# Ozma of Oz nets me cash! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 17, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867 "2014-11-17T17:37:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/1 "2014-11-17T17:37:03Z")
I bought a box of books at a yard sale in July. $8 for the entire box. They had some book club Ellery Queens, a bunch of A.A. Fair’s Donald Lam, and… a collection of Oz books. Most of them were in pretty scuffed up condition, but one of them, Ozma of Oz, was in pretty good shape. And it was a first edition. And a first printing of the first edition. And I sold it today for $600. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/2 "2014-11-17T17:39:43Z")
If you didn’t want it, why did you buy it? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/3 "2014-11-17T17:47:55Z")
I’m guessing he wanted the Lam-Cool books. I would have. I might have even wanted the Ellery Queens. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/4 "2014-11-17T17:51:36Z")
Yes, I have a similar story. A copy of [_ **Frederick** _](http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/1968honorfrederick) was on display in a vintage shop, with a placard proclaiming it as a first edition. It had the Caldecott medal imprint in the jacket, and a copyright of 1971 on the title page. I didn’t buy it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/5 "2014-11-17T18:01:08Z")
Awesome find! I am still waiting for the inevitable Happy Hollisters revival to make my collection worth enough to pay off the mortgage. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/6 "2014-11-17T18:16:02Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > If you didn’t want it, why did you buy it? The whole box was on sale. I wanted the Ellery Queens. ---
**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/7 "2014-11-17T18:19:56Z")
Yay:Excellent find, Bricker! Happy for you! ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/8 "2014-11-17T18:33:39Z")
This summer I bought a box of old VHS horror tapes for about $8. One of them turned out to be this super rare VHS about “real” ghost stories - “Beyond and Back” I think it was called - and I was able to sell it quickly for close to $200. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/9 "2014-11-17T19:36:57Z")
I am so envious! Why can’t I ever find stuff like that? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/10 "2014-11-17T20:55:06Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I am so envious! Why can’t I ever find stuff like that? I have had a very few similar finds in the past, but most of my “finds” turn out to be almost-but-not-quite. I found a first edition of “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” once and it turned out to be the second or third PRINTING and apparently not nearly as much of a find as I briefly dreamed. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/11 "2014-11-20T00:45:52Z")
A good time of year to get some extra cash, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/12 "2014-11-20T01:25:40Z")
I know it’s none of my business what consenting adults get up to in the privacy of their own homes, but I just can’t understand the appeal of collecting first editions. I mean, I could understand the appeal of collecting cool old books. But the first printing of the first edition seems so arbitrary. So add that to the very long list of things I don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/13 "2014-11-20T01:49:29Z")
Congratulations, **Bricker**. Nice find. Just out of curiosity, how often do you go to yard sales? I know I’ll never be posting a big yard sale find because I just don’t go to yard sales. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/14 "2014-11-20T19:12:04Z")
I got a new in box Yoshitomo Nara ceramic figurine at a garage sale for $5. I sold it for $500, and I probably could have gotten more if I’d been willing to hang on to it longer waiting for the right buyer. I love treasure hunting! ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/15 "2014-11-20T19:16:52Z")
I posted here about my best find, a very rare early print by Peter Max that I bought for $200 and turned out to be worth about $10k. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ozma-of-oz-nets-me-cash/704867/16 "2014-11-21T00:50:03Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > I know it’s none of my business what consenting adults get up to in the privacy of their own homes, but I just can’t understand the appeal of collecting first editions. I mean, I could understand the appeal of collecting cool old books. But the first printing of the first edition seems so arbitrary. > > So add that to the very long list of things I don’t understand. Tons of things which are _first of the first_ are collected by---------collectors. They quite often are limted in quantity, while later ones are mass produced. Thus supply is smaller.