Funny how these deluxe editions seem to go out of stock and create FOMO and then they come back into stock a couple of weeks later without actually having been reprinted - having shifted a bunch more copies at the non-discounted retailers. If I was a cynical man, I'd think it wasn't coincidental and that the supply chain was carefully manipulated...

Anyway, has been available again at BD for the last couple of weeks (and seems to generally be fairly widely available, tbh)

Seems to work for Nintendo! They abuse their customer base like that with every major console release.

FYI: I ordered a Book Depository copy (deluxe) simply for ****s and giggles on Nov 7 and I have now been informed it will be with me on Dec 14.

Interrrresting.

UPDATE: It just came in through the door. I AM NERVOUS! Nov 19!

UPDATE 2: While rewatching Legend of Korra I went through every single page. Well, I got lucky. No issues. The paper sections feel a little odd but except for that feeling - which might just be the result of a very large number of pages being bound - it it pristine except for one tiny smudge on one page only. That is certainly something I can live with. Nov 20!

QUESTION: Will I now be brave enough to get the UK and DE hardback trade editions?

I just went through my Deluxe copy and some of the pages are in the wrong order.

Johnykwst wrote:

I just went through my Deluxe copy and some of the pages are in the wrong order.

Congratulations, you have discovered a new problem with this craptacular edition!!

Someone also had the page block misaligned with the spine leather over on Facebook…

Noting also that all of the new maps (the deluxe shipping box, deluxe map, UK trade map, US trade map, and even the German map) have “Helm’s D” (missing the “eep”).

Eep indeed.

Urulókë wrote:

Noting also that all of the new maps (the deluxe shipping box, deluxe map, UK trade map, US trade map, and even the German map) have “Helm’s D” (missing the “eep”).

Eep indeed.

FFS.

I know we like to be nice to HarperCollins, but these books are total junk, particularly the deluxe which is pretending not to be (though not pretending terribly hard). Even a "good" copy of this (and they do exist) is a sorry example of book craft.

I agree that this deluxe isn’t very, nor everything I had hoped.

Someone got this response from the customer service team at HarperCollins a few days ago:

We have been advised by our Tolkien team they have taken the issue up with the printer in Italy, who have assured us that their quality control procedures are being tightened, even though they diligently rejected a large number of copies at the production stage and believed at the time they had weeded out the faults. Unfortunately the very complicated specifications – which include real cloth (that can fray if not cut in line with the weave), a diecut with foiling and embossing, full-colour printing (that can cause registration issues), gold edges (that mark very easily) and, due to the number of pages (the book is printed in 128-page sections on the largest sheet-fed size printer available in the EU), a fine 70gsm uncoated paper that is prone to creasing when folded by machine – led to a high rejection rate, but evidently not high enough.

As the publisher we expect our printers to deliver a print run completely devoid of errors, and we are working to resolve any outstanding issues. Nevertheless, clearly some copies slipped through the net, and it takes only one fault on one page in over 1,200 to lead to a copy being returned by a customer.

Urulókë wrote:

I agree that this deluxe isn’t very, nor everything I had hoped.

Someone got this response from the customer service team at HarperCollins a few days ago:

We have been advised by our Tolkien team they have taken the issue up with the printer in Italy, who have assured us that their quality control procedures are being tightened, even though they diligently rejected a large number of copies at the production stage and believed at the time they had weeded out the faults. Unfortunately the very complicated specifications – which include real cloth (that can fray if not cut in line with the weave), a diecut with foiling and embossing, full-colour printing (that can cause registration issues), gold edges (that mark very easily) and, due to the number of pages (the book is printed in 128-page sections on the largest sheet-fed size printer available in the EU), a fine 70gsm uncoated paper that is prone to creasing when folded by machine – led to a high rejection rate, but evidently not high enough.

As the publisher we expect our printers to deliver a print run completely devoid of errors, and we are working to resolve any outstanding issues. Nevertheless, clearly some copies slipped through the net, and it takes only one fault on one page in over 1,200 to lead to a copy being returned by a customer.

Maybe they shouldn't have used "a fine 70gm uncoated paper". Seems to me like the paper choice has caused a lot of issues, but there are a lot of other issues with the design and implementation of the deluxe edition (such as spine "ribs" that are simply hollow depressions pressed into the cardboard from behind!) - and I don't think everything falls back on the printer. This feels like an attempt to extract maximum profits at minimum cost that just didn't pan out. Like I say, even a good copy is empirically a bad piece of printing and bookbinding. It is almost like a movie prop pretending to be a real deluxe book, but it only has to look good at a distance from one angle.