What is Reddit's opinion of The Lord of the Rings 3-Book Paperback Box Set?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Thank you! I had no idea I had such a great copy of the Hobbit. I wanted one like it because it is both beautiful on display and an actual treat to read. My priorities lean more toward reading than displaying, however. I actually went with this set: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0358439191/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

because it seemed the most recommended paperback set on here. I will definitely look at the ones you posted, likely the second one, for display purposes in the future.

Random notes for softcover/paperback collectors to follow:

There is an HMH version of this YA release. It came before the Clarion version, and it's "properly" done. I've linked some photos here for comparison, along with shots of a new trade that replaces the black cover/ring Mariner release, with the same ISBN but higher cover price.

https://imgur.com/a/bT7FAkz

There are issues with the spine alignment of the Clarion versions that annoy me. The HMH set doesn't suffer from this, and all of the books are of uniform age.

If you can still return your Clarion books, I'd recommend you do so and just buy the HMH set. https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0358439191/ The Clarion set is available right now from Costco, but even so, the HMH set is cheaper from Amazon (at the time of this writing). I don't know whether buying the Clarion volumes as a set would have guaranteed you a consistent quality (since you bought them individually), but since the HMH set is better anyway, my advice is to return the crap copies you got.

For what it's worth, this YA release comes with better paper stock than what I call the "recovery bible" set https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0008387753/, which is odd because those volumes are larger which tends to imply better quality. But the YA comes on white paper stock with a smooth surface, while the recovery bibles come on yellower stock that resembles newsprint with the corresponding corrugated surface. The difference is similar to the difference between the Dark Rider trade that was everywhere during the movies (yellower paper), in comparison to the black cover/ring trades that are more recent (white paper).

If you bother to look at my last images, William Morrow has now released a new version of the black cover/ring trade. It has the EXACT same ISBN as the one that preceded it whilst changing the cover. However, the price has now risen from $23 to $35. It is also slightly thicker, which might explain the 50% price increase, but probably not. Clearly the difference in quality comes from divesting the book of tie-in imagery from the movies as well as any association as a sequel to The Hobbit. The purist in me is mildly pleased at these changes, but the difference in cost seems exorbitant.

here you go!