(Part 2) Top products from r/whatsthisworth

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We found 22 product mentions on r/whatsthisworth. We ranked the 68 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.

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Top comments that mention products on r/whatsthisworth:

u/jeresig · 4 pointsr/whatsthisworth

A bunch of other people have already brought a ton of great information to this discussion - thank you paulieslim and jeffh4!

It looks like a complete copy sold relatively recently at a local art dealer, although no price is listed (but given the relative pricing of other Hokusai ehon on their site, I'd guess that this would sell for about a thousand dollars or so (although it would probably sell for less than that to a dealer or at auction) -- also assuming that this is an early edition and not a later reproduction):
http://www.rarebook.com/index.php/component/content/article/81-catalogue-39a?start=1

It's a very bad idea to look at the price-per-page from one deal and extrapolate up to the price-per-book. It's almost never the case that it's worth exactly that much, usually much less, even.

If you want to know exactly how much it's worth you're probably going to have to send pictures to a dealer - I strongly recommend the people at rarebook.com, I visited their shop last week and they're very reputable.

Specifically, in order to identify exactly what version of the book you have they'll need to see inside the cover and look at the material included in the back of the book. Most ehon of that time included advertisements - and based upon the contents of those advertisements they'll be able to date it rather precisely. For example, if an ad in the back says "Be sure to buy the new print series by Hokusai called '36 Views of Mount Fuji'" then they'll be able to date it to 1830 (which is when that series was first published).

If you want to date the book yourself it's going to cost you a pretty penny as you'll need this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Eirakuya-Toshiro-publisher-Nagoya-contribution/dp/9070265184

That book is particularly interesting as it's the bibliography compiled by a book dealer in Japan from the late 1800s. It seems like this guy handled just about every rare book to ever be published in Japan and wrote down precise information about the versions and appearance. This particular book, on Amazon, is a translated version of that book. (I got to flip through this book just the other day when I visited the Boston Book Company, neat stuff.)

Looks like there is a book all about this particular series:
http://www.amazon.com/Hokusai-One-Hundred-Views-Fuji/dp/0807611956

To give you a bit of perspective on what you're seeing here: This is a Japanese Woodblock print book (which is a sub-category of what is referred to a 'Ehon', picture books). The prints are designed by an artist (in this case, the famous Hokusai) and then carved by professional carvers (and then printed by professional printers). This book series was almost certainly created as a result of the popularity of Hokusai's famous 36 Views of Mount Fuji (the one with the great wave).

Hokusai first started to publish the 36 Views print series in 1830. It was incredibly successful - in part due to his portrayal of the subject matter - but also because it was one of the first prints to make extensive use of Prussian Blue (a new ink import from China and Europe).

While this particular ehon doesn't have any color, it certainly does have the fascinating charisma and design that is ever-present in Hokusai's work.

Edo-era ehon were created as low-cost ways for people to get complete collections of their favorite prints. Since the prints were only in black it made it very easy to mass produce. (Most color prints were a mixture of black line and color prints - oftentimes publishers would do print runs of just the black line prints as a way to sell cheaper prints more efficiently.)

Anyway you slice it, and I would contact Boston Book Company to confirm this, you have a very cool piece of classical Edo-era design. If I owned it, I wouldn't sell it, but that's just me ;)

u/VapidDelight · 12 pointsr/whatsthisworth

Congratulations on the great find!


I think that the $10k is a fairly reasonable offer.The dealer will likely try to sell the book for $15-20k and is unlikely to get the higher end of that unless the book is an exceedingly rare first edition as explained below. The condition is not as good as the higher price comps. The dealer is going to have to hold onto the book for several years before they are going to find someone that wants to buy it. I would do the homework below, copy all the relevant pages out of BAL, highlight the applicable parts, and try to get $12-14k in cash from the dealer.


I can tell you exactly what the book dealer is doing to determine the price of your book. A little background information on what collectors are looking for will help you understand the market.


The majority of book collectors want the earliest edition and printing possible. To get the best idea for the value you need to figure out the state and issue of the book. These refer to either deliberate or accidental changes to the printing of the first edition. Ignoring condition factors, a book that is a first edition, first issue, and first state is going to be the most valuable version of the book. Here is a better definition of state and issue. Also, the blue cover is approximately 20 times rarer than the green cover, making your book more valuable.


The first edition points you have listed, aren't to determine if the book is a first edition or not, they are to determine the issue and state of the book. There are comps that I found below that list a variety of factors that are used to determine the state and issue of the book. This information comes from a set of books call the Bibliography of American Literature (BAL). Your library might have a set of these books. If not, a university or larger library will have a set. You need to find a set of these books so you don't miss any important factors.


More detailed pricing information will be available in the American Book Prices Current (ABPC). They charge a yearly subscription so gaining access to the information might be difficult.


You're going to encounter lots of book jargon. I'd suggest picking up a copy of ABC for Book Collectors as it will be a helpful reference guide. This book will also help you determine how the book would be graded.


Here are comps. When reading the description pay attention to their description of the state and issue of the book being sold.

http://www.abaa.org/books/247848094.html
http://www.mabks.com/Huckleberry_Finn.htm - Green cover
http://forum.biblio.com/index.php?topic=9547.0;prev_next=next
http://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/twain-mark-kemble-edward-w-/adventures-of-huckleberry-finn-blue-/83771.aspx


u/Super901 · 1 pointr/whatsthisworth

I don't know too much about decoy ducks specifically, but I do know that there is a vibrant collector's market for them, especially handmade "folk art" ducks. Some are very valuable.

You should contact a specialist in this area and get a realistic idea.

[Check out the number of books on Amazon about duck decoys.] (https://www.amazon.com/Collectors-Guide-Decoys-WALLACE-HOMESTEAD-COLLECTORS/dp/0870695800)

u/gutterpeach · 1 pointr/whatsthisworth

Personally, Grosset & Dunlap were a sneaky, less than honest publishing company. To my knowledge, they never published anything original. If I see their name, I completely dismiss the book. I've seen them sold in bookstores as first or special editions by people who should know better. Or perhaps those booksellers are also less than ethical.

I have a copy "First Editions of Dr. Seuss Books: A Guide to Identification" by Helen Younger & Marc Younger (https://www.amazon.com/First-Editions-Seuss-Books-Identification/dp/1892168081) which is very good, although they've made several corrections to it. I sent Ms. Younger a note of appreciation and thanked her profusely for having done all that work. She replied that had they known how much work it would actually be, they never would have begun the project in the first place. She sounded rather bitter about it.

Since then, the internet has become a more robust and reliable (sometimes) resource for helping identify various editions but my go-to guides are still "A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions Paperback" and "Points of Issue: A Compendium of Points of Issue of Books by 19th-20th Century Authors" both
by Bill McBride.

u/Ogtsince92 · 3 pointsr/whatsthisworth

When he said “you wouldn’t believe me” reminded me of a great book that changed my outlook on life “Nothing in This Book Is True, But It's Exactly How Things Are” by Bob Frissell. Here is an amazon link: it will tell you all the secrets
https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-This-Exactly-Things-Anniversary/dp/1556438311/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2JHG0BDXT4WLO&keywords=nothing+in+this+book+is+true+but+it%27s+exactly+how+things+are&qid=1556244776&s=gateway&sprefix=Nothing+in+this%2Caps%2C220&sr=8-1

u/Pants_R_Overatd · 2 pointsr/whatsthisworth

Doesn't appear to be too extensive, but it's going to bring down the price quite a bit due to the fact that it appears (from a quick google search) this book is pretty common.

Check it out at Amazon

u/BabysInBlack · 3 pointsr/whatsthisworth

No problem! I enjoy the research. I'm actually a female brunette myself so I have the Playboy Brunettes book and Gwen Wong is in it. It's neat because I don't think most of the women in the paintings were well known if at all.

Tough call on framing. Most people won't want to frame it themselves so that would make it less appealing. But it is also a cost to you. Since it's velvet you don't want them under glass really. I'd just weigh what it would cost you to frame them versus what you want to sell them for. Personally I would try to find an appropriate frame in a thrift store or antique store and then take it to the professionals.

u/refugefirstmate · 4 pointsr/whatsthisworth

Youre missing that it's machine stitched, which means it cant be any earlier than late 19th century to begin with, so talking about the fabric is unnecessary.

If you need a good textile history reference, I recommend starting with this: https://www.amazon.com/Textiles-America-1650-1870-Florence-Montgomery/dp/039373224X

u/DulcetFox · 6 pointsr/whatsthisworth

You got a really bad deal, and I am starting to question how out of touch the users in this subreddit are. I would have expected at least $100 from a used game store.

Amazon trade-ins (assuming no boxes/manuals/"acceptable" condition):

NES Games:

u/Kanadark · 4 pointsr/whatsthisworth

People are mistaking faceted jewel grade sapphires with carved sapphires. This likely is a carved blue sapphire, likely even a natural stone, though possibly heat treated to intensify the blue colour. The value is in the metal used in the setting and in the quality of the carving.

As a comparison, here are 6 natural carved sapphires for $95 usd. The carving is quite crude.
Here is a larger Buddha set in gold for $795CAD

u/extrarogers · 3 pointsr/whatsthisworth

certainly appears in the style, if not more reductive. there is a signature in the top right corner. "Aden?" hard to tell.

could be another Modigliani Scandal.

u/DonGeronimo · 3 pointsr/whatsthisworth

Probably not a lot, since they are all in this book now. Cool scrapbook though. I would have probably bought it myself.

u/her_nibs · 4 pointsr/whatsthisworth

This listing for it sold for US $16.24, and it's listed on amazon.com for $29.99, for what that's worth for your calculations on how to price it.

u/syuk · 1 pointr/whatsthisworth

I saw it on Amazon which is what confuse me, the ISBN is not the same:

ISBN-10: 1616083778 | ISBN-13: 978-1616083779

the one I have is printed 2010, that one says 2011. Doesn't say if it is the first edition.

Another point of confusion is why the paperback goes for $200+, or is that one of these automated amazon pricing tricks? Here.

RE: Damage - it's a shame, but its not too distracting.

Thanks for the help!

u/aftiggerintel · 1 pointr/whatsthisworth

Amazon has it listed for as low as 25.00 to as high as 49.00.

eBay has it for as little as 5.50