insurrbution wrote:

My 2017 Hammond & Scull boxed set is printed in Italy by Rotolito Lombarda, with the printing saying 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 2 for all three books. Maybe the re-prints were done there?

Yes, that number line is incorrect. The actual first print with the defective slipcase and glue seepage onto the jackets was printed in China (the books are nicely printed, FWIW -- they just didn't let the glue dry before trying to use the slipcases).

The numberlines are so often wrong at this point, they don't mean much (for the first print, anyway).

Ah, I see - thanks for clearing that up

Another QC wonder !

You shouldn't open it, Emilien, it's super rare !!

You should complain to HarperCollins about this one, I can't understand how that was shipped, and probably the next box-set with two copies of The Return of the King in it.

Haha not mine, just checked this on a second hand marketplace !

Now you have an extra copy of TT to mark up and make notes in though.

I certainly wouldn't put it past Quality Control (QC) to have let this slip by during printing and packaging, but there are two other possibilities:

• the shrinkwrap has been opened (seen at the bottom of the picture) enough for the Reader's Companion to be removed it looks like, to me, which would allow for all the other books to be removed and replaced without further opening the shrinkwrap.
  
• shrinkwrap machines are easy to buy, and use. Unlikely to be the case here (who would bother), but always something to keep in mind when you are buying something "new" just because it is "still in shrinkwrap".