I noticed regular shipping was $80 also.

Finally got through. Order placed.

Khamûl wrote:

Maybe some of you would consider throwing £1000 at an actual bookbinder & see what kind of product you get?

Khamûl this is a capital idea. My capital fund has been hit or I would ask today.

Caudimordax wrote:

Honestly stuff like this makes me glad I got my collection mostly put together well before the Amazon hype. $1500 is an order of magnitude more than I could ever justify paying.

Edit: Also this mismatch upsets me:

It's not mismatch as there's some engraving of iconographic elements in the leather. The silver motifs just highlight some part of it. I think on the contrary that the spines and their different title's lenght are pretty well balanced that way. The bases are engraved and lined up for each of the motifs.

1000£? Nope, this is just silly and it's greed from their part. As much as it pains me to pass on this, it's an unjustifiable price.

Emilien wrote:

It's not mismatch as there's some engraving of iconographic elements in the leather. The silver motifs just highlight some part of it. I think on the contrary that the spines and their different title's lenght are pretty well balanced that way. The bases are engraved and lined up for each of the motifs.

Thanks for pointing this out...didn't notice at first.

I agree with everyone else that has expressed that this set is grossly overpriced.

This is a big pass for me; I’d much rather buy some 1st, 1st of some Tolkien book, or at that price point, why not pursue a custom binding as Khamûl suggested?

For those that end up getting it, I’m interested to see how it stacks up to previous deluxe and super deluxe titles of Tolkien’s works.

I think the main comparison is with this HC set http://tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=1193 and the Leather Folio Society set, though this is not quarter-bound http://tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=1201

Emilien wrote:

Caudimordax wrote:

Honestly stuff like this makes me glad I got my collection mostly put together well before the Amazon hype. $1500 is an order of magnitude more than I could ever justify paying.

Edit: Also this mismatch upsets me:

It's not mismatch as there's some engraving of iconographic elements in the leather. The silver motifs just highlight some part of it. I think on the contrary that the spines and their different title's lenght are pretty well balanced that way. The bases are engraved and lined up for each of the motifs.

Nice catch Emelien. I am forced to concede that is a nice detail.

Trotter wrote:

…and the Leather Folio Society set, though this is not quarter-bound http://tolkienbooks.net/php/details2.php?id=1201

I recall this set selling for around this price point in the recent past ($1500), but not now with Tolkien titles having doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc. as a result of the Amazon series.