The market for those is highly specific. Like many others, when they closed I decided to complete my et, since I use them constantly. A lot of people are still doing that. The supply is such that most of them are what someone will give. There are about a dozen issues that are unobtainiam. I bought several collections like this at a few bucks for 10 issues just to get one specific book. Only then serious buyers tend to check the specifics apparently. I noticed this lot contained a Vol 1 No. 2. Someone got a real bargain. If they had marketed the on volume with time to soak, they would have pocketed a three figure price.
When selling stuff like this it is generally required to market it to a target audience.
I once went to and auction not far from my home that cleared out a lot of family estates from the Cleveland OH area. One of the items they pulled out was a grey five drawer file cabinet. I opened it and started going through it. It turned out the estate was from the guy that ran the Cleveland Air Races for several years. It was several hundred pounds of original certified blueprints of some of the most famous experimental racing aircraft in history, such as the flying wing. In addition it had hundreds (maybe thousands) of high quality 8x10 photos of these same planes on display and in action, along with pilots, celebrities etc. Also included was original advertising, memorabilia etc. It was all in perfect condition and represented a unique original history of one of the most active period of classic aviation.I had built models of many of the planes when I was kid. It went for $200 and to this day I regret not buying it. I remember at the time just not being ready to commit to the effort it would have required to market it. Being a young professional with a demanding job and a young family, it wasn't in the cards. I felt at the time the collection if properly framed and presented could have generated a small fortune as collector and decorator material but would have required several years of total effort to market properly. It could have been the basis of an entire aviation museum. The sad loss is that it was probably purchased, studied and then put in a basement to finally go to a landfill at the next estate auction.
