The Book Arived through amazon quicker than the estimated time. But that was only the begining, the book is really well held together the black leather cover gives it a timless/omoness sort of appearance, but the feel was well worth what I payed for it on amazon. The book feels as though it belongs in the traveling pouch of a wizard. (Just a word of caution the rest of the book is exactally the same as the D&D 3.5 Players Handbook even the artwork is the same) This is I Feel a great edition to and obsessed D&D fans collection even if they are not that big of a 3.5 fan.

I really liked this special edition. Both for the leather bound presentation and the 3.5 edition material that I did not have yet. Really, edition 3.5 is the best D&D edition I have seen, specially in terms of game balance (and I have Player's Handbook of all editions, 1st, 2nd and 3.0).
This Player's Handbook is really great.

What can I say.... It's leather covers... it's silver edges.. fully updated... what more can a D&D fan want

First, I will mention up front that I am a book lover. I probably own over 3,000 books (and growing). I especially enjoy books that are good to look at and are durable, able to handle a lot of wear. This book is both. The leather cover is lovely and durable, as is the rest of the book. Since it is a book that is destined to see a lot of wear as a reference rulebook for a game, this is especially important (as it would not be for a book you may only read once). The red cloth bookmark is a nice touch (especially when contrasted with the Special Edition DMG's blue cloth bookmark when you have both books sitting on top of each other on your gaming table, their bookmarks visible).
It is a nice touch that there is eratta in this (as in the Special DMG). It is also nice that there is nothing otherwise new in the book. If you already have the 3.5 PHB, you don't need to buy this. This is a book that you buy because you love the game and you love a beautiful book, not because you feel you need to complete your ruleset or otherwise keep it current (the eratta is available online). So any who might cynically think this is just a money-sop for Wizards can quiet down now. It is a purely optional purchase - so in that sense, they've just increased your options and given you an extra choice in the marketplace; a choice I was happy to take advantage of.
Some have complained about the pages initially sticking together on the edges from the silver coloring. But this is a minor issue - the pages easily separate the first time you turn each of them, and you can separate almost all of them just by quickly spinning the pages past your thumb. And for me, it is a plus - it tells me that I'm the first person to open the pages of the book, and I enjoyed the visceral pleasure of breaking it in for my own personal use. This book will last a very long time, and will look quite nice on my shelf next to my leatherbound Complete Works of William Shakespeare and my leatherbound More than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

First off, I'm still giving it 3 stars because on the whole this book, at Amazon's price, is worth it for the long-term D&D player especially when you order it as a combo with the Collectors Edition Dungeon Master's Guide.

The Good:
They fixed all the mistakes in the first publishing of the book. It's nice to not have to refer to errata to make sure you've got the rule correct!

As with most of the WotC offerings the binding seems solid and likely to support the use of the book as an actual PHB and not just a collectors item. This was a welcome relief and something I was concerned over.

The built-in bookmark was a nice touch that adds a touch of the spellbook type feel to the item that when combined with the traditional WotC artwork present in the book really gives the item a beautiful presentation.

The not-so-good:
If you've already got a PHB 3.5 there's no real reason other than sentimentality to buy this one. Just download the errata for free. Fortunately I didn't own a PHB 3.5...

The Bad:
The silver page edges of the book were quite obviously painted on. This creates something of a new connection between each and every page of the book. You must spend a considerable amount of time and care to separate the pages back into individual entities. This leaves the pages with a relatively rough edge and the feeling that a paper cut is moments away. I survived without one though!

Overall I'd recommend this book to the long-term player who has yet to invest in the 3.5 ruleset but is looking for a good excuse.