Those intimately familiar with Phil Goldstein’s Color Series know a couple of things. They know these booklets originally sold for a very small amount of money. They know the material, while not overflowing the covers, was thought provoking and practical for a working mentalist. They also know the prices these booklets fetched on the eBay market in later years made a 1982 investment in Microsoft look like a “marginal investment.”

The booklets come to mind because, as I reaquaint myself to things in Casa LeBlanc, I’ve come across the still-sealed package from my friends at H&R Magic Books which contained my new copy of “Prism” — the reprinted version of the Color Series. (A little advanced planning on my part would have allowed me to pick up the copy in person when it arrived in the upstairs hallowed hall of H&R, but the phrase “advanced planning” stands in opposition to “Surprise!” — which is tattooed to the skin beneath my wristwatch.)

While attending MAGIC Live! last year, Jim Sisti, Jim’s wife Sandy, and I happened to be the next folks in line in front of Max Maven and Stephen Minch — all of us waiting to be admitted to the theater for one of the two evening shows. Among the several topics of conversation was the Color Series and the question I’m sure neither of them were ever asked (at least, not in the ten seconds previous to our inquiry): were the Color Series of booklets going to be reprinted?

The answer was neither “yes” or “no.” In fact, there was no absolute, usable answer at all. At least no “no” gave hope there could be a reprinting, even if it took someone paying Tony Soprano himself to drive up to Washington and personally impress upon the fine folks at Hermetic Press how important it is to do this thing.

So it was with a great deal of happiness that the announcement in early January finally made its waves among the teaming masses that a new Max Maven book was to be released real soon now. (And this was not the long awaited book on the terrifying beauty that is the Gilbreath Principle.) It was the long awaited (for some, feared) reprint of the Color Series.

While there are any number of “name” performers who are feathering their 401K plans with issues, reissues, repackages, etc., (my sense of propriety doesn’t allow me to link to P*ngu*n Magic) it’s never a bad day when someone — like Max Maven — turns out something actually valuable and useful and original — especially if it’s a reissue of hard-to-find material.

As you are probably already aware, not every text on magic and mentalism from the 70s is worthy of obtaining and study. My magic library has the “hell shelf” near the floor and it extends from one end of the book case to the other filled with the magic book equivalent of 1970s Leif Garret posters; things published that probably seemed like a really good idea at the time, but viewed in the light of a 21st century sense of reality pale into adbsurdity. (No, I don’t actually have a Leif Garrett poster, so please don’t ask what I’d take for it. As for the albums, I’m keeping them. Don’t ask about them either.)

Back to the eBay revolution.

Over the years occasionally someone on a newsgroup or discussion board would ask about a trick, and someone may reference a booklet from the Color Series. So, the magic guy would call His Favorite Dealer and the conversation might go along these lines: “Got the Color Series? No? Okay. What’s new this week?”

But there came a point in time in the late 90s when, thanks to the lifeforce that is the Internet, interest in the series rallied into frenzy. And, thanks to to the lifeforce- and money-sucking entity known as eBay, those interests were satiated at prices that rose into the several hundreds of dollars. At those prices, it also became common knowledge that some of those sets sold through eBay auctions were manufactured by someone who was not Phil Goldstein or Max Maven. They were Deddied, if you will.

Prior to the re-release of the Series, a common question would pop up whenever the juxtaposed words “color” and “series” came up in idle conversation. And that’s “are they worth those prices?” Now that’s a topic to throw into the same column as politics and religion.

“Worth” is a concept, like most others, that is meaningless without some sort of context to go along with it. What are they worth in comparison to what? For what reason or purpose?

I buy magic and mentalism books for one of four primary reasons, or a combination of them. First, I purchase a book (booklet, manuscript, penciled-on sheets of toilet paper) because I wish to perform that trick and I believe if I perform something, I should own a legitimate copy of the text. Yes, I know, some people think that’s silly. I happen to think “Who makes the better captain: Kirk or Picard?” arguments silly, but different strokes for different folks, I always say. (And it’s Picard, by the way.)

Second, I buy books because they increase my knowledge of the subject matter. When one becomes seriously interested in a topic, doesn’t it make sense that he surround himself with written material that adds to his knowledge base on the subject?

On a related note, if more “magic inventors” purchased and actually read more books on their chosen craft, far fewer “accidental reinventions” would occur. (And if some “name” magicians would be mindful of what they’ve already released several dozen times already, using different titles, some online magic stores would find it necessary to reduce their inventory of that author by several magnitudes.)

Third, I buy a book because I collect books. I sometimes buy several editions of the same book. For instance, I have a hard cover version of Larry Becker’s “STUNNERS!” that I purchased from Tom Ladshaw. It was originally in Robert Weill’s library; now it’s in mine. (May Bob rest in peace.) When Larry released “STUNNERS! Plus!” I purchased a copy of that, too, even though Larry sent to me a PDF file of all the “Plus!” material. I wanted to own a copy of the new book anyway.

Hilliard’s “Greater Magic” is another of my favorites. I own seven hard cover versions of that book. My favorite copy, though, is another Tom Ladshaw buy: a pristine first edition that came from David Price’s personal library. The other copies are first and second editions in various grades of condition.

These are items that, because of their limited production and availability, tend to go up in monetary value.

Finally, I may buy something to support a writer. This is not to say I’m not interested in or don’t value the material or the quality of the material, but sometimes I feel compelled to purchase a copy of something because some authors should be given a reason or two to continue creating new stuff.

So, back to the worth of the Color Series. Were they worth several hundred dollars for the set?

Well, for me, that’s an easy “yes.” I actually perform a couple of tricks from those booklets, so Reason Number 1 above fits here. Yes, they are variations from the written word but not so much so that I can claim any ownership of the tricks. When a performer uses a trick to earn a living, several hundred dollars is not the issue. A working illusionist can easily justify fifteen thousand dollars for a Steinmeyer illusion built by John Gaughan or Bill Smith. The average weekend warrior — while a perfectly respectable aspect in the business end of magic — is not likely to find a rational reason in this or any alternate universe for spending that kind of jack on an illusion.

I’ll also say that I have collected lots of Phil Goldstein items over the years. I think he’s an interesting fellow and I enjoy reading what he wrote. And because I’m not the only Goldstein fan on the planet and there are only so many copies of Goldstein items in existence, the monetary value tends to go up on them over time. This is not a bad reason to purchase something. (It’s not a great reason, but it’s not a bad one either.) I think you’ll find that, even though Prism has been released, there’s still a collector’s market that wishes to obtain a legitimate set of the Color Series because that’s what collectors do: they collect.

So, given that, should you obtain either the original Color Series or a copy of Prism? Well, that depends on your reasons for obtaining the material.

At minimum, you should obtain a copy of the book for the material in it. If you have an interest in magic and mentalism — and I have to think you do, or you wouldn’t be reading this blog and, especially, this post — you should study the tricks and what makes them tick. This is one of the most important reasons for studying tricks by authors like Goldstein; it’s not so much to learn the trick, but to learn why the trick was constructed the way it was and why it plays the way it does to an audience.

By the way, you’ll note there is no mention of “limited edition” in connection with the release of Prism. There’s a scurge crawling across the landscape of magic and mentalism publishing that some publishers have embraced to the eternal irritation of others: the limited edition.

What exactly is the point of limited edition? If you think about it, most every book or trick published in our bizarre little world is, by definition, limited edition. To append the words “limited edition” to most of the releases you find today is just silly and/or egocentric.

Sure, there are exceptions to that rule: anything Todd Karr at The Miracle Factory puts out deserves limited edition status. Several limited edition versions of Kaufman’s books certainly deserve the label because they are special leather bound and cased versions of a released book.

But someone releasing an e-book as a ‘limited edition”? Oh, brother.

Steve Bryant has a great writeup on Prism in his February 2005 edition of Little Egypt Magic. Go there and read what he’s written and maybe that will tip you over the fence if you’re still wondering whether or not to buy the book. (You do read Little Egypt Magic faithfully, right? It’s always — always — interesting, and besides, where else can you go to see these words on a web page about magic: “It was only then that I learned how truly devastating Don Alan’s load was.”)