Buy before its gone vs. secondary market. (1 Viewer)

[Bryan^H]

I finally decided to buy Space 1999 season 1 on Blu-Ray. I went to Amazon to order it, and noticed it was no longer available from Amazon just sellers on the site that want on average $200 for a new copy(or$100 used).

Now I have hem hawed about that particular release since it was released. Once actually submitting my order($48 at the time) only to cancel in hopes of it becoming even cheaper down the line(this was last year). The complete series on dvd of the show are truly outrageous hovering at around $250.


Then I realized The UFO megaset on dvd which is another title I wanted, but never purchased is now at about $150 through the secondary marketplace. Checking the A&E website which used to carry every title on dvd that aired on the network is now strangely lacking any dvd titles except for the most current trending shows like Duck Dynasty.


Collecting tv on dvd has always been tricky. you never know when a set will become unavailable and the prices skyrocket through marketplace sellers. I saw one item at Amazon jump from $28 to $160(Good Times the complete series) a few days ago.


Space 1999 season 2 on Blu-Ray whenever it is released is not an option for me anymore. There is no way I'm paying $200 for the first season, and I can't justify just owning the lesser of the two seasons on Blu-Ray alone.


I have a lot of shows I wish to purchase, and this experience has accelerated my decision. Point being, when I get the money all shows I want will be ordered immediately/without hesitation.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Well, on Space 1999 Season 1 on blu-ray I would just be patient. I think that once season 2 becomes available they will get season 1 back out there.


I think sometimes in situations like this they let season 1 go out of print so that they can market a "complete series" set that includes season 1 and 2.

 

[Brian Kidd]

These days, it's tough. You never know which titles will go out of print and still have the demand such that the secondary market can jack up the prices. On a brighter note, many of the sellers on Amazon use bots that monitor other sellers' prices and automatically adjust. That's usually what happens when you see prices take a sudden jump and are listed for outrageous prices. Often when that happens, however, it's just temporary. Just keep an eye open.

 

[mayberry66guy]

I fight with myself on this very matter all the time. For instance, I paid $19.99 per season for the 8 years of The Andy Griffith Show for a total of $160. Yesterday, I saw them for $8.99 per season at BJs--less than half price.


On the other hand, I skipped the Walt Disney Treasures two sets of Zorro at $30 per set. Now, they go for as much as $100 per set!


You just cannot predict what is or isn't going to go up in price, or which will be in the bargain bin in a couple months.


I have at least started to track some things via the website camelcamelcamel.com.


Here is the link to the Space 1999 set you referenced:

http://camelcamelcamel.com/Space-1999-Season-1-Blu-ray/product/B003ES5JDI?context=browse

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

Brad here. I've seen stuff like this happen so frequently, you end up kicking yourself if you don't buy when the price seems right. Insane price jumps on titles you have on your Amazon cart but not buying at the time.


Especially when it comes to TV series on DVD/Blu (or DVD only as a vast majority of TV series go).

 

[Mr. Handley]

I had this problem with some of the Rhino MST3K sets years ago. Luckily, it looks like Shout! may be re-releasing some of those Rhino sets with upgraded versions, so hopefully I can get the episodes I'm missing without resorting to going bankrupt.

 

[Jeff*H]

I bought each of the 12 individual season sets for HAWAII FIVE-O over the years as they were released and completed the series. Then CBS DVD came along and released a complete series box set with a bonus disc for $350, plus it included a remastered Season 10 (the original Season 10 release was not remastered). I was patient and the other day saw an Amazon Marketplace seller offer it new for $120, or roughly $10/season on average. This price was in the sweet spot for me to decide to double-dip, and it was worth it. However, I know this release will eventually go out of print, or be re-issued in a more affordable set without the bonus disc, and the price of this set will shoot way up past the original $350.


So, as they say, timing is everything!

 

[smithbrad]

Don't forget the Network release of Space 1999 is region free. I just picked up season 1 during the Network sale last June for 12 pounds, with shipping it came to less than $28 US.

 

[David Norman]

Don't forget the Network release of Space 1999 is region free. I just picked up season 1 during the Network sale last June for 12 pounds, with shipping it came to less than $28 US.

The Network release also has a nice booklet and there are some pdf extras on the DVDs with bonus materials (scripts, etc) that weren't on the US release.
The DVDs included are R2/PAL as expected, but the Blurays are 1080p24 and REgion Free so compatible with all US players

 

[Rick Thompson]

I don't try to play the "wait for the price to go down" game. Playing it often backfires.


If I like a series well enough to buy it, I'll buy it right away. If I enjoy that series (or film), it's worth the money, and I don't care if the price later goes down (assuming I even know it does; I don't look). If I don't -- and one example is Space: 1999 -- it's not worth the money if I only paid a nickel.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The thing I really regret getting - and it's not so much a thing as a series of things - are some of the Walt Disney Treasures tins. I have a good number of them, but I didn't get a handful of the live action ones, like Zorro and Davy Crockett and the Mickey Mouse Club. I should have picked them up when they were $30 a pop. I can't really justify spending $50 or $100 or more for the ones I'm missing now.


I wish I had picked up the Criterion Blu-ray version of "The Third Man" - I really wanted to check out that Steven Soderbergh commentary track (I think he's one of the better commentators for discs), but I had already owned the original Criterion DVD so I wasn't in a huge rush to upgrade. Now it's out of print and can go for over $100, and I just can't justify spending that much just for a commentary track.


Nowadays I tend to pre-order the stuff that I want. I'm buying less in general overall, but if something is announced that's interesting to me, I'll usually grab it sooner vs. later to avoid ending up in those spots again. And I also find that there's a lot of stuff that I don't need as much as I once thought I did. so paradoxically, even though I'm purchasing things sooner than I might have once done, I'm getting less stuff overall.

 

[Bryan^H]

There are many holes in my dvd collection mainly concerning the Timeless Media Westerns like Wagon Train, The Virginian etc. I have to make work of getting those soon. I also need to complete(from what has been released) Bonanza, and Gunsmoke from CBS Home Video.

 

[Bryan^H]

I bought each of the 12 individual season sets for HAWAII FIVE-O over the years as they were released and completed the series. Then CBS DVD came along and released a complete series box set with a bonus disc for $350, plus it included a remastered Season 10 (the original Season 10 release was not remastered). I was patient and the other day saw an Amazon Marketplace seller offer it new for $120, or roughly $10/season on average. This price was in the sweet spot for me to decide to double-dip, and it was worth it. However, I know this release will eventually go out of print, or be re-issued in a more affordable set without the bonus disc, and the price of this set will shoot way up past the original $350.


So, as they say, timing is everything!

I was extremely lucky with the Hawaii Five-O complete box. I bought it on Amazon a couple years ago sale price: $108.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I had this problem with some of the Rhino MST3K sets years ago. Luckily, it looks like Shout! may be re-releasing some of those Rhino sets with upgraded versions, so hopefully I can get the episodes I'm missing without resorting to going bankrupt.

I bought the MST3K sets in 2010.


9 was bought for an outrageous price. 10.1 (with Godzilla) was too much for my blood.


2010 was around the time the Rhino sets began going OOP, so I got lucky. Any later, and they would have been too expensive to justify buying.


Doctor Who in R1 now has the same problem. When I bought them, they were all almost still in print. Now, they've started going OOP, so stuff like War Games is only affordable if you have a region free player.


Patience is a virtue with stuff like this. I generally don't have the problem with DVDs, but comic books. Some issues, thanks to the stupid amount of comic book movies, have skyrocketed in price. So, ebay has become my friend, and if luck is on my side, I find the issues I need for cover price or less in some lot of books.


Right now, Quark is the one thing I wish I had bought, but now it's OOP and over 50 bucks for a single disc. So I'll wait.

 

[Jack P]

This was all the incentive I needed to get Quark on release date!

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I finally decided to buy Space 1999 season 1 on Blu-Ray. I went to Amazon to order it, and noticed it was no longer available from Amazon just sellers on the site that want on average $200 for a new copy(or$100 used).

Now I have hem hawed about that particular release since it was released. Once actually submitting my order($48 at the time) only to cancel in hopes of it becoming even cheaper down the line(this was last year). The complete series on dvd of the show are truly outrageous hovering at around $250.


Then I realized The UFO megaset on dvd which is another title I wanted, but never purchased is now at about $150 through the secondary marketplace. Checking the A&E website which used to carry every title on dvd that aired on the network is now strangely lacking any dvd titles except for the most current trending shows like Duck Dynasty.


Collecting tv on dvd has always been tricky. you never know when a set will become unavailable and the prices skyrocket through marketplace sellers. I saw one item at Amazon jump from $28 to $160(Good Times the complete series) a few days ago.


Space 1999 season 2 on Blu-Ray whenever it is released is not an option for me anymore. There is no way I'm paying $200 for the first season, and I can't justify just owning the lesser of the two seasons on Blu-Ray alone.


I have a lot of shows I wish to purchase, and this experience has accelerated my decision. Point being, when I get the money all shows I want will be ordered immediately/without hesitation.

As someone else said, if you can play PAL DVDs (for the bonus discs), you'll be better served with the Network set anyway. Also, at least, you'll be guaranteed that Network themselves will be putting out Year Two. Although it's likely a deal will be struck with a US distributor for both seasons, we cannot assume it's a 100% certainty, but we do know that both seasons will be obtainable from Network.


As for UFO, I would just be patient. Look around on eBay and places for a used one if you simply must get your fix, but I'm fairly certain Network (or another UK company) will come across with a blu-ray upgrade for this show sooner rather than later. It's already appeared on blu-ray in a couple countries already, so I'm sure the UK won't be left out, and hopefully, a UK set won't contain the bugs (or the insane high price of the Japanese set).

 

[Jari K]

UK BD set should be region free and it has a few additional (minor) extra features also.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Space-1999-Complete-Series-Blu-ray/dp/B003XVGD68

 

[benbess]

There are many holes in my dvd collection mainly concerning the Timeless Media Westerns like Wagon Train, The Virginian etc. I have to make work of getting those soon. I also need to complete(from what has been released) Bonanza, and Gunsmoke from CBS Home Video.

I recommend The Virginian. Very good show imho. And the DVDs have good pq. Each episode is almost like a little movie. Season 1 is just $19 at Amazon.

 

[Regulus]

You can also go "garage saleing" and cruise around looking for sets someone is selling because they don't want them anymore. I've found some VHS and DVDs that are OOP and sell for over 100.00 on either EBay or "The Big River" for 25 cents! One such find was a VHS Tape, The Big River's Marketplace had a "Used" Tape for over 50 bux! The copy I have has NEVER been opened, and it bears a label that says "Promotional Copy, not to be sold or distributed". It decorates one of my many shelves, I'm now looking for an OPENED copy so I can play it!

 

[AndyMcKinney]

You can also go "garage saleing" and cruise around looking for sets someone is selling because they don't want them anymore. I've found some VHS and DVDs that are OOP and sell for over 100.00 on either EBay or "The Big River" for 25 cents! One such find was a VHS Tape, The Big River's Marketplace had a "Used" Tape for over 50 bux! The copy I have has NEVER been opened, and it bears a label that says "Promotional Copy, not to be sold or distributed". It decorates one of my many shelves, I'm now looking for an OPENED copy so I can play it!

A couple things you have to watch for on those "for promotional" VHS tapes, though. Sometimes (especially the more recent the tape), the companies either 1). duplicated the promo copies in SLP speed, rather than SP and 2). many times, they'd have a "for promotional use only, not for sale or rental" caption superimposed over the live action, either intermittently, or throughout the entire feature!


You might want to open that up to see if it's even worth having!