That box is kind of a mess. The random slapping on of the dusjacket image looks really out-of-place and ill-fitting. Hopefully a little more thought will go into the real thing. Toning down the lurid green would be nice also, IMHO, as it was a bit over the top on the slipcase and the topstain.

I'm most interested as to whether they will fix the colouring of the boards and whether the blank page will move to the correct place, tbh.

Double bonus would be to use a better colour for the topstain, improve the paper quality and make the book closer to the thickness of the original. If they did that, I'd be really happy (and the aesthetics of the box would not bother me in the least)

FWIW, I took the perspective off the box to get a better idea of it. I'm not a fan, but I guess I'm also not a publisher, so...

To my mind, just shrinking the DJ on the front of the box makes it look miles better.

I agree, that does look a lot better.

Someone else asked, so I checked with HC - the Hobbit book in the new gift set will not come with a slipcase. So if you want the slipcase, the previous facsimile edition is the way to go.

I'm told the new gift set box will have some interesting design features, so I'm looking forward to learning more there.

Amazon Germany have this morning brought the presale price down to €41.99.

Thanks for the info! Still £50 on amazon.co.uk, but I do expect it to drop between now and release.

€36.84 on Amazon Spain

https://www.amazon.es/dp/0008259542?tag=lexibrium0a-21&linkCode=osi

The big problem with Amazon is that it is pretty much guaranteed to not be packaged properly. Hopefully the BD price will be good at some point (generally it has been the best for for most things recently), as the packaging has been excellent for all the boxed sets I have purchased (no returns required).

NB. This hasn't held true for individual books. Boxed sets seem to trigger a more sensible packing process, though.

I can't disagree with you Stu, my boxed sets from Amazon.co.uk have been horribly packed for my last few orders.

The first copy of the three volume Companion and Guide sent to me was so badly damaged that Amazon paid for me to return it to them and sent me a free replacement - the return shipping was more than the cost of the set! Crazy.