Trade sword for History of Middle-Earth set.

...a complete set of new, or Virtually new, Hardback Histories of Middle-Earth, Volumes 1-12 with dustjacket...

Are you interested in impression status? Priced/Unpriced DJ's? Would you accept book club copies?; HarperCollins reprints?; UK or US set? etc etc

Also, I think if your going to start 'collecting' books, and increased interest in dustjackets is paramount. (If your not interested in a set with DJ's , then perhaps you'd be cheaper buying a complete paperback set? -or both! )

It's been a little quiet Eric the Red; so be patient if response is slow to your post. Welcome to TCG!

BH

What I'm interested in most i suppose is the Houghton Mifflin Hardcovers (I want them all to line up nicely on the bookshelf and not be staggered much in highth, the H.M. are all around 8.5 inches), of course I want them to look good as well. Uniformity is the key. I would prefer dustjackets but realize folks will more easily part with their books that dont have them. Amazon and Ebay testify to that.

Retaining their collectability is not a HUGE factor to me since I intend to make them a kind of Family Hierloom out of them. The Middle-Earth saga's are dear to me and I feel that it is my obligation to pass them on to my children when they're of age.

About the cheapest I've been able to round up a bunch of them from various sources is $180.00, mixed and matched new and used. The value of the Sword of Strider and its scabbard far exeeds that. Its about almost even trade for the others. I'd just rather not part with the cash to actually buy the books unless thet were a package deal from one owner.

Thanks for asking,

Eric the Red

Eric the Red wrote:

"About the cheapest I've been able to round up a bunch of them from various sources is $180.00, mixed and matched new and used. The value of the Sword of Strider and its scabbard far exeeds that."



Unfortunately, because the official UC LOTR swords are essentially mass-produced stainless-steel SLOs (Sword-Like Objects), you will probably find that their resale value is actually very low. That's not to say they don't look nice, but sword collectors tend to look down on them a bit because of their ahistorical construction and materials (and the LOTR movie memorobila fad has long-since passed).

I would get a set of 1st Edition US HoME hardbacks and just pick them up piecemeal as they turn up and as you can afford it. I built up a set of first impressions with dust jackets in fine condition for about $300 - it just took a couple of years to do so. UK 1st/1sts are pretty expensive, and it isn't really possible to build up a set of later impressions cheaply because the final two books only have a single impression and are always fairly costly to acquire.

Patience pays dividends with book collecting, as the price you pay can really vary depending on who happens to be looking for the same book at the same time. With HoME (both US ans UK 1sts) there is also a random element in the final sale price that defies all logic and explanation.

Cheers
Stu

...there is also a random element in the final sale price that defies all logic and explanation.

Ebay! That's the explanation . All tho' for really illogical unexplanable prices just consult the acclaimed online marketplace (with more than 110 million books listed!) Abebooks!; otherwise known as Amazon; who also own Bookfinder... you will find all sorts of unreasonably priced titles, which bare no relation to rarity, scarcity, or instrinsic value etc. There you'll find UK HoME sets for $136000 and the like.

BH

>There you'll find UK HoME sets for $136000 and the like.

I'm stunned that you think $11,300 per volume is in some way unreasonable! Such a cheapskate... :)

Stu

Ebay can come up trumps as well on mad prices.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/A-TOLKIEN-BESTI ... |65%3A3|39%3A1|240%3A1318

UPDATE

The book was listed at £999 when I posted the link, but has now gone to £9.99

I have a couple of sets I'll sell for half that, if anyone is interested.


Seriously, though. There is a definite market for Fine/Near Fine sets of first impressions, with realized prices (as opposed to asking prices) in the multiple hundreds of dollars - falling recently I am sure, but sets seem to go in the $300-$750 range depending on condition and other factors.

Sets can be obtained for a lot less than that, if you are not interested in first impressions. A lot of the books are still available new from wholesale channels. I just did a spot check in Baker and Taylor (big US wholesaler), and they have a copy of each of BoLT I and II on hand for booksellers to order. You should be able to put together a complete set of new or near new for $100-$200 or even less if you are a careful shopper. A complete set of UK paperbacks runs about the same, mostly due to the exchange rate and how expensive paperbacks are over there.

For the, um, discriminating collector (another word occurred to me but this is a G rated site) the holy grail of the US HOME firsts are the Book of Lost Tales I copies that were printed in the UK - the first four thousand sets of sheets were imported. The other sheets were printed in the USA. There are surprisingly few of these in good shape floating around, as it seems that a large number were used as review copies or library copies, just based on anecdotal evidence and copies I have personally seen or handled.

Are the US HOME hardback set all still in print?

Hey Trotter,

thanks for that eBay link - I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

I loved the apology for the high cost of postage (£2.75) on a book they have listed for £999 and typically sells for perhaps £0.99 if they seller is particularly lucky, and the book has a dustjacket - which this copy sadly does not.