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CINCINNATI, OH — A pristine boxed set of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy looked on in horror recently as their owner, Ambrose Franklin, sat down to binge-watch the movies for the 25th time.

The mint-condition set of books, which includes The Hobbit and The Silmarillion , has remained unopened since Franklin purchased them years ago. Sources say that they have been forced to endure extreme neglect and pangs of jealousy as they watch Franklin settle down for evening after cozy evening with Peter Jackson's director's cuts.

"What? Oh, the books? Love those things — I keep them right there on the shelf," Franklin explained to one of his friends, as the books shivered, alone and unloved, under a growing layer of dust. "Beautiful stuff, Tolkien wr

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