Oh man, that duct tape story hits close to home. Seen so many of those "temporary" fixes that outlive their welcome by years. The cereal box drywall is a new one though, that's honestly kind of impressive in a sad way. It's wild what people will try to avoid a ten minute drive and a five dollar tube of caulk.

Totally. Another thing I watch for is if they've had a few price drops already. Sometimes the first big cut gets a lot of lookers, but if it still sits after that, the seller is often just done with the whole process. I saw a condo last year that dropped 30k, then another 15k two months later. By the time I saw it, the owner was basically just waiting for someone to make any decent offer so they could move on with their life.

Man, that's a tough call, isn't it? I get wanting that clean, perfect book to look at on the shelf. Sometimes you just want to enjoy the art and story without worrying about the condition. An original 94 is the dream, but a beat-up copy can feel like it's just waiting for an upgrade. You picked the one that makes you happy to own right now, and that's what matters.