Acquired Tastes XLIII: Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 220 - Power Force Series, Part 2 of 6

Acquired Tastes XLIII:

Gay Pulp Fiction, Part 220

Power Force Series

Part 2 of 6

Today we take another look at the Power Force Series.

The Power Force Series was an imprint published by Arena Publications, who operated out of a facility at 12011 Sherman Road in North Hollywood, California, 91605. They published a total of 64 titles under this imprint between 1983 and 1986.

Arena Publications motto should have been "Everything old is new again." You'll see why in a moment.  

The book covers feature either dreamy, idealized artwork or, later in the imprint's history, photos from porn magazines. The background is a solid color with a white 'sash' near the top featuring the title in all-caps and the imprint's name, also in all-caps, floating above it. The author's name appears in the body of the sash in smaller print just below the title. Now, if the artwork looks familiar that's because you have seen it all before... when we took a look at the Blueboy Library imprint. And that's not the only thing borrowed. The books themselves are reprints from other imprints. And this is not the only imprint that Arena would use to republish these titles. Some of these books have been published under as many as four imprints, using different artwork for the cover.

My hunch is that Arena bought the rights to a bunch of previously published titles from imprints (The Blueboy Library, HIS69, Stud Series, RAM-10) on the wane or going out of business. They then maximized profits by republishing the books under several different imprints. Fortunately, they are upfront about this recycling; some of the other imprint books carry a 'sash' in the lower right corner warning the buyer that this contains previously published material.

Given that, imagine the frustration of the average buyer. Most people do not want to be in a dirty bookstore. And when they are, they want to grab something and get out as soon as possible. Let's say they don't bother to read the fine print. Imagine they get home and get ready to indulge in a bit of reading, only to discover it's a book they have already read or own? Now imagine that happening more that once. After a point... who isn't going to be buying books at dirty bookstores? Did this 'republishing' play a role in the extinction of paperbacks in dirty bookstores? 

Back Cover

These books currently sell for between $15-$25.

Here are the next ten titles. Came up short twice this week.

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  Hard Hat Hunk

 Author: Raymond Maston

 Power Force Series

  1984 

PF-111

This was originally issued as a part of the Stud Series imprint as SS-031 and the republished again by Arena Publications as GAY-108.

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

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Teen Trainer

 Author: David Samples 

Power Force Series

 1984 

PF-112

This was originally issued as a part of the Stud Series imprint as SS-032 and the republished again by Arena Publications as GAY-107.

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Gusher Coming

 Author: Jack Groner 

Power Force Series

  1984 

PF-113

This was originally issued as a part of the Stud Series imprint as SS-033 and the republished again by Arena Publications as GAY-109. 

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 Tom’s Big Pole

  Author: Paul Stone 

Power Force Series

 1984 

PF-114

This was originally issued as a part of the Stud Series imprint as SS-034, as part of the HIS69 imprint as HIS-69-249, and the republished again by Arena Publications as GAY-112.

That's four time's 'round the pole, Tom!

 --- ---

Bi-sex Sucker

 Author: Mitch Stone 

Power Force Series

 1984 

PF-115

(Cover not found.)

This was originally issued as part of the HIS69 imprint as HIS-69-234 and the republished again by Arena Publications as GAY-110.

 --- ---

Truckin’ Suckin’

 Author: Raymond Maston 

Power Force Series

 1984 

PF-116

(Cover not found.)

This was originally issued as part of the HIS69 imprint as HIS-69-197 and the republished again by Arena Publications as GAY-113.

 --- ---

Peter Suck Slave

 Author: Gary Dayton

  Power Force Series 

1984

 PF-117 

This was originally issued as part of the HIS69 imprint as HIS-69-231 and the republished again by Arena Publications as GAY-114.

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

--- ---

Hung Stud

 Author: David  Sampson 

Power Force Series

 1984 

PF-118

This was originally issued as part of the HIS69 imprint as HIS-69-232 and the republished again by Arena Publications as GAY-115.

Available as a downloadable PDF or ebook at Hommi Publishing.

--- ---

Hard Training

  Author: Mitch Stone 

Power Force Series

 1984 

PF-119

(Cover not found.)

This was originally issued as part of the RAM-10 imprint as RAM-10-112 and the republished again by Arena Publications as GAY-116.

 

GAY-116

--- ---

Big Rod

 Author: Raymond Maston 

Power Force Series

 1984 

PF-120

This was originally issued as part of the RAM-10 imprint as RAM-10-113.
 

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And that's all for now.

Next up: more tantalizing titles from the Power Force imprint.

Until then...

Thanks for reading.

Big Bad John - Jimmy Dean