Well Stu, I think you did get lucky (if I remember correctly - maybe it was a different auction).

I was going to bid around £200 on an auction a couple of years ago for this book (think it was from a Seller - David Somebody in the UK). For various reasons - I forgot about the auction (could not believe I forgot about the end date considering how badly I wanted the book and I think the book was listed in the Collectibles Category rather than Books Category so visibility was low). Anyway was even more devasted when I saw it went for £39 or £40 if I remember correctly.

I think this may be the auction that you won.

Anyway, ended up getting a copy a year later (was included in a set of 10 HoME Books for auction that I won). So all well in the end!!!

Was this the auction you won?

Well just a different opinion from my perspective (since everyone seems to be in agreement that the price is too high).

Personally, I tend to buy/bid more on books primarily based on rarity. And since this particular edition of Unifinished Tales is probably one of the rarest of the modern Tolkien Editions, the final price is no surprise to me and I don't see the price as particularily high when compared to what other more common editions sell for.

If you only have an average of one copy a year come up for sale (and a multitude of Tolkien Collectors worldwide) why is £156 so surprising. And this is just one Ebay Auction which a limited number of collectors came across. I can imagine some collectors paying a lot more if a copy were listed on one of non-auction books sites (ABE, Amazon, Alibris etc). It may take a while to sell at a higher price, but it would sell.

Anyway my 2 cents - and just to add a different opinion. Too much harmony on this thread!!

Hi Bert,

Have just PM'ed you. Would love a copy of one of your prints. Would be very much appreciated.

Best Wishes and Many Thanks.

Are you referring to the Harpercollins Hardback Edition or the Book Club Paperback Edition (both with same cover).

From memory, I am pretty sure the cover is different from the Image shown on Amazon. I can check later.