Here are some pictures of this set William Morrow Great Tales set ordered from Amazon US and received on 2025-08-21.

They do have the frontispieces and I have no issues with the quality. One funny error on the Amazon page is that is says they are 11 inches tall. The WM set is the standard HC size (see photo, matches the 2014 box set). There had also been a question about the blue balance. I attached a photo showing that the Fall of Gondolin cover is definitely much more blue. Maybe that exacerbated the issue, or maybe they processed the photo to highlight the blue.

Sorry about the poor quality of the copyright pages. Children of Hurin is listed as a 7th impression, Beren and Luthien a first ("I" rather than 1, does that mean anything?), and Fall of Gondolin is a 5th.

wiseSam wrote:

Beren and Luthien a first ("I" rather than 1, does that mean anything?)

No, it is just using Roman Numerals, still means 1.

The late Stu wrote:

I've realised I'm temped to use my spares for a custom set with tipped-in illustrations, printed on photo paper. Kind of the best of worlds between being sewn and having quality printing for the illustrations. Can't do much about the new frontis without decent files, but can prob scan those from the next calendar if they are included.

They are in the calendar :)

The late Stu wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

The late Stu wrote:

So turns out I got this by accident as I forgot I had pre-ordered it from Amazon Germany when it was initially announced

Guy in a galaxy far, far away orders from Amazon Germany and it has arrived.

I order from Amazon Germany on 8 March and am still waiting for it to arrive in Germany.

Make Amazon make sense.

Ha Ha. Yeah, that's nuts. I was surprised at how quickly it arrived. My pre-order was round about the same time as you (11th March). Hopefully your set will be OK. I just noticed on this set that the back of FoG has a 1" tear and loss of colour on the rear of its jacket. Also not shipping damage as the slipcase was in undamaged shrink-wrap and it was only the corner of the slipcase/CoH that got bumped. Typical Rotolito quality problems. Sigh.

Weird Amazon Germany thing is that they have refunded me for this one (already in my account), but have also ordered me a replacement copy at $0. I assume it is a cockup due to me having to arrange the refund via the chat as the UI wouldn't let me do it (it would bomb out and tell me to contact support). Perhaps when I don't return this one (which they have told me not to), I will get charged for the replacement after 14 days or somesuch. Mysteries of Amazon...

I think that you'll get a replacement and get to keep the other. At least you can use the slip I guess.

Glad to say that my copy has finally arrived and unlike yours in perfect shape. Not a mark on it at all.

HarperCollins and the same impression as everyone else's.

The issue is many couriers literally throw parcels, and not all retailers pack books properly. Shipping damage is rarely the fault of the publisher

Eye_of_the_Black_Tower wrote:

Shipping damage is rarely the fault of the publisher

Shipping damage is never the fault of the publisher, as they don't do any of the shipping and handling.

I received mine with factory damage...the package didn't have any defect or hit...but the right board of the case was completely loose. Luckily the outer paper didn't break, and Ive glued the board.

But again, a problem with harper quality...

I mean you could always stop buying their products if they constantly disappoint you.

(“But again, a problem with Harper quality…”)

Totally, and as soon as Tolkien's works is published by someone else (i mean a different publisher), believe me you I won't buy from Harper again.

Maybe the photos i uploaded dont picture the problem well. The board was loose, it "moved".

It annoys me because they actually know how to make proper books and cases, for "trade" prices, and they make it when it's not Tolkien. But with Tolkien, having that exclusivity, they seems not to care , given that they would sell anyway. As an example you can check the recent "Realms of Round Table", just recently published. Really really nice quality book, for 30€

We’re all here because we like Tolkien’s works and BOOKS.

That being said, if problems keep arising in the physical aspect, eBooks of most do exist.

I have quite a few Tolkien physically, and few titles here and there digitally (by choice, not lack of space. But having those titles NOT take up space is great indeed!)

I understand what you mean about Realms; I posted about my recently-acquired copy not long ago (along with Black Ships Before Troy, which isn’t new but ‘new to me.’)