1987 Unwin Hyman LOTR Boxed Set

It could be the photo (or fading??), as the dust jackets look very washed out.

- wellinghall

wellinghall wrote:
It could be the photo (or fading??), as the dust jackets look very washed out.

- wellinghall

That was my first thought, but there are three photos showing the box, and the green lettering on the ROTK spine still looks green, albeit the spines themselves, especially the TT are faded (it could just be the pictures exaggerating the colour difference excessively). I'm really tending to think the box is/was indeed blue.

http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/tolkien-book-store/000900.htm

It has been 3 or 4 years since I sold this set, and I'm afraid I do not remember if it was blue or green. I have a couple of other photos, where the slipcase does appear even more blue than the photo you were looking at. I've not noticed any problems with the colors in the past, being totally different at least, but I'm afraid I cannot offer a definite answer for you. I will attach the extra photo, so you can compare.

Thanks for posting up the clearer picture. I think that shows it is indeed conclusively blue. The fact that the text on the back of ROTK remains green rules out it being an issue with the photography, I think.

Another mystery!

As an aside, the difference in DJ colour between the TT and the other two books shows a distinct lack of effort on behalf of the printers. The 14/14/16 impressions match perfectly. Something obviously went wrong when they switched to the little man in a circle on the spine.