Will Harry Potter books be worth anything 10 years from now?

Hi,

I have seen the Amazon.com preorder page for HP6. It is #1 as of now -
even not yet published.
I have never encountered anything like this in the last decade or so. I
have not ordered it because I see from abebooks andalibris that I can
get a new or like new copy of previous HP books for a lot less than the
sell price.
Do you think HP6 will appreciate in value or not considering that
almost everyone that I know has a copy (or two) of the books.

Someone told me that the children's edition (bloomsbury) may be more
valuable than the adult edition because most these are actually being
read by children so few will survive in fine condition. I just hate the
designs for these edition though.

jose

Other than 1st editions of the earlier stories, I very much doubt there will be
any valuable Potter books a decade from now.
IMHO even the early 1sts won't be worth all that much.
--
Bob Finnan
http://bobfinnan.com

wrote:

Hi,

I have seen the Amazon.com preorder page for HP6. It is #1 as of now -
even not yet published.
I have never encountered anything like this in the last decade or so. I
have not ordered it because I see from abebooks andalibris that I can
get a new or like new copy of previous HP books for a lot less than the
sell price.
Do you think HP6 will appreciate in value or not considering that
almost everyone that I know has a copy (or two) of the books.

Someone told me that the children's edition (bloomsbury) may be more
valuable than the adult edition because most these are actually being
read by children so few will survive in fine condition. I just hate the
designs for these edition though.

jose


That depends in part on the longevity of Potter's popularity. But 10 years is
too short a time to judge. As another poster suggested, the early books will
garner much more value than the later ones will, as production runs for the
firsts printing were, naturally, shorter.

Take Jacob Abbott's "Rollo" series. Abbott, born in 1803, was possibly
America's first children's author. He was highly popular in the mid-19th
century. But the popularity did not hold up. "Rollo on the Atlantic" now goes
for about $20.00.

Then there was Thomas Bailey Aldrich, whose novel "The Story of a Bad Boy"
[appropriately enough about a mischevious boy named Tom] inspired his friend
Samuel Clemens to write "Tom Sawyer". A first edition of that book carries an
asking price in excess of $200.

One may also see Harry Potter as a modern version of Thomas Hughes' series "Tom
Brown's School Days" and "Tom Brown at Oxford". These too were highly popular
at the time and have retained some continuing interest. True first of those two
can be quite expensive.


Francis A. Miniter

The first three books published by Bloomsbury in their true First
Editions have commanded high values now for several years however there
has been a noticeable drop in these values in the past few months which
suggests the bubble may already have burst.

Books 4 and 5 were published in such vast numbers as First Editions
that they command no real value at all and even sell for less than the
original retail price.

The special collectors editions of the first three books have also
increased substantially in value over the years but again the prices
are dropping.

I believe the hype is finally fading!

ASD

"Francis A. Miniter" wrote in message
...
wrote:

Hi,

I have seen the Amazon.com preorder page for HP6. It is #1 as of now -
even not yet published.
I have never encountered anything like this in the last decade or so. I
have not ordered it because I see from abebooks andalibris that I can
get a new or like new copy of previous HP books for a lot less than the
sell price.
Do you think HP6 will appreciate in value or not considering that
almost everyone that I know has a copy (or two) of the books.

Someone told me that the children's edition (bloomsbury) may be more
valuable than the adult edition because most these are actually being
read by children so few will survive in fine condition. I just hate the
designs for these edition though.

jose


That depends in part on the longevity of Potter's popularity. But 10
years is
too short a time to judge. As another poster suggested, the early books
will
garner much more value than the later ones will, as production runs for
the
firsts printing were, naturally, shorter.

Take Jacob Abbott's "Rollo" series. Abbott, born in 1803, was possibly
America's first children's author. He was highly popular in the mid-19th
century. But the popularity did not hold up. "Rollo on the Atlantic" now
goes
for about $20.00.

Then there was Thomas Bailey Aldrich, whose novel "The Story of a Bad Boy"
[appropriately enough about a mischevious boy named Tom] inspired his
friend
Samuel Clemens to write "Tom Sawyer". A first edition of that book
carries an
asking price in excess of $200.

One may also see Harry Potter as a modern version of Thomas Hughes' series
"Tom
Brown's School Days" and "Tom Brown at Oxford". These too were highly
popular
at the time and have retained some continuing interest. True first of
those two
can be quite expensive.


Francis A. Miniter


I'm curious about the factors behind this on the demand side. Does
nostalgia play a role in the timeline of these values? (Perhaps this
doesn't apply to your specific older examples, but to 20th century work.)
Do 40- and 50-ish readers start yearning for copies of their childhood
favorites, and does that then produce another little boom, later to bust
again I suppose unless the work stays in print? Thanks.

- Todd T.

Hi,
I am not familiar of the "Tom Brown.."series but it only validates my
belief that this HP series demand will go down after Rowling publishes
her 7th story.

The reason I ask is because I have this "urged" to go and buy 1st
editions of the 1-5 HP books. I usually have this "urge" once in a
while. Unfortunately or fortunately I did not have the cash at the time.

Todd T wrote:

"Francis A. Miniter" wrote in message
...


wrote:



Hi,

I have seen the Amazon.com preorder page for HP6. It is #1 as of now -
even not yet published.
I have never encountered anything like this in the last decade or so. I
have not ordered it because I see from abebooks andalibris that I can
get a new or like new copy of previous HP books for a lot less than the
sell price.
Do you think HP6 will appreciate in value or not considering that
almost everyone that I know has a copy (or two) of the books.

Someone told me that the children's edition (bloomsbury) may be more
valuable than the adult edition because most these are actually being
read by children so few will survive in fine condition. I just hate the
designs for these edition though.

jose



That depends in part on the longevity of Potter's popularity. But 10


years is


too short a time to judge. As another poster suggested, the early books


will


garner much more value than the later ones will, as production runs for


the


firsts printing were, naturally, shorter.

Take Jacob Abbott's "Rollo" series. Abbott, born in 1803, was possibly
America's first children's author. He was highly popular in the mid-19th
century. But the popularity did not hold up. "Rollo on the Atlantic" now


goes


for about $20.00.

Then there was Thomas Bailey Aldrich, whose novel "The Story of a Bad Boy"
[appropriately enough about a mischevious boy named Tom] inspired his


friend


Samuel Clemens to write "Tom Sawyer". A first edition of that book


carries an


asking price in excess of $200.

One may also see Harry Potter as a modern version of Thomas Hughes' series


"Tom


Brown's School Days" and "Tom Brown at Oxford". These too were highly


popular


at the time and have retained some continuing interest. True first of


those two


can be quite expensive.


Francis A. Miniter




I'm curious about the factors behind this on the demand side. Does
nostalgia play a role in the timeline of these values? (Perhaps this
doesn't apply to your specific older examples, but to 20th century work.)
Do 40- and 50-ish readers start yearning for copies of their childhood
favorites, and does that then produce another little boom, later to bust
again I suppose unless the work stays in print? Thanks.

- Todd T.




I know of parents who have bought and read to their children the stories
on which they were brought up, at least up to 9 years of age. That
probably causes another boom. Look at the Dr. Seuss revival, for
instance. Just try to find a Seuss first printing. But once the kids
get to be 10 or more, different factors operate. First, they become
naturally rebellious, and will not accept the parent's reading list (or
other agendas for that matter) any longer. Second, they are influenced
by the latest trends and fads and want to do what their neighbor's are
doing (a phenomenon that has become more pronounced over the years).
So I think that age group is less susceptible to generational revival of
young persons' classics. This would seem to indicate that a sub

I suppose I am a bit different. I was brought up in the 50s by a mother
who was not only a voracious reader, but a knowledgeable reader as well
and I became an avid reader myself by age eight. I got a lot of my
late 19th century, early 20th century book knowledge from her.

Side note: For some fun young persons' reading, try Kipling, "Stalky &
Co.", also an English boy's school story. This book is, I believe,
still readily available.


Francis A. Miniter

writes:

Hi,

I have seen the Amazon.com preorder page for HP6. It is #1 as of now -
even not yet published.
I have never encountered anything like this in the last decade or so. I
have not ordered it because I see from abebooks andalibris that I can
get a new or like new copy of previous HP books for a lot less than the
sell price.
Do you think HP6 will appreciate in value or not considering that
almost everyone that I know has a copy (or two) of the books.

Probably not, as you say, because so many are being printed.

Someone told me that the children's edition (bloomsbury) may be more
valuable than the adult edition because most these are actually being
read by children so few will survive in fine condition. I just hate the
designs for these edition though.

Collect what you like. Collecting to make Big Money is bad karma and
doomed to failure, so you may as well not bother with books you don't
like. Especially with something like Harry Potter, which because of
the numbers printed is not likely to appreciate.

-- Patrick