This paperback box-set has been changed.

Old Design



New Design



The change is to standardize on TOLKIEN on the spine of all the current signature paperback series. Also, the older black Hobbit is now the same grey colour as The Lord of the Rings in the box-set.

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The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings (UK, Trade PB)

HarperCollins Publishers (1997-11-03)

£40.00 HarperCollins (Other Format) - Availability: Click to check

$40.05 Blackwell's (paperback) - Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 days

$35.85 Amazon.com (Paperback) - Availability: Now

£25.18 Amazon.co.uk (Paperback) - Availability: Now

€37.99 Amazon.de (Taschenbuch) - Availability: Now

£26.32 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check

£20.01 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check

That's a nice improvement. Having a set with one that looks so different from the others is weird. not as weird as the "matching sets" with various heights that seem so prevalent in the various Tolkien printings, but still an eye sore. I could see some thinking The Hobbit should look different, but then it shouldn't be part of the set at all and there are plenty of such LotR only sets.

Yeah what I do if I have a boxed set and none of the other related titles match it to a point I’m not happy with, is I turn the box around to display another ‘panel.’

Most Tolkien boxed sets (overall, paperback and hardcover) are nice enough to do this. If I had the 2020 Alan Lee LotR & Hobbit and the new HoM-e sets, I wouldn’t be able to decide to show the ‘spine’ side of the box, or the panel opposite that that show their titles.

That's when you know it was done right! Rotate monthly? :)

Trotter wrote:

The change is to standardize on TOLKIEN on the spine of all the current signature paperback series. Also, the older black Hobbit is now the same grey colour as The Lord of the Rings in the box-set.

Do we yet know which impression(s) the design for FotR/TTT/RotK changed?
I've got it narrowed down to either the 72nd or 73rd for The Hobbit at this point.

I believe the LotR set first all had impression 35. I bought them with this design at the end of 2022. Fellowship also mentions on the publication page, The Nature of Middle-earth as the last title.

Impression details in bold for the new paperback boxed set, with TOLKIEN on the spines.

The Hobbit 77

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The Hobbit

HarperCollins (2002)

£8.99 HarperCollins (Paperback) - Availability: Click to check

$10.88 Blackwell's (paperback) - Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 days

$10.93 Amazon.com (Paperback) - Availability: Now

£8.33 Amazon.co.uk (Paperback) - Availability: Now

€8.99 Amazon.de (Taschenbuch) - Availability: Now

£1.03 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check

£3.31 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check

The Fellowship of the Ring 37

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The Fellowship of the Ring (UK, Trade PB)

HarperCollins Publishers (2011-10-27)

£9.99 HarperCollins (Paperback) - Availability: Click to check

$12.13 Blackwell's (paperback) - Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 days

$14.75 Amazon.com (Paperback) - Availability: Now

£8.08 Amazon.co.uk (Paperback) - Availability: Now

€9.99 Amazon.de (Taschenbuch) - Availability: Now

£2.01 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check

£3.50 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check

The Two Towers 37

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The Lord of the Rings. Part 2 Two Towers (2011)

HarperCollins Publishers (1997T)

£9.99 HarperCollins (Paperback) - Availability: Click to check

$11.60 Blackwell's (paperback) - Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 days

$11.49 Amazon.com (Paperback) - Availability: Now

£9.39 Amazon.co.uk (Paperback) - Availability: Now

€13.00 Amazon.de (Taschenbuch) - Availability: Now

€4.32 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check

£3.77 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check

The Return of the King 37

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The Lord of the Rings. Part 3 Return of the King

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (1997T)

£9.99 HarperCollins (Paperback) - Availability: Click to check

$12.19 Blackwell's (paperback) - Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 days

$13.24 Amazon.com (Paperback) - Availability: Now

£7.50 Amazon.co.uk (Paperback) - Availability: Now

€8.99 Amazon.de (Taschenbuch) - Availability: Now

£2.00 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check

£3.50 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check

This site uses affiliate links for which we may be compensated

The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings (UK, Trade PB)

HarperCollins Publishers (1997-11-03)

£40.00 HarperCollins (Other Format) - Availability: Click to check

$40.05 Blackwell's (paperback) - Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 days

$35.85 Amazon.com (Paperback) - Availability: Now

£25.18 Amazon.co.uk (Paperback) - Availability: Now

€37.99 Amazon.de (Taschenbuch) - Availability: Now

£26.32 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check

£20.01 eBay UK - Availability: Click to check

Sorry Trotter, but just to clarify please. The newly released boxed set with all the same colour Hobbit/LotR has the 37 impression Rings books in?

Yes, it does

Thanks. And I’ve just noticed you’ve put 77 for the Hobbit too. Crikey, that’s fast. My separately bought Hobbit is 73, and I’ve only bought that about 7months ago.