Hello All,

I was just wondering what people think about the Deluxe signed version of S&G being slated as 500 copies, as per CoH? I had hoped that HC would have learned some lessons from the signed CoH and gone with a more sensible 250 copies.

I must admit, other than to maybe order a single copy up front to get a low number, I can't see myself ordering two upfront as with CoH (and then a further one at 30% discount later on), knowing that as a non-ME book it is possibly even more likely to be a difficult-to-shift volume (and therefore be discounted).

Sounds like it's going to be GBP250 rather than GBP350, but that's still a tidy sum in the current environment. I'm not sure that so many people will be prepared to commit early for multiple copies, so this could be a bit of a sales dud...

Stu

For anyone that is still interested in the Deluxe Edtions boxed set, but missed the 30% discount to 140GBP (which in my opinion is about the price it should retail for), I noticed that there is a seller on Abebooks (THE SAINT BOOKSTORE in Southport) that has >20 sets, charging 149 pounds. Not quite as cheap as the 30% off deal, but not far off.

"Description: 0007273568 BRAND NEW" "The J. R. R. Tolkien Deluxe Edition Collection: "The Children of Hurin", "The Silmarillion", "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" by J. R. R. Tolkien. Bookseller Inventory # B9780007273560"

I also notice (hence posting to this thread) that they also appear to have >20 Deluxe, Signed CoHs @ 261 pounds each.

"Book Description: Retailer-exclusive titles. LEATHER BOUND. Book Condition: New. 0007252242 BRAND NEW" The Children of Hurin by J. R. R. Tolkien. Bookseller Inventory # B9780007252244"

They seem legit, so it seems that HC are not quite the exclusive retailer they claim to be any more. Not surprising as the 500 Super-Deluxes have been hard to shift (even with plenty of people buying 2 or three copies)...

Stu

I asked the vendor why it was so expensive, given the easy availability of similar books for a "tenner" (I certainly didn't have any trouble finding a 'perfect' copy for twice that). For posterity, here is his response....

Stu

Dear metapraxis02,

Thanks for your email. We should rephotograph this as I think the flash photography has made it look as if the spine is faded when it is not at all. It's easy to overlook this when you can see the book in front of you.
Condition is everything with the Sil. A good copy is not worth much as all collectors have one, a perfect copy (and most books in Waterstones are not in this condition) is a different matter. I saw a similar copy make £350 plus premium at auction to a well known and respected dealer who sold it on for considerably more. There are a lot of very picky colectors who want a perfect copy. There are virtually no perfect copies though. I know you must be thinking this is all a bit silly, and to be honest, I have some sympathy with that view. Still it is not our job to argue with the collectors who are our customers. So if you do find a copy in this condition - and I mean perfect- please be sure to buy it if it is a tenner or you will be really missing out.
All the best,

Mark
For the-mad-librarian

They clearly haven't seen many copies if that's the best one! Sheesh! I've got a Billings copy that looks absolutely brand new (it did spent 25+ years in a box of GA&U books that apparently got forgotten about - thus avoiding anything nasty like sunlight or moisture) and cost me about 20 quid. A faded copy like that can't be worth more than a tenner (if that).

Stu

>Thinking of selling Stu?

Not a chance :) Best 40 pounds (and 55p to be exact) that I spent last year (and I even saved on the excessive international postage (over 20 pounds) the seller wanted by sending it to an address in the UK and picking it up 6 months later when I was back in the homeland). Mind you, I was a bit worried when my fiancee's mother temporarily forgot where she actually put it ("are you sure that you sent TWO books here - I only remember seeing one parcel !"). Memory of a goldfish, that woman...

It's unfortunate, but I wonder if this very discussion actually made the copy on eBay more expensive than it would otherwise have been. The more people that are aware of the book, the more people that are likely to be interested in owning a copy, and this particular volume does not appear to be very well known. If I hadn't seen in it on Deagol's site way back, I certainly would not have known about it, and I have never seen a picture of it in any other place (other than on one of the bookshelves in his collector profile on TL).

Stu