I just ordered this edition. I already had the corresponding Lord of the Rings box from last year, so I saw it as a mandatory purchase (for some reason I do not usually preorder). I regrettably bought it from a rainforest website that I do not ideologically agree with. I got a 8 GBP discount and was able to add a cloth bag for extra protection during shipping. It will arrive on Nov 10/11.

🤔No hint of a future " signed limited edition" in the copyright page of this one, right?

Joselillo3 wrote:

🤔No hint of a future " signed limited edition" in the copyright page of this one, right?

Depends if they find 1000 people daft enough to spend £750 on the weak LotR offering, I suspect. If they do, then I fully expect they will do a similarly uninspiring Hobbit. They won't leave easy money on the table.

The late Stu wrote:

Joselillo3 wrote:

🤔No hint of a future " signed limited edition" in the copyright page of this one, right?

Depends if they find 1000 people daft enough to spend £750 on the weak LotR offering, I suspect. If they do, then I fully expect they will do a similarly uninspiring Hobbit. They won't leave easy money on the table.

To be fair to those who want the edition, it can be due to a host of reasons rather than them being "daft", many who have held off on a limited edition until now will feel that this is the right tome (given the extras in the form of the box and the inserts, sig, etc.) We know collectors are a unique group and we justify things that others don't. Regardless of our own enthusiasm for the new Rings, I look forward to seeing our members copies when they arrive.

As to the set itself, I have not seen it yet and while I am not interested, we should hold off judgment on it until those receiving it can give us a review about it.

If the Rings offering does sell well see no reason for them not to publish a similar Hobbit.

You are right. That came across as unnecessarily dismissive. I hope those who buy it enjoy it, despite my feelings that it is a very cynical release from HC.

The late Stu wrote:

You are right. That came across as unnecessarily dismissive. I hope those who buy it enjoy it, despite my feelings that it is a very cynical release from HC.

Thank you for that Stu.
Many things have been said on this edition : it is too much expensive, a bit lazy compared to the regular deluxe 70th anniversary edition published last year.
I don't try to defend this edition at all cost, and I already own several limited/signed/fancy editions.

But anyway, I like it for several reasons (clamshell design, spine alignment with the others clothbound deluxe editions, the fact it is limited and signed).
And I simply don't own another *not oversized but handy* 3-volumes deluxe edition Lord of the Rings Limited and Signed by Alan Lee. (Actually, the 1992 leather quarterbound edition limited to only 250 copies is almost impossible to find - or really out of reach when listed). So I guess all these arguments motivated my decision to buy these books.
And that's a bit rude to being designated as daft because I made that choice.

onthetrail wrote:

The late Stu wrote:

Joselillo3 wrote:

🤔No hint of a future " signed limited edition" in the copyright page of this one, right?

Depends if they find 1000 people daft enough to spend £750 on the weak LotR offering, I suspect. If they do, then I fully expect they will do a similarly uninspiring Hobbit. They won't leave easy money on the table.

To be fair to those who want the edition, it can be due to a host of reasons rather than them being "daft", many who have held off on a limited edition until now will feel that this is the right tome (given the extras in the form of the box and the inserts, sig, etc.) We know collectors are a unique group and we justify things that others don't. Regardless of our own enthusiasm for the new Rings, I look forward to seeing our members copies when they arrive.

As to the set itself, I have not seen it yet and while I am not interested, we should hold off judgment on it until those receiving it can give us a review about it.

If the Rings offering does sell well see no reason for them not to publish a similar Hobbit.

The thing is: I am not sure this new limited LotRs is even aimed at seasoned collectors. We are forgetting just how absolutely *loved* the LotRs is. I mean it is in the top 5 works of fiction in just about every country on the planet I think. Non-collectors will buy a set like this as a family heirloom to be passed on from generation to generation. They will be telling their grandkids and great grandkids about their prized book in years to come.

We, the collectors, are so immersed in Tolkien collecting we tend to forget this I feel. My prediction: the 1000 copies will be sold out in a week.

Still odd that they included the note about the isbn of the limited edition in the normal edition, and not in this one...but hey, Harper🤷‍♂️

Lake Town Geezer wrote:

My prediction: the 1000 copies will be sold out in a week.

No chance, in my opinion.

I am looking forward to several things when my copy of this Hobbit edition arrives. I will be spending quite some time looking at the illustration inside the slipcase for which a photo was published earlier in this thread.

Right now, I am a little bit curious about the slipcase. How snugly the book fits into it? Is it most similar to the corresponding Lord of the Ring set released last year, the 2020 illustrated box set or the 60th anniversary non-illustrated boxset from 2014? Is it of the same thickness as the one for corresponding 2024 edition? Does it feel more sturdy because of the difference in book weight to slipcase thickness ratio compared with the Lord of the Rings set?