26 Mar, 2023
(edited)Edited by Dagoth on 2023-3-26 3:42:31 PM UTC
2023-3-26 3:25:09 PM UTC
Right. I think TL is definitely on the higher end of prices for dealers. Also, I do want to say that the Tolkien collecting community is unique in the respect the the dust jacket seems to not have a complete control over the price of a book. For instance, from Mr. underhill said above, I think that moldy, faded and yellow set would not be considered “good” by a normal book dealer, it’s more or less “acceptable” I think, due to condition of the jackets.
Sure, the books themselves are well maintained and clear, but in other book collecting communities, the dust jacket is almost everything. However, Tolkien collecting has such power that even with jackets that condition it does not seem to have that much sway over how much it’s actually worth. People still pay such prices as we’ve seen. In my own way coming from collecting other books, I’m always looking for sets with the most fine jacket possible. (Clear, unfaded, no loss to the jackets). But that’s just me. And I agree, finding one with unfaded ink is rare and probably one of the more fun things to do. Finding one that has not browned or yellowed is even more rare it seems.
But I’ll stop this conversation now as I am just spouting my opinion and it may not align with someone else’s opinion here :)
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