Illustrated by Tolkien Hardbacks...

Dungeon wrote:

hey guys i got this beautiful series recently cause they look stunning...
as you can see they are still in shrinkwrap and unopened...

however while waiting for them to arrive i read comments online that the quality is actually very poor.
is this true? what are your experiences with this series?

IMHO, they are OK for trade editions. The quality of the printing of the illustrations isn't great (as it is all done on the same paper as the text). The paper quality of LoTR is marginal. The main quality complaints - other than the illustration printing - is primarily levied against the deluxe editions of these books. I think criticism of those is very warranted (given they sit at a much higher real-world price point).

I personally don't really value the Tolkien illustrations presented in this format. The Hobbit already was illustrated to a very high standard by Tolkien, so I think this version just mixes in "lesser" and incomplete illustrations, such that the whole is less than the sum of its parts. The LotR and Silmarillion were never illustrated, so I guess these illustrations will be a benefit to some. For me, I think they were better in the "Art of" books. A handful are production quality illustrations, but the majority are not.

At the end of the day, YMMV, but these trade editions are OK, with caveats (all IMHO). I don't personally like the deluxes at all.

Dungeon wrote:

hey guys i got this beautiful series recently cause they look stunning...
as you can see they are still in shrinkwrap and unopened...

however while waiting for them to arrive i read comments online that the quality is actually very poor.
is this true? what are your experiences with this series?

There were issues with the printers for these editions, especially early prints and the Deluxe editions in particular.

I hope that those issues have been resolved on later printings, let us know what you think of the editions that you have.

I really like these editions. Though some illustrations are incomplete, I still find them interesting because they offer some insights into how Tolkien thought of the worlds he was creating. I also did not find them lacking in physical qualities. I liked the dust jacket designs very much and I found these versions easy to read.

From what I’ve been hearing, the issues were predominantly with the deluxe edition tier: that’s not a format I collect, so I have no first-hand experience with them.

The standard hardbacks are pretty much fine, and are roughly the same quality of pretty much any hardcover book offered these days: by Tolkien or other authors at Waterstones, Barnes & Noble or Indigo

thanks for the comments everyone.