rosshm16 wrote:

To be clear, I have not read this book or handled it for more than a minute or two, it came like that new. The video is the second time I've ever removed it from the slipcase. If the spine loosened up a little after a reading, I'm sure I'd need a hydraulic press to get it back in the case.

Lake Town Geezer wrote:

I think this book was the last of that deluxe series and likely the death knell.

The deluxe Maldon was released slightly later (April 2023 vs. March 2023). Last year was the first year since 2015 that there wasn't at least one release in this series. I would guess it's done now as well, with seemingly no plans for a deluxe edition of Bovadium. There's that rumored single-volume illustrated Book of Lost Tales which I assume will be or will have a deluxe edition, we will see what that looks like I guess.

Good call about the deluxe Maldon - I have it and it is much better, I mistakingly thought this was before the History of the Hobbit.

I would buy a deluxe Letters if HC ever produced one - maybe one day. Just hope they listen to the punters and up the quality. My favourite recent deluxes were the illustrated Sil/UT/Complete Guide with the Ted Nasmith illustrated slip cases. An illustrated deluxe Book of Lost tales in that format would be jaw-dropping for me. I am very partial to Ted's art though - so biased.

Lake Town Geezer wrote:

My favourite recent deluxes were the illustrated Sil/UT/Complete Guide with the Ted Nasmith illustrated slip cases. An illustrated deluxe Book of Lost tales in that format would be jaw-dropping for me. I am very partial to Ted's art though - so biased.

Those ones are great for sure, some of my favorite Tolkien books. I love the full cloth bindings. Wish they'd do more in that series! My Complete Guide copy has a fuzzy font (looks like a shadow on close inspection) on the highlighted text here and there, but otherwise no quality issues with any of those three books.

“There's that rumored single-volume illustrated Book of Lost Tales which I assume will be or will have a deluxe edition, we will see what that looks like I guess.”

I have never heard of this.

Eye_of_the_Black_Tower wrote:

“There's that rumored single-volume illustrated Book of Lost Tales which I assume will be or will have a deluxe edition, we will see what that looks like I guess.”

I have never heard of this.

It is a rumour.

I follow this site and Reddit, and this is the first I’m hearing of it, that’s all 🤗

From March 26

rosshm16 wrote:

I think it's the rumored illustrated single-volume Book of Lost Tales:

- There was just a deluxe Hobbit last year, and there will surely be a deluxe Hobbit in 2027. Maybe there is enough demand for three deluxe editions of the same book in four years, but I'd be surprised.

- "One edition to rule them all" = single-volume edition of BoLT

- "Something entirely unexpected" = new thing that hasn't been done before (single-volume illustrated BoLT)

Eye_of_the_Black_Tower wrote:

And here I am still flabbergasted at the ‘deluxe’ Complete History of Middle-earth ‘stunt’ they pulled with ISBN 9780008259846 !

If you examine it against it other titles in that style, you’ll see there’s some design elements (slipcase and the letters on the books themselves) that do not match.

This one for me has the opposite problem of my History of the Hobbit copy, slipcase is super-loose.

I don't mind the spines of the deluxe HoME just saying "Tolkien" instead of "J.R.R. Tolkien" like the rest of that series since Christopher was so central in their creation. It does mess up the consistency of their look on the shelf though.

Oh it’s not just that: it’s the title placement/arrangement, the slipcase not being ‘curved’….

A while ago a user here (I to k ‘AstralTaurus….?’) did a fan-made mockup on how the set SHOULD have looked to match with the others (this was back a few years)