Dunno 'bout that. I'm sure an original version of The Hobbit in print would be pretty difficult to find. It's not like Tolkien or his publishers went out and burned all the old books, but ceasing to publish them is pretty much the same thing as Lucas ceasing to keep the O.T. up to current technical standards.

Frankly, releasing the O.T. on DVD in its laserdisc-quality form, with the original Star Wars crawl to boot, is far more of a historical preservation mode than ever has been done with The Hobbit.

If I'm wrong, and the original version of The Hobbit has found its way to print any time since the 1950's, please let me know and I will stand humbly corrected. Otherwise, it is a blantant double standard to forgive Tolkien and revile Lucas.

Because, in the end, it doesn't matter if you have the bad taste to dislike Yub Nub (teehee) ... it's what belongs in the movie,