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Winner of the 2019 Tolkien Society award for Best Website

1 Jan, 2008
2008-1-1 8:18:13 PM UTC
If you can put together a list of the sets/expansions/figurines, etc. that go with the game, that would be a great start.

I would love to contribute to this website! It may take some time its not so much a walk in the park.

I should have looked closer

-Tom
2 Jan, 2008
2008-1-2 1:09:34 AM UTC
After brooding unhappily for several hours, I decided to post my pains.
Once again I have experienced the pains of failing to acquire something on ebay. The auction I am about to link ended literally seconds before I could "buy it now". I was viewing the page and I clicked "buy it now" and it was already sold. Moments after I had finished reading the details and consulting Tolkienguide.us (less than a minute maybe) the item was bought. Imagine having the rush of excitement and pleasure coursing through your veins; then in a single instant it cut short. I have lost auctions before that I have bid on, and I was of course disappointed at the time, but never have I clicked "buy it now" to discover that I have been beaten. When you bid on any item you know that there is a great possibility that you will be out bid, but having the feeling of all certainty ripped from you, was a new ebay experience for me. I admit I swore loudly, and was quite angry with the buyer, but now I come here for your opinions on the item up for auction.

I am under the impression that a Ballantine Silver Jubilee Edition in great condition was a steal of a deal for 20.00usd

Here is the ebay auction
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... eName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=006

When deciding to buy it in the one minute after I read the description, Tolkienguide.us influenced my decision a bit.

TOLKIENGUIDE.US PROFILE FOR SET





Ballantine Silver Jubilee Edition, 1981-1985
Cover illustrations by Darrell K. Sweet
The "Silver Jubilee" set commemorating the 25th anniversary of the release of The Lord of the Rings was boxed in the gold "Heraldry" slipcase. These books were also boxed in a golden brown slipcase with matching artwork. Newly revised editions of The Hobbit and Fellowship were released (Jan82, Mar84) in these covers, and the print numbers were started over with one(1). Ballantine has stopped labeling each print year with its own book number, and the box ISBNs are the first searchable numbers found for mass market PB sets thus far. The SBNs for The Hobbit were issued 1981 and 1984. Many databases have image or date errors regarding this increasingly sought after set.
ISBN: 0345296052, 0345296060, 0345296087
Hobbit: 0345296044
1985 ISBN: 0345332083, 0345332105, 0345332091
Hobbit: 0345318587
Box 1983: 0345195299 Box 1984: 0345296079

What are your thoughts? Was it a sore loss? Was it really a bad deal? Was I saved from 20 dollars down the drain? Or did I miss a good opportunity

Thanks for reading and replying

-Tom
2 Jan, 2008
2008-1-2 10:23:47 PM UTC
Hello Tom,

Welcome to Tolkien collecting!

I think everybody has missed out on something they really wanted on eBay. I missed out on one of the first 500 boxed LOTR sets ever issued (from 1957) before Christmas – I am still very sore about it even now…!

Rowns is the man to ask about U.S. paperback prices, but $20 for a good condition boxed set sounds ok to me.

The advice from Khamul and Parmastahir on collecting is very sound, have a good look around before really get going. I started out by trying to get a copy of every book he wrote, and just went on from there.

These three pages should help you with identifying first editions:

firsteditionpoints.com

booksellerworld.com

booklibris.com

TolkienBooks.net is my baby - I am glad that you like it!

For the most part it only covers British editions, so Ace Books, Ballantine Books and Houghton Mifflin editions do not appear. The best online source for information on American editions is probably the U.S. Tolkien Guide.

[That said, I am researching the whole Ace Books ‘Pirate Edition’ episode at the moment, so there will be an article at TolkienBooks.net at some stage that will give lots of information about the Ace and Ballantine editions.]

Much of the information known about the Ace and Ballantine editions comes from Wayne Hammond’s Tolkien Bibliography. It is an expensive book, but very useful. Your local library might be able to order it for you to have out on loan for a while - have a look through it before you buy.

Ace Books - There were 150,000 copies of each of the 3 volumes of LOTR printed and there were no reprints.

Ballantine – The number of copies of the first printing is unknown, but 125,000 copies of each volume were printed in the U.S. and another 10,000 in Canada by 17 January 1966. There had been 40 printings by 1973.

Houghton Mifflin – Print quantities for early printings of the HM LOTR can be found at TolkienBooks.net.

If you want to know more about print quantities for U.S. editions of Tolkien's other books, then Hammond’s bibliography is a must.
2 Jan, 2008
2008-1-2 10:55:50 PM UTC
Thank you for that advice.

Its too bad about that auction you missed, but I bet it sold for a tidy sum when it all was over.

I happen to love your website, one thing I am disappointed about is that there isn't really a rarity estimate on the books. Obviously everything is worth different price depending on the buyer, but it would be nice to have a ballpark rarity range to know if you are being scammed. Aside from that I was the most informative site I have seen so far.

Thanks for replying

-Tom
3 Jan, 2008
2008-1-3 12:38:13 PM UTC
Hi Tom -

Please do not agonize over that set. There is no doubt in my mind WHATSOEVER that another will show up. Consider that auction a deposit in your eBay bank of experience. You now know that it was worth at least $20 to someone out there. My goal would now be to get it for less than that! Good luck!

Away from The Green Hill Country,

Parmastahir
5 Jan, 2008
2008-1-5 4:02:43 PM UTC
Hi Tom -

A bit off topic for this thread, however . . .

Re the game that you noted in a previous post, you might find it here:

http://www.freewebs.com/tolkienboardgamecollecting/index.htm

As far as I know, this is the Compleat Gyde to Tolkien Games!

Away from The Green Hill Country,

Parmastahir
5 Jan, 2008
2008-1-5 10:36:29 PM UTC
tom bombadilo said:

I happen to love your website, one thing I am disappointed about is that there isn't really a rarity estimate on the books. Obviously everything is worth different price depending on the buyer, but it would be nice to have a ballpark rarity range to know if you are being scammed. Aside from that I was the most informative site I have seen so far.

As originally planned, the site was going to be a price guide, but when you get down to it, price guides are just too subjective to be meaningful - what sort of price? what I would pay, what is paid on eBay or abe.com, what are dealers asking, etc. Rarity scales have similar problems. In addition, it does not necessarily follow that just because a book is rare that it is worth a great deal. The approach I have taken is to give details of print run size where known. I am slowly extracting additional imformation from Allen & Unwin's records and adding it to the site as it becomes available.

If you want to evaluate a book's 'rareness' I would suggest going to Bookfinder or ABEbooks. The copies offered there, or the lack of them will give you a fair idea of prices.

9 Jan, 2008
2008-1-9 2:26:52 AM UTC
Hi Tom -

Deagol is correct. Once a price guide is published it is almost immediately out of date. In the end, an item is worth what a buyer and seller agree upon. In the end, you may be willing to pay more than someone else and think it a bargain because you wanted it so much.

I am not trying to rub salt in your wound, but I noted that you bid on an unopened boxed set of paperbacks today and lost out in the end. That happened because (1) you set a limit (decided beforehand what it was worth at a maximum to you) and (2) exhibited some patience. You can ALWAYS get caught up in an auction and overpay. I know this from costly experience!

My advice would be to keep a log of items that you have bid on and lost. It will give you an idea of what it took to win it last time when it comes up again. Make a list of items that you would like to collect and monitor eBay auctions (even if you don't bid on them), check out Amazon.com and other on-line booksellers, and ask the experts here. Soon you will have a good idea of what is rare and what is not, what is a fair price (and what you may wish to bid) and how much is too much (especially for minimum bids or Buy It Now prices). Believe me, many items are described by sellers as rare (and priced accordingly!) when they are not.

Good luck and good hunting!

Away from The Green Hill Country,

Parmastahir
10 Jan, 2008
2008-1-10 2:00:26 AM UTC
I noted that you bid on an unopened boxed set of paperbacks today and lost out in the end. That happened because (1) you set a limit (decided beforehand what it was worth at a maximum to you) and (2) exhibited some patience. You can ALWAYS get caught up in an auction and overpay. I know this from costly experience!

Did you also bid on that item?

Yes I did bid, I was very unhappy I lost that, I didn't determine its worth by my bids, my bid was based on what I could afford, I believe most of the items I bid on worth a good deal more than I could buy them for! (THATS WHY I LOSE, I CANT AFFORD ANYTHING) but it was only a gold foil box set, so its still sealed condition increased the value incredibly. A decent quality set is 1/3 the price or less. (I quickly got over my loss on that other item earlier) I found one in just the same condition for much less.

My biggest disappointment this week, is the loss of this auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... T&ih=022#ebayphotohosting
I have been beating myself up over this all week.

And this particular ebayer has been giving me loads of trouble on the bidding field, I am scared to go up against him/her, as he seems to have limitless resources and has already spent 100s of dollars in the last 2 months.

I bet he is a member on this website.
eBay item j2112tbooks

I have been saving data on auctions I have come across that my small budget wouldn't dream of being able to match, I just hope when I am older and have a profession and more to spend on lotr, the same products will still be available.

Thanks for the advice.
-Tom
11 Jan, 2008
2008-1-11 3:27:01 AM UTC
Hulloo Tom -

No, I did not bid on that mint boxed set. (My eBay username is "flyhopper" so you will recognize me!) I dabble a bit in the earliest Ballantine boxed sets. So I bid on a lot of four of those last week: a 1st/2nd/1st/1st of The Hobbit, FotR, TT, RotK. Apparently no one else was interested as I got it for their minimum which was not cheap but still reasonable for 1st printings and condition.

Please don't agonize over losing an auction. I can afford to pay whatever I wish for an item (within reason; I'm not Bill Gates!) I still set a maximum for items that I intend to bid on and still lose out on some. And you will come up against others that (apparently) have an unlimited budget (certainly greater than one's own). Sorry, that's a given on eBay. But they seem to come and go.

Re an item being available once your income matches your want list: I have been able to find and can still find mint copies of the 1973 Ballantine calendar (first in the series) and those are now 35 years old. Others who post here collect the books that are over 50 years old. And others that I know collect proof copies (extremely rare printings sent out to editors and such). Even they are able to find, albeit with some luck and perhaps more persistence and a great deal of networking, items for their collections. So, don't worry too much about that, either!

I'm not familiar with those who purchase the books. I check out the buyers of calendars and now know many of them.

I think finding another set that you can actually "see" (open up and examine) for 1/3 the price is much more satisfying. Mint items are for OCD personalities . . . which I, unfortunately, am. I have collected almost all of the commercial calendars in mint state (either in original shrinkwrap or unopened mailers). But I have a second "reading" copy to examine and enjoy. I think that at this stage of your collecting life, you are (and should be!)in the latter category.

Away from The Green Hill Country,

Parmastahir
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