Last Monday I was actually partaking in an activity where I received money rather than giving it out all the time. I bit the bullet and took a large amount of my duplicate PAN’s to Astley Book Farm where I got paid for them. They were a very mixed collection and in all conditions but I was more than happy with the outcome. I have had several wants lists from fellow collectors and I don’t think any titles on those lists were included. Amazingly I came away without buying a book but I’d forgotten what a good shop Astley is and will be returning soon.
After mentioning recently the fact PAN often produced several film tie-ins and wondering why I picked up a copy of ‘Flowers For Algernon’ by Daniel Keyes which showed PAN didn’t always ‘push the boat out’ to publicise film tie-ins as it just has a sticker on it.
When I put the Hailey ‘Airport’ covers on last week I was hoping that by now I would have received the copy I found in France and so have accurate date etc. I have tracked it for the last two weeks via several places in France and Germany where it appears to be stuck. I’m also waiting for a couple of titles from eBay I bought on August 14th but the delivery date hasn’t run out yet! I think I’ll stick with books from Australia as they seem to arrive in days but I think my fastest record from a non UK source is one from San Francisco bought on a Monday which arrived on the following Wenesday. The record from the longest was ten months from Canada. The seller decided it was lost and gave me my money back. I later told him it had arrived but he kindly said it was now a present.
A couple of weeks ago, on a Facebook site for vintage paperbacks and pulps, I was nominating ‘Sam Chard’ by Don Bannister as a candidate for an awful cover award but then said I turned it over to find a small picture. This looks really familiar but I just can’t think where I’ve seen it before, as another cover perhaps, does anyone recognise?
Spotted this optimist on eBay last week. 
There were no takers for either of them and I wonder how many times the seller will reduce them till they get to a realistic level?
STOP PRESS The copy of ‘Airport’ from France is now somewhere in the UK!
Looking at some of the more bizarre prices being asked for pan books, particularly
those with very odd prices with funny numbers ending in fractions of a pound makes me think of some alternative reason for such behaviour.
My theory is that people are using these as a method of sending information to others since nobody is ever going to put in a bid! Or is my paranoia getting the better of me!
Hi Peter, Thanks for the comment and I was going to say “Yes” it is you and your paranoia but having just found my copy of “Mindstorms” (not PAN but thinking of selling it) I looked at prices which range from £11 to £4,999 which as you say must be code for something? Might see if the seller asking the ridiculous figure is interested in my copy then he could have two copies nobody is going to buy at that ridiculous price. Hope you find plenty of PAN’s (books that is) in your Christmas stocking, all the best for Christmas and looking forward to many more comments in the New Year, Tim