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15 Jan, 2012
2012-1-15 3:12:23 AM UTC
Not sure about the UK tax laws, but here in the States when they started counting inventory as assets (ie taxable) it made publishers do strange things like remaindering and pulping - cheaper than keeping the books in stock, which now has an annual cost. So if a book title isn't selling quickly, it may make sense to pulp rather than hold on to or remainder (which would flood the market and likely devalue future super-deluxe editions since collectors would just wait for them to go on remainder too).
15 Jan, 2012 (edited)
2012-1-15 3:31:38 AM UTC

Urulókë wrote:
Not sure about the UK tax laws, but here in the States when they started counting inventory as assets (ie taxable) it made publishers do strange things like remaindering and pulping - cheaper than keeping the books in stock, which now has an annual cost. So if a book title isn't selling quickly, it may make sense to pulp rather than hold on to or remainder (which would flood the market and likely devalue future super-deluxe editions since collectors would just wait for them to go on remainder too).

Could be. Seems a shame to pulp a perfectly good book, but that is the crazy messed-up world we live in. I think it more likely that they offloaded the S&Gs at a reduced price to BD and other retailers, though. CoH probably just finally sold out after 4+ years.

Edit: Using the totally crappy search with just "Hurin" as a keyword, the SuperDuluxe CoH does show up in the list and would appear to be still available. If you search for "Children of Hurin" it brings back about 100 results, the first page of which - at least - are completely irrelevant. Definitely can't find S&G though, but I would put money on that just being down to the website being a turd.
15 Jan, 2012
2012-1-15 2:02:29 PM UTC

Edit: Book Depository has it for GBP 280 (might be cheaper if you are using a UK IP Address).


Thanks :) From my IP it is €318.19, which is around GBP263 right now.
15 Jan, 2012 (edited)
2012-1-15 2:17:32 PM UTC
Before buying the Super-Deluxe Sigurd and Gudrun, read through all the comments on this thread first, it is not as well made an edition as COH.

https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... =ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0
15 Jan, 2012
2012-1-15 3:11:28 PM UTC
It's a shame the book was selling at the same price as COH but with only a cow leather binding instead of full morocco. Still think I'm going to buy it at the Bookdepository at the reduced price. I'm not prepared to wait another two years, though I think the price might go down to around GBP200 in due time. Thanks for the link to the old thread Trotter.
15 Jan, 2012
2012-1-15 9:38:35 PM UTC

SonOfDolf wrote:
It's a shame the book was selling at the same price as COH but with only a cow leather binding instead of full morocco. Still think I'm going to buy it at the Bookdepository at the reduced price. I'm not prepared to wait another two years, though I think the price might go down to around GBP200 in due time. Thanks for the link to the old thread Trotter.


I think the price of these books or any others in two years is a "how long (or short) is a piece of string" question. I would say if you can easily afford it and think you will enjoy it, then go ahead and buy now. Don't expect to ever make any money on it. There is a huge economic storm coming and book prices are likely to continue to slide.
15 Jan, 2012
2012-1-15 9:53:59 PM UTC
I'm inclined to think this too Stu --but there have been some surprising prices lately (& quite consistently too) on old eBay. People have been paying, what I feel, are quite high prices for fairly non-scarce titles. I note Silmarillion prices, obviously --& standard 1977 editions seem to be trading a little higher than you'd expect. Don't know... I suppose the bottom might really fall out of some parts of the book market.

BH
15 Jan, 2012
2012-1-15 11:29:24 PM UTC

Khamul wrote:
I'm inclined to think this too Stu --but there have been some surprising prices lately (& quite consistently too) on old eBay. People have been paying, what I feel, are quite high prices for fairly non-scarce titles. I note Silmarillion prices, obviously --& standard 1977 editions seem to be trading a little higher than you'd expect. Don't know... I suppose the bottom might really fall out of some parts of the book market.

BH


I see the odd items going for more than expected (including some of the earlier HC Super Deluxe titles), but for the most part things seem to be dropping. A good example would be the Deluxe HoME books - these are going for way less than 5 years ago. Really high-end items (in the multi-thousands) might not be affected much because those were always purchased by people with more money than brain cells, and those people tend to still have more money than brain cells. I challenge anyone to really see the value of a piece of paper being in the thousands of pounds because someone wrote took a few *seconds* to scribble their name on it. The mid-range stuff seems to be dropping a lot, and the books that are not well priced just sit on eBay month after month.

I'm just enjoying chasing the low-end stuff. Cheap books that are fun to chase and don't hurt the wallet :)
22 Jan, 2012
2012-1-22 12:46:37 AM UTC
This book magically reappeared at tolkien.co.uk just now. Still the same ridiculous price unfortunately :)

Maybe they only sell it on Sundays I don't know. Well this was the last time I checked. My copy from bookdepository has arrived yesterday :)
22 Jan, 2012
2012-1-22 11:30:43 AM UTC
Stu wrote: "I challenge anyone to really see the value of a piece of paper being in the thousands of pounds because someone wrote took a few *seconds* to scribble their name on it. "

I have items with the signatures and/or inscriptions of Tolkien and several of his family, friends and colleagues. I never paid thousands for 'em, because I don't have that sort of money to chuck around. I know the story behind the items I've bought; they bring me a little closer to the people involved. I enjoy making connections between those who moved in Tolkien's (and Lewis') circles.

Signatures - as opposed to 'autographs' - can mark a moment in time, like a photograph. Investigating signed books can also lead to fascinating insights into the world these folk inhabited, e.g. Oxford in the mid-20th c.
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