4560
by Valkrist
It's actually been the new UC that has fallen into this practice, not the old. Kit can set the record straight as always, but as far as I can recall, the only mucking about with an LE item back in the old UC was Anduril.
Again, pardon my faulty memory, but in this case I'm basing this account on the annoyance that I and a lot of other collectors felt back then. Essentially UC announced that they would be releasing Anduril as their next LOTR sword (which was highly anticipated), but that it would be a Limited Edition, with special plaque that would set it apart from other LOTR releases thus far. The only other item that had been a Limited release thus far was the Shards of Narsil, and I think when people heard about Anduril, they went bananas. Because it was Limited (and here's where marketing plays a key), I think Anduril was snapped up faster than UC anticipated, so the decision was made pretty quickly to release an Unlimited version so that more people could own this sword, but more importantly, that UC could make more money over what I feel was an initial miscalculation with the LE...? Kit, do you have insight to share on the actual truth behind the scenes of this decision? My post is mainly conjecture, of course. Like the rest of us watching this unfold, I was but an outsider left holding an LE Anduril that was supposed to be exclusive, and then suddenly UC opens the floodgates and it turned into an Oprah show... "Everyone look under your seats! You get an Anduril! And you get an Anduril! You too get an Anduril! Everybody gets an Anduril!!!"
The only differences between the two were a return to a normal plaque that fit in more with the regular line, no gold-plated fittings on the hilt, and no gold spray on the pommel runes (which ironically made the UE version far more accurate to the prop than the more expensive LE).
The next time product duplication occurred was the Museum Collection series but I didn't see a big deal about those, even if they were LE, because the originals they were based off of (Sting and Glamdring) were open production items.
It wasn't until the new UC that things really began to go sideways with LEs, and it began with the Sauron items: the Helm and Gauntlet. I honestly don't know if the original editions of these were 100% fulfilled - at the time we didn't know that by the time UC went into bankruptcy, a lot of the LE items had never had their runs completed. However, the complete redesign of the stand for the Helm and a new wall mount for the Gauntlet made it fairly apparent that these were new editions because they had their own numbering, if I recall correctly. This never sat well with me, because again, I think they saw how much the originals were going for in the second-hand market and smelled blood in the water.
Then came a wave of re-issues, like the Gondor Helm, Isildur Helm, and Gondor Shield. This was maddening as well until Kit clarified the mystery of the incomplete runs. What made it a bit weird were the drastic changes to the shield, which made it pretty much a new product altogether.
Now we come at last to the era of the Sauron Mace, which is the latest to ignore the LE status and just go for broke with a gimmick 'banner' release to justify selling more of something that wasn't supposed to be made again. I think this also marks the first item produced by the new UC (not the old), that they have re-released and broken the LE promise on, so the argument of it being a 'new' company that is not bound by the promises of the old no longer holds water. Of the other LE items they've done (Helms, Bows, and Dain's Hammer) I don't think we are likely to see those again, but never say never with these guys. I can't remember if Thorin's Regal Sword was LE, but that's one for sure I don't think they will go back to.
So, there's a brief history of this issue... with a disclaimer on faulty memory and lack of insider knowledge. All I can say again is that I sincerely hope UC just stops doing LE releases altogether. They're just lying to us now if they slap a number on something, and I don't mean those new production run numbers they're using, but actual X of XXXX numbers.