SonOfDolf wrote:
It's a shame the book was selling at the same price as COH but with only a cow leather binding instead of full morocco. Still think I'm going to buy it at the Bookdepository at the reduced price. I'm not prepared to wait another two years, though I think the price might go down to around GBP200 in due time. Thanks for the link to the old thread Trotter.

I think the price of these books or any others in two years is a "how long (or short) is a piece of string" question. I would say if you can easily afford it and think you will enjoy it, then go ahead and buy now. Don't expect to ever make any money on it. There is a huge economic storm coming and book prices are likely to continue to slide.

I'm inclined to think this too Stu --but there have been some surprising prices lately (& quite consistently too) on old eBay. People have been paying, what I feel, are quite high prices for fairly non-scarce titles. I note Silmarillion prices, obviously --& standard 1977 editions seem to be trading a little higher than you'd expect. Don't know... I suppose the bottom might really fall out of some parts of the book market.

BH

Khamul wrote:
I'm inclined to think this too Stu --but there have been some surprising prices lately (& quite consistently too) on old eBay. People have been paying, what I feel, are quite high prices for fairly non-scarce titles. I note Silmarillion prices, obviously --& standard 1977 editions seem to be trading a little higher than you'd expect. Don't know... I suppose the bottom might really fall out of some parts of the book market.

BH

I see the odd items going for more than expected (including some of the earlier HC Super Deluxe titles), but for the most part things seem to be dropping. A good example would be the Deluxe HoME books - these are going for way less than 5 years ago. Really high-end items (in the multi-thousands) might not be affected much because those were always purchased by people with more money than brain cells, and those people tend to still have more money than brain cells. I challenge anyone to really see the value of a piece of paper being in the thousands of pounds because someone wrote took a few *seconds* to scribble their name on it. The mid-range stuff seems to be dropping a lot, and the books that are not well priced just sit on eBay month after month.

I'm just enjoying chasing the low-end stuff. Cheap books that are fun to chase and don't hurt the wallet :)

This book magically reappeared at tolkien.co.uk just now. Still the same ridiculous price unfortunately :)

Maybe they only sell it on Sundays I don't know. Well this was the last time I checked. My copy from bookdepository has arrived yesterday :)

Stu wrote: "I challenge anyone to really see the value of a piece of paper being in the thousands of pounds because someone wrote took a few *seconds* to scribble their name on it. "

I have items with the signatures and/or inscriptions of Tolkien and several of his family, friends and colleagues. I never paid thousands for 'em, because I don't have that sort of money to chuck around. I know the story behind the items I've bought; they bring me a little closer to the people involved. I enjoy making connections between those who moved in Tolkien's (and Lewis') circles.

Signatures - as opposed to 'autographs' - can mark a moment in time, like a photograph. Investigating signed books can also lead to fascinating insights into the world these folk inhabited, e.g. Oxford in the mid-20th c.

SonOfDolf --in all seriousness (as I said before), someone else on these forums phoned HC (or perhaps emailed them) & asked if he could get a discount on the Super Deluxe CoH (the 30% wasn't coming up on the HC site a the time), & as far as I'm aware they gave the discount. If the "ridiculous price" you refer to is the full price (£350), just email them & ask the question (--unless your looking for a price less than £245.)

BH

Khamul wrote:
just email them & ask the question (--unless your looking for a price less than £245.)

Yes I emailed them about applying the 30% discount they have for other books but I never got a reply. I got the book now from the Bookdepository though.

I think the lesson here is that if you want the current selling Super-Deluxe HarperCollins books, then buy them from www.tolkien.co.uk and ring them up (don't email) and ask for a 30% discount (thanks Khamul)

Why, did you just buy a few more or something?

BH

I'm only interested in Red Super-Deluxes