NASB 2020 Prime Large Print Compact
The Prime editions of the NASB 2020 from Lockman have generated a lot of excitement. These editions represent the first truly premium offerings of the NASB 2020. Do they live up to the hype? Are they worthy of being called premium? Is the paper blue? We’ll talk about all of that and more as we look at the Prime Large Print Compact in brown goatskin leather.
First let’s talk about the box. I’m going to be honest. This box doesn’t look like a premium Bible is inside. It needs a face lift. In my opinion, the bottom cream bar needs removed altogether and the whole box should have a black background. They even put the barcode in the bottom left corner. The boxes for premium Bibles from companies like Crossway, Thomas Nelson, and Schuyler look premium! They look elegant. This does not. The design needs some work.
Thankfully it’s all uphill from here. When you open the box you’ll be greeted by black card stock with a circular gold seal with the NASB 2020 logo on it. This is what you expect from premium packaging.
First impressions of the Bible itself are really nice! The brown goatskin feels great and has a nice grain pattern. It’s a chocolate brown color being not too light and not too dark. I love the size as it fits nice in the hand and feels very portable.
The spine is beautiful. It has five raised ribs and printed in gold are the words, “Holy Bible”, “NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE 2020”, “NASB”, and “Lockman Foundation”.
The page edges are a very nice red under gold art gilt. The head and tail bands are brown. There are two double-sided satin ribbons. One is black and the other is brown. The Bible is Smyth-sewn and edge-lined for durability.
Inside is a brown calfskin cover with gold perimeter gilt line and there are brown vinyl end sheets. Lockman really decided to go brown with this thing. Not a lot of variation in color, but there’s nothing wrong with a very uniform look. Also included are several commemoration and occasion pages on cardstock.
The layout is a single column format. There is not much margin and the words run from one side of the page to the other. I like single column, but this layout looks busy. I think it is because of the way the text runs from one end of the page to the other. There may also be slightly too many words per line for a comfortable reading experience.
The text is line matched and Lockman claims the font is a 9 point. It honestly looks more like an 8.5 to me. When looking at the text, I’m struck by how bold the verse numbers are. Ghosting isn’t too bad, but is noticeable. Lockman says this is high opacity European paper. I could see it being a 28 gsm.
In the back are colored maps on cardstock as well as book introductions. I could do without the maps, especially in a compact edition.
All in all, this is a really nice Bible. The Prime series from Lockman has really impressed me. I would put the quality of this Bible up against the likes of Cambridge and Schuyler. Lockman’s entrance into the premium Bible market is impressive and fans of the NASB 2020 should be very happy!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this Bible from Lockman in exchange for a fair and honest review.
