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Wanted-to-Buy Books and Insulator Collecting
by Rick Soller

Between 1970 and about 1990, a variety of publishers produced books providing information on where people could sell various collectors. With the advent of the Internet, publishers seemed to loose interest in producing these books. One explanation for this decline in "Wanted to Buy" or "Where to Sell It" titles is that people could get the information on the Internet without having to pay for it. Another explanation is that people no longer needed the information because they could easily sell collectibles on eBay, Craigslist, Amazon or numerous other web sites, often without knowing what something was worth. Using these books also required a good deal of effort and for the person to not be in a hurry since typically the buyer asked for detailed descriptions, conditions, photographs, asking price, location, and contact information and this information was usually conveyed via mail.

During the years these books were printed and sold, many resourceful insulator collectors (including this author) used these books as another avenue to build their collection. After examining a few of these books, some questions emerged:

1. In what books were collectors listed in?
2. What collectors were listed in the books?
3. What were collectors looking for?
4. What success did they have?

Finding books was the first challenge. Not only did I have to learn what the titles of the books of interest but I also had to find copies of them. After consulting my personal library that I have accumulated for over 20 years with an eye toward any book mentioning insulators, I found four titles to start my research. Using these titles, I searched the Advanced Book Exchange for editions of the book I did not have and for titles I did not know about. Key words for title searches included "Wanted to Buy," and "Where to Sell." Hyman's 1992 provided information on "Previous books on buying and selling by Dr. Hyman." These included the following:

• The Where to Sell Anything and Everything Book
• Where to Sell Anything and Everything by Mail
• Cash for Your Undiscovered Treasures
• I'll Buy That!

One difficulty I encounterd was with books by Tony Hyman. I expected his later editions to have the same title as earlier ones but, instead, each "edition" was issued with a different title. Luckily, in his 1997 book, this information was finally made clear. In actuality, "edition" is the wrong word to use for his different books. Instead, his books are part of a "Where to Sell Series" so which book a particular one is in the series would be a more accurate term. Unfortunately, the books are labeled variously as editions or as a particular number in the series and book sellers use that information.

A second dificulty I encountered was that many book sellers did not provide complete information about the date or edition of the book. In some cases, I had to rely on ISBN numbers to determine if the book was one I already owned or had already ordered. Some booksellers included both the 9 digit and 13 didgit ISBN number but others only included one or the other. Using the date to determine if a book was a new edition produced one mistaken purchase when the date turned out to represent when the book was reprinted, not when the book was revised. Mack's (1970) book went through a second printing in 1972 and the bookseller listed 1972 as the date but not that this was merely a reprint. The two books are otherwise identical. So others do not make the same mistake if they wish to pursue a similar project, here is a table providing more comprehensive identification.

*ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It was a standard published in 1970 to provide a number for every book.
ISBN-13 was developed in 2007 when the ISBN standard started to run out of numbers. The length of the number was expanded to 13 digits from 10.
LCCN stands for Library of Congress Control Number, developed in 1897 and involved providing a number for every book. Some books state the "C" stands for "Card" rather than Control (see Hyman, 1986).
LCC is the Library of Congress Catalog number. It is the number you use to find a book on a shelf if the library organized its collection with these rather than with numbers from the Dewey Decimal System.
**This book lists the Newspaper Enterprise Association, Inc. ISBN as 0-911818-21-9 and the Ballantine Books ISBN as 0-29777-6.

Here's what the books look like:

Hyman (1986)

Hyman (1990)

Hyman (1992)

A third difficulty was determining if any insulator collectors were listed in the books. This was easy if a section on insulators was included in the book or if the book had an index. If not, I checked multiple categories including glass, telegraph, telephone, and miscellaneous categories.

Collectors Listed in Wanted to Buy Books

References

Hyman, Henry A.. (1981). The Where to Sell Anything and Everything Book: A Complete Guide to More Than 500 Sources for Selling Your Undiscovered Treasures. (1st ed). New York: A Wold Almanac Publication.

Hyman, Tony. (1984). Where to Sell Anything and Everything by Mail. (2nd ed).

Hyman, H. A. Tony. (1986). Cash for Your Undiscovered Treasures! (3rd ed.). Temple City, CA: Treasure Hunt Publications.

Hyman, Tony. (1989). I'll Buy That! (4th ed.).

Hyman, Tony. (1992). I'll Buy That Too! How to Make Easy Money Selling "Junk" Found Around Your Home and Neighborhood: A Guide to the Best Buyers of Antiques, Collectibles and Other Undiscovered Treasures. (5th ed.-Where to Sell Series #5). Shell Beach, CA: Treasure Hunt Publications.

Hyman, Tony. (1993).  Where to Sell It! How to Find the Best Buyers of Antiques, Collectibles, and Other Undiscovered Treasures. (6th ed). New York: Perigee.

Hyman, Tony. (1994). Trash or Treasure (7th ed.).

Hyman, Tony. (1997). The World's Most Accurate Antiques, Collectibles and Other Treasures Price Guide. Companion Publication for Trash or Treasure Directory of Buyers. Shell Beach, CA: Treasure Hunt Publications.

Hyman, Tony. (1998).  Trash or Treasure Directory of Buyers: How & Where to Easily Sell Collectibles, Antiques & Other Treasures Found Around Your Home & Neighborhood. Shell Beach, CA: Treasure Hunt Publications.

Hyman, Tony. (2000). Trash or Treasure Guide to the Best Buyers: How & Where to Easily Sell Collectibles, Antiques & Other Treasures. (9th ed.). Shell Beach, CA: Treasure Hunt Publications.

Hyman, Tony. (2002). Trash or Treasure Guide to the Best Buyers: How & Where to Easily Sell Collectibles, Antiques & Other Treasures. Shell Beach, CA: Treasure Hunt Publications.

Kovel, Ralph, and Terry Kovel. (1999). Kovels’ Yellow Pages: A Collector’s Directory of Names, Addresses, Telephone and Fax Numbers, E-Mail, and Internet Addresses to Make Selling, Fixing, and Pricing Your Antiques and Collectibles Easy. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Kovel, Ralph, and Terry Kovel. (2003). Kovels’ Yellow Pages: A Collector’s Directory of Names, Addresses, Telephone and Fax Numbers, E-Mail, and Internet Addresses to Make Selling, Fixing, and Pricing Your Antiques and Collectibles Easy. New York: Random House.

Mack, Jerry. (1970). What’s It Worth? And Where You Can Sell It? United States: Educator Books.  2nd Printing March 1972.

Pilot Industries, Inc. (1993). The Where-To-Sell-It Directory. New York: Pilot Industries, Inc.

Pilot Books. (1997).  The Where-To-Sell-It Directory.  North Canton, OH: The Leader Co., Inc.

Wanted To Buy: 10,000 Items & the Price We Pay. (1981). Paducah, KY: Collector Books.

Wanted To Buy: A Listing of Serious Buyers Paying Cash for Everything Collectible! (1989). (2nd ed.)  Paducah, KY: Collector Books.

Wanted To Buy: A Listing of Serious Buyers Paying Cash for Everything Collectible! (1992). (3rd ed.)  Paducah, KY: Collector Books.

Wanted To Buy: A Listing of Serious Buyers Paying Cash for Everything Collectible! (1993). (4th ed.).  Paducah, KY: Collector Books.

Wanted To Buy: A Listing of Serious Buyers Paying Cash for Everything Collectible! (1995). (5th ed.).  Paducah, KY: Collector Books.

Wanted To Buy: A Listing of Serious Buyers Paying Cash for Everything Collectible! (1997). (6th ed.).  Paducah, KY: Collector Books.

Wanted To Buy: A Listing of Serious Buyers Paying Cash for Everything Collectible! (1999). (7th ed.).  Paducah, KY: Collector Books.

This page created June 11, 2012