Firestarter Collectible
What it’s about
Andy McGee and his wife once volunteered for a shadowy government experiment with a low-dose hallucinogen called Lot Six — and the drug left them with strange psychic abilities. Now their young daughter Charlie has been born with a terrifying gift of her own: she can start fires with her mind, and her power is growing. As the secret agency known as The Shop hunts the family to capture and weaponize the girl, Andy and Charlie run for their lives across America.
Significance A solo Stephen King novel (not a Bachman title), adapted into the 1984 film starring a young Drew Barrymore and remade in 2022; a cornerstone of King's "psychic-kids vs. government" canon alongside Carrie and The Institute.
How to spot a true first 30-second check
A true 1st/1st needs BOTH the book and the jacket verified. A first-state jacket on a later or book-club book — or the reverse — is a married copy, not a first.
The verification ledgerevery marker, graded — verified · asserted · unverified
Verified seen on a confirmed copy Asserted sourced, not yet photographed Unverified thin / contested
A true 1st/1st must show
- Verified Copyright address — 625 Madison book — "First published in 1980 by The Viking Press, 625 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022" on BOTH the copyright page and the rear jacket flap. This is Viking's 1979–early-1983 address and is the decisive first-era BOOK tell: a 1980-dated copy reading "40 West 23rd Street, N.Y. 10010" is a post-March-1983 reprint / book club, not the first. (The "First published in 1980" wording and the Phantasia acknowledgment are on all printings — they date the title, not the printing.)
- Asserted Number line — NONE book — A first printing has NO descending number line on the copyright page — necessary but NOT sufficient on its own (a book-club copy also has none). Later TRADE printings ADD a descending line whose lead digit is the printing (a fifth = 5 6 7 8 9…). Pair the absent line with the 625-Madison address.
- Asserted ISBN book — Printed ISBN 0-670-31541-9 on the copyright page / jacket. NEUTRAL, not a discriminator: the full-plate Book Club Edition reproduces the same ISBN (only a separate stripped-page BCE omits it), so ISBN presence never proves a first.
- Asserted Binding book — Quarter-bound: orange / reddish-amber cloth spine over black paper-covered boards, gilt "SK" stamped on the front board and gilt titling on the spine, sewn octavo, ~426–428 pp, top edge stained red, plain endpapers.
- Verified Jacket price jacket — $13.95, unclipped, on the upper front flap, with the "0980" (Sept 1980) jacket code. Confirms a Viking trade jacket. (Shared with later printings — not first-only.)
- Asserted Jacket art jacket — Steven Stroud art — glowing green eyes through orange/red flames on a dark ground. The Stroud trade jacket, not the Michael Whelan art of the Phantasia limited.
Disqualifies it — book-club or later
- Asserted Any number line — A descending number line on the copyright page means a LATER printing, never a first — and the lead digit names the printing (5 6 7 8 9 = fifth). The 'First Published in 1980' wording will still be there; ignore it and read the line.
- Asserted K48 gutter code — A small alphanumeric code (commonly K48) at the foot of the last full text page = Book Club Edition, not a trade first. The Viking trade first carries NO gutter code (Viking, unlike Doubleday, prints none).
- Verified "40 West 23rd Street" address — A copyright page (or rear jacket flap) reading "40 West 23rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10010" on a book dated "First published in 1980" = a post-March-1983 Viking Penguin production (later reprint or book club), NOT the 1980 first. Disqualifying regardless of a missing number line or a present ISBN. (The genuine first reads 625 Madison Avenue, N.Y. 10022.)
- Asserted Unpriced / 'Book Club Edition' jacket — A jacket with no flap price, or reading 'Book Club Edition' on the lower front flap, is the BCE jacket — disqualifying for a trade first.
- Asserted Michael Whelan jacket art — A Whelan-illustrated jacket is the Phantasia Press signed limited (725 copies, blue slipcase), a different and far scarcer book — NOT the Viking trade first, whose jacket is Stroud's green-eyes art.
Proves nothing — shared traps
- Shared "First Published in 1980 by The Viking Press" — This copyright statement is on EVERY Viking printing — first, fifth, tenth. It proves the title and publisher, never the printing. The number line (or its absence) is what decides.
- Shared $13.95 / "0980" front-flap price + code — Shared across early Viking printings — the documented fifth printing wears the identical unclipped $13.95 / 0980 jacket. It proves a Viking trade jacket only; confirm the first on the no-number-line copyright page.
- Shared Steven Stroud green-eyes jacket art — The same Stroud art was reused at least through the seventh printing. Correct art ≠ first printing; it only rules out the Whelan/Phantasia jacket.
- Shared 625 Madison Avenue address (within the 1980-era printings) — Among the 1980-era Viking printings (1st through ~7th) the "625 Madison Avenue, N.Y. 10022" address is shared, so it does not separate a first from a fifth — the number line does that. BUT the address IS diagnostic against later production: "40 West 23rd Street, N.Y. 10010" is Viking Penguin's post-March-1983 address, so a 1980-dated copy showing it is a reprint / book club, never the first.
What to look for
- Decisive (BOTH required): copyright page reads "625 Madison Avenue, N.Y. 10022" AND has NO number line. A "40 West 23rd Street / 10010" address on a 1980-dated copy = a post-1983 reprint / book-club, not the first.
- Trap: "First published in 1980 by The Viking Press" appears on ALL printings — it dates the title, it does NOT prove a first.
- Trap: no number line ALONE is not enough — a book-club edition also has none; the address is what separates a first from a post-1983 club/reprint.
- Trap: $13.95 / "0980" front-flap code is shared by early printings (even the 5th) — it proves a Viking trade jacket, not a first.
- Book Club Edition tells: a 40-West-23rd address, a no-price/"Book Club Edition" jacket, a K48-type gutter code, a rear-board blind-stamp, glued binding. NOTE: the full-plate BCE KEEPS the ISBN, so ISBN presence proves nothing.
- Wrong jacket: a Whelan-art jacket belongs to the Phantasia signed limited, not the Viking trade (Stroud art).
- Condition watch: price-clipped flaps hide the $13.95; ex-library, remainder marks, and rebacks cut value.
Verified listings marker-checked
Each copy screened against the seller's own photos. ✓ confirmed = a photo shows the decisive marker; ⚠ not pictured = the shot to ask for before buying. Condition grades are as-pictured.
Buyer beware — verify before you buy. These are our screening opinions, read from each seller’s own photographs; we can misjudge a copy or misread an image. A listing marked “1st/1st confirmed” is not a guarantee — independently confirm the decisive book and jacket markers with the seller before any purchase. Authentication and the buying decision remain the buyer’s responsibility.
A Viking 1980 first/first with both decisive tells legibly photographed — the 625-Madison copyright page carries no number line, and the unclipped $13.95 first-state flap is present — so nothing on the edition is outstanding; the heavy spine-end chipping and the inked ownership name are condition matters only.
- Copyright — Photo 12 is fully legible: "Copyright © Stephen King, 1980 / First published in 1980 by The Viking Press / 625 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022" — the pre-1983 address that marks the first — with ISBN 0-670-31541-9 and LCCN 80-14793 in the CIP block beneath.
- Number line — That same photo 12 shows the page running from "Set in CRT Garamond" to the Phantasia Press acknowledgment and stopping there: no descending number line and no added-printing statement anywhere on the page.
- Jacket price — Photo 7 has the jacket laid out flat, verso up: $13.95 printed at the head of the front flap, unclipped, with "Jacket painting by Steven Stroud" and the "0980" jacket code at its foot.
- Binding — Photo 8 shows the book jacket-off — black paper front board with the gilt "SK", quarter-bound in orange cloth — and photo 9 the spine, gilt "Firestarter" with "STEPHEN KING" and "VIKING" in black.
- Dust jacket — Photo 0 is the Stroud front panel and photo 1 the rear, carrying the Houston Chronicle blurb and "ISBN 0-670-31541-9" at the panel's lower edge; photo 2 is the jacket spine reading VIKING and photo 7 the rear flap "THE VIKING PRESS / 625 Madison Avenue / New York, N.Y. 10022 / PRINTED IN U.S.A."
- Endpapers / edges — Photo 11 shows the front pastedown and free endpaper open — plain, unprinted cream stock, as the rubric requires.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
A Viking 1980 first/first on both decisive tells — a square-on 625-Madison copyright page with no number line, and the unclipped $13.95 first-state flap — but the jacket never comes off in any of the eight frames, so the gilt "SK" front board is nowhere shown.
- Copyright — Photo 2 is a square-on, fully legible read: "Copyright © Stephen King, 1980 / First published in 1980 by The Viking Press / 625 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022", with ISBN 0-670-31541-9 and LCCN 80-14793.
- Number line — Photo 2 shows the page closing at the Phantasia Press acknowledgment with blank paper below it — no descending number line, no added-printing statement.
- Jacket price — Photo 1 shows $13.95 printed at the head of the front flap, unclipped, with "Jacket painting by Steven Stroud" and the "0980" code at the flap's foot.
- Dust jacket — Photo 3 is the rear flap "THE VIKING PRESS / 625 Madison Avenue / New York, N.Y. 10022 / PRINTED IN U.S.A.", photo 4 the rear panel with "ISBN 0-670-31541-9" at its lower edge, and photo 6 the jacket spine reading VIKING over the Stroud art.
- Binding — The jacket is never removed — photo 5 catches only the black board edges and the orange cloth spine strip through the jacket, and photo 7 is the fore-edge with the flaps still folded in — so the gilt "SK" front board goes unphotographed; ask the seller for a square-on jacket-off shot of the front board.
A fully documented Viking 1980 first/first — the copyright page, the jacket taken off the book with both flaps out, and the jacket-off binding are all photographed, and nothing on the edition is left outstanding.
- Copyright — Photo 6 is a clean, well-lit read: "Copyright © Stephen King, 1980 / First published in 1980 by The Viking Press / 625 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022", with ISBN 0-670-31541-9 and LCCN 80-14793.
- Number line — Photo 6 shows the text ending at the Phantasia Press acknowledgment with clean paper below it — no descending number line, no added-printing statement.
- Jacket price — Photo 2 has the jacket standing clear of the book with both flaps out: $13.95 at the head of the front flap, unclipped, and "Jacket painting by Steven Stroud" with the "0980" code at its foot.
- Dust jacket — Photo 3 shows the whole jacket — Stroud art front and rear, the Houston Chronicle blurb, the spine reading VIKING, and "ISBN 0-670-31541-9" set vertically along the rear panel's spine-side edge; photo 2 carries the rear-flap "THE VIKING PRESS / 625 Madison Avenue" imprint.
- Binding — Photo 4 shows the case jacket-off and laid open: salmon-orange cloth spine with the gilt "Firestarter", "VIKING" in black at the foot, and the gilt "SK" on the front paper board — which reads slate blue-grey under this cool studio light rather than the catalogued black.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
A Viking 1980 first/first with both decisive tells legibly photographed and the binding shown jacket-off; the damp mottling across the front board is fully pictured and bears on condition, not on the edition.
- Copyright — Photo 2 holds the book open to a fully legible copyright page — "First published in 1980 by The Viking Press / 625 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022", with ISBN 0-670-31541-9 and LCCN 80-14793 — facing the Shirley Jackson dedication.
- Number line — Photo 2 shows the text stopping at the Phantasia Press acknowledgment, with no descending number line and no added-printing statement below it.
- Jacket price — Photo 3 has the jacket off the book: $13.95 at the head of the front flap, unclipped, with the Steven Stroud painting credit and the "0980" code at its foot.
- Dust jacket — Photo 3 also carries the rear flap "THE VIKING PRESS / 625 Madison Avenue / New York, N.Y. 10022 / PRINTED IN U.S.A.", the jacket spine reading VIKING, and "ISBN 0-670-31541-9" printed vertically at the rear panel's spine-side edge — all on the correct Stroud art.
- Binding — Photo 1 shows the book jacket-off: orange cloth spine with the gilt "Firestarter" between black "STEPHEN KING" and "VIKING", and the gilt "SK" on the dark front paper board.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
The most thoroughly photographed of the eBay copies — nineteen frames covering the 625-Madison copyright page, the unclipped $13.95 flap, the jacket-off gilt-"SK" binding and the endpapers — a Viking 1980 first/first with nothing on the edition outstanding; the inked ownership name and an old retail sticker on the flap are condition matters.
- Copyright — Photo 17 reads clean: "Copyright © Stephen King, 1980 / First published in 1980 by The Viking Press / 625 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022", with ISBN 0-670-31541-9 and LCCN 80-14793.
- Number line — Photos 17 and 18 show the page closing at the Phantasia Press acknowledgment with nothing below it — no descending number line, no added-printing statement.
- Jacket price — Photo 4 shows $13.95 at the head of the front flap, unclipped, and photo 5 the same flap with "Jacket painting by Steven Stroud" and the "0980" code at its foot.
- Dust jacket — Photo 1 is the rear panel with the Houston Chronicle blurb and "ISBN 0-670-31541-9" at its lower edge, photo 8 the rear flap "THE VIKING PRESS / 625 Madison Avenue / New York, N.Y. 10022", and photo 2 the jacket spine reading VIKING.
- Binding — Photo 5 shows the jacket folded away from a black paper front board bearing the gilt "SK" over a salmon-orange cloth spine, photo 6 the boards again, and photo 7 the spine — gilt "Firestarter" with "STEPHEN KING" and "VIKING" in black.
- Endpapers / edges — Photo 3 shows the front pastedown and free endpaper open — plain, unprinted stock, as the rubric requires.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
Fully confirmed NF/NF first — plate clean, $13.95 unclipped; one small top-edge stain disclosed. Fair-to-good at $250.
- Number line — No descending number line on the copyright page — paired with the 625 Madison Avenue address, the two trade-first tells. (A number line = a later printing; a "40 West 23rd Street" address on a 1980 copy = a post-1983 reprint/BCE.)
- Jacket price — $13.95 printed at the top of the front flap and NOT clipped (photo 8); rear flap gives the Madison Ave Viking address.
- Copyright — 'First published in 1980 by The Viking Press, 625 Madison Avenue'; ISBN 0-670-31541-9; Phantasia line present.
- Binding — Black boards with gilt 'SK' monogram, salmon cloth spine (photo 5); jacket spine reads VIKING — correct trade binding.
- Top edge — Disclosed ~1/4in dark stain on the top edge of the text block (photo 6); confirm extent in hand if pursuing.
Stock-photo only — text describes a Viking first but nothing is pictured. Needs the copyright-page plate before any buy.
- Number line — No photos at all — every image is a stock placeholder; the no-number-line plate is unverified. Request the full copyright page.
- Copyright — 'First published in 1980 by The Viking Press' is seller text only, not photographed — ask for the copyright-page shot.
- Jacket price — Seller says unpriced-but-not-clipped; no flap photo — ask for the front flap to confirm the price state.
- Binding — Black boards / gilt 'SK' spine claimed in text only; request the binding shot.
No photos at all — below cover-only; only an unsupported text 'first edition' claim. Get the copyright-page plate first.
- Number line — Zero photos exist (placeholder 'Image Not Available'); the decisive no-number-line tell is unverified. Request the copyright page.
- Copyright — The 'First published in 1980 by The Viking Press' statement is not photographed — seller text only; ask for the page shot.
- Jacket price — No photo and the seller never even quotes $13.95 (only 'not clipped'); ask for the priced front flap.
- Binding — Black boards / gilt 'SK' not pictured; request the spine/boards shot. Note the disclosed spine-top chip repair.
Full identification detail & sourcescopyright · jacket · binding · book-club traps · print run · value · references
Two-layer answer, both layers re-confirmed against collector sources. (1) The Phantasia Press signed limited is the EARLIEST issue and King's FIRST signed limited: 725 NUMBERED copies bound in BLUE cloth with silver lettering on spine and front board, in a blue cloth slipcase, with a Michael Whelan dust jacket (Whelan's first King commission); PLUS 26 LETTERED (A-Z) deluxe copies bound in aluminum-coated cloth — the famous "Asbestos Firestarter." All copies signed/numbered by King July 5-8, 1980; issued at $35; ISBN 0-932096-05-0 (9780932096050); 428 pp + limitation leaf. stephenkingcollector.com states it "is in fact the true 1st printing of Firestarter, predating the Viking trade edition by several months." The Viking copyright page itself carries the acknowledgment line "A limited first edition of this book has been published by Phantasia Press." (2) For the common trade collector, the VIKING 1980 hardcover is the true first trade edition. So: Phantasia limited = scarcest/earliest true first; Viking trade = true first trade edition. The Phantasia (Whelan) and Viking (Stroud) jackets are DIFFERENT and not interchangeable. CORRECTION vs draft: the draft described only the lettered copies' aluminum/asbestos binding and omitted that the 725 NUMBERED copies are blue-cloth/silver-lettered in a blue slipcase.
First-printing points at a glance
Dust jacket
Front panel: stark image of glowing green eyes seen through orange/red flames against a dark ground, with title and author lettering (Stroud art). Spine and back continue the dark/flame motif. Front flap carries the $13.95 price and "0980" code. Rear flap/panel per Viking convention. (The "first-printing jacket produced slightly shorter than the boards" claim is anecdotal and not corroborated by the collector sources reviewed — treat as unverified rather than a diagnostic.)
Art / design: Viking trade jacket art: Steven Stroud (glowing green eyes seen through orange/red flames). The PHANTASIA Press limited uses a DIFFERENT jacket by Michael Whelan (Whelan's first King commission). A Whelan jacket on a "Viking" trade book is wrong — that art belongs to the Phantasia limited.
Also watch for: (1) POST-1983 REPRINT / BCE mis-sold as the 1980 first — the #1 trap for THIS title: a copy stamped "First published in 1980" whose copyright page reads "40 West 23rd Street, N.Y. 10010" is a post-March-1983 production, NOT the first (the first reads "625 Madison Avenue, N.Y. 10022"); the missing number line does NOT rescue it. ALWAYS read the address first. (2) Married jackets — a later/club book in a first jacket (or the reverse): confirm the copyright-page 625-Madison address AND no number line AND an unclipped $13.95/"0980" flap, and that the rear-flap address matches the copyright page. (3) Book-club copies misrepresented as trade firsts — check for the 40-West-23rd address, a no-price/"Book Club Edition" jacket, a gutter code (e.g. K48), a rear-board blind-stamp, glued binding; note the full-plate BCE KEEPS the ISBN, so ISBN presence is not proof. (4) Price-clipped jackets hide the $13.95 (and can disguise an unpriced BCE flap). (5) A Whelan jacket sold as "the Firestarter first" — that art belongs to the Phantasia limited, not the Viking trade (Stroud). (6) Ex-library copies, remainder marks, restored/rebacked copies reduce value. (7) Be skeptical of the "jacket shorter than the boards is normal" claim used to excuse a married or trimmed jacket — it is not a documented diagnostic for this title.
Print run & scarcity
Collector/dealer consensus figure (publisher never disclosed an audited count). stephenkingcollector.com (fetched verbatim) states: "Firestarter (426 pages - © 1980) Publisher: Viking First Edition: 100,000".
First-state points & errata
Two co-decisive copyright-page points, BOTH required: (a) the "625 Madison Avenue, N.Y. 10022" address (a "40 West 23rd Street / 10010" address on a 1980-dated Firestarter = post-March-1983 reprint/BCE, disqualifying); and (b) NO number line (later TRADE printings ADD a descending line whose lead digit equals the printing — a fifth begins with 5). Absence of a number line ALONE is NOT sufficient — a BCE also lacks one. The Phantasia acknowledgment line and the printed ISBN 0-670-31541-9 appear on the trade copyright page but are NOT first-only: the full-plate BCE reproduces both, so treat them as neutral corroboration, not proof. The jacket code "0980" and $13.95 price on the front flap are shared by early printings (a documented FIFTH printing wears the identical jacket), so they confirm a Viking trade jacket, never a first. No documented TEXT errata separate first-state first printings of the Viking trade.
Limited & signed editions
Phantasia Press (Huntington Woods, MI), 1980 — King's FIRST signed limited. 725 NUMBERED copies: signed/numbered by King, BLUE cloth with silver lettering (spine + front board), blue cloth slipcase, Michael Whelan dust jacket, 428 pp + limitation leaf, ISBN 0-932096-05-0. PLUS 26 LETTERED (A-Z) deluxe copies bound in aluminum-coated cloth — the "Asbestos Firestarter," King's scarcest collectible. Issued at $35. VALUE CORRECTION: numbered ~$3,000-$5,000 in fine; lettered ~$50,000-$55,000 per stephenkingcollector (the draft's "~$10,000+" understates the lettered). Later 2022 Whelan signed/remarqued JACKET-ONLY tiers exist but are not the book.
Market value confirmed sales
$150–$450 (genuine unsigned Viking trade first, fine/fine, unclipped $13.95 jacket); signed firsts $1,200–$2,000+
Assumes a genuine first edition / first printing in near-fine to fine condition (clean copy, unclipped jacket). Lesser condition is worth less.
Confirmed sales: Donald M. Grant lettered ltd (1 of 26), signed, fine — ~$23,500 (dealer/auction-grade sale, reported 2025) — NOTE: limited, not the trade first. Phantasia Press ltd (1 of 751), signed, slipcased w/ Whelan DJ — consistently $1,500–$2,500 range across AbeBooks/Biblio SOLD records. Unsigned Viking trade first, signed-by-author fine copy dealer-sold ~$1,398 (Act2/AbeBooks dealer sale). Plain unsigned Viking trade first, fine/fine unclipped — dealer/eBay SOLD typically $150–$400 (e.g. The First Edition Rare Books VG copy sold; multiple eBay 'true 1st' sold listings in $120–$350 band). OUR FIRST IN-HOUSE COMP ON THE PLAIN UNSIGNED TRADE FIRST — eBay item 168351258387, seller toadsbutteredtoast: SOLD at $88, the listing ending 2026-07-15 (we logged it dead in the 2026-07-24 liveness sweep). The $88 is a REALIZED price, not an ask: a GetItem probe at DetailLevel=ReturnAll, run 2026-07-24 and independently re-run before this went to the page, returns ListingType FixedPriceItem, ListingStatus Completed, Quantity 1 / QuantitySold 1, BidCount 0, StartPrice = CurrentPrice = ConvertedCurrentPrice = $88.00 at currencyID USD (native, so no conversion phantom), and NO BestOfferDetails node at all — no offer facility existed on the listing, so nothing could have been accepted under the list figure and the buyer took the Buy-It-Now. Our own board corroborates it: the copy was screened at a $98 ask on 2026-06-23 and the seller's own cut to $88 was picked up by the 2026-07-11 liveness check, so the figure it sold at is the figure it was listed at. That probe, not our July liveness sweep, is the authority here — the sweep asked eBay for the nested BestOfferDetails.BestOfferEnabled selector, which returns no BestOfferDetails node at all on a completed listing, so it failed open and captioned every sold row 'no Best Offer' whether or not that was true; the selector has since been widened to the whole BestOfferDetails node and verified item by item. THE COPY was confirmed by the Collectible-tier cohort re-grade — all 18 seller plates read, confidence high, married-risk low — not by a screening glance. The PRINTING is settled on the book block: a fully legible copyright page reading 'First published in 1980 by The Viking Press / 625 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022' with NO number line and no additional-printing statement — the 625 Madison address rules out the post-March-1983 Viking Penguin reprint/club, the absent line rules out a later trade printing. (The printed ISBN 0-670-31541-9 is on the page but carries NO weight in this attribution: the full-plate BCE reproduces the same ISBN, so its presence proves nothing.) THE JACKET is the Steven Stroud trade wrapper — unclipped $13.95 at the top of the front flap, the '0980' (Sept 1980) code on the lower flap beside the 'Jacket painting by Steven Stroud' credit, and a rear flap reading 'THE VIKING PRESS / 625 Madison Avenue / New York, N.Y. 10022 / PRINTED IN U.S.A.' with NO 'Book Club Edition' line. That establishes a genuine PRICED TRADE jacket, rules out the unpriced club wrapper, and closes the marriage question — but it is NOT a first-only tell, because the documented fifth printing wears the identical $13.95 / '0980' jacket and the Stroud art runs through at least the seventh printing. Book and jacket were photographed on the same copy, so nothing is married. CONDITION, both our reads quoted as recorded: the screening pass over all 18 plates graded it 'Near Fine book / VG+ jacket'; the cohort re-read of those same plates called it 'overall a solid Good-to-VG trade first with a worn-but-complete, unclipped jacket', with the book block 'clean and bright' and the boards sound — the value-reducing flaw is a chip and short tear with an associated crease at the jacket spine crown, plus edge and corner wear, light soiling and the toning endemic to this title's white wrapper. At $88 this dual-verified first sold below the $150 floor of our fine/fine band, below the $120–$350 third-party range cited above, and below the $130–$200 our own screen thought realistic for this very copy. It is one sale of a jacket-flawed copy, and it is the only in-house comp we hold on the plain unsigned trade first: it sets the bottom rung. It does not on its own reprice a fine/fine copy, and one datum cannot settle whether the band is high — the next dual-verified, genuinely fine/fine SOLD copy is the comp that decides that.
Book-club edition (the trap): $10–$35 (Book-of-the-Month / Viking BCE — the dominant trap; common, low value even with jacket) — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.
Firestarter had a large first print run and is one of the MORE COMMON King 1980-era firsts, so the unsigned trade first is modestly priced — condition and an UNCLIPPED $13.95 jacket are everything; a price-clipped or restored/married jacket cuts value 40–60%. Foxing/spine-toning (endemic to this title's paper) drags most copies to VG. Signed/inscribed copies jump to four figures ($1,200–$2,000+). THE #1 THING separating a real first from the mislisted copies of THIS title: read the COPYRIGHT-PAGE ADDRESS — the genuine 1980 first shows '625 Madison Avenue, N.Y. 10022'; a 1980-dated copy reading '40 West 23rd Street, N.Y. 10010' is a post-March-1983 Viking Penguin reprint/book-club, NOT the first (added 2026-07-03 after a 40-West-23rd BCE mis-passed our old number-line-only rule). Then confirm no number line, and that the jacket carries the $13.95 front-flap price (BCE jackets are UNPRICED). Note: the missing number line does NOT prove a first on its own (a BCE also lacks one) and the full-plate BCE KEEPS the ISBN, so ISBN presence is neutral; a rear-board blind-stamp corroborates a club copy. Nor is the priced jacket first-only — the documented fifth printing wears the same unclipped $13.95 / '0980' wrapper and the Stroud art runs on through at least the seventh printing, so the jacket proves a TRADE copy and the copyright page proves the PRINTING. The brief's 'Doubleday gutter code' point is a distractor — that applies to The Shining/earlier King; Firestarter is Viking. A NOTE AGAINST OURSELVES, logged 2026-07-24: on the $88 copy recorded above (eBay 168351258387) our own as-pictured screening read called $130–$200 realistic and set fair value at $150; it was asking $98 when we screened it on 2026-06-23, the seller had cut the ask to $88 by our 2026-07-11 liveness check, and it cleared at $88. That is one sale, not a trend, and it is set down here only so the next jacket-flawed Firestarter is screened against a real realized number instead of an estimate. AND A NOTE ON THE BAND ITSELF: the $150–$450 fine/fine range is supported entirely by third-party dealer and aggregate-eBay references — we hold NO in-house confirmed-sold anchor at fine/fine, and the $88 copy (jacket-flawed) cannot serve as one. The live board neither proves nor contradicts the band, because asks are not sales: four copies we grade CONFIRMED_FIRST currently ask $100, $165.40, $175 and $250, but only the $250 copy (AbeBooks 32428817459, PSBooks — 8 plates re-read at high confidence, Near Fine book / Near Fine jacket) has had a second look, the other three rest on a single screening pass and have never been re-verified, and our own rating calls even that $250 ask past fair ($150) for the condition. The two higher asks on the board, $360 and $375, are NOT support for the $450 ceiling and should not be read as any: both are COVER_ONLY on our own screen and rated PASS — the $375 copy (James Graham Bookseller) shows a single dust-jacket photograph and no flap, and the $360 copy (Burm Booksellers) has no seller photographs at all, only stock images, its own seller text reading 'no price on front flap but not clipped' — an UNPRICED flap, which on this title is the club-jacket signature rather than a condition note. Their 'fine/fine' is the sellers' word, not our grade. The next confirmed, dual-verified, genuinely fine/fine SOLD copy is the comp that will test this range.
- https://thefirstedition.com/product/firestarter/
- https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/firestarter/author/stephen-king/first-edition/
- https://www.act2books.com/product/38180/Firestarter---Signed-First-Edition
- https://natedsandersauctionblog.com/stephen-king-firestarter-1980-first-edition-of-26-lettered-copies/
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/276738417796
- https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/celebrity/stephen-king-firestarter-signed-book-value-451217-20250115
Sources
- https://thefirstedition.com/product/firestarter/
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/firestarter.html
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/limited/firestarter.html
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/forums/other-edition-questions-f4/list-earliest-book-club-edition-printings-t2068.html
- https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Firestarter-Novel-Fifth-Printing-King-Stephen/31214264906/bd
- https://www.secondstorybooks.com/pages/books/1389313/stephen-king/firestarter-signed
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/115721189759
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/405882004701
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/334702027303
- https://stephenking.com/works/limited/firestarter.html
- https://www.michaelwhelan.com/firestarter-signed-and-remarqued/
- https://www.carpetbaggerbooks.com/pages/books/7180/stephen-king/firestarter
- https://historical.ha.com/itm/books/signed-editions/stephen-king-firestarter-signed-limited-edition-huntington-woods-michigan-phantasia-press-1980-first/a/658-26254.s
- https://books.hyraxia.com/6119-stephen-king-firestarter-all-four-dates-phantasia-press-1980-limited-edition-signed
- https://www.biblio.com/book/firestarter-stephen-king-signed-limited-edition/d/315515141
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/firestarter.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestarter_(novel)
- https://www.bookpoi.com/firestarter_by_stephen_king_first_edition_identification.html
Verification notes: VERIFICATION PASS findings, with corrections to the draft where sources disagreed:
1) NEW INDEPENDENT SOURCES added (not in draft sources[]): the documented FIFTH-PRINTING AbeBooks listing (BiblioFile) showing how later printings are marked; secondstorybooks.com Phantasia #200/725 listing; three eBay BCE listings (K48, MP4Z, W31 gutter codes); and the stephenkingcollector.com BCE-printings FORUM thread.
2) "0980" jacket code is NOT a first-printing identifier (DRAFT OVERSTATED). The documented fifth-printing copy carries the SAME "0980" front-flap jacket, the SAME $13.95 price, AND the SAME "First Published in 1980 by The Viking Press" statement — it differs ONLY by a number line beginning with 5. Conclusion (SUPERSEDED — see point 10): the absence of a number line is NECESSARY but NOT sufficient (a Book Club Edition also lacks one); the copyright-page ADDRESS is co-decisive — 625 Madison Avenue = the 1980 first, 40 West 23rd Street = a post-March-1983 reprint/BCE.
3) Phantasia limited binding corrected/expanded. stephenkingcollector + dealer listings confirm 725 NUMBERED = BLUE cloth, silver lettering (spine + front board), blue slipcase; the 26 LETTERED = aluminum-coated cloth ("Asbestos Firestarter"). The draft described only the lettered binding. Signed July 5-8 1980; issued $35; ISBN 0-932096-05-0; 428pp + limitation leaf.
4) Phantasia VALUES corrected: stephenkingcollector lists numbered ~$3,000-$4,000 (dealers ~$4,000-$5,000) and LETTERED ~$50,000-$55,000 — the draft's "~$10,000+" understated the lettered tier.
5) Board color confirmed BLACK (gilt "SK" on front board, a detail the draft omitted); spine cloth read variably as red/orange/amber by dealers. One search summary's "beige boards" is an outlier and was rejected.
6) BCE gutter-code DATE key softened: gutter codes K48/K39/W31/MP4Z appear on confirmed BCE copies, but the stephenkingcollector forum administrator states there is NO authoritative published key matching King BCE gutter codes to dates — so presence of a code is diagnostic, the seller-claimed date is not.
7) Page count is a SOURCE CONFLICT: stephenkingcollector = 426pp; thefirstedition.com and Heritage = 428pp. Recorded as ~426-428pp rather than the draft's flat 428.
8) "Jacket shorter than the boards" and "blue patterned endpapers" remain UNVERIFIED — not corroborated by the collector sources reviewed; demoted from diagnostic to anecdote/unverified.
9) CONFIRMED as drafted: red top-edge stain; quarter-bound (not full cloth); Stroud (Viking trade) vs Whelan (Phantasia) jacket distinction; Madison Avenue address on copyright page + jacket; 100,000-copy Viking first printing; the Phantasia-acknowledgment line on the trade copyright page.
10) 2026-07-03 ADDRESS CORRECTION (root-caused + guarded). A nandjtoys listing (eBay 407044256278; and the earlier same-copy relist 407011649609 we had wrongly CONFIRMED) exposed that 'no number line' is NOT sufficient — a Book Club / post-1983 reprint has no number line, keeps the ISBN, and keeps the Phantasia line. The decisive addition is the copyright-page ADDRESS: the genuine 1980 first reads '625 Madison Avenue, N.Y. 10022'; a 1980-dated copy reading '40 West 23rd Street, N.Y. 10010' is a POST-MARCH-1983 Viking Penguin reprint/BCE, not the first. Verified by a 4-angle research workflow (stephenkingcollector.com 1st/firestarter.html + forum thread t2691 + thefirstedition.com + the Viking address timeline off the Christine-1983 thread) and corroborated in-house by the owner's Cujo 1981 first (625 Madison). Also corrected: the old 'BCE lacks the ISBN' claim — the full-plate BCE RETAINS the ISBN (ISBN presence is neutral). Two live listings re-graded to WRONG_OR_LATER on the address (407011649609 nandjtoys; 157417523974 mnfound). CLASS-WIDE follow-on OPEN: apply the 625-vs-40-West address tell across the other Viking-era King titles wherever 'no number line' is treated as the sole first tell.