Stu wrote:

I definitely think buyers of this book are in it for Ted's illustrations, primarily. And probably a degree of people who want to have as many matching books as possible in that range (uniformity is an obsession amongst collectors at the moment).

Agreed.

However, there's seems to be no place (currently) for the discussion of value for money & its place/role in collecting.

To add something tangential for the fun of it - here is a test jacket from the original Mirage true first, before they added the text. Hope you enjoy it!

Khamûl wrote:

Stu wrote:

I definitely think buyers of this book are in it for Ted's illustrations, primarily. And probably a degree of people who want to have as many matching books as possible in that range (uniformity is an obsession amongst collectors at the moment).

Agreed.

However, there's seems to be no place (currently) for the discussion of value for money & its place/role in collecting.

Value for money? I think collectors seem to have given up on that concept for the most part (both in terms of new books and used)

Khamûl wrote:

Stu wrote:

I definitely think buyers of this book are in it for Ted's illustrations, primarily. And probably a degree of people who want to have as many matching books as possible in that range (uniformity is an obsession amongst collectors at the moment).

Agreed.

However, there's seems to be no place (currently) for the discussion of value for money & its place/role in collecting.

I'll humbly disagree - I do think there is a place for discussing! I don't think there is a right answer for everyone, though - information transparency and helping people understand market trends (and pointing out information or prior sales they may have missed) is what I hope this site can provide as a useful tool for the influx of new collectors as well as seasoned old-hands.

Paying X for a copy of a book that is currently readily available in the same condition and format for much less is something no-one wants to do. As items become harder to find, that's when patience vs. budget come into consideration, and not everyone will make the same choices.

Back to the topic at hand, the Nasmith illustrated edition hasn't been coming on the market at reasonable prices much or at all for a few years, since it went out of print back around 2018. They still do occasionally show up for less than $100, but not often. If I really wanted one and had a few years to watch various marketplaces closely, I still believe one could be found for half that, but that will take a lot of patience, a lot of effort, and more than a little luck. Those less expensive copies get snapped up within minutes of being listed.

Stu wrote:

Value for money? I think collectors seem to have given up on that concept for the most part (both in terms of new books and used)

I've been watching a few different markets the past year or two, and I have no idea who really thinks these collectible markets are actually "valued" at what things are selling for. Video game cartridges from the last decade or two going for over a hundred thousand dollars??! Those won't even be usable within another decade or so, as the ROMs degrade, they are being bought as eye-candy only. I'm just flabbergasted.

Urulókë wrote:

To add something tangential for the fun of it - here is a test jacket from the original Mirage true first, before they added the text. Hope you enjoy it!

And was turned into this (very high quality) dust wrapper, for those who haven’t seen it.

Urulókë wrote:

Back to the topic at hand, the Nasmith illustrated edition hasn't been coming on the market at reasonable prices much or at all for a few years, since it went out of print back around 2018. They still do occasionally show up for less than $100, but not often. If I really wanted one and had a few years to watch various marketplaces closely, I still believe one could be found for half that, but that will take a lot of patience, a lot of effort, and more than a little luck. Those less expensive copies get snapped up within minutes of being listed.

It may take several years after a book goes out of print for a number of them to show up on secondary markets and so those who miss out on the existing stock from the publisher may have to wait to get their hands on a particular item.

Such is the way with collecting anything, the two P's, patience and persistence will get you a copy at a reasonable price on pretty much anything.

Mr. Underhill wrote:

It may take several years after a book goes out of print for a number of them to show up on secondary markets and so those who miss out on the existing stock from the publisher may have to wait to get their hands on a particular item.

Such is the way with collecting anything, the two P's, patience and persistence will get you a copy at a reasonable price on pretty much anything.

That's the key thing that new collectors often don't understand (a topic for podcast discussion, I think). When a standard trade edition of a book that hasn't been printed in huge numbers comes to market and has sold out - there generally aren't lots of people looking to immediately sell the book. There is a natural cycle of scarcity and then plenty. I'm a "wait it out" buyer, personally, but with the occasional exception. Put it this way, I didn't pay £100 or even close to for any of my 1960s Hobbits (though I did for earlier ones), so that kind of money for a Chinese-printed relatively recent edition feels a bit absurd

Urulókë wrote:

As these are useful books, and HarperCollins has informally said that they don't see much use in publishing books like this any more with TolkienGateway and similar sites so accesible, I can see that fine condition copies (any impression) will be in demand for the forseeable future.

This is such an unfortunate take on HC's part. They pump out deluxe after deluxe of the same material. They reprint Pictures by JRRT. They clearly understand that a not insignificant part of the appeal of their books is tactile and experiential.

Yeah, you can easily find most of the Guide's information online. But, illustrated by Nasmith, comfortably bound with decent enough paper? I can't display tolkiengateway.net on my shelf, either.

Caudimordax wrote:

Urulókë wrote:

As these are useful books, and HarperCollins has informally said that they don't see much use in publishing books like this any more with TolkienGateway and similar sites so accesible, I can see that fine condition copies (any impression) will be in demand for the forseeable future.

This is such an unfortunate take on HC's part. They pump out deluxe after deluxe of the same material. They reprint Pictures by JRRT. They clearly understand that a not insignificant part of the appeal of their books is tactile and experiential.

Yeah, you can easily find most of the Guide's information online. But, illustrated by Nasmith, comfortably bound with decent enough paper? I can't display tolkiengateway.net on my shelf, either.

I am honestly dumbfounded by their position on this. The rubbish they churn out for an easy buck and the things they really could be making money on are left to dry up.