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21 Sep, 2019
2019-9-21 9:18:51 PM UTC

insurrbution wrote:
I fail to see why that's bad, or an issue. Many like signed books.

I'm going to the signing in London, to meet Alan Lee again, and to get him to sign this book. I have met Alan Lee a lot, and he is very happy to sign books with his illustrations in them.

It is not bad, or an issue that he does this, but it means that his signature adds no value to a book. I take an unsigned book with a value, ask Alan Lee to sign it, and its value is exactly the same after he has signed it.
22 Sep, 2019
2019-9-22 3:34:25 PM UTC
Ah I get what you mean. Me if I get booked signed (usually that's by meeting the author) I see it as more "wow! My copy is now SIGNED! I MET him!" as opposed to "....this will be worth a lot someday... *smirk*." Not that the later is bad - esp given the core of this site, just not my way of thinking.

I am curious about something: I have the HarperCollins collector's editions of The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien and The Fall of Gondolin, still sealed. In time, will they be worth more unsigned, and sealed, or opened and signed?? I've always been curious about that - in regards to any sealed collector's items.
22 Sep, 2019
2019-9-22 4:00:39 PM UTC

insurrbution wrote:
Ah I get what you mean. Me if I get booked signed (usually that's by meeting the author) I see it as more "wow! My copy is now SIGNED! I MET him!" as opposed to "....this will be worth a lot someday... *smirk*." Not that the later is bad - esp given the core of this site, just not my way of thinking.

I am curious about something: I have the HarperCollins collector's editions of The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien and The Fall of Gondolin, still sealed. In time, will they be worth more unsigned, and sealed, or opened and signed?? I've always been curious about that - in regards to any sealed collector's items.

I think the point is that since Alan Lee signs frequently, his signature doesn't change the value of a book. Those three editions were printed in large quantities and probably won't be worth too much sealed or unsealed. A Christopher Tolkien signature would change that a little.
22 Sep, 2019
2019-9-22 7:47:39 PM UTC
We'll have to see as time goes on. I count myself VERY fortunate that I was able to get the red slipcased edition of Jemima Catlin's illustrated Hobbit at reatail price. No longer in print (that edition, you can still get it in standard hardback and paperback) and is quite pricey via marketplaces when it does show up.
22 Sep, 2019
2019-9-22 7:58:05 PM UTC

insurrbution wrote:
We'll have to see as time goes on. I count myself VERY fortunate that I was able to get the red slipcased edition of Jemima Catlin's illustrated Hobbit at reatail price. No longer in print (that edition, you can still get it in standard hardback and paperback) and is quite pricey via marketplaces when it does show up.

Totally off topic but I adore Jemima's illustrations. I would have loved for HarperCollins to show a bit more adventure and have her do more Tolkien. Plus she is a lovely young lady, very friendly and talented.
22 Sep, 2019
2019-9-22 8:22:39 PM UTC

I am curious about something: I have the HarperCollins collector's editions of The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien and The Fall of Gondolin, still sealed. In time, will they be worth more unsigned, and sealed, or opened and signed?? I've always been curious about that - in regards to any sealed collector's items.

Neither will (IMHO) have any significant value. Personally, I wouldn't buy the sealed copy, as you have no idea which print it is, and resealing a book in shrink wrap is trivial, so it means absolutely nothing.

By the way, my comment about "No copy shall remain unsigned" was just a wry observation as there has been a long running joke here that it is harder to find unsigned copies of Lee's work than signed copies. Like Trotter says, his signature is so widely available that it has no monetary value (I don't think it devalues a book, of course, unless it is signed to a specific person, in which case it probably does).
23 Sep, 2019
2019-9-23 5:05:56 AM UTC

insurrbution wrote:
We'll have to see as time goes on. I count myself VERY fortunate that I was able to get the red slipcased edition of Jemima Catlin's illustrated Hobbit at reatail price. No longer in print (that edition, you can still get it in standard hardback and paperback) and is quite pricey via marketplaces when it does show up.

There have been two sell on eBay in the last few of weeks for less than RRP, FWIW. They were definitely hard to find/expensive for a little while, though. Not sure whether that was just because they were recently published and people don't tend to sell books right away.

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23 Sep, 2019
2019-9-23 2:41:47 PM UTC
Could be a combination of both :)
23 Sep, 2019
2019-9-23 2:50:18 PM UTC

insurrbution wrote:
Could be a combination of both :)
I own one of these editions, interested in what prices you have seen for the book, it cost £30 when published.
24 Sep, 2019
2019-9-24 2:22:09 AM UTC
Via the various Amazons (.ca, .com, and co.uk) I had it seen go for as cheap as about $500 CDN, and as much as 400 pound.

Again that was via "sellers" on Amazon, and when they were posted on and off again in the years since. I didn't get mine IMMEDIATELY at publication, probably a few months after. Got it from my national bookstore (Chapters Indigo here in Canada. US has Barnes and Noble, and the UK has Watersones for instance) and paid the retail of.....$79.99 (though the purchase was assisted by loyalty program benefits )
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