onthetrail wrote:

Joselillo3 wrote:

It seems that none of us want this edition...

It will sell. Different books have different markets and I've no doubt this will do well.

Honestly, they could smear poop on a piece of cardboard, and right now if it had the word 'Tolkien' on it, it absolutely would sell, and there would be enough people that would get onto social media and boast about how awesome and limited the poop was. There is a reason HC is doing this edition right now, even though they have been scared of high priced editions since about 2009. It is basically an extremely unsophisticated market, plus there are the completists who will be compelled to add it irrespective (and I don't really include these in the 'unsophisticated' market -- though I genuinely don't understand the mentality as it feels a little bit like Sunk Cost Fallacy).

I have no doubt at all that this will sell out -- and fairly quickly. And tbh, I hope the people who buy it, enjoy it.

The late Stu wrote:

I have no doubt at all that this will sell out -- and fairly quickly. And tbh, I hope the people who buy it, enjoy it.

That is ultimately the most important aspect. After all we don't have to want every book on the market and collectors such as those at tolkienguide.com represent a tiny part of the market. I look forward to seeing the book and I hope that those who do buy it have fun with it.

onthetrail wrote:

The late Stu wrote:

I have no doubt at all that this will sell out -- and fairly quickly. And tbh, I hope the people who buy it, enjoy it.

That is ultimately the most important aspect. After all we don't have to want every book on the market and collectors such as those at tolkienguide.com represent a tiny part of the market. I look forward to seeing the book and I hope that those who do buy it have fun with it.

Exactly. I'm sure 90% of the Tolkien collecting population would think I'm an absolute idiot for collecting every price state of The Hobbit 3rd editions (the only collecting I have done in the last year or so was finishing those off due to finding out I was missing a couple -- bloody Trotter). Horses for courses - we all see value in different things.

The late Stu wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

The late Stu wrote:

I have no doubt at all that this will sell out -- and fairly quickly. And tbh, I hope the people who buy it, enjoy it.

That is ultimately the most important aspect. After all we don't have to want every book on the market and collectors such as those at tolkienguide.com represent a tiny part of the market. I look forward to seeing the book and I hope that those who do buy it have fun with it.

Exactly. I'm sure 90% of the Tolkien collecting population would think I'm an absolute idiot for collecting every price state of The Hobbit 3rd editions (the only collecting I have done in the last year or so was finishing those off due to finding out I was missing a couple -- bloody Trotter). Horses for courses - we all see value in different things.

Glad I could be of assistance 😍

The late Stu wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

Joselillo3 wrote:

It seems that none of us want this edition...

It will sell. Different books have different markets and I've no doubt this will do well.

Honestly, they could smear poop on a piece of cardboard, and right now if it had the word 'Tolkien' on it, it absolutely would sell, and there would be enough people that would get onto social media and boast about how awesome and limited the poop was. There is a reason HC is doing this edition right now, even though they have been scared of high priced editions since about 2009. It is basically an extremely unsophisticated market, plus there are the completists who will be compelled to add it irrespective (and I don't really include these in the 'unsophisticated' market -- though I genuinely don't understand the mentality as it feels a little bit like Sunk Cost Fallacy).

I have no doubt at all that this will sell out -- and fairly quickly. And tbh, I hope the people who buy it, enjoy it.

What do you mean “ extremely unsophisticated” ?

Gerontius Took wrote:

The late Stu wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

Joselillo3 wrote:

It seems that none of us want this edition...

It will sell. Different books have different markets and I've no doubt this will do well.

Honestly, they could smear poop on a piece of cardboard, and right now if it had the word 'Tolkien' on it, it absolutely would sell, and there would be enough people that would get onto social media and boast about how awesome and limited the poop was. There is a reason HC is doing this edition right now, even though they have been scared of high priced editions since about 2009. It is basically an extremely unsophisticated market, plus there are the completists who will be compelled to add it irrespective (and I don't really include these in the 'unsophisticated' market -- though I genuinely don't understand the mentality as it feels a little bit like Sunk Cost Fallacy).

I have no doubt at all that this will sell out -- and fairly quickly. And tbh, I hope the people who buy it, enjoy it.

What do you mean “ extremely unsophisticated” ?

I mean it in the same way as the market for Beanie Babies was unsophisticated. There was an audience that would buy the product irrespective of whether that product was actually sensible or good. The Tolkien market is absolutely enormous and the vast majority of the people collecting Tolkien know absolutely nothing about books or book production. I'm not saying this applies to everyone collecting Tolkien, but it arguably applies to most. This often isn't the case with less mainstream collecting, where collectors tend to become more educated about their niche. Tolkien, like Harry Potter, is peak biblio-capitalism. For a market like this, there isn't a huge incentive for a publisher to put out a high quality product, because a lesser quality product will sell just as easily and create a greater profit.

Edit: Folio is a great example of this "unsophisticated market" in the wider Limited Edition book market at the moment (but on a much smaller scale). They have an audience that for the most part will buy their books systematically, even though there are numerous smaller presses producing far better quality books at lower prices. Folio can do it because tik-tok/instagram has made Folio specifically popular, and many collectors are buying because they "buy Folio", not because they buy something that is actually good on its own merits.

"Undiscerning" is probably a better word.

understood :)

The late Stu wrote:

Gerontius Took wrote:

The late Stu wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

Joselillo3 wrote:

It seems that none of us want this edition...

It will sell. Different books have different markets and I've no doubt this will do well.

Honestly, they could smear poop on a piece of cardboard, and right now if it had the word 'Tolkien' on it, it absolutely would sell, and there would be enough people that would get onto social media and boast about how awesome and limited the poop was. There is a reason HC is doing this edition right now, even though they have been scared of high priced editions since about 2009. It is basically an extremely unsophisticated market, plus there are the completists who will be compelled to add it irrespective (and I don't really include these in the 'unsophisticated' market -- though I genuinely don't understand the mentality as it feels a little bit like Sunk Cost Fallacy).

I have no doubt at all that this will sell out -- and fairly quickly. And tbh, I hope the people who buy it, enjoy it.

What do you mean “ extremely unsophisticated” ?

I mean it in the same way as the market for Beanie Babies was unsophisticated. There was an audience that would buy the product irrespective of whether that product was actually sensible or good. The Tolkien market is absolutely enormous and the vast majority of the people collecting Tolkien know absolutely nothing about books or book production. I'm not saying this applies to everyone collecting Tolkien, but it arguably applies to most. This often isn't the case with less mainstream collecting, where collectors tend to become more educated about their niche. Tolkien, like Harry Potter, is peak biblio-capitalism. For a market like this, there isn't a huge incentive for a publisher to put out a high quality product, because a lesser quality product will sell just as easily and create a greater profit.

Edit: Folio is a great example of this "unsophisticated market" in the wider Limited Edition book market at the moment (but on a much smaller scale). They have an audience that for the most part will buy their books systematically, even though there are numerous smaller presses producing far better quality books at lower prices. Folio can do it because tik-tok/instagram has made Folio specifically popular, and many collectors are buying because they "buy Folio", not because they buy something that is actually good on its own merits.

"Undiscerning" is probably a better word.

Who are the better small presses? Would like to check them out.

OlorinCA wrote:

The late Stu wrote:

Gerontius Took wrote:

The late Stu wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

Joselillo3 wrote:

It seems that none of us want this edition...

It will sell. Different books have different markets and I've no doubt this will do well.

Honestly, they could smear poop on a piece of cardboard, and right now if it had the word 'Tolkien' on it, it absolutely would sell, and there would be enough people that would get onto social media and boast about how awesome and limited the poop was. There is a reason HC is doing this edition right now, even though they have been scared of high priced editions since about 2009. It is basically an extremely unsophisticated market, plus there are the completists who will be compelled to add it irrespective (and I don't really include these in the 'unsophisticated' market -- though I genuinely don't understand the mentality as it feels a little bit like Sunk Cost Fallacy).

I have no doubt at all that this will sell out -- and fairly quickly. And tbh, I hope the people who buy it, enjoy it.

What do you mean “ extremely unsophisticated” ?

I mean it in the same way as the market for Beanie Babies was unsophisticated. There was an audience that would buy the product irrespective of whether that product was actually sensible or good. The Tolkien market is absolutely enormous and the vast majority of the people collecting Tolkien know absolutely nothing about books or book production. I'm not saying this applies to everyone collecting Tolkien, but it arguably applies to most. This often isn't the case with less mainstream collecting, where collectors tend to become more educated about their niche. Tolkien, like Harry Potter, is peak biblio-capitalism. For a market like this, there isn't a huge incentive for a publisher to put out a high quality product, because a lesser quality product will sell just as easily and create a greater profit.

Edit: Folio is a great example of this "unsophisticated market" in the wider Limited Edition book market at the moment (but on a much smaller scale). They have an audience that for the most part will buy their books systematically, even though there are numerous smaller presses producing far better quality books at lower prices. Folio can do it because tik-tok/instagram has made Folio specifically popular, and many collectors are buying because they "buy Folio", not because they buy something that is actually good on its own merits.

"Undiscerning" is probably a better word.

Who are the better small presses? Would like to check them out.

Grim Oak Press has done an amazing job with their 'memory, sorrow and thorn ' limited editions

OlorinCA wrote:

Who are the better small presses? Would like to check them out.

There are quite a few. Of course, each only has a limited number of titles, so you haven't got the breadth of someone like Folio. Examples would be Conversation Tree, Suntup, Copperhead, Morning Bell, Lyras.

There are loads of them, tbh, at various price points (and with books at various price points within the presses). For anyone that is into letterpress, there are some really nice editions out there, often no more expensive than the offset printed stuff Folio kicks out. I'm not personally generally bothered about the whole offset/Letterpress thing, but I do balk at the inkjet printing on most of the recent illustrated HarperCollins Tolkien books. The text just looks weird and "off" on those.