I whole-heartedly agree ... a thousand dollars is ridiculous for four books that (when published) would have sold for $67.80. I troll eBay pretty regularly for new auctions (I'm coming up on my 100th feedback rating), and I intend to keep an eye on them during the next few months. Hopefully I can get a much better deal. Interestingly enough, I've seen some entire collections of the series go for on the order of $800. At 50 books, that's only $16 a book (roughly what one would have paid originally). What a great opportunity for speculation! You buy the entire series all at once, break up the set, sell the individual books, and profit! The bottom line is that, at least currently, I have the money to buy at these prices. Having no dependents (and virtually no expenses) results in lots of spending money. :-)