Welcome to the PulpFest 2025 Auction page.
Here you will find our 2025 auction catalog and the link to our online bidding page.
As of June 1, 2025, the PulpFest 2025 Auction had about 180 lots of books, pulps, posters, and more consigned. These lots consist of material submitted by members of PulpFest 2025 and a few small estates.
Included is a nice run of the large-sized Argosy from 1941 – 42; over 40 issues of New Worlds Science Fiction, long the leading British science fiction magazine; the first two issues of The Pulpster from its years as the Pulpcon program book; a complete set of Bantam’s Doc Savage paperbacks; several Arkham House first editions; a nice seletion of Shadow pulps; the first appearance of Peter Pan; the ultra-rare LA Bantam Book #13, Children’s Favorite Stories; a run of Who’s Who in Baseball from the 1930s; artwork by Michael Kaluta; and much more.
If all goes as planned, we’ll also have 26 early issues of Weird Tales in good to very good condition. Dated from December 1925 through May 1930, we currently have nearly all of the issues in our catalog. We’ll post the last one (lot #130) as the consigner supplies us with additional photos and information.
Consigning Material to the PulpFest 2025 Auction
Do you have a piece of art or a pulp collection you want to sell? Wouldn’t it be nice to see your collection stay with people who appreciate what you or your departed loved one has enjoyed? Why not have PulpFest sell it through our annual auction? This year’s PulpFest Auction is scheduled for August 9.
PulpFest welcomes large and small collections, from a single item to thousands of books, pulps, comics, digests, fanzines, and related collectibles. If you’re ready to sell that collection, consider using the PulpFest auction. You don’t have to be a member of the convention to participate. If what you have is somehow related to the pulp magazines of the early twentieth century and related pop culture collectibles, we’re interested!
Although we will accept any submissions up through the day of the 2025 PulpFest auction, you are encouraged to submit your lots before the start of the convention. This will allow PulpFest to list your lots — including photographs and descriptions — on our online auction page. Online bids will be accepted for all lots that have been submitted by 11:59 pm on Sunday, July 6, 2025. Any material submitted after that date will not be added to the online bidding page.
The Ground Rules
All auction lots must have a value of $20 or more. The convention will charge a 16% commission based on the selling price for anything sold in the auction. For example, if an item sells for $100, the seller will receive $84.
To minimize the submission of what most people term “junk” to our auction, PulpFest will charge $5 for those auction lots that receive no bids.
PulpFest reserves the right to reject any material that does not meet our standards. Sexually explicit material — including Playboy, Penthouse, and Oui — cannot be submitted to the auction.
If you’re interested or have further questions, please write to PulpFest auction coordinator, Mike Chomko, at mike@pulpfest.com or 2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104 for further information about placing material in the next PulpFest auction.
How to Place Online Bids in the PulpFest 2025 Auction
For those unable to attend PulpFest 2025 or PulpFest 2025 attendees who wish to bid anonymously, the convention will accept bids placed through the PulpFest Online Auction Bid Page. The bid that you submit will be your final bid for the lot.
PulpFest will bid for our online bidders during the auction. We will continue bidding for each online bidder up to the amount of the person’s final bid. If no bid placed by the audience at the live auction is higher than the final online bid, the lot will be won by the online bidder.
To place your online bids, click the red button immediately above the auction lot photographs found below. Our online bidding form will open in a new tab.
When placing your bid, you will need to provide your name, email address, mailing address, and billing address (if different), your method of payment, the lot you are bidding on, and your bid amount. A separate form must be filled out for each bid.
Online bids of $10 or more can be placed on every auction lot in our photo catalog. The deadline to place online bids is 9 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, August 3. After that time, the PulpFest Auction Online Bidding Page will be shut down.
Online bids on all available lots that are less than $10 will not be accepted. Please note that PulpFest does not charge a buyer’s premium.
PulpFest will accept checks or money orders (in U.S. dollars), PayPal, or credit card payments for items won through silent bidding. A 5% fee will be charged for all credit card or PayPal transactions. There will be additional shipping charges for those who cannot pick up the lots they have won.
Maneuvering Through Our Photo Catalog
Click an image for an enlarged view. Click the right side (or arrow) of the enlarged image to proceed to the next image. Click the left side to return to a previous image. To start a slideshow, click “play slideshow” at the end of each description. You can stop the slideshow at any time by clicking “pause slideshow.” To return to the auction page, click the close button at the bottom right of the image box, or somewhere outside the image.
To download a PDF of our PulpFest 2025 Auction Catalog, please click HERE.
The Fine Print
The items in each lot have been graded by eyeball only. We have attempted to note both exceptional pieces and substantial defects, but are not responsible for anything that may have been missed. If you will be attending PulpFest, you are responsible for looking at the lots on which you plan to bid. It is up to the bidder to decide on each item’s condition.
PulpFest reserves the right to withdraw any auction lot at any time prior to its being sold at auction. All bidders are encouraged to review the lots before placing bids. ALL SALES ARE FINAL.
If you have any questions or concerns about participating in the auction, please contact PulpFest auction coordinator Mike Chomko at mike@pulpfest.com or 2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104-6542. Please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope for his response.
Our featured image is excerpted from Rafael DeSoto’s cover art for the January 1934 issue of Ned Pines’s The Phantom Detective, published by Standard Magazines. PulpFest advertising director, William Lampkin, adapted this image for the PulpFest auction banner, utilized at the convention.
Our lead image is the 9th issue of New Worlds, dated Spring 195a, with cover art by Bob Clothier. A Canadian artist who lived in the United Kingdom for several years, Clothier painted ten covers for New Worlds and several for Nebula Science Fiction, plus copious interior work for both of these magazines and Science Fantasy. After returning to Canada, he embarked on a long and successful career as an actor. We’ll have almost 40 issues of New Worlds Science Fiction in this year’s auction.
Sculpted by Shawn Nagle, with the paint mastered by Joy Snyder of Joy & Tom Studios, Reel Art Studios’ Tarzan and the Golden Lion statue was inspired by J. Allen St. John’s cover art for the 1923 first hardcover edition of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic novel, published by A. C. McClurg. We’ll have #365 of the 1000 statues produced by Reel Art as Lot #51 in this year’s auction.
Street & Smith launched People’s Magazine with its July 1906 number. A companion to The Popular Magazine, in its early years, it emphasized detective fiction rather than the adventure stories found in other general fiction magazines. Beginning in 1915, it became the regular home for H. Bedford-Jones’ adventures of John Solomon. We’ll have nearly fifty issues of this rarely seen pulp magazine in this year’s auction. Our final image is Peoples Favorite Magazine for April 10, 1919, with cover art by P. J. Monahan.
PulpFest 2025 Auction Photo Catalog
Click the button below to place an online bid by 9:59 am Eastern on Sunday, August 3, 2025.
(Bid form opens in a new tab)
The following abbreviations have been used in the captions:
DJ = dust jacket / ed = edition / pr = printing / BC = Book Club / XL = ex-library
SC = softcover / PB = paperback / HC = hardcover
F = fine / NF = near-fine / VG = very good / G = good
Due to time constraints and the quantity of material, all grades are based on an eyeball examination and little more.
Descriptions of the auction lots can also be found in our PDF catalog (add link when available).
