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"Babylon 5" - Will there be a price drop? - Page 2

post #31 of 55
2/28/06 at 12:41pm
Quote:
2.6% is a big risk?

And please note that anyone who has used EBAY at all realizes that at least half of the negative comments are from moronic buyers who either did not understand what they were getting or were upset about something so trivial that it never should have been a negative comment.

Andy
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post #32 of 55
3/2/06 at 12:46pm
Thread Starter 
I borrowed my friend's copy of "B5" and I was very surprised at the poor picture quality. I've only seen the first 2 discs of season 1, but it seems grainy and unclean at times. Given the price of the sets, I'm pretty disappointed at the shoddy treatment the studio gave the DVDs. Do the later seasons look any better?
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post #33 of 55
3/2/06 at 1:07pm
as a matter of fact......our dollar closed at above 88 cents to the US dollar, a multi-year high to be sure.

I discussed sets such as B5 and Band of Brothers with someone in the business, and wondered why indeed they were impervious to price drops, whereas sets such as 24, SG1 and a host of other TV programming saw significant price drops. Essentially, he tells me, stuff like B5 and BOB do not have the mass appeal that stuff like 24 has and a significant price drop in those products would not trigger any measureable increase in sales. In other words, the research shows, obstensibly, that while people WILL buy 24 or SG1 when it goes on sale; they will buy B5 and BOB at full retail. At some point, when it is felt that sets like B5 have reached what the studio feel is the market penetration level, the price may come down some. However, BOB, for example, is such a perenial best seller, price drops are not required. B5, while not a best seller, is a consistent seller that meets the expectations of the studio and price drops are not considered a viable market tool to spur sales when they are satisfied with where they are now.

Hope this helps...please dont shoot the messenger! Thanks
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post #34 of 55
3/3/06 at 11:01am
Quote:
I borrowed my friend's copy of "B5" and I was very surprised at the poor picture quality. I've only seen the first 2 discs of season 1, but it seems grainy and unclean at times. Given the price of the sets, I'm pretty disappointed at the shoddy treatment the studio gave the DVDs. Do the later seasons look any better?


Unfortunatly, there is a reason for it that is beyond the studio's control. As you may know, the original run was done at 4:3 AR, but was filmed composed (at least after the first season. First season is debatable) for a 16:9 aspect ratio. But, at the time, the effects were rendered at TV resolution to get them out on time. The original plan was to eventually rerender things for future formats (DVD and HD) when the time came.

Problem is, when Netter Digital turned over all of their files for the models to WB, they got lost at some point. So, there is no way to rerender the SFX without some signifigant work and cost.

So, to do the DVDs, scenes with effects work are basically cropped versions of the original 4:3 tapes. This is why the video quality is highly variable.

Course, when they came out, there were a lot of arguments about what WB should have done with it. There were a good number of people who would have liked to have a 4:3 version. Personally, I think any version of B5 was going to be a compromise and not ideal, so I like the current releases.

At least I know that unless they do a lot of work, I won't have to replace this with an HD version in the future. This is probably as good as it is going to get.

Jason
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post #35 of 55
3/3/06 at 1:01pm
To add to what Jason said, the video does improve with later seasons as the cinematography (and the rest of the production values) improve. Unfortunately the effects issue never goes away.
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post #36 of 55
3/3/06 at 3:50pm
There is also an issue with the early B5 material because the masters were partially eaten by rats after some earthquake damage to the vault they were stored in.
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post #37 of 55
3/4/06 at 2:26am
Argh

A thread about the best show ever aired on television has been derailed into a discussion about ebay.

I started picking these up on release starting with season 3, using Triple pts weekend pre-orders on my Replay card at Suncoast. Effectively they cost me about $65 a piece. And worth every penny.

BTW: DeepdiscountDVD has them listed for $43, listing "Release Date: 03/14/06". I'd assume this is a re-release of some sort, but I haven't heard anything about it. Looks like good news for the OP.
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post #38 of 55
3/4/06 at 7:56am
Quote:
There is also an issue with the early B5 material because the masters were partially eaten by rats after some earthquake damage to the vault they were stored in.
You have got to be kidding me.

--
H
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post #39 of 55
3/4/06 at 8:24am
The DDD thing sounds like a price drop in the offing. (Probably being issued with a new SKU.)

Quote:
You have got to be kidding me.


Sadly, no. The problem was first discovered in 1997 or 1998, when they went into the vault to pull the original film elements for the re-edit of The Gathering. Water damage and rats chewing on the original negatives left them with very limited choices in re-editing certain scenes, but luckily there was enough to rstore the film to something closer to JMS's original script than the badly-paced monstrosity the director and the network between them had made of the original. (<--- the opinion of JMS and many fans. I've never seen the original version of the B5 pilot as it aired in 1993.)

Regards,

Joe
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post #40 of 55
3/4/06 at 9:11am
I did see the pilot in 1993, it had moments of brilliance, but .... long stretches of slow paced dialogue. As I recall the worst offender in that pilot was the trip through the Alien Sector with Sinclair and Lyta. Thankfully, it was cut in the re-edit.

My understanding is that the rat problem also extended to some of the early first season material as well.
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post #41 of 55
3/4/06 at 3:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
There is also an issue with the early B5 material because the masters were partially eaten by rats after some earthquake damage to the vault they were stored in.


Hehe, why am I not surprised?

As good as this show was, it always seemed like it could never catch a break (limited TV stations & viewers, almost cancelled, etc). I give Straczynski a lot of credit for persevering.


Quote:
BTW: DeepdiscountDVD has them listed for $43, listing "Release Date: 03/14/06". I'd assume this is a re-release of some sort, but I haven't heard anything about it. Looks like good news for the OP.


Wow! I just checked and all 5 sesons are $43.55 at DDD! Thanks for the headsup!
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post #42 of 55
3/5/06 at 9:26am
Quote:
Wow! I just checked and all 5 sesons are $43.55 at DDD! Thanks for the headsup!


Plus the TV movie set and Crusade, for those who are interested.

Good thing you read about it here, though. Right after reading Dave's post and checking the DDD site I posted this info to several other forums, including the Official Warner Bros. B5 fourm in the "TV on DVD" section of their site. This morning I went to check the thread for replies and it was gone! Maybe the Warner Bros. on-line store doesn't like the competition?

Regards,

Joe
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post #43 of 55
3/5/06 at 9:51am
Not only the price drop, but it looks like the Warner Brothers Rebate still applies if you buy more than 1 season of B5/ Crusade ($10 for 2, $20 for 3, up to $50 for 6 sets etc).
There are many other series that help qualify for the multi set discounts.
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post #44 of 55
3/6/06 at 9:43pm
Just thought I'd mention that at overstock they are selling seasons 1,2,4,5 for $42.29 each. They also have a 10%off coupon code 73622 that lowers the price even more. I just bought them and it came out to roughly $39 shipped for each set. Too bad they don't have a good price for season 3.
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post #45 of 55
3/7/06 at 12:37pm
I have to admit that I saw Babylon 5 during its original run Babylon 5 was shown in its original full frame format. JMS has said that the episodes were edited to present it in Widescreen for its Sci Fi premiere and its DVD release.

I noticed this duriing some scenes where Michael Garibaldi is shown on screen. During its original broadcasted format, you see his entire head but during the widescreen re-edit, part of his scalp is chopped off. Some of you may notice this during some of the earlier season episodes and during the final season run.
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post #46 of 55
3/7/06 at 8:32pm
IIRC JMS tried to shoot the show protected for widescreen format, but his directors didn't always do it (especially season 1). So there's some less-than-perfect framing here and there.
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post #47 of 55
3/16/06 at 4:35am
If you don't mind R2 UK DVD: £130 for a boxset containing the 5 seasons + 3 movies + Crusade:
http://www.choicesdirect.com/templat...uctGuid=668563
http://www.choicesdirect.com/searchr...PageMenuGuid=1
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post #48 of 55
5/24/09 at 7:08am

Re: "Babylon 5" - Will there be a price drop?

Did any Babylon 5 buyers get the UK R2 PAL versions. If so, are they just as good as the region 1 NTSC versions. I know all the issues with PAL and it has not affected me at this point so I am not concerned about it.

I saw a few episodes early on TV but it did not catch my interest at the time. The CGI was not impressive as compared to other similar shows and I had never seen the pilot. With all the good feadback, expecially for the later seasons I thought I'd give it another try.

These sets are usually so expensive which has limited my desire to do a blind buy. However, Amazon UK as them for equivalent to $17 US a season.
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post #49 of 55
5/24/09 at 12:19pm

Re: "Babylon 5" - Will there be a price drop?

Guys, check out Best Buy. All five seasons of Babylon 5 at $19.99 each.
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post #50 of 55
5/24/09 at 1:00pm

Re: "Babylon 5" - Will there be a price drop?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge
Guys, check out Best Buy. All five seasons of Babylon 5 at $19.99 each.

Interesting how that works out, I just was there yesterday and the price was $45 a season. I had heard they had them once before at $20 a piece, good to see it again right when I'm interested. Thanks for the heads up.
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post #51 of 55
5/24/09 at 5:56pm

Re: "Babylon 5" - Will there be a price drop?

No problem. Also, I would expect that the DVD's will still be on sale next week. Best Buy has been maintaining their sale prices on older TV shows for two weeks. The 12.99-19.99 TV on DVD sales usually last for two weeks. Even if they don't advertise it, Best Buy stores will match their online prices in their stores.

If they argue with you, ask to talk to one of their managers.

Also, Best Buy always runs those special $20 per season prices on Babylon 5 every other month or so. They usually place B5 on sale about four-to-five times per year.
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post #52 of 55
5/24/09 at 7:06pm

Re: "Babylon 5" - Will there be a price drop?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge
No problem. Also, I would expect that the DVD's will still be on sale next week. Best Buy has been maintaining their sale prices on older TV shows for two weeks. The 12.99-19.99 TV on DVD sales usually last for two weeks. Even if they don't advertise it, Best Buy stores will match their online prices in their stores.

If they argue with you, ask to talk to one of their managers.

Also, Best Buy always runs those special $20 per season prices on Babylon 5 every other month or so. They usually place B5 on sale about four-to-five times per year.

I haven't kept close tabs on the B5 pricing but in store around me it seems to always be around $45. So it is probably online where it periodically goes on sale for $20. At $45 a season I can see where sales might be needed at this point. I would imagine all the fans willing to pay that amount probably already have, so that leaves those on the fence and $45 as a standard price is a bit high for that.

I decided to go all out and get the movie pack too, which apparently is not always available at stores. In addition, no store around me had all 5 listed as available, so I just ordered online. This year I have a premier member status because I bought a projector their last year, so shipping is free.
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post #53 of 55
5/24/09 at 9:59pm

Re: "Babylon 5" - Will there be a price drop?

Well, you're looking in the wrong places. I know what I'm talking about. B5 sets go on sale at Best Buy around four to five times per year.
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post #54 of 55
5/24/09 at 10:32pm

Re: "Babylon 5" - Will there be a price drop?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge
Well, you're looking in the wrong places. I know what I'm talking about. B5 sets go on sale at Best Buy around four to five times per year.

I never said you didn't Mark. As I previously stated, I haven't kept close tabs on B5 (especially the BB online pricing). Obviously not as close as you since you are already a fan of the series. But when I do browse BB stores (once or twice a month) I've usually glanced at it and in the stores I frequented, when I frequented, it always seemed to be $45 a season, so I assumed it was always that price (in store and online). So I was pleasantly surprised to see it online right now for $20 a season.
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post #55 of 55
5/25/09 at 4:26pm

Re: "Babylon 5" - Will there be a price drop?

I watched the original broadcasts and I'm not a huge fan ... I just enjoy the series ... I just notice the sales because of other titles that Best Buy tosses in their sales.
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