AliasOrion

I'm always going to argue that the audience for a limited edition book is book-collectors, not trinket (or swag as you put it) collectors, but you're certainly entitled to your opinion. You're right that their "policy" is much more akin to Folio, which book collectors also tend to avoid like the plague unless it's one of their occasional signed limited edition sets (kind of like this one, except actually and meaningfully "limited," rather than just limited by a number). It's simply unfortunate that this means there will be yet another "limited edition" of a beloved Brandon Sanderson series that is worthless in the eyes of collectors.

That may be, but it's the only way to purchase the superior (numbered) copy of The Way of Kings. The novelty collectors, you're right, are rewarded heavily for being in on the kickstarter. My only point is that the rare book collectors (I think the true audience of a kickstarter for a limited edition book) are somewhat forgotten.

(Since the quoting system is bugging out) In response to Argent's above comment: "Are you upset Dragonsteel isn't making as much money out of numbered copies as they could be? I've always liked the fact that Brandon doesn't bump the price just because a given book has a number written on it, that's always seemed like an artificial way to create scarcity and drive people to buy stuff at a higher price, when said stuff doesn't actually cost more to produce." Not at all. I'm disappointed that the limited edition looks and is functionally no different from the copies that will be sold indefinitely. The beauty of a luxury edition in many people's eyes is its ability to go up in value, but when more are constantly being made and sold that are functionally and aesthetically identical, yours (that you paid $300 dollars more for than the later retail copies) will always be lassoed to the retail price because it's only differentiated by a number (If the numbered were a different color, that might even be sufficient to create a sort of first-edition for collectors, but that's not the case here). So, I guess what I dislike is exactly what you seem to think they're not doing, that Dragonsteel or whomever is bumping the price by $300, "just because a given book has a number written on it... [as] an artificial way to create scarcity and drive people to buy stuff at a higher price, when said stuff doesn't actually cost more to produce." All the stickers and pins and such aside, the book collectors who care to buy the superior copy are rewarded very little for over twice the cost (see Subterranean Press, Grim Oak Press, lettered vs numbered editions).

Great looking books and I love that Sanderson self publishes his special editions. I only wish he did more to separate the $500 numbered / First Edition/ First Print copies from the unnumbered, later print copies that seem to be limitless, because that's a steep incline in price for an exponential print run; and not being able to tell them apart easily is the only thing keeping his books from becoming commodities in the collectible world. That's not to say I'm not excited (I've been googling "Way of Kings kickstarter" for a month), it's just somewhat disappointing that Dragonsteel still hasn't figured out how to put value into a limited edition. And by that, I mean: what is my incentive to pay $500 for a book that is functionally and aesthetically equal to both the copies selling for $200 and to the copies that are going to be sold for $150-200 for a seemingly indefinite time on his store (assuming this release will be treated the same as other Dragonsteel releases)? There's a reason why the $75 Subterranean Press Lies of Locke Lamora (a far less famous author) are selling for $600+, while Sanderson Dragonsteel books are sitting right around their original sale price, and that reason is not just the scarcity created by a numbered book (if that were all it took, Dragonsteel books wouldn't have the resale problems they do), but differentiation of that numbered book from the unnumbered, unlimited editions.