Just thought I'd share in my surprise at the cost of trying to start a Cold War aviation book collection (1946 to 1991, with a preferred focus on the 1970's on up)! Decided to start on the Soviet side, and the book prices are absolutely all over the place, which really threw me off.
I was able to get four books in a hardback series about various aspects of Soviet military aviation (strategic, navy, homeland defense, and tactical) as well as a softcover specialty book about the Tu-154 for a reasonable cost (especially considering that the four military-focused ones are new, large hardbacks) but there are many others out there (as part of varying series with the most common authors being Yefim Gordon and/or Dmitriy Kommisarov) ranging in price from US$20 to US$300 or more, with little price consistency.
Check out the prices sometime for a book about the Tu-144....+$300! So much for adding books about aircraft I use often in the sim! I know there's a Mig-21 book by the authors mentioned above going for nearly $2000! (with one seller trying to sell a copy for over $7000, which I hope is some sort of sick typo.)
No wonder everyone is transitioning to e-books/digital formats.....wow....
