Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

I was browsing at my local used book store and ran across a hardcover copy of Space Usagi. I know they've been selling for insane amounts of money lately, but this one is only $60. The problem is that it has some minor damage to it.



The book plate page. The book store lists details in pencil in the top corner, so that may still leave a small indent after being erased.



The bottom of the book has the worst of the damage, as you can see from the picure. It has a couple small spots where the damage goes through the cover fabric and exposes the fiberboard/cardboard underneath.



Another angle of the damage. A small portion of the dust cover has ripped off at the bottom and you can see some sort of white fuzzy stuff that is stuck to the fabric of the cover. I rubbed some of it off and it doesn't feel like it's very adhered on, so using some tape (or possibly a lint brush) might remove the white.



This last one was hard to photograph, but there were three dents in the rear cover (circled). There are some weird rust colored blotches in the photo, but I don't remember them being so apparent in real life and wasn't what I was even looking at when I photographed the dents. It's possible they're on the cover, or perhaps they're on the clear book sleeve over the cover. Either way, I didn't notice them enough to look closer at those blotches while at the bookstore and only when I got home did they pop out at me.

The book is otherwise in very nice shape. My question is this: Is this something to pick up for $60 (I'm not really a collector of the trade HCs and already have it in paperback), or should I just wait to get a fancy hardcover version as part of the upcoming Legends collection?

Nice find.

I am actually looking for a trade paperback copy of Space Usagi (in English) in decent shape for myself.

I would snatch that up if it was me. I know prices on the HC will drop when Saga 8 is released just like many of the others but this is a cool find for sure and it doesn't look that bad to me. I imagine it will always at least be worth cover price even in that condition. I found vol. 18 and 28 for a combined $80 in used condition and they had some little marks like that on them. Sitting on my shelf and at a casual glance most of that stuff isn't even noticeable.
If you don't end up getting it for yourself, let me know and maybe you would be interested in picking it up for me

Steve Hubbell wrote:Nice find.

I am actually looking for a trade paperback copy of Space Usagi (in English) in decent shape for myself.

Steve, I may have an extra copy of Space Usagi. I think I have an older 1st print copy and a newer reprint copy. PM if you have a price in mind that you are willing to pay. I'll double check condition of both.

Jabba359;
Does it pass the "flea market test?" If you saw this at a flea market or yard sale at this price, and knew you would only get the one chance to buy it, would you walk away?

Shadowfax

If you want, you could ask them if they would give you a discount since you noticed that there was some damage to the book. I haven't done this in maybe 15 years but there was a phase in my life I just asked for a discount to see what businesses would do. (There is also This American Life episode where a man asked every business for a "good guy" discount. As in, "Can I have a good guy discount?" It funny because some businesses did give him a discount)Borders gave me a 15% discount on some music I was buying. And that was a national chain. Of course, they no longer exist.

Peace, maka

Maka wrote:Borders gave me a 15% discount on some music I was buying.

Fun Fact: My brother worked at Borders.....I know you guys just couldn't survive without knowing that.

Now back to talking about Space Usagi.

Trevis Woods wrote:

Steve Hubbell wrote:Nice find.

I am actually looking for a trade paperback copy of Space Usagi (in English) in decent shape for myself.

Steve, I may have an extra copy of Space Usagi. I think I have an older 1st print copy and a newer reprint copy. PM if you have a price in mind that you are willing to pay. I'll double check condition of both.

I did not think that the trade paperback of Space Usagi was ever reprinted. As far as what I want to pay for a copy? Probably not much beyond original price.

In my humble opinion, even with the minor wear and tear, the book is worth $60. And like Maka said, you could even ask for a discount because of the imperfections ... it never hurts to ask. If money isn't an issue, then why not buy it. Even if you decide not to keep it, you could probably find someone here that would buy it from you.

Stopped by the bookstore today and Space Usagi was gone. I probably would have just gotten it to pass on to another forum member, so it's no big deal. If I didn't already have the tpb, I would have picked it up when I first found it, however, since I have a reading copy already and will be getting another copy of the story in the Legends book, I really didn't need a third iteration of the same book, even if it was collectable.