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I think this is an opportune moment to write a column on Tolkien. For the past 3 years, we have seen the Lord of the Rings movies and today I heard a rumour that Peter Jackson is about to make "The Hobbit" into a film. This intense movie saturation has made us all familiar with hobbits, wizards and rings and it has also made Tolkien's books highly desirable.
His most renown books are, of course, the Lord of the Rings trilogy but don't forget some of Tolkien's other works - The Hobbit, The Silmarillion (which was originally called "The Book of Lost Tales" and had to be completed by Tolkien's son) and The History of Middle Earth. Aside from creating masterful archetypal epics, Tolkien also wrote many children's stories. Since the release of the Rings movies, a whole new industry has sprung up producing movie guides and biographies of Tolkien, but for book reselling purposes, I think the movie guides should be avoided.
Average Selling Prices
On eBay.com, Tolkien books are easily hitting the $50 mark and higher but on eBay.co.uk, the prices go even higher. First editions of Lord of the Rings are going for just under $1,700 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3590126856&category=20045 (note this auction ended without meeting reserve). There are also first edition copies of the Hobbit going for around $500.
Tips
Here in Germany, they brought out what I call a "sanitised" book version of the Lord of the Rings, the "movie version." I call it "The Idiot's Guide to the Lord of the Rings." To me, this was sacrilege. That's like someone rewriting the Bible on the basis of Mel Gibson's "Passion" movie. If you have these sanitised versions in your country then I suggest you avoid them.
Where the real value of Tolkien lies is in original copies of his books before the movies were even conceived. I was at a flöhmarkt (yard sale) two years ago and I got hold of paperback versions of Lord of the Rings from the year 1971. They were green covers with basic Elvish maps. I bought them for 1 Euro apiece (the seller was an idiot!) and I resold them on eBay for around 20 Euros each. The Fellowship of the Ring book went for 25 Euros. If you have even older versions with more ornate Elvish maps in the back then those are worth a lot more (up to 100 Euros on eBay Germany), but as usual, it all depends on the condition of the book. Of course, First Editions fetch the highest prices of all. First Editions can net thousands of dollars, pounds or Euros.
Related Web Sites
Due to the Rings movies, Web sites on Tolkien and his books abound. Some are good and some are not so good. Here are the best ones in my opinion.
http://www.tolkien.co.uk - the British Tolkien Web site
http://www.tolkiensociety.org
http://www.tolkienonline.com
This column is to help advise on which kinds of authors to watch out for and which ones to avoid when it comes to reselling. Please feel free to write to me at camelot_de@gmx.de and disagree with me, share your opinions, or nominate authors you think should be included. While not an "expert," I have a basic understanding of good authors, especially the kinds of authors to acquire or to avoid when it comes to reselling. By working together, perhaps we can compile a list of good-selling authors in the op market. Also feel free to post in the Book Forum at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=5.
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