Recommendations for a reading copy?

[Mithadan]

I have amused myself, considering the amount of relatively free time that I have on my hands right now, by browsing eBay for an appropriate reading copy. This is the first time in roughly 15 years that I have looked for LoTR on eBay. I recall that prices, during the movie years, were somewhat absurd and expected that, with the passage of time, some degree of realism would have set in.

Based upon what I have seen, it appears that I have several thousand dollars of Tolkien books on my bookshelf. Since I doubt that this is the case, I will show some patience or will look to other marketplaces. Perhaps I am being cynical, but I simply do not believe that a mid-1970s boxed hardcover set of LoTR from an unremarkable publisher could be worth upwards of $1500 USD (and I have far more collectible versions sitting about; again, I am looking for a reading copy that will last a while).

Yes, Mark12_30, I may choose a lightly worn set of the Ballantine paperbacks from the early 1970s. But can anyone provide an opinion of the "new" deluxe Houghton Mifflin set with leatherette covers? Not joking....

*tries hard not to make a bad joke about "warm... leatherette..."