Silmarillion 1st Collector's edition on eBay

Another super-deluxe bought by dunedain8 / The Tolkien Bookshelf. I have a theory that he is trying to get every copy of every rare deluxe edition and drive the market price up because he is in total control of supply! :)

Personally, I think these books are actually a tad overpriced, given we are heading into a major global economic downturn, the likes of which none of us have probably ever seen (and these books really are a luxury rather than a necessity).

That probably won't stop me acquiring a couple more though....!

Stu

£741 seems about right for a deluxe which comes up literally only every few years. One went at the tale end of 2007 (Australian original owner) for £642 on eBay. However there are ~1000 of these out there! You'd expect a few more to surface; regardless of price. There sometimes isn't even any copies on Abebooks either.

Has anyone ever seen a signed copy of one of these come up lately? #11 went on eBay in 2004 for £632. Other than that I don't recall any other copies.

Personally, I find all these prices pretty depressing. In the future if I ever want to 'complete' my Silmarillion collection; one of these will be required. Here's hoping they stay in three figures over the next decade or so...

BH

I saw a signed copy on eBay in 2004. (Number 91)
Other than that the only signed one I have seen is mine and boy was that expensive! Start saving...
Hammond says that some of the 1000 copies may not have been bound - presumably unsigned copies - not surprising - 100 GBP was alot back in 1982.

Hi,

I wasn't suggesting that GBP 741 is out of whack with current prices necessarily, more that I suspect that there will probably be a slump in prices as the UK and US economies (not exclusively, but in particular) go through a fairly hard time in the next 5 years.

My other 'collecting hobby' is high end hand-made replica swords (Scottish 1400-1600 being my particular area of interest) and from following the forums, collectors are definitely tightening their belts and more second-hand swords seem to be coming onto the market as casual collectors drop out and use their money for more sensible pursuits. It seems from my casual observation of eBay that the same applies with the books, and more 'high-end' JRRT stuff is also coming onto the marketplace the last few months.

Stu.

...yet people are bidding £97 ($177) on a 1987 50th Anniversary standard hardback of The Hobbit! Yes it had a flyer; but nearly £100!

BH

>yet people are bidding £97 ($177) on a 1987 50th Anniversary standard hardback of The Hobbit! Yes it had a flyer; but nearly £100!

Lunacy? :)