The Dr. Richard Meli Pulp Magazines Collection
The collection responsible for the first million-dollar pulp auction, featuring hundreds of pulps in incredibly high-grade condition. Heritage is honored to preserve this legendary collection and present its most important selections across Signature, Showcase, and Select auctions.
About the Collection
The collection responsible for the first million-dollar pulp auction!
Dr. Richard Meli spent more than 50 years putting together one of the greatest pulp magazine collections of all time. The collection is notable for its scope, condition, and subject matter. With over 15,000 individual pulps, this collection features complete runs of the most sought-after series in unbelievably high-grade condition.
Heritage is proud to preserve the legacy of this great collection, so Dr. Meli's collection will be remembered alongside those of Frank Robinson and Roy Krenkel among others.
This collection was the centerpiece of our first-ever pulp magazines Signature Auction, Auction #7444 The Dr. Richard Meli Collection Pulps Signature Auction. While we have featured pulps in Signature Auctions in years past (primarily under the comic books category), this was our first auction with live sessions and a catalog dedicated solely to pulp magazines. This contained only pulps from the Collection of Dr. Richard Meli and realized $1.84M, making it the highest-grossing pulp magazine auction ever.
We are overjoyed to be able to bring the entirety of the first multi-million-dollar pulp collection to market across past, present, and future Signature, Showcase, and Select Auctions.
Dr. Meli's collection laid the groundwork for future pulp Signature Auctions, featuring lots from numerous other consignors as well.
Auction Schedule
This collection is also featured across all weekly pulp magazine Select auctions, beginning with Auction #352550. That includes 352550--352552, the final weeks of 2025, and 352601--352652, with pulps from this collection selling every single Sunday in 2026.
Featured Lots
Signature Auction #7484
Dime Detective Magazine #104, March 1938 (Popular) Strasser Pedigree CGC NM 9.4 White pages
Signature Auction #7484
Spicy Mystery Stories #23, April 1937 (Culture) CGC NM 9.2 Off-white to white pages
Signature Auction #7484
Ace Mystery #1, May 1936 (Ace) CGC VF 8.5 White pages
Signature Auction #7444
Spicy Mystery Stories #1, June 1935 (Culture) CGC NM 9.6 White pages | Sold for $156,000
Signature Auction #7444
Weird Tales #2, April 1923 (Rural) CGC VF 8.0 White pages | Sold for $66,000
Signature Auction #7444
Snappy Mystery Stories Ashcan #1 (V1#2), May 1935 (Culture) CGC VF/NM 9.0 Off-white to white pages | Sold for $66,000
Collector Testimonial
"I entrusted Rick Akers, Sasha Fraze, and Heritage Auctions with selling my pulp magazine collection, my lifelong passion, and they were wonderful from start to finish. They have an incredible level of operations -- from discussing the terms of consignment, picking up the books at my home, and bringing them to auction, everything was smoother than I could've expected."
"They made a wonderful catalog featuring my books that I can share with friends and family, and my wife and I had the time of our lives watching the auction live and seeing the incredible prices realized."
"We knew Heritage would get us top dollar, but they truly treated us like family and became family to us over the course of this process. I've met and connected with more collectors than ever thanks to Heritage and have been able to share personal stories and the love of my books at every turn."