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6 Oct, 2017
2017-10-6 11:15:08 AM UTC

yee256 wrote:
Photo from Harper Collins

By the way, where did you find this image? I don't see it on the HC website (or anywhere else online).
6 Oct, 2017
2017-10-6 12:20:46 PM UTC
Yeah, but UK release date is still this one

On Sale: 21/09/2017

It's not normal, I mean, giants like Amazon or The Book Depository not knowing what's happening. Kind of sad, in my humble opinion.
6 Oct, 2017
2017-10-6 6:30:46 PM UTC

mboswi wrote:
Yeah, but UK release date is still this one

On Sale: 21/09/2017

It's not normal, I mean, giants like Amazon or The Book Depository not knowing what's happening. Kind of sad, in my humble opinion.

Not that it is important, but Amazon and Book Depository are the same company these days. Think of how many SKUs they cary - tens of millions, and hundreds of millions in the case of Amazon. All they know about a given product is a row in a database. All they can to is look up the record for the product and tell you what it says. That's the choice we made when we decided we didn't need local bookstores and what we wanted was giant corporations that saved us a bit of money on each thing we bought.

I'm all for bashing HarperCollins when they produce a rubbish product (and indeed for praising them when they produce a good one), but I'm not going to lose sleep because a row in a database doesn't show the correct release date. Or maybe it does, and maybe they did ship some books (just a very small number) and new stock hasn't hit the warehouse yet and there is no ETA for it.

The Facsimile Hobbit was delayed 5 years, and then had another last minute delay whilst the dust jackets were all reprinted. It then went out of stock fairly quickly whilst copies had to ship in from Italy (i.e. it wasn't reprinted, the copies just weren't where they needed to be).

I wouldn't lose any sleep over this. At some point it will either come back into stock or it won't, but given overseas HC websites are still showing a release date, I'd bet on the former.
7 Oct, 2017
2017-10-7 12:42:51 AM UTC
I believe that the deluxe set has sold out and we will now be getting second impressions.

I base this on the fact that Amazon.co.uk tried to charge me for my pre-order (which I had placed on August 30) on October 4. Unfortunately, I had a problem with my debit card, so the book didn't ship, and now, after fixing the payment problem, it's already out of stock.

Amazon doesn't try to charge you unless they have the item in stock, meaning they had the set in stock two days ago.

I'm not sure a second impression of the set is worth the asking price, so have doubts about getting the set now.
7 Oct, 2017
2017-10-7 1:46:22 AM UTC

Oren wrote:
I believe that the deluxe set has sold out and we will now be getting second impressions.

I base this on the fact that Amazon.co.uk tried to charge me for my pre-order (which I had placed on August 30) on October 4. Unfortunately, I had a problem with my debit card, so the book didn't ship, and now, after fixing the payment problem, it's already out of stock.

Amazon doesn't try to charge you unless they have the item in stock, meaning they had the set in stock two days ago.

I'm not sure a second impression of the set is worth the asking price, so have doubts about getting the set now.

Going out of stock does not automatically mean a second impression. You could be right, but the book can easily be out of stock because copies haven't been shipped from the printers/binders (as happened with the Facsimile Hobbit). What you say about being charged is interesting, though, as does imply some copies did ship. I guess we will find out in due course if someone who recieved a copy pipes up.
7 Oct, 2017
2017-10-7 4:03:11 AM UTC

Oren wrote:
I believe that the deluxe set has sold out and we will now be getting second impressions.

I base this on the fact that Amazon.co.uk tried to charge me for my pre-order (which I had placed on August 30) on October 4. Unfortunately, I had a problem with my debit card, so the book didn't ship, and now, after fixing the payment problem, it's already out of stock.

Amazon doesn't try to charge you unless they have the item in stock, meaning they had the set in stock two days ago.

I'm not sure a second impression of the set is worth the asking price, so have doubts about getting the set now.

I would personally be very surprised if an expensive non-mainstream bookset like this sold out on pre-order. Many online retailers showed an Out Of Stock status even before the release date. That leads me to believe they didn't know when it would be released to begin with. My local Dymocks confirmed as much. Anyway, let's see if someone actually received this.
7 Oct, 2017
2017-10-7 8:26:50 AM UTC
I hope that you are right. I have bad experience ordering HarperCollins titles from Amazon; on more than one occasion I received a second impression even when pre-ordering. That was the case in 2011 with The Pocket Hobbit, for example, whose delivery from Amazon was also delayed.

I believe that HarperCollins has the habit of supplying first impressions only to specific retailers and then second impressions to others.

I agree though that it would be a bit odd for an expensive deluxe edition to sell out so quickly.
7 Oct, 2017 (edited)
2017-10-7 10:46:40 AM UTC

Oren wrote:
I hope that you are right. I have bad experience ordering HarperCollins titles from Amazon; on more than one occasion I received a second impression even when pre-ordering. That was the case in 2011 with The Pocket Hobbit, for example, whose delivery from Amazon was also delayed.

Everyone got a 2nd Impression of the Pocket Hobbit when it was first released. HarperCollins were unhappy with the paper, the paper in the second impression is whiter than the first impression and went back to the printers to get them reprinted, which was why the delivery was delayed and why you did not get a 1st impression.

They eventually decided to sell the 'defective' first impression anyway in Australia and possibly New Zealand as well, I got a copy from Australia. I think they were also sold in the UK as well, as I remember seeing them in UK bookshops about a year after the initial release.

The Pocket Hobbit is an unusual book in that as far as I am aware the 2nd impression was on sale before the 1st impression.
7 Oct, 2017
2017-10-7 3:10:49 PM UTC
But the first copies distributed in the UK didn't actually state that they were second impressions, is that not right? My copy is a marked first impression that I bought from BD at publication.

BH
7 Oct, 2017
2017-10-7 7:16:25 PM UTC

Khamûl wrote:
But the first copies distributed in the UK didn't actually state that they were second impressions, is that not right? My copy is a marked first impression that I bought from BD at publication.

BH


Yeah, both impressions clearly state which one they are. A few of the first seem to have been sold in the UK, just not very many, as the rest were exported to the penal colony like filthy convicts. If your first impression is very slimline, it is definitely the exported version. If thicker, it is the domestic second impression.

From memory, my second impression was an Amazon.co.uk pre-order and my first impression was purchased in Brisbane a few days after the second impression arrived from Amazon.
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