I’ve watched the rise of Suntup Editions with bemusement. They’re a prestige reprint publisher, doing attractive editions of books (most, but not all, connected to the SF/F/H genre), usually doing three (or even four) states of a book: The Artist Edition, a Numbered Edition (since many books are by authors long dead, usually signed by the introduction or foreward author), a Lettered Edition, and occasionally a Roman Numeral Edition, all with different exterior designs, so each state of the book looks different from the others. I think each title includes appendices or material not in other editions of the book.
In some ways, Suntup is more like a cult than a publisher, with a dedicated base of followers that cause most of their books to almost immediately go out of print despite the hefty prices. Wait, did I say “hefty?” I meant “insane.” They basically redefined “aggressive” pricing for prestige reprints. When you’re talking books that go for more than a signed Fine/Fine true first edition, you’re in very rarefied air indeed.
Take, for example, the Roman numeral edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which could have been yours for a mere $14,500.
All of those have already sold out.
Moreover, to obtain the numbered and lettered edition, it’s not enough to merely offer up your money. No, in order to get one of those, you have to have the matching number from the previous publication, or else apply to be awarded the right to buy one in a lottery. So if you really wanted their lettered or numbered copy of Wells’ The Time Machine, you needed to own the matching letter or number of Robert James Waller’s The Bridges of Madison County (which is, granted, a very atypical title for this press).
It doesn’t help that the selling prices seem to have been going up pretty steadily. The numbered state of The Time Machine (2020) listed for $295; the numbered state of their forthcoming edition of Thomas Harris’ Hannibal (which, to be fair, has the advantage of being signed by Harris, a fairly desirable and not-super-common signature among modern writers) lists for $545.
Oh yeah: It’s already out of print as well.
There’s more than a whiff of Tulipmania about the whole thing.
I doubt there’s much overlap between the SF/F/H collecting circles I travel in and whoever it is that is buying Suntup Press books, though I know that a few SF small press publishers, like Subterranean and Dark Regions, have added some Suntup titles to their offerings. Suntup seems to be selling to a “printed book as art object” crowd serviced by The Folio Society (but at much higher price points), as well as people who try to collect every edition of certain classic books.
As for myself, once you get up in the price range of their limited and lettered editions, there are simply too many true first editions I’m looking for to want to spend what Suntup wants for those.
I’ve noticed some price erosion in the secondary market for some Suntup titles, with one of their “Artist Editions” dipping below $100 on eBay, at which point I thought I would pick one up just to see if I could discern what all the fuss is about:
Wells, H. G. The Island of Dr. Moreau. Suntup Editions, 2021. First edition hardback thus, one of 1,000 copies signed by artists Benz & Chang, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, with bookmark for the title laid in. (For a list of the additional material included, see here.) Originally offered at $130 and sold out. Bought off eBay for $90.
Physically, it is quite a nice production, bound in full cloth with nice quality paper and thick dust jacket stock and a marbled slipcase. But while the quality for Suntup titles may be a bit better than those of, say, Subterranean, they come at significantly higher price points and fairly large print runs, for reprint editions that are (generally) not signed by the author.
Perhaps the limited and lettered editions of various title are so attractive as to be worth the higher prices, but I rather doubt it. When I can buy nice copies of older and more desirable true firsts like Skull-Face And Others in the price range of their numbered editions (indeed, I bought my one signed H. G. Wells title for less than half what Suntup asked for their numbered edition of The Island of Dr. Moreau), Suntup doesn’t really offer me a compelling value for my book-collecting buck. Even among prestige reprints of SF/F/H titles, I tend to find Centipede Press editions more attractive and a better value, with lower prices and smaller print runs.
I am skeptical that many Suntup offerings are going to maintain their value in the long run.
