Poor old HarperCollins! Trotter, what are you going to do if they do send you a numbered copy!?

BH

It would be unique, so I'll be very pleased. The whole point really is to get them to take these sort of events more seriously and if they state in future that a book is numbered, then they make sure that it is.

There is probably some lackey in the warehouse numbering them as we speak with an old bic biro :)

On a more serious note, I think it is a bit poor that I haven't had any response from them (even a simple acknowledgment of the email would be nice) and they still haven't fixed their site. Mind you when I courteously pointed out the bugs in their website before the formal launch they didn't reply to that either, so my faith in them caring is low.

In truth, perhaps I am just getting a bit jaded and cynical with all these deluxe re-re-re-releases of existing material. Unless they do any more editions signed by CRRT, then perhaps I'll get back to concentrating on existing releases for my collection, rather than continuing to fall into the 'special edition collector' trap. I went to see the new Bond movie yesterday (it was quite good, actually) and they had these 'special edition collector cups' of coke. Plastic junk for the masses, but I couldn't help thinking about the parallels with my collecting special edition books. The buyer of the collector cup and the buyer of the book are really both suckers pulled in by the marketing machine for a product being sold way above its intrinsic value.

Maybe I need to go and live in a cave or something as this modern world is getting me down. Sigh :)

Stu

But then you'd have the problem of damp; and moisture is the enemy of all books! Altho' you might find more square foot for your money...

BH

Well one of my 2 ToPR copies (I had one mailed to Australia) turned up today. From casual observation through the shrink-wrap looks nice, and a better effort than the CoH or Sil paper-covered deluxes.

Still no word back from HC regarding the numbering issue, mind, which shows a real lack of respect for the customer.

Sorry I have been so quiet, been a bear at work recently.

I have politely inquired for help through various channels at HC, but haven't heard anything back yet either.

Also, interestingly, the tolkien.co.uk store is gone again, with a page saying that it will be available in December. Appears they are doing a relaunch, or at least a rework of the site. Perhaps the issue will be addressed on the new FAQ.

It's actually the like of communication from HC that irritates me more than anything. My email to them was perfectly courteous and (thus far) hasn't even merited a response. All they really needed to say was something to the effect of "Yep, we screwed up on the FAQ - you can return the books if you like and we will pick up the postage, plus we'll sort out the FAQ ASAP".

It's customer service 101 and just doesn't seem like a hard thing to put right, really. I'm glad to see that they have killed the website, though, as it least that stops anyone else getting stung.

Yesterday, my copy has arrived. It looks very good, and the inside (and outside too of course) is of high quality. The pages are quite strong but make it a bit hard to read though... But I'm not going to read in this one!

There was a cut in the envelope, but no damage was made to the book or slipcase because of that.

My copy has also arrived this weekend. As I had ordered 'The J.R.R. Tolkien Collection' (the four other Deluxe editions), an Annotated Hobbit and 'The Lord of the Rings Poster Collection 2', a large bagged box arrived - no sign of the Poster Collection however (and I don't think the box was quite large enough for it).

The (rather scarce) information on the labeling however seems to say that the Poster Collection should have been included as well, so I have remonstrated by e-mail. Being thus forced to complain, I've remarked on the absence of numbering in the 'Perilous Realm' as well.

I agree with most of the sentiments expressed. Sensible/courteous email sent; simply no reply. I was more irritated at the 10% discount to be honest, since most collectors had probably ordered before being informed of the offer. Loyalty? Why bother! Nobody would buy through HC's site if these copies were available through Amazon. HC could learn a trick or two from them. At least they respect the value of customers who order early, by giving lowest price etc.

With regard to the numbering; not that bothered at copies physically not being numbered. Just (bothered by) the obvious ability of people to convert standard to exclusive by getting AL to sign their copy. Totally pointless!

They could run off some HC bookplates with numbering, and post them out to us all. I'm sure they still have a log of who ordered first etc, so that the appropriate number could be sent to the correct buyer.

BH