Emilien wrote:

Some are having serious issues with the deluxe : still, the "blurry / double printed" fail, but also some crumpled pages.

An example on fb even shows some pages folded and glued into the binding !!
https://m.facebook.com/groups/10978934 ... oup&anchor_reactions=true

I think this is really bad to see all these issues shared, although just a few number of books have been shipped. Also, regarding the range (and price) of this book, such a poor Q/C is just totally unacceptable.

Will be interesting to see how this all pans out as more copies end up in people's hands. No sign of BD even having had the deluxe shipped to them as yet, so if they haven't shipped in a week or so and the reports continue to be bad, I'll probably just cancel and be content with the Trade (which has already shipped). Having watched "Talking Tolkien's" review, I can't say I'm that impressed by it. Just seems a bit sloppy (other than the slipcase which looks great).

I have to agree with this. I got my copy on Monday and did the video on it yesterday (Talking Tolkien), then after hearing so many issues had been found I went back to it last night and checked it thoroughly. Happily it looks like I escaped any major issues (though the loose threads on the front are frustrating at this price). I'm still very surprised at the poor quality of paper they used though, which matters far more to me than having the Marzabul and Elessar letter.

George_V wrote:

I have to agree with this. I got my copy on Monday and did the video on it yesterday (Talking Tolkien), then after hearing so many issues had been found I went back to it last night and checked it thoroughly. Happily it looks like I escaped any major issues (though the loose threads on the front are frustrating at this price). I'm still very surprised at the poor quality of paper they used though, which matters far more to me than having the Marzabul and Elessar letter.

Thank you for your report George_V. (I always enjoy watching your videos btw )
Where did you order your copy?

Stu wrote:

Looks like some of the pages got printed twice (through the black print, anyway). That's not good. QC at Rotolito doesn't seem the best - there have certainly been a lot of problems with their books, right since the facsimile Hobbit with the end papers loaded in backwards on a significant batch.

Does the problem affect an entire signature?

I did a page by page scan of my entire copy: 405 (lower half), 413, 416, 421, 424, 429, 432 (lower half), 718, 719, 721 (lower left), 722 (lower), 723, 731 (upper minor), 734, 736 (lower), 738, 739, 828 (small blob on lower half of page), 1132 (slight), 1133 (slight).

Clearly the signature layout, but not entire signatures, and not limited to a single signature affected.

Also, I noted that The Two Towers and The Return of the King facsimile dustjackets are very dark in reproduction, making many details very hard to see. Other artwork seemed very nicely reproduced, much better than the recent UT and S illustrated editions I feel. When the art is inserted between pages, it is on bright white paper, making it much easier to see - compared with the more creamy paper used for text (and art that was tucked in to blank leaves or end of chapter pages, as examples).

The US Trade edition

I'm still a bit undecided about this release. A hundred bucks seems like a lot of money for what you're getting. And the comments here don't fill me with confidence.

The sheer number of defects that are popping with the new deluxe release is most definitely alarming. I wonder how closely HC has their ears to the ground on this.

Might be a minuet before we get a 2nd print of this edition so that HC can mop up their issues.

A £100+ second impression, no thanks. Outside of Tolkien land there just isn't any real justification for the £150 RRP. I don't understand how/why HC can't use their massive financial leverage to deliver a far better value product. It feels (to borrow a Stu phrase) like a real money-grap.

I'm waiting for someone to tell me it's lovely & a great addition to their collection...

Khamûl wrote:

A £100+ second impression, no thanks. Outside of Tolkien land there just isn't any real justification for the £150 RRP. I don't understand how/why HC can't use their massive financial leverage to deliver a far better value product. It feels (to borrow a Stu phrase) like a real money-grap.

I'm waiting for someone to tell me it's lovely & a great addition to their collection...

It's lovely & a great addition to my collection.

Khamûl wrote:

A £100+ second impression, no thanks. Outside of Tolkien land there just isn't any real justification for the £150 RRP. I don't understand how/why HC can't use their massive financial leverage to deliver a far better value product. It feels (to borrow a Stu phrase) like a real money-grap.

I'm waiting for someone to tell me it's lovely & a great addition to their collection...

They would have been better improving the quality of the book instead of adding the extras, to be honest.

I also think, having now seen the illustrations in the context of this book (rather than one of the art books) that the whole concept probably doesn't really work. There are perhaps 10 illustrations (Lothlorien, etc) that are fully realised enough to fit within an illustrated edition without looking a bit clunky, and the rest are wondertful within "Art of" books, but perhaps just look too incomplete to sit within an illustrated edition of the final work.

I wonder, with further thought, whether they should have taken the time to clean up the images and remove the yellowed manuscript paper, crumples, etc, rather than presenting them as manuscript pages. That would have made it more of an illustrated edition and would have made it something different than the Art of.

This is a bit of a too much bread and not enough butter edition. I guess we are all guilty of wanting more Tolkien (especially Third Age), but it just doesn't exist.

Oh, and did I mention how much I hate that signature