96 replies to this topic

[Brisco]

These Bentley editions will probably end up in cabinets and showcases anyway. I doubt the books are ever read. Might as well put the Shrivenham phone directory under the lid. Which reminds me - I used to have a bread tin looking astonishingly similar to that Bentley-thingy. Wonder what ever happened to that piece of superflous furniture...?

Yes, I think it's safe to say that not one in five hundred of those Bentley editions will ever actually be READ. Which is kind of a pity, since it seems like a lot of work went into the book itself, with its red and black lettering on ivory pages and whatnot.

Though I do suppose it could be damned inconvenient to read a book with a bullet lodged in the middle. Zen, did that Bentley-shaped hole in the DMC pages make them unwieldy to turn?

Anyway, bullet holes or not, I quite like the look of the book itself. Not so the desert-car case thingy.

[Dustin]

I keep coming back to this, can't seem to help it. If it's true that books furnish a room - and personally I certainly do think so - then I wonder which kind of room would befit to have the honour to be furnished with this? Much as I may try, I can't imagine this anywhere else but on the display of a Camden street vendor.

Edited by Dustin, 28 April 2011 - 01:21 PM.

[zencat]

Zen, did that Bentley-shaped hole in the DMC pages make them unwieldy to turn?

You know, I don't think I've ever even turned a page to see. Not really a reading copy.

[Dustin]

Zen, did that Bentley-shaped hole in the DMC pages make them unwieldy to turn?

You know, I don't think I've ever even turned a page to see. Not really a reading copy.

But they surely sold you a copy of DMC? Not the Shrivenham phone book? Take a look at page 74. If there's a list with Millers...

[Jump James]

Well, I am a little disappointed with the Bentley special edition, think they nailed the design with the DMC Bentley version. What David said. And if Carte Blanche is pants, you can use it as a jelly mould.

[Dustin]

Oh, that book itself looks quite charming, a really nice edition with the white leather and the red edging, as far as one can see in those pics. I'd love to have such a copy without the casing, or as was suggested with a regular slipcase. What comes across somewhat innovative is the butter dish/cheese cover idea. Always makes me want to hop to my kichen for my famous and dreaded Jamie-Oliver-impersonation act.

Edited by Dustin, 28 April 2011 - 05:17 PM.

[Brisco]

Zen, did that Bentley-shaped hole in the DMC pages make them unwieldy to turn?

You know, I don't think I've ever even turned a page to see. Not really a reading copy.

Never even turned a page? I'm surprised you could resist just trying...

[zencat]

Indie edition (with different color jacket).

http://www.thebookbo...nt-edition.html

[Jump James]

To many editions for CB. I want buy can't have, just going for the unsigned one from Amazon. .

[David Schofield]

To many editions for CB. I want buy can't have, just going for the unsigned one from Amazon. .

Too true. And they have missed out on the obvious one - a simple, slipcased edition like the first four Young Bonds.

Like you I am going for a bog-standard, unsigned Amazan edition.

As I did with DMC and the two expensive special editions of that book, I am reassuring myself in the afterthought that who would want a special edition of a book that might turn out to be absolutely dreadful?

[Jump James]

That's quiet sensible David. It's what I'll be collecting from now on. (unless I can find an independent version without a fantastic Mark up!)

[zencat]

First look at the Waterston's Special Edition. VERY nice!

http://www.thebookbo...es-special.html

[Jim]

That's very pleasant.

But, still, ordinary hardback copy for me. Of all these editions, that's still the one I like the most, he writes, covering up inherent stinginess, the experience of too many previous mediocrities and an inability to explain away spending on this to wife and children, all of whom need shoes and food, apparently.

[Dustin]

That's very pleasant.

But, still, ordinary hardback copy for me. Of all these editions, that's still the one I like the most, he writes, covering up inherent stinginess, the experience of too many previous mediocrities and an inability to explain away spending on this to wife and children, all of whom need shoes and food, apparently.

Not an excuse. Shoes, clothes in general are an outdated concept of the past and vastly overrated. Not much future in it IMO. Just look at all the paparazzi trophies, practically every shot's worth tenfold if the celebrity is seen in the nude. Strongly doubt anybody is going to wear clothes by the end of the decade. Show avant-garde spirit and let your family be the first to walk entirely without the anachronistic hindrance of textiles.

Also food is taking a much more prominent place in our minds than it rightfully deserves. Really, who needs food when one can read Bond? A month or two without our munchies altogether shouldn't be beyond us, provided it serves to lay hands on the Bentley edition. Rain and sunshine and a few hundred pages of Bond surely are almost as nourishing as three meals a day, aren't they? Just remind your family of the bright side. Others have been forced to sell relatives on some doubious market in Timbuctoo, their fates never quite solved as yet. And all for Devil May Care with a Matchbox Bentley!

As it is I'm just now counting a thick pile of unmarked notes of various currencies I received in exchange for two of NATO's missing "devices", and I know where I will invest the profits from this venture.

A new copy LALD.

[Jim]

My wandering around naked and emaciated is too high a price for the rest of society to bear, I fear.

If you want to stop this hideous catastrophe, please donate to my fund for the Bentley edition (alternatively, a Bentley with a dog-eared paperback in it; I'll cope) at www.justgivingintoturdpolishing.co.uk, account labelled "Gullibility is not Disability"

[David Schofield]

If you want to stop this hideous catastrophe, please donate to my fund for the Bentley edition (alternatively, a Bentley with a dog-eared paperback in it; I'll cope) at www.justgivingintoturdpolishing.co.uk, account labelled "Gullibility is not Disability"

But isn't turd-polishing just what this is with these elaborate editions, the Bentley version particularly? (Not withstanding CARTE BLANCHE might turn out to be a masterpiece, of course).

And consider those poor folk who shelled out on the DMC Bentley version. What an expensive way to house a pile of that turned out to be.

[Jim]

Well, I'll still buy it and I'll still read it, but it's just a book. Ordinary, vanilla edition for me.

[Dustin]

Ordinary edition for me too.

The business with the "special" and "limited" editions has become quite its own field, akin to science by now I suspect. The actual content is very much secondary to the potential profit that may or may not lie in its future market value. It's ludicrous to us mere mortals, sure. But our horror and astonishment also miss the point, as the contents, our main interest, are really only a small detail in the collector-verse. It's the same with comics - mint condition welded-in, never read - and toys - same basic requirements, never acutally in the hands of a human being since leaving their China factories in their blister packs.

Edited by Dustin, 12 May 2011 - 08:32 AM.

[Jump James]

Very true, family need shoes etc.
Is the Waterstones edition supposed to look like a fag packet?

I don't think the value of all these special jelly mold, signed limited to 1500 editions etc etc etc will keep the value. Depends what you collect for of course but they don't seem to be getting snapped up like DMC did. Has someone got a tip off? Pricing seems to be a issue also (for me at least). The Waterstones edition for DMC was originally priced at £50 but the CB edition is £100.

Moan moan moan moan grrrrrrrr fluff in pockets etc

[Jim]

All true and not for me to judge others in their pleasure and leisure. I would certainly buy and covet a special edition that included the first draft with publisher comments, although I would also unwrap and read it, I suspect.

Have a very good pal who has what he claims to be every Star Wars dolly in its original packaging, untouched. I remember playing with mine, melting the legs off, head transplants, seeing if they could fly. We're probably both equally ed up in our own ways. The value of the embers of my polyurethane is aggressively nil, albeit to my childhood immense. He knows the market value of his collection; don't know about its personal worth to him. I suspect the question may trouble him. About as much as the knowledge that that ArteeyDeety one I deep fried is now worth X.

[Dustin]

Know exactly what you mean. Glorious days spent with all kinds of interesting experiments our toys had to endure: blaster traces, flame-thrower attacks, various surgical and thermal experiments probably far beyond ethical limits. Strictly speaking I suppose my toys didn't exactly experience the intended use in many cases. But the fun was tremendous.

Then again it seems collectors can gain near unending fun and enjoyment from their subject too, and by far not all (or even most) of it has to be financially related. I suppose that subspecies only surfaced once the market for our childhood memories became large enough to attract speculators, but I may be wrong there.

At any rate each to their own. I'll stick to the anonymous by-the-million-copy.

[Jump James]

This all reminds me of one of those crappy emails I once recived......

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.

Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eying each other's cups.

Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

Moral: Don't let the cups drive you... Enjoy the coffee instead :-)

[zencat]

So I've locked down a Waterstone's edition and an indies edition (at the retail price of £19.99). I have a feeling this indies edition is going to be the hardest book to get, especially at a reasonable price. I predict it will become the most collectible CB edition.

BTW, from a description I received, it appears the Waterstone's edition is not a different book than the normal first edition. It's just signed and numbered. So it's essentially £100 for a box. But it is a nice box.

No Bentley edition for me this time (obviously).

[Jump James]

So I've locked down a Waterstone's edition and an indies edition (at the retail price of £19.99). I have a feeling this indies edition is going to be the hardest book to get, especially at a reasonable price. I predict it will become the most collectible CB edition.

BTW, from a description I received, it appears the Waterstone's edition is not a different book than the normal first edition. It's just signed and numbered. So it's essentially £100 for a box. But it is a nice box.

I'm glad I didn't go for the £100 box then. I think your predictions will be spot on. Demand isn't as high as for DMC for some reason. One week to go and it's pretty easy to get a indie edition still.
No Bentley edition for me this time (obviously).

[zencat]

It's easy to get the indie edition? I was in a panic yesterday as all I see online is pre-orders are already sold out. Thankfully the bookseller (MSE Books) who first told be about it set one aside for me.

The Waterstone's edition is the one that is still easy to get. You can even order it from the Waterstone's website.

[Jump James]

It's easy to get the indie edition? I was in a panic yesterday as all I see online is pre-orders are already sold out. Thankfully the bookseller (MSE Books) who first told be about it set one aside for me.

The Waterstone's edition is the one that is still easy to get. You can even order it from the Waterstone's website.

Honest, and at cover price £18.99. Is that the Indie price?

[zencat]

Yep, that's the indie price, same as the regular edition. Although I've noticed some online dealers have left the price off.

[Jump James]

Ah-ha ok. Then there are a couple of places that still have some, it would seem.

[zencat]

Did anyone pick up a Waterstone's edition? If so, can you confirm that the book itself is just the normal first (which means it's essentially £100 for a box)? I'm a little put out by this, and I have the opportunity to cancel my order. Wondering if I should.

[Loomis]

Did anyone pick up a Waterstone's edition? If so, can you confirm that the book itself is just the normal first (which means it's essentially £100 for a box)? I'm a little put out by this, and I have the opportunity to cancel my order. Wondering if I should.

I bought my copy from Waterstone's on the day of release (last Thursday), and it turned out to be a second edition. I've heard of others having difficulties obtaining firsts from Waterstone's.