"Old" Hardback Childrens Mystery Book Series Please, Please, Please!

[Chickybaby]

Granted that this is not Atari Related but many of you do go to flea markets and thrift stores so maybe you guys could keep an eye out for me.

 

Many of you who know me know that I absolutely adore reading and books and most of these I've had through childhood and are very sentimental to me. I would one day like to pass a joy of reading down to our children as well as a love of classic video games of course!

 

You would also completely make me very happy and more then just my day, which if you ask hubbs can be hard to do sometimes. (I am female after all! )

 

I've normally when found paid anywhere from .50 to $2 each for them at yard sales and used book stores just for an idea.

 

Specifically, What I am looking for are (non-expensive of course) in fairly decent shape (no pages ripped or missing please although I understand that the glue won't always be intact due to age) but can be "well loved":

 

- Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators Mystery Series from circa 1960s: I have 3 that have served me well - #r 2(Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot), #r 10 (Mystery of the Moaning Cave), and #r 11 (Mystery of the Talking Skull), #r 12 (Mystery of Laughing Shadow)

 

- Nancy Drew Mystery Stories by Carolyn Keene, from the original 1940/50s printing (or second best the 1960s/70s re-printing). My family donated these to the grade school I attended as a child against my wishes. I only have 1 left from the 50s - #r 2 (The Hidden Staircase) and one "double feature" from the 70s - The Clue in the Jewel Box/The Secret in the Old Attic.

I don't want the newly released versions and upon aquiring a bunch at yard sale and compared to the originals they changed much of the wording to make it more modern.

 

- Trixie Beldon by Kathryn Kenny/Julie Campbell, from the 1950s/1960s/1970s:

I have #r 2 (The Red Trailer Mystery), #r 7 (Mysterious Code), #r 9 (The Happy valley Mystery), #r 15 (Mystery on the Mississippi)

 

- Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon first from 1920s and Reprinted in the 1950s/1960s. I do have 2 "Originals" from the 20s which have solid colored covers with no pictures #r 8 (Mystery of Cabin Island) and #r 9 (Secret of the Caves). The rest are "re-prints": #r 1 (The Tower Treasure), #r 3, (Secret of the Old Mill), #r 4 (Missing Chums), #r 5 (Hunting for Hidden Gold), #r 15 (Sinister sign Post), #r 18 (Twisted Claw), #r 26 (Phantom Freighter), #r 27 (Secret of Skull Mountain), #r 33 (Yellow Feather Mystery), #r 42 (Viking Symbol), #r 46 (Secret Agent on Flight 101), #r 47 (Mystery of the Whale Tattoo), #r 51 (Masked Monkey)

 

I also am not interested in the current re-release versions available - they re-did te wording on these too.

 

If anyone can help me in my quest - thank you very much, if not - thanks for at least looking this thread over!

It was at least worth a try.

[maibock]

We have at least 60 of the Hardy Boys books, quite a few from when I was a kid. Both my older sons enjoyed them a lot. Well actually my oldest did and continued to buy more of them. We found a dozen or so at an antique shop in Morgantown(right off the turn-pike).

 

Not quite sure we want to part with them though, since my 2 year old might eventually want to read them..

 

#r 27 (Secret of Skull Mountain

 

I distinctly remember reading that book in one day at a camping trip in Tennessee lol

[Chickybaby]

Yep, I know where Morgantown is. Bugger! LOL

 

Very cool though and Classics IMO. It's pretty scary to think they are almost 100 yrs old especially considering how well both the stories and writing have stood the test of time so far for a few generations. That in and of itself speaks for the talent of the author.

 

I do have to say of all the books the glue on the spines of the 1960s Hardy Boys cracked more then the others. Even the ones from the 20s are holding up better. maybe it's because they are so "well read". How are yours?

[maibock]

Surprisingly holding up pretty well - I have one that my uncle had as a kid, not quite sure the date, but that one, the cover came off..

 

We never bought the newer ones which tried to be hip and what-not.. The old ones were definitely the best..

[+Allan]

The Three Investigators is being made into a movie. I think one of the author's daughters is in charge of it and is trying to keep it true to the original series.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476603/

 

Allan

[Chickybaby]

The Three Investigators is being made into a movie. I think one of the author's daughters is in charge of it and is trying to keep it true to the original series.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476603/

 

Allan

 

Cool, huh. It really will depend on the actors and how they translate the plot from paper. I wonder if it can be modernized without butchering. The fact that it's being done in Europe makes it interesting. I wonder how many kids would go see it and how popular the series even is today.

At some point in the future do you think it's going to make the books harder to find though if it sparks enough interest or sadly get sucked into the "collectors" void if it isn't already. I haven't looked for these on Ebay, especially with shipping, and much would rather get the books in person, it's not going well trying to find them locally.

[Paranoid]

I just looked, and I've got three of them at least (and there are more around the house somewhere). #51, The Maked Monkey, #10, What Happened at Midnight, and #58, The Sting of the Scorpion. Copyright on them is 1972, 1967, & 79.Grosset & Dunlap hardcovers. Looks like they must be reprints.

 

Like the others, I have a sentimental attachment, and hope one day my daughter picks them up and finds them as interesting as I did when I discovered them (and they obviously belonged to someone else before I came to enjoy them).

[jbanes]

Very cool though and Classics IMO. It's pretty scary to think they are almost 100 yrs old especially considering how well both the stories and writing have stood the test of time so far for a few generations. That in and of itself speaks for the talent of the author.

Author. Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene were (and still are!) ghosted. I think the quality of the stories says a lot more about the times than the authors. Children were not patronized by their stories, and were fully expected to read 300 pages of small print. Most of today's so-called "authors" can barely write 150 pages of formulaic large print, that expect the reader to not be intelligent enough to follow a complex plot.

Edited September 14, 2006 by jbanes

[+Andrew Davie]

You will almost certainly find all you are looking for at ABEBooks.

This is a network of booksellers, using a single front-end web presence. I have bought a dozen or so books from various stores listing here, and service has been top-notch, every time. Highly recommended place to find books you're after.

Cheers

A

[+Andrew Davie]

My family donated these to the grade school I attended as a child against my wishes. I only

 

Many kids attend school against their wishes, but that's life. Get over it!

Cheers

A

[Chickybaby]

My family donated these to the grade school I attended as a child against my wishes. I only

 

Many kids attend school against their wishes, but that's life. Get over it!

Cheers

A

 

LOL! Good point.

 

Thank you for the link - we will definitely check it out. I am also missing books from other authors I enjoy reading and I don't particularly care for Ebay. It's nice to know of an alternative.

 

After browsing, the prices are a bit more then I want to spend (including shipping) at the moment per book, but there were plenty of books available which is heartening. It also was a very easy site to search through.

Edited September 15, 2006 by Chickybaby

[Breakpack]

My family donated these to the grade school I attended as a child against my wishes. I only

 

Many kids attend school against their wishes, but that's life. Get over it!

Cheers

A

 

LOL! Good point.

 

Thank you for the link - we will definitely check it out. I am also missing books from other authors I enjoy reading and I don't particularly care for Ebay. It's nice to know of an alternative.

 

After browsing, the prices are a bit more then I want to spend (including shipping) at the moment per book, but there were plenty of books available which is heartening. It also was a very easy site to search through.

 

 

I think he meant the books were donated against his wishes

[Chickybaby]

I think he meant the books were donated against his wishes

 

"The books were donated against HER wishes."

 

Yes, that would be what I meant,lol, and he knows it. Nothing wrong with having a little fun though.

Although he does have a point - Most children did go to school on one day or another against their wishes. It was a good one.

[Breakpack]

I think he meant the books were donated against his wishes

 

"The books were donated against HER wishes."

 

Yes, that would be what I meant,lol, and he knows it. Nothing wrong with having a little fun though.

Although he does have a point - Most children did go to school on one day or another against their wishes. It was a good one.

 

opps I got lost in the moment sorrie...

[Shannon]

My brother used to have the entire hardy boys hardbacks.... Not sure if he still has them though. That was like YEARS ago..