D&D 5E Player's Handbook Binding

[trentonjoe]

Try Amazon first. WOTC's policy is for you to mail them them defective product, then they make a judgement and mail you a new one.

 

[Lord_of_Rivendell]

I've noticed that the pages appear to react a little less well than some previous editions to the natural moisture in hands. My observation, do not get your pages wet at all. With this in mind, I'll likely buy PDF versions, if they end up selling them--though I've already pre-ordered the rest of the classic three.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I got a packaging survey sent to me by Amazon. I'll be telling them about the lack of protection to the books in mine, resulting in a damaged corner on all 4 books in the order.

 

[Jester David]

One thing to try when you get books like RPG products that will be used a lot but need to last a long time is to lightly stress the pages. Turn each page and apply pressure in the gutter. You can do this every page or every 3-4 pages if you feel pressed for time. It gets the pages used to being turned.

However, the PHBs do seem to be loose pages (not folios and not sewn together) that have been glued to the spine.
This is not the best way to make a book: if/when the glue cracks the pages are at greater risk of falling out. It's common among cheap printers/publishers, such as Scholastic. And the book more at risk if improperly stored or held, such as holding the book with the pages down, so the weight of the pages pulls on the glue weakening the binding.
This is certainly frustrating for a product designed to be used again and again, let alone one priced as a premium product. But so long as you're careful with the book, travel with it spine down, and keep the book out of direct sunlight you should be fine.

Of course... it should be noted that the binding looks similar to that of the 3.5e and 4e PHBs, so the chances of failure are not that much greater with the 5e books.

 

[Curmudjinn]

One thing to try when you get books like RPG products that will be used a lot but need to last a long time is to lightly stress the pages. Turn each page and apply pressure in the gutter. You can do this every page or every 3-4 pages if you feel pressed for time. It gets the pages used to being turned. .

I do this to every single RPG book I purchase. I do a first go-through, flipping and pressing every single page, cover to cover. A book is like anything else. Proper maintenance extends use.
If it comes into your possession already damaged, that is beyond personal maintenance, unless you are adept at gluing bindings.

 

[Charles Wright]

One thing to try when you get books like RPG products that will be used a lot but need to last a long time is to lightly stress the pages. Turn each page and apply pressure in the gutter. You can do this every page or every 3-4 pages if you feel pressed for time. It gets the pages used to being turned.

However, the PHBs do seem to be loose pages (not folios and not sewn together) that have been glued to the spine.
This is not the best way to make a book: if/when the glue cracks the pages are at greater risk of falling out. It's common among cheap printers/publishers, such as Scholastic. And the book more at risk if improperly stored or held, such as holding the book with the pages down, so the weight of the pages pulls on the glue weakening the binding.
This is certainly frustrating for a product designed to be used again and again, let alone one priced as a premium product. But so long as you're careful with the book, travel with it spine down, and keep the book out of direct sunlight you should be fine.

Of course... it should be noted that the binding looks similar to that of the 3.5e and 4e PHBs, so the chances of failure are not that much greater with the 5e books.

This is why Frog God Games/Necromancer Games decided to go with 16-page folios that are stitched and then those folios stitch-bound into the spine. It's the same method that is used for textbooks... in fact, that's our printer's main area of concern.

In making the decision for the printer Bill Webb ordered samples from a few different companies and beat them all on the spine with a baseball bat (and Bill's a strong guy). Our printer's sample (Walsworth if anyone is curious) is the one that survived the most hits. In fact, once Bill knocked the cover off, the interior stayed bound together!

 

[drjones]

I bought mine at a FLGS here in Madison and it looked fine but now the binding split in the middle of the wizard section most of the way down and pulled off the backing. boo.

If the digital tools were out I would not actually care a ton, I can get another one someday if I want something perfect on the shelf. But right now I need it a lot in play.

Do I hassle my local store about it? Or just buyer beware?

 

[RevTurkey]

My PHB was scratched on the front cover and after a few days decided to develop a nice loose wave perm.

My HotDQ front cover has turned into a banana with a big bend in it.

Bit chummy when the books are so expensive...I am a careful owner too.

I bought a copy of Dungeon Crawl Classics at the same time...no waves, no banana.

Perhaps D&D should go back to a well bound, quality paper, black & white production?

I don't like the new D&D physical products but I do like the game system. Oh well.

 

[drjones]

Followup:

FLGS offered to swap it and deal with wotc about it, so all is well. Just hope the next one lasts a bit longer.

 

[Osgood]

I haven't had any issues, but two of my players are having issues with their Players Handbooks. In one case the spine is split but still mostly intact, the other has pages that have come apart... It looks like a quarter of his book is loose-leaf now. Pretty disappointing given the price of the book.