Why is it becoming more difficult to obtain new 4k releases? (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Unless there is a specific title that I simply adore and need on release day, I tend to sit and wait for the inevitable Amazon price drop. I think this is a common practice given the fact that 4k tends to be overpriced compared to Blu-ray.

I have noticed something that may or may not be an issue and I thought I'd bring it up for discussion to see what all of you think.

Been trying to get an alternative copy of THE EXORCIST that isn't the standard U.S. 4k release.

BEST BUY was sold out before the release date.

The import through Amazon U.K. has been out of stock for at least two weeks now.

I was recently reading comments in THE WAY WE WERE thread about Amazon and other retailer(s) no longer having preorder copies available.

Has it come to the point where studios are manufacturing fewer products due to slumping sales or are there replication issues holding up availability or perhaps something else?

 

[Andy Dwyer]

Disc sales as everyone knows is in a freefall. 4K discs are pretty much a niche market now so it's probably not profitable anymore to mass produce a product very few folks will buy. Especially if the movie is not a mainstream blockbuster.

 

[Malcolm R]

I do think there are manufacturing bottlenecks. I recently ordered a CD from the UK which was delayed nearly two weeks because of manufacturing delays. I think they said it was being manufactured in Spain.

I think there's a tug-of-war right now between disc sales and manufacturing capacity, likely currently exacerbated by the upcoming holiday season. With falling disc sales, we've lost much of the manufacturing capacity around the world. And the limited capacity remaining to manufacture discs seems to be having a hard time keeping up with orders for those that still want discs.

That said, it's always best to look beyond Amazon, too. It looks like Rarewaves has the UK 4K edition in stock:

The Exorcist

The terrifying and realistic tale of an innocent girl inhabited by a terrifying entity, her mother's frantic resolve to save her and two priests - one doubt-ridden, the other a rock of faith - joined to battle the ultimate evil, always leaves viewers breathless. Winner of two Academy Awards and...

www.rarewaves.com

 

[David Norman]

Also remember that AmazonUK often does not ship certain items to US addresses all the time. Sometimes they don't allow preorder, sometimes they allow preorders but block sales after release (AmazonJp does this for their 3D discs), sometimes it seems to go back and forth and varies according to the releasing studio.

The Exorcist (Spt 18 release) is shown OOS for US addresses, but if i USE my dummy UK address it shows in stock
If you want he DLX or Ultimate (Oct releases) then those appear to allow order to the US

Rarewaves is an alternative though their shipping doesn't always come with tracking if I remember and is very slow.

AmazonUS Global Store sometimes/often has the UK items that are blocked from US orders -- just input the UK ASIN in teh search. Prices in the Global Store vary from shockingly good to pretty bad and generally ship from the UK, not US warehouses.

See on Amazon

 

[Keith Cobby]

I haven't bought many 4k discs this year and those that I have bought are imports from US distributors for which I have paid full price (they don't directly ship to the UK). For UK releases I an waiting for prices to fall. 4k is niche and most releases seem to be more recent films and not the older classics that I prefer. Everyone I know who used to buy discs has stopped, it's just a small band of collectors left.

 

[Todd Erwin]

It is often difficult to get new releases this time of year since disc replication plants are beyond maximum capacity gearing up for the holiday season. Quite often, I don't even receive my review copies on time or at all during the last three months of the year.

 

[Todd Erwin]

And with lower sales overall for physical media, studios just aren't ordering large initial pressings like they used to, often placing whatever the bare minimum is for most titles, and if it sells out just placing another minimum order. That is another reason why retail prices have gone up, as the profit margin has decreased with the higher replication costs.

 

[Robert Crawford]

And with lower sales overall for physical media, studios just aren't ordering large initial pressings like they used to, often placing whatever the bare minimum is for most titles, and if it sells out just placing another minimum order. That is another reason why retail prices have gone up, as the profit margin has decreased with the higher replication costs.

Bingo!

 

[Todd Erwin]

Studios are also not announcing their physical media releases with as much lead time as they used to, making it even harder to judge what pre-order sales might be for a particular title.

For example, Warner did not officially announce the physical media release of Barbie until two weeks prior to the street date.

 

[jayembee]

Rarewaves is an alternative though their shipping doesn't always come with tracking if I remember and is very slow.

On the first point, it's weird. Technically, they do arrive with USPS tracking numbers, but Rarewaves (nor their shipper: "Mail Handling International") don't provide them. I haven't ordered anything from them in a while, so I can't say what it's like now.

As for speed, it depends on what you're expecting. My orders tended to get to me in two weeks. Which was par for the course for me with any orders I was sourcing from an etailer in Europe. But I suppose it also depends on where in the US one is. It's not too far between the New York ISC and me, but it might be for someone in the Western US (for example). It takes a lot longer, for instance, for a package to get to me from Australia than from Europe.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Says a lot that The Exorcist never showed up at the local Walyworld in my neck of Middle America. I feel like these big box stores are finally wising up from all the unsold stock they've been saddled with over the years from wildly overpriced UHDs.

 

[jayembee]

BEST BUY was sold out before the release date.

That's generally been a problem for me, with regards to getting their SteelBooks. Otherwise, I tend to get things relatively easy, through Bull Moose, if not one of the Usual Suspects. The only title I've had a problem with recently was The Truman Show. I'd forgotten about it's release until a couple of weeks after its street date, and by then, virtually no one had copies in stock. Eventually, Bull Moose got some more in, and I was able to get a copy.

 

[Konstantinos]

Rarewaves is an alternative though their shipping doesn't always come with tracking if I remember and is very slow.

That said, it's always best to look beyond Amazon, too. It looks like Rarewaves has the UK 4K edition in stock:

Do you know if they substitute defective products?
I want to buy Second Sight's The Changeling UHD, which I cannot find at amazon.co.uk, but sometimes I get defective discs, meaning they freeze or pixelate or something in my player. I substitute those easily with amazon. But I haven't ordered from rarewaves ever.

 

[jayembee]

Do you know if they substitute defective products?
I want to buy Second Sight's The Changeling UHD, which I cannot find at amazon.co.uk, but sometimes I get defective discs, meaning they freeze or pixelate or something in my player. I substitute those easily with amazon. But I haven't ordered from rarewaves ever.

I've never gotten a defective disc from them, so I don't know. You might want to contact them beforehand to see what their policy is.

rarewaves.com

 

[Malcolm R]

Do you know if they substitute defective products?
I want to buy Second Sight's The Changeling UHD, which I cannot find at amazon.co.uk, but sometimes I get defective discs, meaning they freeze or pixelate or something in my player. I substitute those easily with amazon. But I haven't ordered from rarewaves ever.

You should check for return/exchange policies on their web site. I've not had to exchange anything to date so I'm not sure of the process.

Looks like you can also order The Changeling direct from Second Sight:

The Changeling 4K UHD

Peter Medak's chilling classic in a Special Edition 4K UHD release

secondsightfilms.co.uk

 

[Lord Dalek]

So Best Buy is dropping Physical Media.

Yeah its over. Turn out the lights.

 

[Andy Dwyer]

Walmart will probably follow suit in next couple of years and when they do, that will truly be the end of physical media. Target gave up for the most part over the last 4-5 years.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Walmart will probably follow suit in next couple of years and when they do, that will truly be the end of physical media. Target gave up for the most part over the last 4-5 years.

Yeah I don't know when Costco pulled the trigger but they're out too.

Anyway, this has always where they've been heading ever since Disney completely misjudged the market on 3D Blu-ray. Oh well.

 

[Garysb]

Walmart will probably follow suit in next couple of years and when they do, that will truly be the end of physical media. Target gave up for the most part over the last 4-5 years.

Walmart uses 3rd parties like GRUV and Deep Discount for many of their media sales online. I would assume if they continue to do this there will be media available on their website.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Right, I haven’t been as excited to buy new titles as I was when many 3D ones were coming out. It was a huge mistake to put out the 4k format with no 3D capability also, it’s a better 2D picture but still just 2D and not making me want to buy a lot of it like I was with 3D.