My Companion an Guide set turned up. Other than the usual problem with the first and last volumes being slightly adhered to the slipcase, no problems. The extra bit of paper and glue from the inside of the slipcase peeled off easily enough leaving the dustjackets unharmed.

I definitely think these slipcases would have been pretty good if they had let the adhesive dry a little longer (I think the sides of the slipcase would have held their original position a little better, rather than pushing in a little). It is certainly a *much* better slipcase than the new Deluxe HoME (at least double the thickness, appearing pretty much identical thickness to the first edition C&G boxed set).

The books all seem well made. I notice that the specific printer in China is not mentioned. There definitely seems to be two different Chinese styles we are seeing from HarperCollins; The very poorly assembled books with flat (or almost flat) spines that don't quite look like books, and the ones that look pefectly acceptable like these.

Paper quality seems fairly neutral; certainly not the best, but nothing to complain about, either.

I see the Deluxe History of Middle-Earth is back in stock. If anyone dare order one, I'd be interested if the quality has improved at all relative to the first print (and who has printed the second print, and if it is marked as such).

I'd like to hope it is better than the first print -- which in all honesty was one of the worst sets I have seen come out of HarperCollins, and they have produced some pretty bad sets.

To sum the past few months, and correct me if I'm wrong:

The so-called "Deluxe" HoMe 1st print from Clays is a flop. From the pictures you kind gents provided, it seems they pulled a Kullervo. The fact that it is shorter and in a different style than the rest of the Deluxe books is irritating. Worse is HC response regarding how fortunate they are that these are selling well despite their poor quality. Pass.

The Treasury is made in China. Pass.

J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide 1st print that I was very much looking forward to is Chinese (nooooo!) and unsurprisingly marred with quality control problems regarding the excessive use of glue on the slipcase.

B&L is not a standalone story, but rather a collection of all its drafts. However, the Deluxe was print in Italy by LEGO and came out pretty well.

Morinehtar wrote:
To sum the past few months, and correct me if I'm wrong:

The so-called "Deluxe" HoMe 1st print from Clays is a flop. From the pictures you kind gents provided, it seems they pulled a Kullervo. The fact that it is shorter and in a different style than the rest of the Deluxe books is irritating. Worse is HC response regarding how fortunate they are that these are selling well despite their poor quality. Pass.

The Treasury is made in China. Pass.

J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide 1st print that I was very much looking forward to is Chinese (nooooo!) and unsurprisingly marred with quality control problems regarding the excessive use of glue on the slipcase.

B&L is not a standalone story, but rather a collection of all its drafts. However, the Deluxe was print in Italy by LEGO and came out pretty well.

Yep, that's a reasonable summary. IMHO of the books you mention, the only one that I really felt has added any value is the Companion & Guide. It is a shame it had the glue problem (although most people seem to have been able to extract their books without damaging the jackets, I think). I'd have preferred a UK print, but in this case, at least the books seem fairly well put together, and aren't the rubbish we have seen with some of the other chinese (re)prints, both standard and deluxe.

Would you say B&L is not worth it? I think they did a good job with both the hardcover and the Deluxe. If not for reading, at least for completion's sake. It's not a Kullervo.

I wonder if it's advisable to wait for the 2nd print of the Companion & Guide to avoid the glue problems. It's all made in China anyways. Regardless, I will end up buying it sooner or later. This is a set I definitely want to read - unlike most other recent Tolkien-related releases where HC slaps some interesting artwork on random Tolkien outtakes padded with commentary to ensnare people into buying a "new J.R.R. Tolkien book".

Stu wrote:
Oh, and they have used the wrong font for the text on the spines of LoTR.

{...} notice the "W" in uppercase "FELLOWSHIP". {...} And I even provided them with high-resolution 1st impression jacket scans.

Yes, but who cares about scans of book jackets from like 80 years ago when you can use the fashionable Wikipedia "W" and make it look cooler???

So glad I didn't pre-order. To be honest, with all the current quality control problems I find it difficult to justify pre-ordering anything from HC.

Yeah, my point in B&L was with regards to the content, not the quality of LEGOs printing/binding.

With regards to the Companion & Guide, certainly in my case the glue issue was really not a big deal. The small bit of paper adhered to the edges of the jacket peeled off with a thumbnail. I guess it is a toss-up as to whether a reprint wlll overall be better/worse. Given HarperCollins' ability to turn attractive books into square blocks with dust jackets (have a look at a later impression 60th LOTR/ Readers Companion set...), if you want this title, it might be better just to buy it.

I decided to take the risk in the interests of scientific enquiry - The Deluxe History of Middle-Earth has been reprinted by LEGO, Spa.

- The box is now much thicker than the original flimsy clays box (the same as the other slipcases -- although the sides still don't have a curve).
- the books in slipcase are now the same height as the other deluxe editions.
- It is still marked as "1" on the number line.
- The paper insert is slightly less yellow and is provided inside the shrink, rather than stuck to the outside with another copy in the box.
- It is now shipped in a cardboard outer wrap.
- The books themselves are slightly thicker than the clays deluxe 1st print, with the overall thickness of this set being identical to the Clays standard edition(so the books must be a fraction thinner than standard, given the thicker slipcase walls).
- The spines are now more curved, and you can't see the brown cardboard lining if you look straight down at the book.
- The spines on these copies don't have wrinkles at the bottom edges; The clays copies I had did.
- The paper on the clays copies was - from memory - slightly better.
- The front and rear boards on the LEGO copies are thicker

I'm not sure it is necessarily worth buying (as stylistically the match remains poor), but is much better than the Clays-printed horror we got a couple of months back.

Hi Stu,
Can I ask where did you buy this one? The LEGO reprint seems much better.

I ordered from Book Depository. It was about £135 including shipping to NZ. I'd guess that everyone who has it in stock now has the LEGO version (possibly with the exception of Tolkien.co.uk, I suppose given they sell for RRP and probably don't sell many).

This reprint is nothing special (the design itself hasn't changed), but it isn't awful, and my [returned] copy of the Clays first print really was an abomination. I think at the price I paid, it is OK (and I'll keep it -- if it had been rubbish, I'd have just sold it on here in NZ and taken a bit of a hit). I don't think I'd pay much more than I paid for it, mind.

It would be interesting to know how many copies of this second 1st impression (!) were printed.

I've just added some pictures to help illustrate the difference between the Clays print and the LEGO. The only pictures I have of the Clays are the ones I took to give to Amazon when I requested the return, unfortunately, but you can clearly see just how thin the box and the book boards are on the Clays printing. Each of the Clays volumes also had creases to the bottoms of the boards, which didn't appear to be transit damage (just crappy assembly), and one of the books had the cover starting to split at the spine, which may have been from a knock (unclear). I honestly believe the Clays sets should just have been pulped.

The LEGO set is still fairly dull, but at least it is reasonably well put together.