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How to value SK first appearance stories?

Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 12:14 pm
by fcsaunders
You have all been so helpful I thought I'd try one more. I noticed there are no short story listings. What is the best way to value a first appearance short story. I have one or two with limited ebay or any other presence and am really at a loss as to what to ask for.

Fran

Re: How to value SK first appearance stories?

Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 3:55 pm
by jhanic
It all depends on the volume. Many of King's short stories appeared in men's magazines back in the '70s and these can be fairly scarce. But his later appearances, for example, he's had a number of stories fairly recently in The New Yorker, aren't worth too much. We need more details.

John

Re: How to value SK first appearance stories?

Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 2:46 am
by fcsaunders
Thanks, John. Okay, I have The Glass Floor, Reaper's Image, The Way Station, Night of the Tiger, and The End of the Whole Mess.

Fran

Re: How to value SK first appearance stories?

Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 10:09 am
by jhanic
The Glass Floor and The Reaper's Image first appeared in a magazine called Startling Mystery Stories, back in 1967. If those issues are in very good/mint condition, they're worth quite a bit of money. The Way Station and Night of the Tiger first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. In very good/mint condition, those go for about $10-$15 each. The End of the Whole Mess was in Omni, and in very good/mint condition, also goes for about $10-$15. The Way Station is one of the stories that makes up part of the first volume of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. A mint complete set of the five of these stories from F&SF would go for about $100.

John

Re: How to value SK first appearance stories?

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 9:46 am
by fcsaunders
Thank you, John, once again. That was very helpful.

Fran

Re: How to value SK first appearance stories?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 10:39 am
by fcsaunders
Anybody care to venture a guess for reasonable pricing of "Glass FLoor" and "Reaper's Image"? And yes, they are in mint condition. I see someone sold "Glass" for $1500; someone selling "Glass and Reaper" for $1200 (no takers)' and someone trying to sell "Glass" for about $650 (no takers). Hard to see where this is going with such disparate pricing.

Fran

Re: How to value SK first appearance stories?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 11:28 am
by kieron
There does seem to be a lot of variation on these two. The cheapest copy with Reaper's Image on Abebooks UK (in 'very good' condition, ie quite a long way off mint) is 86 pounds sterling (about $170). I know less about the Glass Floor issue as I'm focussing on collecting stories that appeared in Skeleton Crew right now, but it should obviously go for more- there's a big difference between first published story and second. If it helps, I'd bid up to about $220 on a mint copy of the 'Reaper's' issue.

Re: How to value SK first appearance stories?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 11:36 am
by fcsaunders
Yes, that was very helpful, but I think it's obvious I need to do some more research, or else hold "Glass" until I'm sure of a fair value. Sigh. Retiring and having to clean one's closet is NOT fun.

Thanks...

Fran

Re: How to value SK first appearance stories?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 11:46 am
by jhanic
Just to complicate things a little more, The Glass Floor was reprinted in the Fall 1990 issue of Weird Tales. This may affect the value of the Startling Mystery Stories--or not. I really don't have a good feel on the value of the Startling Mystery Stories magazines. As was noted above, they're all over the place.

John

Re: How to value SK first appearance stories?

Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 12:28 pm
by fcsaunders
Yeah, I know. And sooooo few listings. That has to mean something. I think I'll just take my time with it. Might have to hold on to it a little longer to see what happens. I know about the Weird Tales edition, but that's much later and certainly not the first appearance. Wish me luck. This is the prize of my collection.

Fran