e) first printing in a library discard
or
f) later printing not from a library

The consensus was that b, d, and f are more important with f the most important by far.  This matches my feelings on the subject.  Of course, if one could have a book that has white paper, is a first printing, is in excellent condition, and is not a library discard, that would be the most optimal.  The trouble is that first printings of the Wanderer books usually do not have white paper, so in most cases, that combination is impossible.  We have to make concessions.

This topic is growing quite long, so I will continue in my next blog post. 

Nancy Drew #38 The Mystery of the Fire Dragon

In Nancy Drew #38, The Mystery of the Fire Dragon, Aunt Eloise asks Nancy to come to New York City to find out what has happened to a missing Chinese girl, Chi Che Soong.  Meanwhile, Mr. Drew has asked Nancy to go with him to Hong Kong to help him solve a mystery.  Ned Nickerson just so happens to be attending a university in Hong Kong as an exchange student, which is mighty convenient.

Much is odd about this story.  From page 2, Aunt Eloise's "large old-fashioned apartment had been converted into two separate apartments.  Each had its own entrance from the hallway."  When I have read this book in the past, I never thought much about this, but now I think it is strange.  Why was Aunt Eloise's apartment converted?  Did she not need the room?  Did she want to rent out the extra part?  And why is there a connecting door between the two apartments?  Nancy and her friends enter the Soongs' apartment several times through the door without being invited.  This is strange.

Mr. Soong's name is recycled from The Clue of the Leaning Chimney.  Reusing names from other books can cause confusion among readers.  Could they not think up a Chinese name different from Soong?  How about Wong, Chang, Yang, Wu, or Sun? 

On pages 56, Aunt Eloise comes home with bolts for the hall doors of both apartments and says that she is going to bolt both apartments.  The following passage is from page 57.

Suddenly Nancy laughed.  "We can barricade the Soongs' apartment," she said, "but we'd have to use a little magic to bolt ours after we've left it!"

Aunt Eloise blinked and laughed.  "Why, of course,"  she said.  "I was certainly letting my imagination run way with me."

Nancy added that it would be a good idea to barricade the Soongs' apartment, nevertheless.

I think it still would have been a good idea to have done the same to Aunt Eloise's apartment.  After all, the bolts would keep out intruders while the occupants are sleeping.

Bess is abducted and left on a road, blindfolded, on page 82.  An elderly couple stops to help her.  They assume that Bess is a victim of a hazing, and Bess does not correct them.  This is a plot idea borrowed from The Quest of the Missing Map.  In that book, Nancy is kidnapped and picked up by a couple in a car.  They make a similar assumption about what happened.

Part of the plot has to do with Stromberg's book store, which reminds me of the book store plot of The Whispering Statue.  While Nancy does not get a job in the book store, another girl does in order to help Nancy out.

On page 104, a flower pot is dropped from a third floor window onto Nancy's head.  She is knocked out, but okay.  A heavy object dropping from the third floor would have hit Nancy's head rather hard.  In real life, I think the impact would have easily killed her.

On page 113, Grandpa Soong asks Bess and George if they believe in thought transference.  Both girls say that they do.  With Bess, this is not surprising, but I am amazed that George also agrees.

I thought it was odd that Stromberg leaves his store unattended and unlocked, allowing customers to browse in his absence.  He supposedly has rare books that I assume are valuable, and he trusts that no one will steal them?

And of course, George looks just like Chi Che once some make-up is applied.  To the left, you can see George as Chi Che on the cover of the Danish edition.  Somehow, a Caucasian girl can easily pass as a Chinese girl with some make-up and a change to her hair style.  How convenient!

This mystery is okay, but so much of it is absurd.  I did not list everything that is strange about this book.  I consider it to be below average as compared to the other Nancy Drew books from #35 and up.

Young Adult Fan Art Exhibition

In February, Gallery1988 had an art show paying homage to children's and young adult literature.  Nancy Drew was a favorite subject for the artists.  Other subjects included Sweet Valley High and the Baby-Sitters Club.

Gallery1988 made limited run prints available for most of the art.  I purchased three of them, shown below.

Seen above is "Nancy Drew" by Becky Dreistadt.

Below are two versions of "Stratemeyer's Summer Girl" by Erica Williams.

The "Stratemeyer's Summer Girl" print is neat because of all of the symbolism, some of which cannot be seen in the online image.  The title of the store and the clock in the window are readily visible, as are the books in the basket.  But look closer at a photograph I took of the center of the print.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

The basket contains a magnifying glass along with the books.  "C Keene Cycles" is written on the side of the bicycle.  The front of the bicycle has the initials "ND."  Below the name of the shop is part of a blurb that ends with "repairs since 1930."

The image evokes memories of lazy childhood summer days filled with reading and fun activities.  I love it.

While I only purchased the three images shared in this blog post, I like many others.  I created a Pinterest board containing the art that seems to be at least loosely based on Nancy Drew. 

Nancy Drew #37 The Clue in the Old Stagecoach

In Nancy Drew #37, The Clue in the Old Stagecoach, Nancy, Bess, and George stay at Camp Merriweather, which is near the town of Francisville.  Mrs. Strook, who lives in Francisville, requests that Nancy help locate her great-uncle's old stagecoach.  The stagecoach is believed to contain something valuable that was left to the people of Francisville.  The town of Francisville is in desperate need of a new school, and Mrs. Strook hopes that this valuable object will help.

As is typical for most of these books, Ned, Burt, and Dave are able to show up later in the story and help Nancy solve the mystery.

A subplot of the mystery concerns Audrey and Ross Monteith.  The two are staying at Camp Merriweather and are very nosy about Nancy's activities.  The Monteiths stalk Nancy, Bess, and George and want to solve their mystery for them.  This passage from page 22 describes the situation perfectly.

Unfortunately, the three girls had no sooner stepped from the convertible than they were confronted by Ross and Audrey who appeared like apparitions out of the bushes that surrounded the parking area.

Ross and Audrey hide in the bushes, waiting for Nancy, Bess, and George to return.  I like that.  The Monteiths provide a lot of comic relief in this book, and the humor adds to the plot.

On page 79, the girls run out of gas and a bear suddenly appears.  This is not exactly what happens in The Quest of the Missing Map, original text, when Nancy, Bess, and George encounter an elephant and later run out of gas.  However, I suspect that Harriet Adams was getting ideas from past stories.

By this point in the series, Harriet was fully responsible for writing these books and was not just editing books written by others.  To clarify, Harriet was rewriting the older texts of #1-34 that were written by others, but she was the sole author of each new title for #35 and up that was released each year.  Since Harriet was responsible for everything, she needed to get ideas from wherever she could.

It was while I was reading this book that I thought to myself that Harriet did okay when she took over the Nancy Drew books.  The Nancy Drew books from this era are not quite as good as the earlier books, but they are not bad.  This book is pretty good, and I found it to be an enjoyable mystery.

A "Lilac" Nancy Drew Lilac Inn

I purchased some Nancy Drew books recently, including two copies of the Nancy Drew book, The Mystery at Lilac Inn.  Since I had two copies of this book right in front of me, I immediately noticed that one of them has a purple tint to the cover.  I had never seen this before.

The book on the left has the normal illustration, and the book on the right has the purple tint.  The book with the purple tint lists to Crooked Banister on the back cover.  The inside lists Nancy Drew to 99 Steps and Dana Girls to Silver Dolphin.  The book meets the points for the 1971A-100 printing according to Farah's 12th edition.

One collector reported that he has two of the books with the purple tint and recalls having a third years ago.  The two books currently in this collector's possession list to the same titles as mine.  Another collector reported having seen the purple version.  Since we have had several of these books spotted, we can conclude that a number of them exist.  Since we know of at least three copies that have the same points, then we can also conclude that at least a partial print run has the purple tint.  This means that more of them are out there.

I find the purple tint to be quite attractive.  While I have always loved this book's cover art, I like the purple version even better.  I'm not sure if this is more due to the novelty or because the purple tint does indeed make the cover more attractive.  I tend to think that the latter is true.  When I placed a scan of this book on my Facebook page, at least four people stated that they like the purple version better, so I'm not the only one.

Farah's Guide gives the 1971A-100 print run a value of $5.00.  Since collectors seem to like the purple version, the value of the purple book would most likely be higher than $5.00, perhaps around $10.00.