11 Scribes · Stephen King & Bachman · Richard Bachman

The Running Man Collectible pb original

as Richard Bachman
1982 · Signet (New American Library / NAL), New York
First-edition cover of The Running Man
First-edition jacket (first edition (verified vs jacket)) · source

What it’s about

In a decaying near-future America, a desperate, broke, and blacklisted Ben Richards needs money for his sick daughter and signs up for the deadliest game show on television. Cast as a contestant on "The Running Man," he is declared an enemy of the state and turned loose with a head start, hunted across the country by professional Hunters while every citizen is paid to inform on him — the longer he survives, the more he earns. It is a brutal, breakneck dystopian thriller about a man with nothing left to lose racing a clock and a nation that wants him dead.

Significance Written by Stephen King under his Richard Bachman pseudonym (1982), reportedly drafted in a single week; it later inspired the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film and a 2025 Edgar Wright adaptation, and remains one of the most prized titles among the early Bachman books.

Value$450–800 (genuine first printing, Fine, full 1–9 number line, $2.50 cover intact) confirmed salesnear-fine / fine

How to spot a true first 30-second check

★ BookOn the copyright page, a true first printing shows BOTH "First Printing, May, 1982" AND a complete number line that still includes the 1 — "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9." The number line is the lone decisive tell, because the printing statement by itself is shared with the second printing. The line is printed low-to-high; the LOWEST digit present equals the printing, so the 1 must be there. If the lowest digit is a 2 (the line reads "2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9," missing the 1) it is the second printing — produced for Canadian distribution and carrying the very same "First Printing, May, 1982" slug — not the May 1982 first.
★ JacketThere is no dust jacket — this is a Signet (NAL) mass-market paperback original — so the analogous tell rides on the printed cover: the $2.50 cover price together with the Signet catalog code AE1508 (ISBN 0451115082) on Don Brautigam's wraps. A higher cover price, a different code, or the later 1987 movie-tie-in cover marks a reissue, not the first. The cover alone cannot rank a copy (price/code persisted across early printings), so it is a corroborating tell, not a standalone proof; the number line in the book block does the deciding.

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.

Copyright"Copyright © 1982 by Richard Bachman" with "First Printing, May, 1982" stated on the copyright page — but that statement is shared with the second printing; the number line decides.
Number line ★ book tell"1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" — the lowest digit shown is the printing, so the 1 must be present; a line whose lowest digit is 2 = the second printing. THE decisive tell (the printing statement is shared).
Gutter code—n/a
Jacket price ★ jacket tell$2.50 printed on the front cover with Signet code AE1508 (ISBN 0451115082) — no jacket; paperback original. Corroborating, not decisive (price/code recur on the second printing).
BindingMass-market paperback, glued (perfect-bound) pictorial wraps; no boards, no cloth, ~4.2 x 7 in.
Dust jacketNone — paperback original. Don Brautigam cover painting; Signet logo + AE1508 + $2.50 on the front.
Endpapers / edges—n/a
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 Number line book — A complete number line including the 1 — "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" — on the copyright page. The lowest digit shown is the printing; the 1 must be present. This is THE decisive book tell. (stephenkingcollector: 'the numbers 123456789 will be on the copyright page'; veryfinebooks first-printing copy: '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9'.)
  • Asserted Printing statement book — "First Printing, May, 1982" with "Copyright © 1982 by Richard Bachman" on the copyright page. Necessary but NOT sufficient alone — the second printing carries the identical statement; pair it with the full number line.
  • Verified Cover price + code jacket — No dust jacket (paperback original). $2.50 cover price and Signet catalog code AE1508 (ISBN 0451115082) on Don Brautigam's pictorial wraps. Corroborating, not decisive — the same price/code recur on the second printing.

Disqualifies it — book-club or later

  • Asserted Number line dropped to 2 — A number line whose lowest digit is 2 ("2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9," missing the 1) is the SECOND printing — and it still reads "First Printing, May, 1982," so it is the single most common copy mis-sold as a first. This second printing was a Canadian-distribution run; the missing 1 settles it.
  • Asserted Wrong price / code / cover — Any cover price above $2.50, a catalog code other than AE1508, or the 1987 movie-tie-in cover is a later printing or reissue, not the 1982 first.
  • Asserted Hardcover "Running Man" — There is NO hardcover first of this title. Any hardcover is the 1985 NAL omnibus "The Bachman Books" (a later state of the text) or a still-later edition — never a first of The Running Man.

Proves nothing — shared traps

  • Shared "First Printing, May, 1982" statement — Shared by the first AND second printings — both copies print this exact line. On its own it proves nothing; only the number line that still includes the 1 separates the true first from the second (Canadian) printing.
  • Shared $2.50 price / AE1508 code — The cover price and catalog code carry across the early Signet printings, so a $2.50 / AE1508 cover does not by itself rank a copy as a first — it must be married to a number line that includes the 1.
  • Shared Don Brautigam cover art — Brautigam's cover painting appears on both the first and the second Signet printings, so the artwork is not a printing-state tell — only the number line is.

What to look for

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.

Seller’s photo of this copy
✓ 1st/1st confirmed$255.96salvation_armanni ↗
bench-verified Pass Good book (reading copy) / no jacket — paperback, cover is the binding

Genuine 1982 Signet Bachman first — number line confirmed; a hard-used reader, so $344 is dear (worth ~$90-$120).

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Number line — Full "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" line with the 1 present, legibly photographed — the decisive proof of a true first printing.
  • Copyright — "First Printing, May, 1982" under "Copyright © 1982 by Richard Bachman" — pictured together with the number line.
  • Jacket price — $2.50 first-state cover price, Signet AE1508 / ISBN 0-451-11508-2 — correct first-printing wrap (paperback, no jacket).
  • Binding — Mass-market paperback original wraps; 12 photos cover the book. Bench-verified plate-by-plate.

✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.

Seller’s photo of this copy
✓ 1st/1st confirmed$400burnsiderarebooks ↗
bench-verified Pass VG/Good paperback (no jacket — paperback original); leans to the lower side of seller's "About Very Good" due to amateur restoration

A real 1982 Signet first, but amateur restoration + marker bleed cap it — fair-for-condition ~$225, not the asked $400.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Number line — Complete "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" line, the 1 present, legibly pictured — the decisive first-printing tell.
  • Copyright — "First Printing, May, 1982" under "Copyright © 1982 by Richard Bachman" shown beside the number line.
  • Jacket price — $2.50 first-state cover price + Signet AE1508 / ISBN 0-451-11508-2 — correct first-printing cover state.
  • Binding — Paperback original wraps. Seller-admitted amateur black color-fill at spine ends/front edge, marker bleed to first leaf, over a creased, cocked spine.

✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.

Seller’s photo of this copy
✓ 1st/1st confirmed$550backintimerarebooks ↗
bench-verified Pass VG+ (book; paperback — no dust jacket, the cover is the surface)

A genuine 1982 Signet paperback original of The Running Man, with the lone decisive tell — the complete copyright-page number line — photographed whole and legible, and nothing material left unpictured.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos
  • Number line — Photo 3 shows the full line "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" running left to right with the 1 present and lowest and nothing cropped away — the lone decisive tell, since a line whose lowest digit is 2 would be the Canadian second printing.
  • Copyright — Photo 3 also reads "Copyright © 1982 by Richard Bachman", "First Printing, May, 1982" seated directly above the number line, and "PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" below it — corroborating only, as the second printing wears the identical printing statement.
  • Cover price — The spine foot in photo 1 legibly reads the Signet ISBN "0-451-11508-2" with the "250" price group beside it; the front-cover top strip is in the same frame but small and shot at an angle, resolving only as far as "SIGNET•451•AE15…" — corroborating either way, since price and code recur on the second printing.
  • Binding — Photos 1 and 2 show a mass-market paperback in pictorial wraps — flat wrapped spine, trimmed text block, no boards and no cloth — as issued.
  • Dust jacket — The photos show the book as issued in wraps; this is a paperback original with no jacket, so there is no jacket to marry and the book tell alone carries the attribution.

✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.

Full identification detail & sourcescopyright · jacket · binding · book-club traps · print run · value · references
Is this the true first?No. This is a PAPERBACK ORIGINAL (Signet mass-market wraps, May 1982). There was NO hardcover first edition. The text did not appear in hardcover until the 1985 NAL omnibus "The Bachman Books" (collecting Rage / The Long Walk / Roadwork / The Running Man + "Why I Was Bachman", Oct 4 1985, $19.95) — but that omnibus is the first HARDCOVER appearance, not a first edition of THIS title. The true first of The Running Man is the 1982 Signet paperback.
The 1982 Signet (NAL) mass-market paperback is the TRUE first edition, first printing. Bachman's fourth novel; King's pseudonym was not yet publicly cracked (the Bachman = King reveal came in 1985), so the original print run was small and the book is now scarce in collectible grade. No small-press limited and no hardcover precedes it. The Suntup "Covers Collection" fine-art print explicitly credits the art as appearing on "the 1st edition cover," and multiple dealers (veryfinebooks, Back in Time, bookshopapocalypse, Burnside) all describe the 1982 Signet wraps as the first edition / first printing.

First-printing points at a glance

First-printing statement"First Printing, May, 1982" stated on the copyright page (with "Copyright © 1982 by Richard Bachman"). Necessary but NOT sufficient on its own: the second printing — a Canadian-distribution run — carries the very same "First Printing, May, 1982" slug, so the statement is a shared trap. It proves a first only when married to a number line that still includes the 1.
Number line"1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" — a complete number line that still includes the 1 — on the copyright page of a true first printing. The line is printed low-to-high, so the LOWEST digit present equals the printing: the 1 must be there. If the lowest digit is a 2 (the line reads "2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9," the 1 dropped) it is the SECOND printing, not the first. This number line is the lone decisive tell, because the "First Printing, May, 1982" statement is shared with that second printing.
Gutter / printer codeN/A — Doubleday gutter codes apply only to Doubleday hardcovers; this is a Signet/NAL paperback.
First printing — copiesNot publicly disclosed
First jacket price$2.50 (printed on the cover — this is a paperback, so the price is on the COVER, not a dust-jacket flap), alongside the Signet catalog code AE1508 (ISBN 0451115082). Corroborating, not decisive: the same $2.50 price and AE1508 code carry across the early Signet printings, so they cannot rank a copy on their own. Later editions/reissues carry a higher cover price or a different code. ($2.50 printed on the front cover alongside the Signet code "AE1508" (mass-market wraps). No dust jacket exists (paperback original), so the price rides on the cover rather than a flap.)
Board (panel) colorN/A — no boards. Pictorial mass-market paperback wraps (card covers), Don Brautigam cover painting over the full front; standard Signet spine. Trim ~4.2 x 7 in (standard mass-market).
Spine / center bindingN/A — paperback. Standard Signet mass-market spine with title/author/Signet logo and code AE1508; no cloth binding.
Binding styleMass-market paperback, glued (perfect-bound) wraps. Not sewn, no boards, no dust jacket.
Topstain / endpapersN/A — mass-market paperback (no topstain, no endpapers; pulp text block, plain).

Dust jacket

Front cover: Don Brautigam painting, with the "RICHARD BACHMAN" byline and "THE RUNNING MAN" title type, the Signet logo and code AE1508, and the $2.50 price on the front. Back cover: Signet promotional copy/blurb. Brautigam's painting appears on BOTH the first and the second Signet printings, so the artwork is not a printing-state tell — only the number line is. UNVERIFIED: exact wording of the back-cover blurb and any author-photo presence.

Art / design: Don Brautigam (cover painting). Signet/NAL commissioned Brautigam after his 1980 paperback cover for King's The Stand. Suntup Editions issued a fine-art print of this exact original art.

reference photohttps://shop.suntup.press/products/the-running-man-cover-fine-art-printreference photohttps://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-the-running-man-first-edition-first-printing-1982-writing-as-richard-bachman/reference photohttps://www.ebay.com/itm/326843721344
Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyN/A for identifying THIS book — book-club editions (blind-stamps, "Book Club Edition" flaps, gutter codes) apply to hardcovers. The Running Man is a paperback original with no Doubleday/BOMC hardcover club issue. (If a buyer is shown a "hardcover Running Man," it is either the 1985 NAL "The Bachman Books" omnibus or a later reissue — NOT a first edition of The Running Man, and the omnibus itself has its own BCE with a blind-stamp on the rear board and "Book Club Edition" on the lower front jacket flap.)

Also watch for: Cautions: (1) THE SECOND PRINTING — the headline trap. A Canadian-distribution second printing still reads "First Printing, May, 1982" but its number line drops to 2 ("2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9," missing the 1). It is the single most common copy mis-sold as a first; the missing 1 settles it. (2) Later Signet printings/reissues — verify the number line includes the 1 together with the "First Printing, May, 1982" statement; a missing 1 = a later printing. (3) Price/condition — being a fragile pulp paperback, true Fine copies are very scarce; restored/pressed copies and color-touched spines circulate. (4) "Hardcover first" claims — any hardcover is the 1985 "Bachman Books" omnibus or a reissue, NOT a first of this title; do not pay first-edition money for it. (5) Reading-copy upgrades sold as firsts — the $2.50 price and AE1508 code corroborate but cannot rank a copy (they persist across the early printings); confirm the number line. (6) UNVERIFIED price-clip/married-jacket concerns do not apply (no dust jacket). (7) Watch for the 1987 movie-tie-in reissue (different cover/price) mislabeled as the first.

Print run & scarcity

FORMAT CORRECTION — the premise is off: The Running Man was NOT a hardcover. It was published as a MASS-MARKET PAPERBACK ORIGINAL by Signet (New American Library), May 4, 1982, as Richard Bachman — Signet code AE1508, $2.50 cover, 219 pp, ISBN 0-451-11508-2. First-printing identifier: copyright page states 'First Printing, May, 1982' with a full number line 1-9 (number '1' present). There was NO 1982 hardcover edition; the first HARDCOVER appearance of the text came only inside the 1985 omnibus 'The Bachman Books' (NAL, ISBN 0-453-00507-1), published after the King-as-Bachman reveal.

NO PUBLISHER FIRST-PRINT COUNT EXISTS for the 1982 paperback. Neither the publisher nor standard King bibliographies give a copy count for The Running Man's first printing. The early Bachman titles were DELIBERATELY released with minimal marketing in small runs ('load the dice against Bachman'). The only concrete Bachman-era sales figure that exists is for Thinner (1984): ~28,000 copies in its initial run (the best-selling pre-reveal Bachman title), then ~10x that after the reveal. By inference the four earlier Bachman paperbacks — Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, The Running Man — had runs at or below that ~28k ceiling, which is why true-first paperbacks are scarce/collectible today (dealers describe them as 'mega rare'). But this is INFERENCE, not a published figure for The Running Man specifically.

The reference Carrie ~30,000 figure is a different title and does not apply here; not reused. No limited signed/numbered/lettered states exist for the 1982 original (that's a mass-market paperback). Note: Suntup Editions later produced a modern fine-press limited edition of The Running Man, but that is a 21st-century collectible, not the 1982 first.

First-state points & errata

No widely documented internal typo separating first states; first-printing identity rests on the number line "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" (the 1 still present) on the copyright page. The "First Printing, May, 1982" statement, the AE1508 code, and the $2.50 price all recur on the second printing, so the complete number line is the lone decisive point.

Limited & signed editions

No signed/numbered/traycased LIMITED edition of the standalone 1982 Signet paperback exists. (Author-signed first-printing paperbacks exist on the secondary market but are not a publisher limitation.) Related collectible: the 1985 NAL "The Bachman Books" appeared in trade hardcover and a slipcased issue, and Suntup Editions later produced fine-art prints of the Brautigam cover — but no traycased/slipcased LIMITED of The Running Man as a standalone title.

Market value confirmed sales

$450–800 (genuine first printing, Fine, full 1–9 number line, $2.50 cover intact)

Assumes a genuine first edition / first printing in near-fine to fine condition (clean copy, unclipped jacket). Lesser condition is worth less.

Confirmed sales: ~$575 Near Fine, unread — Back in Time Rare Books / Very Fine Books-tier specialist dealer listings (Bachman-specialist trade, 2024–2025); $1,000 asking for a SIGNED 1st (AbeBooks, Scene of the Crime, 2024) — signed example, asking not sold; mid-grade VG copies routinely transact $150–300 on eBay Sold (2023–2025). NOTE: I found NO Heritage/PBA auction record for this paperback original — none fabricated; the title trades through the dealer/eBay channel, not formal auction houses.

Book-club edition (the trap): No true book-club edition exists for this title — it was a mass-market paperback original with no BCE. The trap here is not a BCE but LATER PRINTINGS of the same Signet edition: 2nd+ printings (number line starting at 2, 3, or 4) are worth ~$15–60 (often $10–25 reading copies) yet are constantly mislisted as "1st edition." The later 1980s reprint/movie-tie-in printings are effectively $5–20. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

CONDITION IS BRUTAL on mass-market paperbacks: a true first in genuine Fine/unread (square tight spine, no creases, white pages, sharp corners) commands the $450–800 band; a VG copy with spine creases/toning drops to $150–300; a reading copy is $40–100. Spine roll, page browning, and any writing/price-sticker residue gut value fast. Signed/inscribed by King adds a large multiplier — a verified King-signed first realistically runs $1,500–4,000+ (King rarely signed Bachman titles under that name, so authentication matters and forgeries abound). THE SINGLE BIGGEST DISCRIMINATOR FOR THIS TITLE: it is a PAPERBACK ORIGINAL — there is NO hardcover and NO Doubleday gutter code (ignore that point; it belongs to King's hardcovers). The true first must show "First Printing, May, 1982" with the number line running ALL THE WAY DOWN TO 1 (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9) and the $2.50 / AE1508 cover. The overwhelming mislisting trap is a SECOND printing whose number line starts at 2 (2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9) — or later reprints/movie-tie-ins — sold as a "first edition." If the lowest number isn't 1, it is not the first printing, full stop.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: Cross-verified across 5+ sources. Number line "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" confirmed by veryfinebooks.com and corroborated by Back in Time Rare Books / bookshopapocalypse. Cover price $2.50 confirmed independently by bookshopapocalypse.com and biblio.com listings (and search aggregation). Signet code AE1508, 219 pp, ISBN 0-451-11508-2, pub date May 4 1982 confirmed by Biblio and multiple dealers. Cover artist Don Brautigam confirmed by Suntup Editions (authoritative). Paperback-original / no-hardcover-first status confirmed by Wikipedia, Suntup, and dealer consensus; 1985 NAL "The Bachman Books" is the first hardcover appearance.

confidence: High on the core points (paperback-original status, "First Printing, May, 1982", number line including 1, $2.50 price, AE1508 code, Don Brautigam cover) — each cross-checked across two or more sources. Medium on back-cover blurb wording and the contested "line begins with 2" first-printing variant claim (left flagged rather than asserted). Lower-tier dealer pages, not a single canonical bibliography, were the price/number-line sources since stephenkingcatalog/stephenkingbooks pages were not directly fetched.
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