Quality Wise, How Good Are either Crossway/Concordia Bibles?

I don't know anything about Concordia. Is that perhaps a reference to the Lutheran Study Bible that came out a while back?

With regard to Crossway, initially they had problems with their bindings, which were glued and were much like what you'd expect from Nelson or Zondervan today. I got a hardcover ESV Classic Reference Bible in about 2002 and within 2 or 3 years the back cover was starting to separate. This was with what I would term moderate use.

That being said, from what I understand, Crossway's quality has improved over the past decade. I haven't seen the kind of complaints with regard to quality that I saw in the mid 2000's. They have also been responsive to input from their customers with regard to design. For example, they realize that not every Bible reader wants a red letter edition! (Lockman is about the only other more or less mainstream publisher that seems to realize this. But there's always the Trinitarian Bible Society for those looking for the AV.)

The only ESV that I currently have is the ESV MacArthur Study Bible. It is Smyth-Sewn and is of better quality than most other Bibles out there. I would imagine that all of the ESV MacArthur Study Bible editions are much better constructed than the NKJV and NASB editions that Nelson produces, which have really declined in quality over the years. I recently saw a New Classic Reference Bible in a store. It was still shrinkwrapped, but I could tell that it had a sewn binding.

 

I don't know if Nelson's Signature Series is still in production. I think you can still get some editions, but they're not as readily available as they were 5+ years ago.

All but the cheapest Holman Bibles seem to at least have sewn bindings, which makes them better than Zondervan or Nelson. I see some calfskin HCSB editions are now being made available. Their KJV 400th Anniversary edition looks well-made but the red letters are practically pink!

Lockman constructs their Bibles well, with all or almost all being smyth-sewn. But you can see reviews on Amazon noting that they are making all of their Bibles in China now. The most common complaint has been the paper peeling off the covers, even on the calfskin Bibles.

The Trinitarian Bible Society may just be the best value for your money if you're looking for an AV. They are available direct and some of their editions are available through Scripture Truth, Evangelical Bible and maybe some other online sellers.

Kirkbride (Thompson Chain Reference) has had the reputation of producing well made Bibles. Some of the reviews complain now that the quality has dipped. But it's still better than most of the big name publishers.

Oxford and Cambridge are good. But I don't see many Oxford editions being available besides the Scofields. (And Oxford decided with the Scofield III that everyone prefers thumb-indexing.) Many say Allan is the best, and I don't doubt it, even though I don't have one. Some say Cambridge isn't quite as reliable as they used to be. But they appear to be near the very top nevertheless. I don't like that most of their new editions seem to only be available in red letter, which I really don't like. But they have a new single column setting that looks very nice.

The Bible Design Blog is probably the best place to go to see Bible reviews.

Evangelical Bible sells many of the better quality Bibles available on the market today. Both of the above have Facebook pages too.