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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Oct 20, 2022 12:27:20 GMT
To expand a little do you keep your pristine or at least old Puffin books in a cupboard and have old battered editions for daily use?
Personally I have 1-15 and 21 as Puffin editions from 1983-1986. I have some second hand old Puffin books as well. I think I am missing about half a dozen from the initial run.
As an example I have a slightly battered special edition copy of How of the Werewolf for daily use and have a pristine second run Howl of the Werewolf in a cupboard.
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Post by CharlesX on Oct 20, 2022 13:09:06 GMT
Those Fighting Fantasy I haven't given to charity shops are in terrible condition after playing them too much as a teen. Having said that, I don't think the binding (and cover and paper quality) was ever better than average at best, and the Wizard and Scholastic quality has only been worse, if anything. One or two of my FFs even lost certain pages, making them totally unusable (I bought a new TWOFM after that happened to it).
It isn't particularly modern most FF is still reprints rather than ebooks - SFAIK FF just doesn't exist in ebook format, whether its the very new books or even The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain.
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Post by scouserob on Oct 20, 2022 13:21:34 GMT
How dare you hog multiple copies of Howl of the Werewolf! 😉
Only one copy for me.
Though despite being hard wearing on most things I always manage to keep books in a good condition.
Before they were lost to history and unsanctioned car boot sales, my Puffin green spine copies of 1-21 and 24, along with Clash of the Princes and the Seven Serpents were in decent nick with the only real wear being the inevitable signs of creasing on the spine.
(Despite 5 of the first 6, especially, having been subject to an obscene amount of page turning.)
The state of our gold spine Scholastic books is a dagger to the soul, especially that of Shadow of the Giants which is now continuing its transformation from gold, to white, to black despite the front and back covers looking great.
I'm not sure having a second pristinely kept copy of these new books would work.
Even storing them in a vacuum container may not protect those delicate little gold spines from tarnish due to interaction with the zero-point energy. 🙄
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Oct 20, 2022 17:14:29 GMT
The state of our gold spine Scholastic books is a dagger to the soul, especially that of Shadow of the Giants which is now continuing its transformation from gold, to white, Keep reading the book long enough to get it perfectly white then sell it on ebay as an 'ultra rare special limited variant spine edition' |
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Post by scouserob on Oct 20, 2022 17:20:12 GMT
The state of our gold spine Scholastic books is a dagger to the soul, especially that of Shadow of the Giants which is now continuing its transformation from gold, to white, Keep reading the book long enough to get it perfectly white then sell it on ebay as an 'ultra rare special limited variant spine edition' 😂 Unfortunately getting it perfectly white is now impossible as the white section is now beginning to border a jet black stripe where the text was, after further use. No creases on the spine just horrific colour changes. 😭 I’m also guessing it won’t be ultra rare as everybody's copies will surely go that way. (Unless I have a particularly acidic, middle-aged man, hand sweat that only affects Scholastic gold spines.)  |
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Post by misomiso on Oct 20, 2022 20:04:25 GMT
Yeah the spines are shocking.
Kind of crazy decision by Scholastic. Something went wrong.
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Post by terrysalt on Oct 20, 2022 21:06:03 GMT
Keep reading the book long enough to get it perfectly white then sell it on ebay as an 'ultra rare special limited variant spine edition' 😂 Unfortunately getting it perfectly white is now impossible as the white section is now beginning to border a jet black stripe where the text was, after further use. No creases on the spine just horrific colour changes. 😭 I’m also guessing it won’t be ultra rare as everybody's copies will surely go that way. (Unless I have a particularly acidic, middle-aged man, hand sweat that only affects Scholastic gold spines.) That is appalling. I thought people meant a bit of fading around the edges, that is shockingly poor quality. |
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Post by a moderator on Oct 20, 2022 21:15:51 GMT
Part of the point of creating my gamebook manager was so I'd be able to play gamebooks without having to handle the physical books so much.
On the occasions when I do need to refer to the source text, I will go to a more tatty duplicate or a Wizard Books reissue if I have one, but sometimes I only have the one copy.
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Post by pip on Oct 20, 2022 21:22:05 GMT
My spines for the two new books also now look like this picture. It's basically impossible to read them without damaging the spine.
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Post by paperexplorer on Oct 21, 2022 6:23:31 GMT
I only have 1 copy of each book. It was only when the series got in the 30s that I started taking great care of them, so my collection has books in varying condition, from really battered to near mint.
I haven't played my puffin books in over 20 years mind you.
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revenant
Squire
Posts: 21
Favourite Gamebook Series: Zork (just kidding)
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Post by revenant on Oct 21, 2022 9:15:15 GMT
Some very committed fans here.
Some of us referring to certain copies "for daily use" while others revere the "source text"!
Well, who am I to judge. I am in the process of mulling over my read/play schedule for the next 6 months.
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Post by stevendoig on Oct 21, 2022 11:38:24 GMT
One copy of each. All my Puffins are half knackered, just the way I like them! ( sign of a good read!)
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trialmaster
Wanderer
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Posts: 62
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Post by trialmaster on Oct 21, 2022 12:55:22 GMT
I have 1 copy of each FF gamebook (I managed to complete the collection at FFFest 4 by being fortunate enough to purchase Howl of the Werewolf and Blood of the Zombies there) and from about FF30 onwards they are in much better condition. This is because I took more care of them when I got older but also because I read the earlier ones so much back in the day, especially 1-10. They are all sitting proudly on a bookcase. My son is now in to them but he has the Scholastic reprints as he is not allowed to touch the very early Puffins in case they fall apart!
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Post by Peter on Oct 23, 2022 8:41:22 GMT
I took the first seven books to school for USSR, so they got bashed around in my bag. The front cover of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain came off, along with the first few pages. The Citadel of Chaos is very worn but has just managed to hold itself together. They seem to have used watered-down glue for The Forest of Doom, as the book has disintegrated into several sections of various sizes, and the whole thing has come out of the cover. The pages themselves are undamaged but it takes patience to clamber up and down through the different pieces of book to find your reference numbers.
The remainder have fared better but they all look weather-beaten. Of course, the later ones have been treated with a lot more respect. And I haven't started reading the Scholastic ones yet so the spines are as-yet untarnished. Should I do something to look after these?
My wife brought several books into our partnership so we have multiple copies of some. To me, it makes sense to read the worst copies and conserve the better ones.
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Blackheart
Squire
Formerly known as Symm. Razaak raised me from the dead.
Posts: 42 
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by Blackheart on Nov 21, 2022 8:05:26 GMT
As an example I have a slightly battered special edition copy of How of the Werewolf for daily use and have a pristine second run Howl of the Werewolf in a cupboard. I have a mint condition first edition which I even keep from exposure to light and a larger Wizard Shield edition for frequent use. |
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Post by King Gillibran on Nov 21, 2022 10:32:17 GMT
😂 Unfortunately getting it perfectly white is now impossible as the white section is now beginning to border a jet black stripe where the text was, after further use. No creases on the spine just horrific colour changes. 😭 I’m also guessing it won’t be ultra rare as everybody's copies will surely go that way. (Unless I have a particularly acidic, middle-aged man, hand sweat that only affects Scholastic gold spines.) That is appalling. I thought people meant a bit of fading around the edges, that is shockingly poor quality. As I said elsewhere I do not treat my books very gently and my new ones are in very good condition still. no flaking. |
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Post by King Gillibran on Nov 21, 2022 10:34:11 GMT
How dare you hog multiple copies of Howl of the Werewolf! 😉 Only one copy for me. Why is Howl of the Werewolf so Expensive. I can't buy it because it is so much yet it was rated number 1 so I want to read it. |
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Blackheart
Squire
Formerly known as Symm. Razaak raised me from the dead.
Posts: 42
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by Blackheart on Nov 21, 2022 12:46:15 GMT
How dare you hog multiple copies of Howl of the Werewolf! 😉 Only one copy for me. Why is Howl of the Werewolf so Expensive. I can't buy it because it is so much yet it was rated number 1 so I want to read it. How expensive is it?
35 quid so far...let's see!
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Blackheart
Squire
Formerly known as Symm. Razaak raised me from the dead.
Posts: 42
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by Blackheart on Nov 29, 2022 20:24:51 GMT
Why is Howl of the Werewolf so Expensive. I can't buy it because it is so much yet it was rated number 1 so I want to read it. How expensive is it?
35 quid so far...let's see!
£56.00
Not cheap for a soiled copy! Prices these days...
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