Small correction! Discworld Emporium resellers books printed by a larger company. Should have known with how affordable they are. Still super great books but they aren’t the original creator. There is a publisher called Dunmanifestin certainly worth checking out!
What do you think of the LOTR clothbound limited edition? I know they have the massive bible sized hardcover deluxe editions but I can’t even find the clothbound edition :(
Do you think there's any chance you could get a creator and/or discount code for Discworld Emporium? I'm eyeballing that complete collection on their site and would love to get a deal or for you to get a kickback at the very least.
That Dune edition is probably one of the sexiest books in existence. The only reason I haven’t bought it yet is that I don’t have a good bookshelf to preserve its glorious beauty.
@@thummumcrysanth I'm so excited for the Dune Messiah and Children of Dune Deluxe Editions! I'm gonna wait a bit after they release for the price to go down a bit.
@@thummumcrysanth Yep, I guess it’s a good decision to hold off on it after all. But the cover of the first book is still the best one out of three imo.
I am an absolute sucker for Folio Society editions. Beautiful inside and out, lovely typesetting and printing, colored text, beautiful paper. I don’t even have a shelf set up for them yet, I just enjoy having them! They’re great art. I’ll take em down and read em too, I don’t give a EFF. (At least the ones at $100 or less, anything more than that and I get reaaaally careful, I’m not crazy)
Exact same honestly. I don't buy them to read them specifically, but I have decided when I do my next re-read of my favourites, I'll do it through my Folio editions, because I am very careful and neat when it comes to books.
Same. Even my Folio Dune, which is just beautiful. Some fans and I are trying to keep the pressure up for the rest of the series as Easton Press is the only pub so far that's got a complete set - and if you think Folio's set is cost prohibitive, if you can find EP's Dune series (hardcover, leatherbound) you'll be looking about $5-6k. I've read my Folio of Mary Shelley's 'The Last Man' and it wasn't too hard to be careful going through it. I plan on reading through all my Folios on the next re-read because, yeah, I bought em to read them (and show them off)
@@paulsawchuk9934 Easton Press set is okay, I appreciate the leather and embossing, but it looks... weird, to me. Like a book set that I would get off an infomercial or from the back of a catalogue. But that Centipede Press edition... that Marc Simonetti art they got coming? Yoooo. And THOSE are STUPID expensive, like I'll read a Folio Society edition but those are "put under a glass case and admire" kind of prices.
I love reading my Folio Society editions. I buy beautiful books to really enjoy a special reading experience. I won't take them out of the house but there is nothing better than a sunday afternoon reading a stunning edition. I also have 8x Billy bookcases worth of Folio Society so they look fantastic all together
@@cassandracat "I also have 8x Billy bookcases worth of Folio Society so they look fantastic all together" Now that's what I would call life goals lol. You must take so much joy in such a collection. 🙂
I own a lot of Folio Society books and actually do read them! They are made so well, enduring multiple reads too! The art, binding, and paper quality really enhance the story and reading experience. Their customer service is superb and second-to-none! Granted, some of their items are actually collectible limited editions, those should be handled with care.
I have a Folio Society edition of The Hobbit that my family's had since I was little. It's still in really good condition and it was read and carried around by children for years.
Why should a collectible limited edition be handled with more care than the others? It is still made to be read, and if it feels to precious to read (presumably because it will reduce in value), then it is an investment, not a book or even a piece of art anymore.
It was already pointed out, but yeah she didn't mean that you should read Twilight to be relevant, it was more along the lines of: don't read something because you want to "be relevant", read for enjoyment 😁
18:40 As someone who loves Dune, I really felt Daniel's reaction here lmao. I really can't blame people for feeling that way, and even though I love the series, just hearing her give no fucks about it was honestly hilarious
I really appreciate how Daniel presents clear and concise information in a clean format where it’s evident that he genuinely took the time to throughly review and examine each edition to state his honest opinions about the advantages and disadvantages to help inform possible consumers such as myself.
Okay real honest comment from me here, Daniel: I got into fantasy BookTube a couple of years ago and watched a lot of your videos. Back then you had waaay fewer books and were basically talking about the same books over and over. Which was fine, but after so many videos I got fed up, nothing new here, and quit watching. Now, you have so many more books, your videos and text/script/wording are amazing, your quality and bookshelves are top-notch, and there is much more variety. I don't mean to diss your earlier stuff but I just want to say how much I respect how you have turned this into an absolutely top-notch high level YT channel. I am watching a lot of your videos these days and love each and every one of them (and my gf does too!). Keep it up and much love! Jasper, the Netherlands
I hope one of these organizations can release more affordable, alternative Malazan deluxe editions to the Subterranean Press versions. Dying to have premium copies that don't cost an arm and a leg
Just to offer a counter point. Obviously if you want a collection for art and being in like new condition that’s you’re jam but I love reading all my folio society editions as reading copies it enriches the experience and don’t worry about damaging them as I feel if I’ve spent so much on them I want to experience them.
I love them. Yes, they are a great deal. I have the entire writings of vEdgar Allen Poe, and Complete writings of H.P. Lovecraft in those. I love them.
I love them, too. I think they‘re affordable and depending on the books you‘re getting they can make your bookshelf look like the dark academia library of your dreams. 🙈
@@Ktulured55 uh yeah. I love the one with Vader on the cover. Sadly they aren‘t available in Germany. It‘s weird because a lot of the Barnes & Noble leatherbound editions are available here in our book stores but some aren‘t and sadly the Star Wars ones are the latter.
Surprised no mention of Subterranean Press. I feel like they are the pinnacle of quality special editions. Completely agree that they are more of an art piece or collector's item at their price point. I would never actually read any of my Sub Presses. They also include the rights to future books in the series so you have the ability to complete your collection.
I edited out a section where I talked about them due to feeling like the video was dragging on. I got self conscious about the pacing. It’s why a bunch of the discworld books shift without reason between cuts. 🥲
The big thing about Sub Press (and others like them) is that they're limited and usually signed editions. Somebody like Folio Society will put out books that are as nice or even nicer in terms of quality of physical product. But they'll print as many as they can sell. Sub Press prints a very limited number of books for a given title - usually 250-1000 for numbered editions. That makes them genuinely collectable. If you buy a Sub Press version of a book from a big series for $150, you can typically sell it on ebay for 2-10x as much. Books from places like Easton Press or Folio Society don't work like that. They lose half their monetary value or more as soon as you get them and only recover it if they've been out of print for a long time. It's basically the difference between "deluxe editions" and "limited editions". With that being said, the secondary market price of stuff from places like Sub Press are so high that I don't think they can keep going up.
@@Karl-un8od exactly this....it's why I generally only buy from places like Subpress. I don't flip books, but I do consider my collection to be an investment.
Yea I’ve owned books from all these these publishers and SubPress is my favorite. Get your hands on the SubPress Malayan collection and tell me you don’t feel quality.
My hot take: People should be cautious if one of the appeals to collectors'/deluxe editions is the idea that they're going to increase in or even hold value over time. Most of the special editions out there are published after a book is popular and are published without forced scarcity, so there are lots of them. Over time, I've leaned more into the signed first edition world and limited (numbered/lettered) editions.
Honestly.... I just like collectors'/deluxe editions because they're preetttyy, especially the ones that look more like classic books of olden times^--^
Completely agree - buying new deluxe releases is a great way to get hold of a beautiful book and support publishers and rights holders at the same time, but if you want a collection that potentially grows in value over the years then signed firsts or very limited editions are where its at
Omg I LOVED reading my Folio Society Game Of Thrones. The way that they were made I felt like I was in that world reading a tome from that time or something. They are very durable as well so I don't regret it.
I actually really like the Barnes & Noble collectible books like the Hitchhiker’s Guide one he used as an example lol. Not all of them, but I have the Poe and Lovecraft collections and think they’re beautiful, and they’re affordable ($15-$30 range) for faux-leather-look books.
Special editions are so easy to obtain it’s a good reminder to sit and think what is actually special. When you have subscription boxes (e.g. Illumicrate, Fairyloot, Broken Binding etc) that are shipping special editions every month to your door, we’ve all got such high standards. The crowning special edition has to go to Folio’s Dune. Now that is exquisite!
I like what you said about The Broken Binding, that they're basically spruced up regular editions is why I like them! I love pretty books but I don't like owning books I can't touch/read because they're *too* pretty, so the special editions from Broken Binding or books like the Dune and Leviathan Wakes editions you talked about in your video are perfect! :D
Surprised there was no mention of Easton Press. I totally agree about only spending the big bucks on books that are meaningful to you. My signed edition Gaiman novels from EP are the most treasured pieces in my collection.
My first (& only) book from Easton Press is a Harvard Classics that I got for Rp250.000 or around 16 USD from an e-commerce store. It is my first ever leatherbound book and it’s definitely the best book in my bookshelf!😄
Very nice breakdown. I bought books from Easton Press way back in the day that I thought looked nice, they weren't wildly expensive for teenage me and I think they've held up very well over time. It's cool to see that more companies may be getting into it and hopefully that will mean more variety and price reductions in the future.
I think the Barnes and Nobles editions are nice as a gift to a non "serious " reader or collector. I love my H.P. Lovecraft version due to it having all of his stories, along with forwards about the story (what inspired it or what he was doing g at the time). It helps put into perspective what he's doing. I also have the foundation trilogy in this version and it's great for anyone who wants to read the trilogy.
To support the point on unfinished series, many years back there were deluxe Discworld editions published as The Unseen Library. They were gorgeous, but the company ran out of money and only published the first 18 books (pre crowd funding days).
Broken Binding is probably my favorite right now. Very good for 'I want something a little different and want it signed, but don't want to spend $100+. The only downside is shipping costs coming from the UK. However if you haven't seen on their Twitter they have plans to expand to the US. They are very active on Social Media and seem to be plugged into a lot of what people want. If you are able to get into it (which I have not been able to yet) I am very impressed with the subscription service and the books they are picking for it so far. Past that Grim Oak Press and Folio Society for the shower me in luxury camp. I am going to be setting up calendar alerts for Faithful and the Fallen Grim Oak Press edition later this year.
Subterranean press and grim oak press have been getting a bunch of my money lately! Michael J Sullivan (his family does other author’s books too) and wraithmarked creative on kickstarter have put out some high quality stuff too
For affordable special editions (I wouldn’t always call them deluxe) I would go with The Broken Binding, Goldsboro, illumicrate, and Fairyloot. For more expensive deluxe editions, I love dragonsteel and folio society. I want to get more of them. But they are very pricey. Definitely a special occasion type of price. I can’t wait to see the Year of Sanderson and how those editions turn out!!!
My problem with illumicrate and Fairyloot is that I can see where the corners were cut. Not many of my copies are sewn bindings, most are glued which means that I can't really read them, which I expect for the pricepoint.
@@chickendragon8526 how rough are you on books that you can't read them if they're not sewn ? It legit sounds like you're throwing the books in a hurricane or something else
@@ayajade6683 No, this is particualrly with large books that are more prone to it. Once the fairy loot spine cracks the books will start to fall apart because on top of it just being glue binding it's not very good. There is nothing to keep the binding together once the glue binding cracks at all. I am afraid to lay the book open flat because of that. I haven't even read through it because once I got my special edition, I realized what was going to happen and bought paperbacks.
I still buy those editions you can buy at a Barnes and noble I particularly like those editions because of the price point if all I want is the stories themselves.
I LOVE the Folio Society - I received the The Silmarillion as a gift. It is so true I had a hard time reading it and finally gave up because I was so worried that I would damage it lol! They do sometimes have sales that can make them more affordable but yeah..."so nice but I'm hesitant to read them". Thanks for another awesome video, it was a great list!
I bought Game of Thrones from Folio and literally where gloves when I take it out, I keep it wrapped in. Clothe, bubble wrap and in a box 😅. I received Clash for Xmas a few years ago and have yet to take it out of the plastic (as well as some of my Tolkien. Easton Press books) I guess it kind of defeats the purpose of owning them but I’m terrified to damage them.
I have to defend the B&N editions a little bit. I can see if you don't personally like the style, that can happen with anything, but I really like how most of them look. I really love the look of a leather-bound book, and I like the cover art they add as well, for the most part. I love my copy of Dracula from them more and more every day, and their Divine Comedy was also beautiful, everything I wanted, even had Gustave Dore's illustrations. But the price tag is the real kicker. I would love to collect beautiful true leather bounds from some of these companies, but I will never be able to afford that. I don't think there will ever be a time that I could bring myself to spend $100 or more on a single book. Honestly, these are already near the top of my range. I want it to be beautiful, but it also needs to be practical, and usable, I don't want a book I'm scared to read. I think the B&Ns hit that sweet spot really well. Also, I hate dust jackets, they're in the way and get bent and damaged and they just bother me so much. I want the actual book itself to be pretty, so I can't really imagine spending those premium prices for a book that's relying on a dust jacket for much of its art. That's kind of a personal gripe though.
A review/shout out to some small press publishers would be a great follow-up to this. Centipede Press, Subterranean Press, Dark Regions Press, Grim Oak, Cemetery Dance and so on. Peace
I've been gathering deluxe and special editions for a while now and my absolute favorites are some of the cheapest ones. The 15th Anniversary Editions of the first Mortal Instruments trilogy are probably my favorites because they're such amazing value for such a gorgeous cover. Super light-weight and nice font which makes them a comfortable to read. Other deluxe editions tend to be so heavy...
My sister got for me for my birthday during the first printing. It was the only Dragonsteel leatherbound I desperately had to have. There is a photo of me stroking the shipping containing while smiling *super* crazy into the camera.
I just ordered my first "special edition" book the other day. I've never splurged on a book. I honestly don't know what to expect, haha. It's The Folio Society edition of Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. He's my favorite writer, so I figured why not.
I’ve got the Folio Society Howl’s Moving Castle and follow on books and they are absolutely stunning and fairly affordable considering some of the other stuff on the site. I absolutely love them!
This is interesting to me as someone who barely has interest in hardcovers in general, let alone super expensive books. I've always been a paperback / mass market fan - I like to beat up my books and feel okay about it. A book that you don't/can't read makes no sense to me.
I completly disagree with your dislike of books like the Barnes and Nobles Collectible Editions. (Canterburry Classics btw are also phenomenal) Yes, maybe the covers are not always the most beuatiful, but there are certainly absolute bangers like the Jurassic park, Stephen King and Agatha Christie editions. They are also extremly affordable compared to other special editions. Additionaly I did my research and there are for many of these books no other special editions. Where else can you can similar good looking special editions of classics like Les Mis, the works of Jules Verne etc. ? So it is quite clear at least to me that these versions will not die out.
so, when you started getting into folio society and above, those are what I refer to as Book trophies, I tend to collect book trophies for series that I absolutely love and want displayed on my shelf, as I am an audiobook consumer almost exclusively, so every once in a while (I'm looking at you mistborn) I come across a series that I love and really want to have a physical edition I can point to on my shelf and tell my friends YES GO READ it is amazing.
Nice video, I would have liked to see more about how to spot well made books to pretenders - e.g, glued vs sewn or acid free paper, type of paper etc. Maybe another video!
I just have to correct a couple of errors that have come out of your mouth. The special editions from e.g. the Folio Society are usually of such high quality that there is very little risk of reading them, because they are sewn together. Whereas Dune, for example, is a pile of paper stuck together with glue. I have worked with books that are from the 16th century that are in better condition than some of my newly published "special" editions, precisely because they are sewn and not glued together. And then you have an extra prologue in The Eay of the World, but I totally agree that they could have spent a little more time on that edition. And then you have an extra prologue in The Eay of the World, but I totally agree that they could have spent a little more time on that issue. They have removed Nicolas Cage for goodness sake.
For me Folio Society give the reading experience another level. The paper thickness and quality is even better than Dragonsteel. Why buy a book if you will not use it?
Suntup Press, Centipede Press, Subterranean Press, Curious King, Lyra Press, Arete Editions. All top end publishers worth exploring if you’d like to see some truly astonishing works of art. Curious King in particular has a strong focus on fantasy.
I don't think the sample size of two annouced series is enough to determine that CK has a focus on fantasy. And they are announcing a sci fi saga at the end of the month
What a fun video. Particularly loved “Twilight exists.” My fam and I live in a small NY apartment so space is limited and my books tend to be downloaded but some of those are stunningly beautiful. Really cool.
I am a monster and DO read my dragonsteel leatherbound cosmere books. I JUST got the Warbreaker leatherbound that I missed the first time around. They live on their own shelf in my bedroom because I love looking at them.
it’s been a while since i’ve clicked on one of your videos, mostly because the content has been a bit niche these days. but this was so interesting!! thank you for all the valuable info
Folio Society books are beautiful, but hot damn, those price tags. I've been searching for a nice hardcover edition of His Dark Materials to replace my ratty old softcovers, and I was genuinely surprised to find that HDM hardcovers don't exist, except for the Folio Society editions. But each book goes for $150. 😩
Are you sure? Because on my version of the Folio Society website it's the entire trilogy that goes for around 150 £, so about 180-190 $. Still not cheap, but it's for the entire trilogy, not per book.
Fine. You finally convinced me to pick up the Eye of the World 30th Anniversary Edition. That thud when it was launched offscreen was just too satisfying.
Interesting watch, surprised not to see Easton on here. They are kind of notorious though. Personally, part of the beauty of the high end books is their functionality in reading them. Ive never been a big fan of painted art pieces as they have no function necessarily, whereas Ive always loved architecture which has inherent function in it. The idea of buying these books that are quite expensive and then NOT reading them is to me to miss out on part of what makes the book valuable: its contents. Annoys my spouse to no end as he wants the books to remain absolutely pristine, but im not not going to read my limited edition Frankenstein!
I'm so glad I checked and managed to find a recent reprint of the illustrated (watercolours by Alan Lee) version of LOTR in one big tome. I grew up reading the illustrated versions and for so long there was only that one old printing of them (in 3 volumes).
This was just such a great and well constructed video all around. You were very succinct and informative while being entertaining. Thanks for your hard work!
Hello Daniel, and other viewers. To The First Law enjoyers, I ask: What are your opinions on the 10th Anniversary Ed. v/s the standard paperback? I'm generally a paperback guy but due to it's large size I fear for the spine. Just need some opinions from a hardcover owner, since it's painfully difficult to find one through online published media.
You could maybe check out some more obscure special edition publishers to showcase them. There are some really cool books out there, that not many people know of (like Amaranthine Books).
I love my Kindle and mostly read on that, so deluxe editions don't really tempt me. With one exception. And now I treasure the illustrated Lord of the Rings that came out last year with illustrations by Tolkien himself. So I really appreciate your point that an edition is valuable in how it relates to the reader's own experience and preferences on their collection.
I'm at the point now where I almost only buy Folio Society, and I totally read them. Beautiful things should be enjoyed. It should be noted that FS have a lively second hand market on ebay, sometimes markups but sometimes good savings. It depends on what you're looking for.
A note on the Discworld books: They are NOT published, produced or designed by Discworld Emporium. The publisher is the large SFF imprint Gollancz, and they also produce similar naked hardcovers with cool designs combining print and foil for other books, like Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn or Stormlight Archive. There is an actual Pratchett special edition publisher, Dunmanifestin, though. They produce for the upper end of the spectrum.
The Percy Jackson special edition that came out after the new show is absolutely gorgeous and is full of new details!🤩 I don’t usually buy repeats of a series I already own, but I will do it again if they make one for book 2!!
4:07 I don’t ask for bugs a lot but when I do I get very specific because I wanna but that I’ll actually enjoy looking at. No belong in the bookstore edition of doing it all my wine but since Christmas was coming up I just Congested seat in it to buy it now she can wait for Christmas and after that day I made sure that I was specifically showing her that version of the buck every time. When I make my digital Christmas lists I always specify I don’t need anything everything on the list but whatever you choose to bless me with use the link or get what is specifically shown in the photo. I got The UGLIEST dune book I’d ever seen.
I am collecting the folio edition of asoiaf, and trust me, they be sturdy. Especially the first one has been slapped around a lot both by me (accident) and my nephews (age 2-5 because shiny cover), and the cover barely shows scratching, and it's not very pronounced at all. A few areas at the edge of the pages are scuffed, but not nearly as much as a regular deluxe or anniversary edition would in the same situation.
Is that Peroni Beer? Lol I just had it for the first time, put it to a taste test, and having never had it before, it was surprisingly good. Excellent video, I seen your Wheel of Time edition and looked it up. You weren’t kidding about the price. 💰
I know it's a manga and not your usual "special edition" but the Deluxe volumes of Berserk are awesome. Black faux leather hardcovers, and they're significantly bigger than standard manga which allows the gorgeous artwork to REALLY shine.
I see that Easton Press was mentioned in the comments. EP looks great, but they don't seem to have the same unique artwork as Folio Society does and they are SUPER pricey. I don't own any EP books, but I wonder if they are more about quality like LOA, than luxury... On the otherhand Beehive Books is another great (but expensive) resource for deluxe books. These books are large and are definitely works of art.
I appreciate/hate the approach book subscription boxes take when they make their own special editions. When they want to do special, they _DO_ special, and they mean it. For example, there's this ultra mega special collector's edition of the Nevernight Trilogy, officialy endorsed by Jay Kristoff. They are designed to look like books of an in-universe library that is important on the series finale, bounded in faux leather (I personally preffer real leather, for it is, believe it or not, a much more durable and less polluting option than faux leather and I will fight people about that, but still, "vegan" option), with debossed designs of the cover that are reinterpretations of the art on the much popular UK covers that were only available in hardback on their first year or so. The sprayed edges have colours that represent the three suns of the world, and the quote "NEVER FLINCH. NEVER FEAR. NEVER FORGET" written on them. They have SIX illustrated end pages on quality art paper, 5 illustrations per book + a bonus one, they entire trilogy is signed by Kristoff and best/worst of all is that they are all annotated by him. In total there are abround 650+ annotations and drawings made by the series author, commenting on it. It came with a slipcase, and has even more bonus content: A letter from Jay Kristoff adressing the fans, 1 bonus chapter in Godsgrave and 3 bonus ones for the final book in the series. It also came with an adventure card and the maps were in full colour. That sounds incredible, right?! So why am I so frustrated? Well, remember what I said about this being a book subscription box's take on a special edition? Sadly, they can't change their entire bussines model each time they come out with a new one. It was announced on the 10th of march, then on April 13th sales were open for those already suscribed to the box, the next day to the general public. You could order the book box or just the box set, but still, of the limited quantity, those who bought a suscription before or almost immediatly after the announcement had first dibs. The box set alone was priced for 189 dollars plus shipping. Which is a very good price, considering all the bonus content that this edition includes, until you take into account that these are open internationaly and thus fans of the series from countries with economies that weren't as good as the United States had only one month to get the money. For example, a regular book is listed around 20 dollars, which is, roughly, 250 mexican pesos. The minimal wage in Mexico was _rised_ up to 141.70 pesos for a _day._ If you work a week on minimum wage, almost two entire days of work would go to one hardcover book in english. And those are cheaper than regular paperbacks in spanish. Now, if you have to work 2 days a week for 1 regular book listed as 20 dollars, imagine having a month to save up 189 dollars, without taking into account your meals/commute/services. In México, if you work one week of minimum wage, you'd be payed 1,037 pesos. 50 dollars with 65 cents. Now, assuming that you walked to a whole bunch of supermarkets and did not waste money on gasoline or public transportation, the cheapest Market basket by the end of february of this same year was listed as 1,043.79, if you only bought 1kg of everything listed. A week's minimum wage wasn't enough to pay for it. So, take that out of your salary twice for a month, and... Yeah, a mexican minimum wage employee who was a fan of Nevernight could never get the money in time. But Litjoy is not to blame for the economic crisis in the world, nor the accesibiliy of the market basket in México when they made the announcement. And as I say, I don't expect them to stop giving preference to their previous subscribers for the sales. This is an incentive for people to keep paying for the services the company provides. I don't think they are to be held responsible for any of this. And you can still get the box set as of today, the 3rd of august, almost four months after the sales went live and one month after the sets started shipping. There is a chance that someone who started saving the money on the very same day it was announced out of faith of it not being sold out has managed to save the 3,868.44 pesos needed, plus the shipping. That's good. _HOWEVER_ there are times when companies collaborate with the author to create new content for Deluxe Editions that are not only advertised as special, but _limited_ in number. Meaning once they are sold out, they cannot be printed again; unlike Brando Sando's leatherbounds, if you didn't get them the first time, you won't find another chance, except, maybe, on an Ebay auction. _Those_ are the ones that frustrate me a lot, because all the new, canon stories included as bonus and all the Word of God info on how the series was written will only be read by the lucky few who happened to have the money before they ran out of copies. I wrote all this not to condemn the "BE THE FIRST ONE TO GRAB OR DON'T GRAB AT ALL" mentality that capitalism pushes down our throats, even though that is certainly an awful way of living. Rather, I'd like to say that I'm worried that Collector's Editions can very easely be turned into an international competition where some fans already have the advantage. And last decade, some YA publishers started this trend of allying with bookstores only found in Canada and the States to create Special, Limited Collector's Editions that were in all regards the same as the regular edition, with the exception that they included the _EPILOGUE_ to said novels/series. And once they sold out, the only way to read them was to find someone online who bought the book and was kind enough to post the extra content they payed for online, for free, with pictures taken by their phone. I am certainly worried that maybe, just maybe, there could come a day where the Limited Super Special Awesome Collector's Editions are adverticed as having "the true ending" of a series many love, and that out of those fans, only a few will be able to keep it in their personal libraries, for the regular editions will have only 3/4 of the story. Hopefuly that day never comes. I love collecting books. It's one of my passions to see a beautiful work of art of a story dear to me, and one that happens to have bonus content to make it even more special. But we need to remember that these _have_ to be a love letter to the fans who supported these stories out of passion, and that they should never be used to take advantage of them. We can't let buying the Deluxe product become the only way to fully enjoy a story.
@@limedickandrew6016 It's not there anymore. I contacted them to ask them if/when it would be back in stock, but they said due to rights issues, they're not selling it anymore. Same with their edition of Mort.
@@hannahbrennan2131 Yup, just checked and looks like both are sold out. Anyway, I was lucky enough to get the Limited Edition of Mort. Only 500 were produced.
Am I the only one that hates dustjackets? They easily break and a book looks much better without them. I don't dare to buy hardback books online for the fear of them having dustjackets.
i personally like the Dune one that is displayed at barnes and noble. sure, it was like $50, or 40, but they had a deal of buy two for 60, and i got it with the foundation trilogy. i very much like the leather hardcover with a book mark ribbon. it had some typos unfortunately. i ended up switching to this black leather trilogy edition i had ordered on ebay for like 70$, so far no typos i noticed, and i had finished messiah and im reading other books now. for me, i like deluxe editions that are leather or cloth bound, i don't like ones that are cardboard based and have jackets to deal with. i also prefer if they stay matching the aesthetic of the world they're set in as well. like my dune and lotr ones.
I wish the deluxe berserk editions has colour pages like the og original release I want a leather bound collection of lord of the rings but not as a single book cause that's hard to read. Good video
I’ve just gotten into collecting, I personally am only going after Easton Press for the classics like Treasure Island, Three Musketeers, etc because I feel like the overall design make it look like something of importance. As for special editions I definitely will jump on one for like a newish book especially if it’s illustrated and if it’s a completed series I will look for a set that is all from the same press or publisher. I personally won’t buy paper backs because I destroy the spine 😅 and I’m not above buying nice used complies especially Easton press because I don’t think a lot of people even open half of them.
I bought that Wheel of Time special edition when I was replacing my soft covers this year. Got it on Amazon for $5 less than the standard hardcover, but totally agree. Compared to my other special editions, it's trash. You should look at what Michael J Sullivan is doing for his limited editions. Faux leather, foil, etc. Amazing quality, and they always deliver.
The Barnes and noble classics collection is great for the money! They do 50% of sales all the time, you can get them for 10-15 bucks ! They are no easton press but they are nice
The one thing I’ll say about that version of HGTTG (and all Barnes and Noble editions) is that they’re only $25 and by far the most affordable leatherbound books you’ll ever find. They’re not amazing, but they’re uniform and look nice on a shelf. They also tend to do series (the Foundation trilogy, all of Sherlock Holmes) in one book.
What I will say for the book store special editions is my kids love them. One of my daughters favorite books is the cheap Alice in wonderland special edition she got from barns and noble. For me I love the Folio society books most of all. But for my kids I buy them the cheaper ones from Barns and noble.
Small correction! Discworld Emporium resellers books printed by a larger company. Should have known with how affordable they are. Still super great books but they aren’t the original creator. There is a publisher called Dunmanifestin certainly worth checking out!
Link to your friends youtube channel???
Oh ok
What do you think of the LOTR clothbound limited edition? I know they have the massive bible sized hardcover deluxe editions but I can’t even find the clothbound edition :(
Do you think there's any chance you could get a creator and/or discount code for Discworld Emporium? I'm eyeballing that complete collection on their site and would love to get a deal or for you to get a kickback at the very least.
You missed Grim Oak john Gwynne??? Also subterranean press Malzan and Curious kings the blade itself
That Dune edition is probably one of the sexiest books in existence. The only reason I haven’t bought it yet is that I don’t have a good bookshelf to preserve its glorious beauty.
Next year, there's supposed to be a matching book 2 and 3. I'm crossing my fingers for book 4, eventually.
I'm waiting for box set with Messiah and Children. (Yes, that's happening, it's up for pre-order)
@@thummumcrysanth I'm so excited for the Dune Messiah and Children of Dune Deluxe Editions! I'm gonna wait a bit after they release for the price to go down a bit.
@@thummumcrysanth Yep, I guess it’s a good decision to hold off on it after all. But the cover of the first book is still the best one out of three imo.
@@heretic124 Came here to say this. Just preordered mine
I am an absolute sucker for Folio Society editions. Beautiful inside and out, lovely typesetting and printing, colored text, beautiful paper. I don’t even have a shelf set up for them yet, I just enjoy having them! They’re great art. I’ll take em down and read em too, I don’t give a EFF. (At least the ones at $100 or less, anything more than that and I get reaaaally careful, I’m not crazy)
Exact same honestly. I don't buy them to read them specifically, but I have decided when I do my next re-read of my favourites, I'll do it through my Folio editions, because I am very careful and neat when it comes to books.
Same. Even my Folio Dune, which is just beautiful. Some fans and I are trying to keep the pressure up for the rest of the series as Easton Press is the only pub so far that's got a complete set - and if you think Folio's set is cost prohibitive, if you can find EP's Dune series (hardcover, leatherbound) you'll be looking about $5-6k.
I've read my Folio of Mary Shelley's 'The Last Man' and it wasn't too hard to be careful going through it. I plan on reading through all my Folios on the next re-read because, yeah, I bought em to read them (and show them off)
@@paulsawchuk9934 Easton Press set is okay, I appreciate the leather and embossing, but it looks... weird, to me. Like a book set that I would get off an infomercial or from the back of a catalogue.
But that Centipede Press edition... that Marc Simonetti art they got coming? Yoooo. And THOSE are STUPID expensive, like I'll read a Folio Society edition but those are "put under a glass case and admire" kind of prices.
I love reading my Folio Society editions. I buy beautiful books to really enjoy a special reading experience. I won't take them out of the house but there is nothing better than a sunday afternoon reading a stunning edition. I also have 8x Billy bookcases worth of Folio Society so they look fantastic all together
@@cassandracat "I also have 8x Billy bookcases worth of Folio Society so they look fantastic all together" Now that's what I would call life goals lol. You must take so much joy in such a collection. 🙂
I own a lot of Folio Society books and actually do read them! They are made so well, enduring multiple reads too! The art, binding, and paper quality really enhance the story and reading experience. Their customer service is superb and second-to-none! Granted, some of their items are actually collectible limited editions, those should be handled with care.
100% agree with you.
Books are meant to be read
I have a Folio Society edition of The Hobbit that my family's had since I was little. It's still in really good condition and it was read and carried around by children for years.
I go mudding on my four wheeler with them in the basket.
Why should a collectible limited edition be handled with more care than the others? It is still made to be read, and if it feels to precious to read (presumably because it will reduce in value), then it is an investment, not a book or even a piece of art anymore.
Emily claiming that you “don’t need to read Dune to be relevant” and then listing “Twilight” as an alternative made me lol pretty hard.
Yeah that was just sad lol
My guy, she was speaking truth! Read what you enjoy, that’s why it’s a hobby
@@eckat5 For sure! It’s just a funny statement when you first hear it.
It was already pointed out, but yeah she didn't mean that you should read Twilight to be relevant, it was more along the lines of: don't read something because you want to "be relevant", read for enjoyment 😁
Dune is actually boring af
18:40
As someone who loves Dune, I really felt Daniel's reaction here lmao. I really can't blame people for feeling that way, and even though I love the series, just hearing her give no fucks about it was honestly hilarious
I love that the Sanderson leather bounds have covert art from different countries plus fan art. They’re stunning.
I really appreciate how Daniel presents clear and concise information in a clean format where it’s evident that he genuinely took the time to throughly review and examine each edition to state his honest opinions about the advantages and disadvantages to help inform possible consumers such as myself.
Okay real honest comment from me here, Daniel: I got into fantasy BookTube a couple of years ago and watched a lot of your videos. Back then you had waaay fewer books and were basically talking about the same books over and over. Which was fine, but after so many videos I got fed up, nothing new here, and quit watching. Now, you have so many more books, your videos and text/script/wording are amazing, your quality and bookshelves are top-notch, and there is much more variety. I don't mean to diss your earlier stuff but I just want to say how much I respect how you have turned this into an absolutely top-notch high level YT channel. I am watching a lot of your videos these days and love each and every one of them (and my gf does too!). Keep it up and much love! Jasper, the Netherlands
I hope one of these organizations can release more affordable, alternative Malazan deluxe editions to the Subterranean Press versions. Dying to have premium copies that don't cost an arm and a leg
YES! Please.
Me too! I'd love that very much.
Wouldn't it be nice to just get another printing of the standard TOR hardcover versions?
I would love that. Sub Press is just too expensive.
I will never understand why malazan gets such poor treatment from publishers
Just to offer a counter point. Obviously if you want a collection for art and being in like new condition that’s you’re jam but I love reading all my folio society editions as reading copies it enriches the experience and don’t worry about damaging them as I feel if I’ve spent so much on them I want to experience them.
Am I the only one who likes the Barnes and Noble Collectible Editions? For only $25 each, they're a pretty good deal.
I love them. Yes, they are a great deal. I have the entire writings of vEdgar Allen Poe, and Complete writings of H.P. Lovecraft in those. I love them.
I love them, too. I think they‘re affordable and depending on the books you‘re getting they can make your bookshelf look like the dark academia library of your dreams. 🙈
@@kristina_rr Lol! Yup! They are nice. I may pick up the Star Wars one even though I would never read it. It's really beautiful imo! 😍
@@Ktulured55 uh yeah. I love the one with Vader on the cover. Sadly they aren‘t available in Germany. It‘s weird because a lot of the Barnes & Noble leatherbound editions are available here in our book stores but some aren‘t and sadly the Star Wars ones are the latter.
I have the sherlock holmes one. Was pretty annoyed at how sloppy the edges were done but its still beautiful
Love this, Daniel! Thank you so much for including us.
Surprised no mention of Subterranean Press. I feel like they are the pinnacle of quality special editions. Completely agree that they are more of an art piece or collector's item at their price point. I would never actually read any of my Sub Presses. They also include the rights to future books in the series so you have the ability to complete your collection.
I edited out a section where I talked about them due to feeling like the video was dragging on. I got self conscious about the pacing. It’s why a bunch of the discworld books shift without reason between cuts. 🥲
@@DanielGreeneReviews It's a fun topic...a 30 min video on small press editions would be awesome....Subpress, Amaranthine, Lyras, Curious King, etc
The big thing about Sub Press (and others like them) is that they're limited and usually signed editions. Somebody like Folio Society will put out books that are as nice or even nicer in terms of quality of physical product. But they'll print as many as they can sell. Sub Press prints a very limited number of books for a given title - usually 250-1000 for numbered editions. That makes them genuinely collectable. If you buy a Sub Press version of a book from a big series for $150, you can typically sell it on ebay for 2-10x as much. Books from places like Easton Press or Folio Society don't work like that. They lose half their monetary value or more as soon as you get them and only recover it if they've been out of print for a long time.
It's basically the difference between "deluxe editions" and "limited editions".
With that being said, the secondary market price of stuff from places like Sub Press are so high that I don't think they can keep going up.
@@Karl-un8od exactly this....it's why I generally only buy from places like Subpress. I don't flip books, but I do consider my collection to be an investment.
Yea I’ve owned books from all these these publishers and SubPress is my favorite. Get your hands on the SubPress Malayan collection and tell me you don’t feel quality.
My hot take: People should be cautious if one of the appeals to collectors'/deluxe editions is the idea that they're going to increase in or even hold value over time. Most of the special editions out there are published after a book is popular and are published without forced scarcity, so there are lots of them.
Over time, I've leaned more into the signed first edition world and limited (numbered/lettered) editions.
the last thing we need is book speculators like with sneakers and watches ffs lmao
Honestly.... I just like collectors'/deluxe editions because they're preetttyy, especially the ones that look more like classic books of olden times^--^
Completely agree - buying new deluxe releases is a great way to get hold of a beautiful book and support publishers and rights holders at the same time, but if you want a collection that potentially grows in value over the years then signed firsts or very limited editions are where its at
Easton Press makes some good books too. They tend to not go crazy with the cover art and are pricey, but good quality.
Omg I LOVED reading my Folio Society Game Of Thrones. The way that they were made I felt like I was in that world reading a tome from that time or something. They are very durable as well so I don't regret it.
I actually really like the Barnes & Noble collectible books like the Hitchhiker’s Guide one he used as an example lol. Not all of them, but I have the Poe and Lovecraft collections and think they’re beautiful, and they’re affordable ($15-$30 range) for faux-leather-look books.
Yeah for real, Alot of them look really good.
Special editions are so easy to obtain it’s a good reminder to sit and think what is actually special. When you have subscription boxes (e.g. Illumicrate, Fairyloot, Broken Binding etc) that are shipping special editions every month to your door, we’ve all got such high standards. The crowning special edition has to go to Folio’s Dune. Now that is exquisite!
I like what you said about The Broken Binding, that they're basically spruced up regular editions is why I like them! I love pretty books but I don't like owning books I can't touch/read because they're *too* pretty, so the special editions from Broken Binding or books like the Dune and Leviathan Wakes editions you talked about in your video are perfect! :D
Idk if they’re considered deluxe edition but the barns and nobles leather bound editions are one of my favs, and u usually find them in thrift shops!
And they’re actually affordable. I can’t afford to spend $60 much less $100 or more on a single book
I love getting them for my favorite classics I'm very jealous of the paradise lost I got my partner it's so pretty
Surprised there was no mention of Easton Press. I totally agree about only spending the big bucks on books that are meaningful to you. My signed edition Gaiman novels from EP are the most treasured pieces in my collection.
My first (& only) book from Easton Press is a Harvard Classics that I got for Rp250.000 or around 16 USD from an e-commerce store. It is my first ever leatherbound book and it’s definitely the best book in my bookshelf!😄
Very nice breakdown. I bought books from Easton Press way back in the day that I thought looked nice, they weren't wildly expensive for teenage me and I think they've held up very well over time. It's cool to see that more companies may be getting into it and hopefully that will mean more variety and price reductions in the future.
I think the Barnes and Nobles editions are nice as a gift to a non "serious " reader or collector. I love my H.P. Lovecraft version due to it having all of his stories, along with forwards about the story (what inspired it or what he was doing g at the time). It helps put into perspective what he's doing.
I also have the foundation trilogy in this version and it's great for anyone who wants to read the trilogy.
Ah, finally a use for the Watch Later list. I'll just save this for when I have money.
See you all in 2188.
So relatable, lol
To support the point on unfinished series, many years back there were deluxe Discworld editions published as The Unseen Library. They were gorgeous, but the company ran out of money and only published the first 18 books (pre crowd funding days).
What company makes the special editions that catch your eye the most??
Dragonsteel. I'd buy Isaac produced editions of way more books than just the ones Brandon has written. He's raising the whole bar.
Fairyloot, Bookish Box, Owlcrate, Faecrate, These Kind of companies!
Man, that big Wheel of Time collection you've got has always caught my eye and I'm so excited to finally have enough to get myself a copy.
Broken Binding is probably my favorite right now. Very good for 'I want something a little different and want it signed, but don't want to spend $100+. The only downside is shipping costs coming from the UK. However if you haven't seen on their Twitter they have plans to expand to the US. They are very active on Social Media and seem to be plugged into a lot of what people want. If you are able to get into it (which I have not been able to yet) I am very impressed with the subscription service and the books they are picking for it so far.
Past that Grim Oak Press and Folio Society for the shower me in luxury camp. I am going to be setting up calendar alerts for Faithful and the Fallen Grim Oak Press edition later this year.
Subterranean press and grim oak press have been getting a bunch of my money lately! Michael J Sullivan (his family does other author’s books too) and wraithmarked creative on kickstarter have put out some high quality stuff too
For affordable special editions (I wouldn’t always call them deluxe) I would go with The Broken Binding, Goldsboro, illumicrate, and Fairyloot.
For more expensive deluxe editions, I love dragonsteel and folio society. I want to get more of them. But they are very pricey. Definitely a special occasion type of price.
I can’t wait to see the Year of Sanderson and how those editions turn out!!!
I love my Illumicrate and Fairyloot exclusive editions
My problem with illumicrate and Fairyloot is that I can see where the corners were cut. Not many of my copies are sewn bindings, most are glued which means that I can't really read them, which I expect for the pricepoint.
@@chickendragon8526 how rough are you on books that you can't read them if they're not sewn ? It legit sounds like you're throwing the books in a hurricane or something else
@@ayajade6683 No, this is particualrly with large books that are more prone to it. Once the fairy loot spine cracks the books will start to fall apart because on top of it just being glue binding it's not very good. There is nothing to keep the binding together once the glue binding cracks at all.
I am afraid to lay the book open flat because of that. I haven't even read through it because once I got my special edition, I realized what was going to happen and bought paperbacks.
@@chickendragon8526 that’s how UK hardcovers are bound. That’s standard with all UK hardcovers and not just Fairyloot and Illumicrate
Twilight over Dune? Thats like asking the Kardashians to write your astrophysics thesis while you have Stephen Hawking wash your car
I don't think those are alike whatsoever.
I still buy those editions you can buy at a Barnes and noble I particularly like those editions because of the price point if all I want is the stories themselves.
I LOVE the Folio Society - I received the The Silmarillion as a gift. It is so true I had a hard time reading it and finally gave up because I was so worried that I would damage it lol! They do sometimes have sales that can make them more affordable but yeah..."so nice but I'm hesitant to read them". Thanks for another awesome video, it was a great list!
I bought Game of Thrones from Folio and literally where gloves when I take it out, I keep it wrapped in. Clothe, bubble wrap and in a box 😅. I received Clash for Xmas a few years ago and have yet to take it out of the plastic (as well as some of my Tolkien. Easton Press books) I guess it kind of defeats the purpose of owning them but I’m terrified to damage them.
I have to defend the B&N editions a little bit. I can see if you don't personally like the style, that can happen with anything, but I really like how most of them look. I really love the look of a leather-bound book, and I like the cover art they add as well, for the most part. I love my copy of Dracula from them more and more every day, and their Divine Comedy was also beautiful, everything I wanted, even had Gustave Dore's illustrations.
But the price tag is the real kicker. I would love to collect beautiful true leather bounds from some of these companies, but I will never be able to afford that. I don't think there will ever be a time that I could bring myself to spend $100 or more on a single book. Honestly, these are already near the top of my range. I want it to be beautiful, but it also needs to be practical, and usable, I don't want a book I'm scared to read. I think the B&Ns hit that sweet spot really well.
Also, I hate dust jackets, they're in the way and get bent and damaged and they just bother me so much. I want the actual book itself to be pretty, so I can't really imagine spending those premium prices for a book that's relying on a dust jacket for much of its art. That's kind of a personal gripe though.
Yeah for real, I like the look of them more than some of the folio society ones.
A review/shout out to some small press publishers would be a great follow-up to this. Centipede Press, Subterranean Press, Dark Regions Press, Grim Oak, Cemetery Dance and so on.
Peace
I'm familiar with all those, but Centipede Press is my favorite.
I've been gathering deluxe and special editions for a while now and my absolute favorites are some of the cheapest ones. The 15th Anniversary Editions of the first Mortal Instruments trilogy are probably my favorites because they're such amazing value for such a gorgeous cover. Super light-weight and nice font which makes them a comfortable to read. Other deluxe editions tend to be so heavy...
My signed and leathery Warbreaker arrived a few weeks ago, and it’s delightful
My sister got for me for my birthday during the first printing. It was the only Dragonsteel leatherbound I desperately had to have. There is a photo of me stroking the shipping containing while smiling *super* crazy into the camera.
I just ordered my first "special edition" book the other day. I've never splurged on a book. I honestly don't know what to expect, haha. It's The Folio Society edition of Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. He's my favorite writer, so I figured why not.
I’ve got the Folio Society Howl’s Moving Castle and follow on books and they are absolutely stunning and fairly affordable considering some of the other stuff on the site. I absolutely love them!
I’ve gotten so used to a dance with dragons being the last asoiaf book, I’ve just accepted it at this point
This is interesting to me as someone who barely has interest in hardcovers in general, let alone super expensive books. I've always been a paperback / mass market fan - I like to beat up my books and feel okay about it. A book that you don't/can't read makes no sense to me.
I completly disagree with your dislike of books like the Barnes and Nobles Collectible Editions. (Canterburry Classics btw are also phenomenal) Yes, maybe the covers are not always the most beuatiful, but there are certainly absolute bangers like the Jurassic park, Stephen King and Agatha Christie editions.
They are also extremly affordable compared to other special editions.
Additionaly I did my research and there are for many of these books no other special editions. Where else can you can similar good looking special editions of classics like Les Mis, the works of Jules Verne etc. ?
So it is quite clear at least to me that these versions will not die out.
I got my Easton Press signed copy of Stormfront last week, and I am thrilled at the quality.
so, when you started getting into folio society and above, those are what I refer to as Book trophies, I tend to collect book trophies for series that I absolutely love and want displayed on my shelf, as I am an audiobook consumer almost exclusively, so every once in a while (I'm looking at you mistborn) I come across a series that I love and really want to have a physical edition I can point to on my shelf and tell my friends YES GO READ it is amazing.
Nice video, I would have liked to see more about how to spot well made books to pretenders - e.g, glued vs sewn or acid free paper, type of paper etc.
Maybe another video!
All your friends you’ve brought on are crazy. I love them.
I just have to correct a couple of errors that have come out of your mouth. The special editions from e.g. the Folio Society are usually of such high quality that there is very little risk of reading them, because they are sewn together. Whereas Dune, for example, is a pile of paper stuck together with glue. I have worked with books that are from the 16th century that are in better condition than some of my newly published "special" editions, precisely because they are sewn and not glued together.
And then you have an extra prologue in The Eay of the World, but I totally agree that they could have spent a little more time on that edition. And then you have an extra prologue in The Eay of the World, but I totally agree that they could have spent a little more time on that issue. They have removed Nicolas Cage for goodness sake.
The books themselves will probably hold up perfectly well, but if you contantly touch the boards the foiling will likely take damage.
For me Folio Society give the reading experience another level. The paper thickness and quality is even better than Dragonsteel. Why buy a book if you will not use it?
Suntup Press, Centipede Press, Subterranean Press, Curious King, Lyra Press, Arete Editions.
All top end publishers worth exploring if you’d like to see some truly astonishing works of art.
Curious King in particular has a strong focus on fantasy.
I don't think the sample size of two annouced series is enough to determine that CK has a focus on fantasy. And they are announcing a sci fi saga at the end of the month
What a fun video. Particularly loved “Twilight exists.” My fam and I live in a small NY apartment so space is limited and my books tend to be downloaded but some of those are stunningly beautiful. Really cool.
I am a monster and DO read my dragonsteel leatherbound cosmere books. I JUST got the Warbreaker leatherbound that I missed the first time around. They live on their own shelf in my bedroom because I love looking at them.
it’s been a while since i’ve clicked on one of your videos, mostly because the content has been a bit niche these days. but this was so interesting!! thank you for all the valuable info
Folio Society books are beautiful, but hot damn, those price tags. I've been searching for a nice hardcover edition of His Dark Materials to replace my ratty old softcovers, and I was genuinely surprised to find that HDM hardcovers don't exist, except for the Folio Society editions. But each book goes for $150. 😩
Are you sure? Because on my version of the Folio Society website it's the entire trilogy that goes for around 150 £, so about 180-190 $. Still not cheap, but it's for the entire trilogy, not per book.
Everymans library edition. Nothing fancy but great edition nonetheless.
Folio society books are good butt wiping paper.
Ok this video is exactly the thing I’ve been needing lately, genuinely thank you for making this!
3:55 the 20th anniversary clockwork angel book is great for this! Amazing spine and cover, and loads of original artworks and designs! It s a bomb
Fine. You finally convinced me to pick up the Eye of the World 30th Anniversary Edition. That thud when it was launched offscreen was just too satisfying.
I hate when I am looking at a hardcover book online and the store doesn't have a picture of how it looks without the jacket.
Exactly
Interesting watch, surprised not to see Easton on here. They are kind of notorious though.
Personally, part of the beauty of the high end books is their functionality in reading them. Ive never been a big fan of painted art pieces as they have no function necessarily, whereas Ive always loved architecture which has inherent function in it. The idea of buying these books that are quite expensive and then NOT reading them is to me to miss out on part of what makes the book valuable: its contents. Annoys my spouse to no end as he wants the books to remain absolutely pristine, but im not not going to read my limited edition Frankenstein!
I'm so glad I checked and managed to find a recent reprint of the illustrated (watercolours by Alan Lee) version of LOTR in one big tome. I grew up reading the illustrated versions and for so long there was only that one old printing of them (in 3 volumes).
I’m heading to powells today to hunt for some cool editions, gonna try and snag that dune for sure!
This was just such a great and well constructed video all around. You were very succinct and informative while being entertaining. Thanks for your hard work!
Hello Daniel, and other viewers. To The First Law enjoyers, I ask: What are your opinions on the 10th Anniversary Ed. v/s the standard paperback? I'm generally a paperback guy but due to it's large size I fear for the spine. Just need some opinions from a hardcover owner, since it's painfully difficult to find one through online published media.
You could maybe check out some more obscure special edition publishers to showcase them. There are some really cool books out there, that not many people know of (like Amaranthine Books).
I love my Kindle and mostly read on that, so deluxe editions don't really tempt me. With one exception. And now I treasure the illustrated Lord of the Rings that came out last year with illustrations by Tolkien himself. So I really appreciate your point that an edition is valuable in how it relates to the reader's own experience and preferences on their collection.
Recently started working a real, big boy job and one of my first purchases was 3 Sanderson leather bounds....they now sit prominently on my mantle :)
I'm at the point now where I almost only buy Folio Society, and I totally read them. Beautiful things should be enjoyed. It should be noted that FS have a lively second hand market on ebay, sometimes markups but sometimes good savings. It depends on what you're looking for.
I love folio society, I have to point out the pages and books are very strong, good thick pages and hand sewn.
A note on the Discworld books: They are NOT published, produced or designed by Discworld Emporium. The publisher is the large SFF imprint Gollancz, and they also produce similar naked hardcovers with cool designs combining print and foil for other books, like Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn or Stormlight Archive.
There is an actual Pratchett special edition publisher, Dunmanifestin, though. They produce for the upper end of the spectrum.
The Percy Jackson special edition that came out after the new show is absolutely gorgeous and is full of new details!🤩 I don’t usually buy repeats of a series I already own, but I will do it again if they make one for book 2!!
Really helpful video. Thanks Daniel and friend!
4:07
I don’t ask for bugs a lot but when I do I get very specific because I wanna but that I’ll actually enjoy looking at. No belong in the bookstore edition of doing it all my wine but since Christmas was coming up I just Congested seat in it to buy it now she can wait for Christmas and after that day I made sure that I was specifically showing her that version of the buck every time. When I make my digital Christmas lists I always specify I don’t need anything everything on the list but whatever you choose to bless me with use the link or get what is specifically shown in the photo. I got The UGLIEST dune book I’d ever seen.
I am collecting the folio edition of asoiaf, and trust me, they be sturdy. Especially the first one has been slapped around a lot both by me (accident) and my nephews (age 2-5 because shiny cover), and the cover barely shows scratching, and it's not very pronounced at all. A few areas at the edge of the pages are scuffed, but not nearly as much as a regular deluxe or anniversary edition would in the same situation.
Folio Society editions of Mort AND Small Gods! Goblin be hoarding treasure like a damn dragon!
I would love a mistborn deluxe thats etched in metal, im sure its not possible but that would be really cool
Is that Peroni Beer? Lol I just had it for the first time, put it to a taste test, and having never had it before, it was surprisingly good. Excellent video, I seen your Wheel of Time edition and looked it up. You weren’t kidding about the price. 💰
I know it's a manga and not your usual "special edition" but the Deluxe volumes of Berserk are awesome. Black faux leather hardcovers, and they're significantly bigger than standard manga which allows the gorgeous artwork to REALLY shine.
I see that Easton Press was mentioned in the comments. EP looks great, but they don't seem to have the same unique artwork as Folio Society does and they are SUPER pricey. I don't own any EP books, but I wonder if they are more about quality like LOA, than luxury... On the otherhand Beehive Books is another great (but expensive) resource for deluxe books. These books are large and are definitely works of art.
I appreciate/hate the approach book subscription boxes take when they make their own special editions. When they want to do special, they _DO_ special, and they mean it. For example, there's this ultra mega special collector's edition of the Nevernight Trilogy, officialy endorsed by Jay Kristoff. They are designed to look like books of an in-universe library that is important on the series finale, bounded in faux leather (I personally preffer real leather, for it is, believe it or not, a much more durable and less polluting option than faux leather and I will fight people about that, but still, "vegan" option), with debossed designs of the cover that are reinterpretations of the art on the much popular UK covers that were only available in hardback on their first year or so. The sprayed edges have colours that represent the three suns of the world, and the quote "NEVER FLINCH. NEVER FEAR. NEVER FORGET" written on them. They have SIX illustrated end pages on quality art paper, 5 illustrations per book + a bonus one, they entire trilogy is signed by Kristoff and best/worst of all is that they are all annotated by him. In total there are abround 650+ annotations and drawings made by the series author, commenting on it. It came with a slipcase, and has even more bonus content: A letter from Jay Kristoff adressing the fans, 1 bonus chapter in Godsgrave and 3 bonus ones for the final book in the series. It also came with an adventure card and the maps were in full colour.
That sounds incredible, right?! So why am I so frustrated? Well, remember what I said about this being a book subscription box's take on a special edition? Sadly, they can't change their entire bussines model each time they come out with a new one. It was announced on the 10th of march, then on April 13th sales were open for those already suscribed to the box, the next day to the general public. You could order the book box or just the box set, but still, of the limited quantity, those who bought a suscription before or almost immediatly after the announcement had first dibs. The box set alone was priced for 189 dollars plus shipping. Which is a very good price, considering all the bonus content that this edition includes, until you take into account that these are open internationaly and thus fans of the series from countries with economies that weren't as good as the United States had only one month to get the money. For example, a regular book is listed around 20 dollars, which is, roughly, 250 mexican pesos. The minimal wage in Mexico was _rised_ up to 141.70 pesos for a _day._ If you work a week on minimum wage, almost two entire days of work would go to one hardcover book in english. And those are cheaper than regular paperbacks in spanish. Now, if you have to work 2 days a week for 1 regular book listed as 20 dollars, imagine having a month to save up 189 dollars, without taking into account your meals/commute/services.
In México, if you work one week of minimum wage, you'd be payed 1,037 pesos. 50 dollars with 65 cents. Now, assuming that you walked to a whole bunch of supermarkets and did not waste money on gasoline or public transportation, the cheapest Market basket by the end of february of this same year was listed as 1,043.79, if you only bought 1kg of everything listed. A week's minimum wage wasn't enough to pay for it. So, take that out of your salary twice for a month, and... Yeah, a mexican minimum wage employee who was a fan of Nevernight could never get the money in time.
But Litjoy is not to blame for the economic crisis in the world, nor the accesibiliy of the market basket in México when they made the announcement. And as I say, I don't expect them to stop giving preference to their previous subscribers for the sales. This is an incentive for people to keep paying for the services the company provides. I don't think they are to be held responsible for any of this.
And you can still get the box set as of today, the 3rd of august, almost four months after the sales went live and one month after the sets started shipping. There is a chance that someone who started saving the money on the very same day it was announced out of faith of it not being sold out has managed to save the 3,868.44 pesos needed, plus the shipping. That's good.
_HOWEVER_ there are times when companies collaborate with the author to create new content for Deluxe Editions that are not only advertised as special, but _limited_ in number. Meaning once they are sold out, they cannot be printed again; unlike Brando Sando's leatherbounds, if you didn't get them the first time, you won't find another chance, except, maybe, on an Ebay auction. _Those_ are the ones that frustrate me a lot, because all the new, canon stories included as bonus and all the Word of God info on how the series was written will only be read by the lucky few who happened to have the money before they ran out of copies.
I wrote all this not to condemn the "BE THE FIRST ONE TO GRAB OR DON'T GRAB AT ALL" mentality that capitalism pushes down our throats, even though that is certainly an awful way of living. Rather, I'd like to say that I'm worried that Collector's Editions can very easely be turned into an international competition where some fans already have the advantage. And last decade, some YA publishers started this trend of allying with bookstores only found in Canada and the States to create Special, Limited Collector's Editions that were in all regards the same as the regular edition, with the exception that they included the _EPILOGUE_ to said novels/series. And once they sold out, the only way to read them was to find someone online who bought the book and was kind enough to post the extra content they payed for online, for free, with pictures taken by their phone.
I am certainly worried that maybe, just maybe, there could come a day where the Limited Super Special Awesome Collector's Editions are adverticed as having "the true ending" of a series many love, and that out of those fans, only a few will be able to keep it in their personal libraries, for the regular editions will have only 3/4 of the story.
Hopefuly that day never comes.
I love collecting books. It's one of my passions to see a beautiful work of art of a story dear to me, and one that happens to have bonus content to make it even more special. But we need to remember that these _have_ to be a love letter to the fans who supported these stories out of passion, and that they should never be used to take advantage of them. We can't let buying the Deluxe product become the only way to fully enjoy a story.
Man I wish Folio Society would do another run of Small Gods like that, it’s amazing
It's still available on their web site. £42.95. Don't know how much that is in US dollars.
@@limedickandrew6016 It's not there anymore. I contacted them to ask them if/when it would be back in stock, but they said due to rights issues, they're not selling it anymore. Same with their edition of Mort.
@@hannahbrennan2131 Yup, just checked and looks like both are sold out. Anyway, I was lucky enough to get the Limited Edition of Mort. Only 500 were produced.
@@limedickandrew6016 Lucky you. They were both out of print by the time I was able to buy them.
Am I the only one that hates dustjackets? They easily break and a book looks much better without them.
I don't dare to buy hardback books online for the fear of them having dustjackets.
I always take dustjackets off when reading the book and throw it away if the book looks better without it.
For some reason I've started preferring the look of a lot of mass market paperbacks
Really good video idea, appreciate the insight!
I have the library Collection of Discworld and it looks amazing. It is worth it
I will buy ALL of the deluxe books in the world for EVERY series on earth. Then I'll follow your book cleaning tutorial.
You monster
This hurt me.
Personally, what I want is a focus in elegance, not so much color. And leather is always the best.
I needed this video about 20 minutes ago. Thank you
For someone that doesn’t own a single hardcover (I read to much to afford it) I’m having some serious book envy. Great video as always.
My dust covers for my LotRs are torn so this is perfect.
The old granddad of deluxe editions I've been seeing forever is Easton Press. Thoughts there?
I like heavily used coffee stained editions. they have character and are interesting. Very affordable aswell....
nice to see the Berserk Deluxe volumes in the frame 😋
Instantly spotted the Discworld books. My absolute favorite covers.
i personally like the Dune one that is displayed at barnes and noble. sure, it was like $50, or 40, but they had a deal of buy two for 60, and i got it with the foundation trilogy. i very much like the leather hardcover with a book mark ribbon. it had some typos unfortunately. i ended up switching to this black leather trilogy edition i had ordered on ebay for like 70$, so far no typos i noticed, and i had finished messiah and im reading other books now. for me, i like deluxe editions that are leather or cloth bound, i don't like ones that are cardboard based and have jackets to deal with. i also prefer if they stay matching the aesthetic of the world they're set in as well. like my dune and lotr ones.
I wish the deluxe berserk editions has colour pages like the og original release
I want a leather bound collection of lord of the rings but not as a single book cause that's hard to read.
Good video
Surprised no Easton press.
I’ve just gotten into collecting, I personally am only going after Easton Press for the classics like Treasure Island, Three Musketeers, etc because I feel like the overall design make it look like something of importance. As for special editions I definitely will jump on one for like a newish book especially if it’s illustrated and if it’s a completed series I will look for a set that is all from the same press or publisher. I personally won’t buy paper backs because I destroy the spine 😅 and I’m not above buying nice used complies especially Easton press because I don’t think a lot of people even open half of them.
I bought that Wheel of Time special edition when I was replacing my soft covers this year. Got it on Amazon for $5 less than the standard hardcover, but totally agree. Compared to my other special editions, it's trash.
You should look at what Michael J Sullivan is doing for his limited editions. Faux leather, foil, etc. Amazing quality, and they always deliver.
Totally agree about the Discworld books - so great inside and out
7:46 I'm new to the book world so maybe I just don't know anything, but isn't 242 dollars for 5 pieces of pretty paper absolutely insane?
Expected the Dune special edition. Saw it in the first 4 minutes. Not disappointed.
The Barnes and noble classics collection is great for the money! They do 50% of sales all the time, you can get them for 10-15 bucks ! They are no easton press but they are nice
Damn I love the black tongue writing tattoo...the whole time through the video I was looking at that instead of the books XD
The one thing I’ll say about that version of HGTTG (and all Barnes and Noble editions) is that they’re only $25 and by far the most affordable leatherbound books you’ll ever find. They’re not amazing, but they’re uniform and look nice on a shelf. They also tend to do series (the Foundation trilogy, all of Sherlock Holmes) in one book.
What I will say for the book store special editions is my kids love them. One of my daughters favorite books is the cheap Alice in wonderland special edition she got from barns and noble. For me I love the Folio society books most of all. But for my kids I buy them the cheaper ones from Barns and noble.