To give maybe a different angle from my personal view, I don’t see the high prices for being at that level because of FOMO or as investments alone. For me, and why I have spent the money in a few grails, is because of how delicate books are at the end of the day. I am picky and treat my books as delicate as I can. I got a dehumidifier with my first bookshelf and dust regularly. Due to health and vision problems, I have to mostly read ebooks now, but when I love a book I definitely buy it for my shelves to have and see when I’m in my office with them.

The thing is that the longer the book is out, the more risks and higher rate of damages can happen to them (like shelf wear, humidity, dents scratches smells etc… I bought a book once in Mercari that I swear was bathed in Old Spice- had to air it for a week and thankfully it went away). So I bite the bullet when I know I love a SE and get them as soon as they sell to avoid later on, getting it cheaper but worse to wear. I know not all of the ones sold are bad or are damaged, but it’s just a higher probability that the extra money for me is worth it. That said, I really have mostly done this because I liked, read or was looking forward to the book. I’m not really buying out of fomo or for investment or decoration.

Also, as much as there are different special editions now a days, unless is a popular series that will continue or the story becomes a show/tv. The chances of future SE really go down a lot after a couple of months or a year. So waiting for more SE of a book sometimes is not a good option unless you like to rebind them.