Question concerning signed limited edition of "insomnia"

Any questions related to limited editions
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hensley.brett
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Question concerning signed limited edition of "insomnia"

Post by hensley.brett »

I recently aquired several Stephen King books from a woman whose husband had died 5 or 6 years ago. I guess he worked at the printing factory and received books they printed. One of the books is a signed edition and gift edition,however on the page that reads "this delux leather-bound edition of Stephen King's Insomnia is limited to 1250 numbered copies personally autographed by the author,artist,and designer of which this is number "
This is where the question arises. There is definitely Stephen Kings, Arnie Fenner and Phil Hales penned autographed and judging by the signatures I've seen on-line they are the real McCoys.But which book number ( ex. 1 of 1250) is left blank. Also,when I received this book it was shrink wrapped. I never would have known it was signed except the shrink wrap stunk of mouse crap. So any idea how much thisbook is worth or how to judge the value ?
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jimimck
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Re: Question concerning signed limited edition of "insomnia"

Post by jimimck »

Hi there.

It sounds as though you have a Publishers Copy. These are extra copies the publishers print, and are excatly the same in all respects, except they don't number them or issue them as one of the 1250. They keen them in case there are some that get damaged when being sent to owners, or get lost etc.

Often these end up in circulation, with the letters PC written in when distributed.

In regard to the value, I'm no expert and I'm sure otehrs will post, but from my experience these can vary from being a little lower than the value of a normal numberd edition, to sometimes being a bit higher if you find a purchaser who specifically collects PC editions. As a guess, I'd say most collectors would prefer an actual numbered edition, and so wouldn't pay quite as much for a PC copy. But like I said, this all depends on the individual collector.

Well done on your pick up though. PC edition or not, its always cool to have a special signed edition of a King book...

James
hensley.brett
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Re: Question concerning signed limited edition of "insomnia"

Post by hensley.brett »

Thank you for the input,I was thinking something similar ,however I looked for the written PC and it doesn't appear. On the copyright page though there is a "FIRST EDITION June 1994" and under that there is
Library of congress catalog with numbers
Gift edition with isbn number
Signed edition with isbn number
Anyways,thanks again and wish me luck (have about 10 or so more shrink wrapped Stephen King books to check out and the first two I see are his first 2 novels )
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TheCollector
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Re: Question concerning signed limited edition of "insomnia"

Post by TheCollector »

Pre-recession James would have been spot on. Prices would go for between minus 10% up to plus 10% if you found the right buyer

HOWEVER, PC editions have been taking quite a beating lately, the collective tide seems to have turned against them a bit in the last few years. I dont' know if the few PC collectors out there dropped out during the recession or what, but lately I'd have to put PC editions at minus 10-15% of their numbered counterparts. It's been quite some time since I've seen a PC edition go for more then a numbered counterpart, or even exactly the same ammount if both were side-by-side.

Personally I think they can represent a great value for collectors. I don't think the stigma against PC editions is warranted (sorry Mr. Rabbit Trick :)) But like the old news anchor line goes - I don't make the news, I just report it :mrgreen:
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Re: Question concerning signed limited edition of "insomnia"

Post by hensley.brett »

couldnt someone in my position just do a dirtball trick and just insert their own number so it reads "book 10 of 1250" ,i wouldnt do that but kinda curious if other books like mine are floating around with bogus numbers,guess there is way to tell,idk,by the way those other King novels that were shrink wrapped are book club books.. :roll:
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jimimck
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Re: Question concerning signed limited edition of "insomnia"

Post by jimimck »

It is rare that PC hasn't been written in, but that does happen from time to time.

And yeah, potentially someone could write in a number in your situation, and perhaps even get away with it, but there is a risk with that, and you could end up devaluing the book even further.

Personally, I'd probably want a blank one above a PC copy, but I doubt I'd pay a premium for that. I'm one of the people that would gladly have a PC copy in my collection, at the right price....
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Re: Question concerning signed limited edition of "insomnia"

Post by hensley.brett »

Well I'm definitely open to selling the book but would like to hear a few opinions on its value,I understand opinions will vary
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