The AAUGH blog

* A FANCIER CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

* SNOOPY AND BARBIE???

* MORE ITEMS SHIPPING

* THE BIG COMIC-CON

* FIRST PRINTING, FIRST BOOK

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A FANCIER CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

I’ve finally got some more info on the hardcover
edition of the book adaptation of A Charlie Brown
Christmas which is coming out soon. In addition
to the hard binding and an embossed cover with
foil, it’s going to have one other nifty
accompanyment: a CD! This will have the tunes
“Christmastime Is Here”, “Skating”, “Linus & Lucy”,
and one other. That’s a nice addition to a nice
edition.

To preorder this, head to:

http://AAUGH.com/go.htm?0689853572

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SNOOPY AND BARBIE???

Here’s one that I never foresaw: A boxed set
of Barbie and Snoopy! That’s right, this
collector’s set has a figure of Snoopy as World
War 1 Flying Ace, and a Barbie figure decked
out in her own flight gear. Her flight jacket
even has Snoopy patches on it. This is
available for immediate shipping.

Take a look, at:

http://AAUGH.com/go.htm?B00005Y1CP

(Be sure to click on the See More Pictures
link to get a look at the figures in the box!)

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MORE ITEMS SHIPPING

I just got my copy of IT’S TIME FOR SCHOOL,
CHARLIE BROWN. This is the latest in the
Ready-to-Read line of kids pictures-and-text
books. It’s one of the weaker installments
in the series; the strips used didn’t
translate that well to the story format.
(Certainly, Charlie Brown losing a spelling
bee by spelling “maze” as “M-A-Y-S” is a
gag that will be lost on a generation too
young to remember Willie Mays.) Get this one
for your collection, or get it if your kids
liked the previous volumes, but otherwise
you can skip it.

http://AAUGH.com/go.htm?0689851464

Also now shipping is the PEANUTS 2003 PAGE-A-DAY
CALENDAR (that’s one page for each day of 2003;
it’s not a 2003-page-a-day calendar, which
would have thousands of pages per day and would
be a nuisance to deal with.) The theme this
year is LET’S PLAY:

http://AAUGH.com/go.htm?0740724010

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THE BIG COMIC-CON

If you send me your questions next week, you may
have to wait a while for a response. I’ll be at
Comic-Con International: San Diego, which is
America’s largest comic book convention.

And it’s not just comics, either. Big names from
film and TV generally show up to talk about
their projects (featured guests this time include
the creators of Babylon 5 and PowerPuff Girls!),
noted science fiction writer Ray Bradbury,
lots of other folks. If you live near San Diego,
you really should check it out. For more info,
check out http://www.comic-con.org

Chip Kidd is one of the featured guests this time.
Chip, you may recall, is the guy who put
together the gorgeous book PEANUTS: THE ART OF
CHARLES M. SCHULZ. Paige Braddock, Creative Director
at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, will be
there in her other role: the creator of the comic
strip Jane’s World. You’ll find her in the
dealer’s room at table X8 — head over, buy a
copy of her new collection of her strip, and
tell her AAUGH.com sent you.

And yes, I’ll be there — but I may not be easy
to find. I’m not on any panels this year, nor
do I have a table. If you want to spot me while
I’m walking around, I’ll probably either be wearing
the t-shirt you see in this shot:

http://AAUGH.com/guide/Me.jpg

or I’ll be wearing this purposely-manipulative
t-shirt I created to promote one of my own
comics projects:

http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=gertler.2728971

If you see me, stop me and say hi!

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FIRST PRINTING, FIRST BOOK

Unlike many book collectors, I’m really not that
concerned about owning first printings of books.
Unless the book has changed in some way, I’m
just as happy with the thirteenth printing.
With my upcoming talks at the Schulz Museum,
however, I realized that I’m not just a collector,
I’m a Peanuts book historian. At least, that’s
what I told myself when trying to convince myself
that I really should splurge and buy myself a
first printing of the very first Peanuts book
from 1952, entitled simply PEANUTS.

Identifying the first printing is tricky, because
the cover of the book didn’t change much until
the 32nd printing, 20 years later, and the
early printings did not always list the printing
number on the copyright page. The surest sign of
a first printing (I am told) is that there is an
R-in-a-circle logo on the copyright page, about
half an inch high.

Unfortunately, in today’s world of online auctions,
you don’t always get to see the copyright page.
Here are some other clues that will help you
rule out most of the later printings easily, just
from looking at the cover:

1) The publisher of the first printing is RINEHART &
CO., INCORPORATED, rather than the HOLT, RINEHART,
AND WINSTON, INC. on some later printgings. However,
most printings of this book were from that first
publisher, so don’t get too excited by the name.

2) There is no price printed on the cover (although
the copy may have a price rubber-stamped on it,
like mine does.) Most of the later editions have
a cover price of $1.00 clearly marked on the cover.
In fact, some printings have the cover price on
the front cover twice! (They didn’t raise the price
until 1972, when it went to $1.25.)

3) There is no title on the spine. They would add
the word PEANUTS to the spine with a later
printing.

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Well, that’s the news and info for this issue.
Yes, I know that I promised you some information
on another Peanuts guide to golf, but, ummmm…
I lost it. It’s probably within 3 feet of me
at this very moment, but it’s a tiny little
white thing lost among a sea of papers. I’ll
keep looking, I promise!

Until next time, keep sending me your questions,
comments, and change-of-email addresses. See
you in the funny papers!

–Nat

proprietor

http://AAUGH.com

e-mail: nat@AAUGH.com