Hanna-Barbera cartoons are way overpriced! (1 Viewer)

[Mark To]

Sorry but $65 list for 1-season 1/2 hour shows is too much. These things should be coming out at a list of $39.95. Full season hour shows like Charlie's Angels and Starsky and Hutch are selling for cheaper prices. I usually don't consider prices when I want something but in this case its the principal and I refuse to be ripped off by greed. Until their prices drop I won't be buying any of these.

 

[Mark Oates]

Somebody's obviously getting ideas from our side of the pond. R2 prices are regularly way above R1 prices - take the recent "Police Academy" boxset (currently $42 at Amazon) - R2 expects to pay the equivalent of $125 RRP. The way I see it, if they think they can rip off the Europeans, they can certainly rip off the domestic market.

 

[Dane Marvin]

I agree they are expensive. It was worth it to pay that for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection because the material is so incredibly brilliant (not to mention historically important) and the special features were mind-boggling.

The fact is, The Flintstones season 1 was not nearly as impressive as the above release and the special features left a lot to be desired. There weren't even any commentaries or featurettes that exceeded ten minutes in length. Overpriced. They shouldn't be charging more for that set than for the ER and West Wing sets, which each sport over 20 hour-long episodes and include some nice extras to boot. I think the later Flintstones sets will be better (but that's mainly because it got into a groove and the episodes themselves were better), but I hope they lower the price.

At least you can get The Jetsons set for a very good price of $34.99 at Circuit City on Tuesday (or price match at Best Buy and get it for about $33).

I'm just wondering why these sets -- which are similar to the Gilligan's Island season 1 set in many regards (packaging, amount & length of episodes, and special features) -- retail for so much more than that one.

It makes it hard to list these as a high priority. Do the smart thing, Warner, and lower the MSRP for these during the next wave!

 

[David Lambert]

Don't forget all the remastering work that must be going into these, though. That surely contributes to the pricing.

 

[Andrew Radke]

Isn't that a catch 22? Some people complain that a quality product (the Hanna Barbera Collection) is highly priced, even though they put a lot of time and effort into remastering and making the picture quality better than we could ever think possible while at the same time, people complain about Columbia/Tri-Star for releasing mediocre quality products at extremely affordable prices.

Now, I'm not griping. Hell, I'm one of the complainers. lol. But it seems nobody can win. It's either pay through the nose for quality, or save money on mediocrity.

As for the sets of 'Friends', we're getting a quality product at a reasonable price. But then again, 'Friends' doesn't need to be remastered.

As high as the prices for the HB sets are, I still have no problem spending the money. The shows on these sets are from my youth, and I literally jump at the chance to relive some fond childhood memories through these shows.

 

[Dane Marvin]

Well then let's stick with Gilligan's Island comparisons then. I think the episodes on the season one set look and sound fabulous -- and they're even using the original black & white transfers. Yet that set has been very reasonably priced by Warner. And Kung-Fu, an hour-long show with some nice extras, is also very reasonably priced. I've heard that it looks stunning -- even though it's presented in MAR.

 

[GarySchrock]

Well, for me, the price has certainly led me not to buy the JQ release. I was kinda wavering on that one, largely because I honestly don't remember which version of the show I watched as a kid, and while I liked it, it was borderline whether I liked it enough that I wanted it. The price at CC for the Jetsons though I'll spring for. Maybe eventually I'll pick up JQ if I get a decent price, but it's not a huge priority.

 

[david_slater]

David they have no ideal whats going on.
i think the prices are more then fair.
lets see them pay for makeing the shows.
and on all the old shows that has to be remasted for dvd. it takes money to do that as well. im willing to pay more to have them remasted. and if there is any music rights im willing to pay more to keep the show the way it was made.
they dont want to pay the price then dont buy them.
i know i will be buying my shows.

 

[ChrisRose]

I wish they were a bit cheaper, but I can't pass up the chance to own Looney Tunes and Flintstones on DVD. I'll buy every single release. Nostalgia/childhood memories are pretty powerful. I do agree with you, Dane Marvin that the Flintstones set wasn't as impressive... I thought they were gonna pack on more extras.

I'd buy Jonny Quest if it cost less. It's a shame the high price will put off casual fans, or people (like me) who are curious to check it out but can't afford to pay so much for something they've never seen.

 

[David Lambert]

The reason for that is because KF was remastered - and reframed in widescreen - by another Warner division which was puttiing together old shows in high-def format to use to sell to providers who need more high-def content in order to push the new technology.

Warner's Home Video division simply leveraged the remastered episodes into DVDs. It barely impacted their budget, since they didn't pay for the remastering in their division. And the savings get passed on to you!


I understand that kind of comparisons that people make from a consumer point of view: if Kung Fu is cheap, why can't Jonny Quest be cheap? It's frustrating, I know, and yes I do understand that the higher price on JQ will turn off buyers. WB knows that, too. But when you know a bit more about the stories behind each of the releases, you understand the pricing better and you realize that Warner is doing what they have to do.

It would be nicer if they could coordinate between releases better, and charge less for JQ and more for KF so that it all evens out. But who knows how much one will sell compared to the other, even at comparable prices? And I bet there are some KF fans who wouldn't appreciate the suggestion.

 

[pitchman]

Personally, I'm interested in picking up Johnny Quest this week. The best B&M price I've seen is $49.99 at CC. What I find really perplexing is that they are also offering The Jetsons for $34.99. All things being equal, why should we have to pay a $15 premium for JQ. Bear in mind, I'm not bashing CC here. My guess is they negotiated some sort of deal with Warner Home Video to secure that price point. Do you think this is the result of market research indicating that JQ buyers are more likely to pay full price than Jetsons fans?

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

No, I think it's more a function of assuming Jetsons WILL sell, while Jonny Quest is a more obscure release. I do think these are a bit overpriced.

 

[David Lambert]

More than likely the reality is that CC assumed that WAY more people will remember and buy Jetsons than JQ. So they probably bought Jetsons in higher volume, resulting in a way-better discount level on the wholesale price. So they can afford to sell Jetsons for less in the first place.

Second, they may have taken the Jetsons price down lower for a week just to use it as a loss leader. Not surprising at all. What's more surprising is Best Buy's stupid high price on it!

I think that I'm looking at a nearby competitive Wal-Mart to beat CC's price by 5%, so I'll get Jetsons there, and then head to Costco for JQ.

 

[David Von Pein]

I, too, would enjoy paying less than the $45+ (each) sum that Amazon is getting for the May 11th releases of Jetsons and Jonny Quest. Of course, who doesn't want every TV-on-DVD release to be in the Green Acres (just barely over $20) range?

But, then too, I'm more than willing to fork over the necessary currency in order to get these great 60s cartoon series on our favorite video format. Like Andrew Radke stated (above), these shows offer up specific very pleasant memories from childhood. And that type of thing is difficult to slap a price tag on. Being able to have ALL episodes of a program at the ol' fingertips (plus in excellent quality video & sound) is enough of a reason to pay even a higher price than the asking sum for these old shows (for me at any rate -- your JQ Mileage might be different, esp. considering the current high cost of re-fueling the Quest family jet ).

Anyway .... Despite it's rather high price point (in some people's eyes), it doesn't seem to be affecting sales of JQ at Amazon greatly -- seeing as how Jonny is currently riding high in the #19 Best-Selling DVD position. Our space-dwelling friends, The Jetsons, are also doing very well @ Amazon, too -- #66.

 

[Eugene Esterly]

I do agree that these prices of the HB DVD's are expensive. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? Seasons 1/2 & Flintstones: Season 1 is expensive. I mean come one, $65 for these shows is a bad price.

I bet ya the reason why these are $65 are because they are very popular cartoons.

Well, just wait until the price comes down, this is what I am doing.

Anybody rememmber that Friends: Season 1 had a retail price of about $60+ dollars but after Season 2 of Friends was released, the retail price went down. So I bet ya that the price of Scooby & the Flintstones will come down in price in the next x amount of time.

 

[LizH]

Perhaps buying DVDs is like buying software: Sooner or later, everything gets marked down.

 

[Randy A Salas]

I don't think it's any coincidence that the lower-priced Gilligan's Island and Kung Fu sets were on double-sided discs, while The Jetsons and Jonny Quest are on single-sided discs. That means fewer discs for the same amount of material on the former two titles, which has to have an overall effect on costs for production, packaging and shipping.

I also don't think it's a coincidence that all of the high prices being complained about are for titles from Hanna-Barbera, which must have a stake in all of this.

But that's just my take...

 

[david_slater]

iv also seen shows droped like a rock and never to be seen again! im not takeing any chances.
you people are nuts...
the prices are fair to me.
you can take your chances if you like but im not.

 

[David Lambert]

Good plan, Mr. Slater!

 

[Scott_J]

If they did buy Jetsons in a greater quantity, it doesn't appear they shared much of it with the Albany store. I was there at 12:30 this afternoon, just a couple hours after they opened, and I only saw 1 copy there (the one I got) - in the regular spot with the TV sets. There were a few copies of Johnny Quest. I didn't see any Jetsons in the new release section or on a special display.

Anyway, what's interesting is that the price tag on it (regular tag - not a sale tag or anything) was marked $34.99, indicating to me that it is the regular price, not a sale this week. If that's the case, I have a feeling Circuit City has an incorrect MSRP they're using to price the Jetsons sets.