Mr. Underhill wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

Just to be clear on my point about people exaggerating how poor the box is. That was not aimed at anyone here who had damaged boxes, those are legitimate damaged boxes, I meant more about people claiming that the thinness made them lesser quality, which Facebook and Reddit has a fair amount of.

Seems that (outside of this forum, Reddit and elsewhere) many are looking to find fault with this set and have settled on the thinness of the box. I think that if you are looking for something wrong with a thing, you will always find it.

Exactly Mr. Underhill. From outside impressions I got the sense that the box was poorly constructed due to the thinness of the boards, but on reflection I believe that those who've had damaged boxes have connected the construction to that damage, rather than the obvious cause which is almost certainly the handling after the fact such as packaging/delivery.

I looked over the box again last night and I am very pleased with it. As has been said, by Trotter and others, the box is tight and could have done with a few millimeters extra space but if one takes care, that should not detract from the overall product.

And HarperCollins have clearly opted for volume here, and have discounted it heavily so with the price in mind I believe that it's good value for money.

onthetrail wrote:

From outside impressions I got the sense that the box was poorly constructed due to the thinness of the boards, but on reflection I believe that those who've had damaged boxes have connected the construction to that damage, rather than the obvious cause which is almost certainly the handling after the fact such as packaging/delivery.

But these aren't unrelated matters. A thicker, stronger slipcase will withstand the stresses caused by the jostling of the enclosed volume(s) better than a thinner one, weaker one. In an age where most books are shipped to individual buyers (rather than picked up by buyers at a store), if you don't take this into account, you will inevitably have more people receiving damaged goods. (It also increases the likelihood of damage in the course of ordinary handling by the owner, such as removing and replacing volumes.)

That being said, it's also the case that if you really care about getting an undamaged copy without risking returns, your best bet is to go buy one at a store.

Aelfwine wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

From outside impressions I got the sense that the box was poorly constructed due to the thinness of the boards, but on reflection I believe that those who've had damaged boxes have connected the construction to that damage, rather than the obvious cause which is almost certainly the handling after the fact such as packaging/delivery.

But these aren't unrelated matters. A thicker, stronger slipcase will withstand the stresses caused by the jostling of the enclosed volume(s) better than a thinner one, weaker one. In an age where most books are shipped to individual buyers (rather than picked up by buyers at a store), if you don't take this into account, you will inevitably have more people receiving damaged goods.

That being said, it's also the case that if you really care about getting an undamaged copy without risking returns, your best bet is to go buy one at a store.

Unless the store only has damaged copies because they also receive shipment and suffer the same problem than for individual buyers... At least this is the case with many books in my english bookshop in Paris.

Personally, I see the box as the one way that any Harper Collins releases will be likely to arrive undamaged even if the box is split. For me that's more important.
That said it's a disgrace that sellers don't package properly. All that's needed is an option for enhanced packing for £2-3 per unit. Just a decent box, paper wrap and soft impact material filling any space. Not rocket science. Third party sellers, in my experience, pack new books better than HC or Amazon.

Aelfwine wrote:

But these aren't unrelated matters. A thicker, stronger slipcase will withstand the stresses caused by the jostling of the enclosed volume(s) better than a thinner one, weaker one.

You are quite right Aelfwine, but I don't believe the slipcase is weaker by being thinner, that is namely my point. I expected the slip to be trash from what people had said online and was pleasantly surprised by the overall build of it.

Just noticed that the 3rd boxset (Return of the Shadow through Sauron Defeated) is now available for pre-order on Amazon U.S.

Tuor son of Huor wrote:

Just noticed that the 3rd boxset (Return of the Shadow through Sauron Defeated) is now available for pre-order on Amazon U.S.

Also available on Amazon.de. But whereas the first two boxes sold for 67€ each as preorder, the listed price for the third box is actually 121€. I guess I’ll wait a couple of weeks.

Yup but that 121 one is the WM one...the 67 ones were HC I believe...
And I can't find the 3rd HC in Amazon.de ...

I also found boxed set number 4 on Walmart. No image yet, so I questioned whether I was looking at the right thing, and noticed the release date is November 2024, so it seems legit.

Halbarad wrote:

I also found boxed set number 4 on Walmart. No image yet, but release date is November 2024.

If you look at the first post in this thread, it has details on all 4 boxed sets, including release dates.

https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... php?topic_id=5734&start=0