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Squadron/Signal "In Action" books numbering explained.

Hello fellow modelers. I have recently added a few Squadron/Signal books to my stash and was perplexed by the numbering system. Specifically, I wondered why some aviation "In Action" series books started with 1 and others with 10 (these numbers are printed on the cover in the top left corner).

I sent an inquiry to https://daviddoylebooks.com/ and received a detailed explanation the next day from Mr. Doyle. Here it is without alteration for those interested in such minutiae:

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I will start with the specific title you asked about: 1210 has 60 pages, 10210 has 80 pages. 1210 is staple bound, 10210 is perfect bound. Perfect bound books have a spine, and on the spine Squadron printed the catalog number, title and author's name. Staple bound books have no spine, and when they are on the shelf, you can't tell what an individual book is without sliding it out to reveal the cover.

To address the entire series, in 2014 Squadron began to mandate that the In Action books have at least 80 pages (a few have 88 pages). As the supply of the older books, such as 1210, was exhausted, the authors were asked to add material to increase the size of the books. This also gave us the chance to make any needed corrections. The reissued books were renumbered with a five-digit catalog number instead of a four-digit number.

At about the same time, they began experimenting with hardcover books. 20% of the initial printing of a given title (during this experimental period) were hard cover, the remainder were soft cover. The numbers for the hard cover editions began with 5, 6 or 7 - depending on the series of book. I don't believe that the Marauder book was offered in hard cover, so we will use my B-17 Flying Fortress book as an example:

First offering: catalog number SS1219 - 72 pages, issued in 2010 (perfect bound)
Second offering: catalog number SS12019 - 80 pages, issued in 2014 (also perfect bound) - hardcover, issued in 2014, catalog number 50219
Later offerings - all catalog number SS12019, 80 pages, but no further printing of hardbound.

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,
David