Micro-review: The Making of TESB

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Buzz Bumble
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Micro-review: The Making of TESB

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The Canvas magazine in yesterday's Weekend Herald (12 February, 2011) had this brief review of the new book ...
The Making of The Empire Strikes Back by J. W. Rinzler (Aurum Press, $90)
No serious Star Wars enthusiast should be without this book. Glossy, exhaustive and readable. Rinzler has full access to the Lucasfilm archives and he goes to town on them. For anyone who grew up on the films it's a fascinating eye-opener.
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AaronDB94
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Re: Micro-review: The Making of TESB

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I saw a copy of this at the 2nd hand book store in Takapuna ($90 second hand???) and it does look fantastic (again ESB is my favourite movie though haha) Definatly a book I will look to purchase in the very near future.
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Re: Micro-review: The Making of TESB

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Some second-hand book shops do often get stock direct from the publishers - stock that's old or damaged stock (e.g. the dust jacket may have been ripped when opening the box) or been returned by a shop, etc. that the publisher simply wants to get rid off. Usually these items are simply binned to be pulped for recycled paper, but they can turn up in other places like second-hand bookshops, cheapo "box of books" radio competitions, markets and school fairs, etc.

Brand new in Borders the book costs just under $100 ... but they've have got a "30% off one full priced book" sale going in-store which ends on Monday, 21 February, so that drops the price to just under $70. It may be even cheaper than that online via places like Fishpond, Mighty Ape and Amazon :)

Of course with Whitcoulls and Borders both going under (see today's NZ Herald for the Whitcoulls story, and Borders is owned by the same parent comapny and also in trouble), so you may soon be able to get a copy even cheaper in a "closing down" sale. :(
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Re: Micro-review: The Making of TESB

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I really do hope that some other company comes along to bail Whitcoulls and Borders out because it would be a real shame to see them go under :(

The ESB in the 2nd hand book shop in Takapuna doesn't look to have any damage so it may very well be a brade new copy....I didn't realise Borders had 30% off a new book sale so I may very well be popping back today to buy the copy I saw last night...Thanks for that ;)
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Re: Micro-review: The Making of TESB

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The damage may be very slight - I've seen books thrown out with very little damage, but it's enough to make them unsellable.

Another possibility is that someone working for the distributor bought it at staff prices or got a sales rep copy, and then simply (against the rules) sold it to the second-hand bookshop.


Whitcoulls, Borders and Book & More are all owned by the same parent company, so that pretty much covers all the major bookstores in New Zealand (PaperPlus only really does books as a side-line). :(

Despite what the idiot "expert" on TVNZ's Breakfast falsey said, Border Australia / NZ is a completely separate company from Borders US, so the American companies troubles have no bearing on the Australasian companies problems ... other than simply few companies are selling very much at the moment.
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Re: Micro-review: The Making of TESB

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I saw in the Hearld how much the executives from Whitcoulls are being paid....$825 an hour, it's no wonder they're in money troubles!!

I've never really purchased an expensive book from a second hand book store because I've always worried that if I do find something wrong with it they'll just tell me it's used so too bad??
This book though looks fantastic and we're off to the city tomorrow so a copy is definatly coming home with me...I actually do think it's a better than the similar book that put out about ANH.
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Re: Micro-review: The Making of TESB

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Those horrific prices in the NZ Herald weren't for the Whitcoulls staff (although their management will of course get paid obscene amounts, plus bonuses even while flushing the company down the toilet!). Those prices were the amounts being charged by the greedy company coming in to do the "volutary administration" ... even a "lowly" filing person's time was being charged out at $200+ per hour (despite that person actually being lucky if they're paid $20 per hour).

The really disgusting part is that that greedy administration company and the equally greedy management will be the first to be paid if the company does go under. The regular workers will be lucky if they get any kind of redundancy package at all, and it's simply tough luck for those with gift cards / vouchers who will get nothing at all. (The Booksellers gift card company was looking at perhaps honouring the Whitcoulls / Borders gift cards at other bookshops, but it will likely be in the milllions of dollars and they simply can't afford to carry that amount or loss).


That copy you saw in the second hand books store may of course simply have been an unwanted birthday present that someone sold to them. :)
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Re: Micro-review: The Making of TESB

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Wev went into the Whitcoulls store in the City and they did have a lot of items marked down but looking at the poor staff I did feel a bit like a vulture picking at the bones :(

I'm just looking forward to the Making of ROTJ that has to be on it's way (if it isn't already) because the two previous 'making of books' have been fantastic.
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