the problem with Disney Treasures: Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1 Viewer)

[Mark B]

My Amazon order shipped this afternoon. I'm still not going to believe it until it hits the mailbox, but it has a tracking number and that should give me confidence that it does exist and is in the mail.

 

[Robert Floto]

Wow! I am amazed this thread hasn't been locked!
I just picked up a copy of Dr. Syn a couple of days ago and just finished watching the three-part The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh last night. I saw this thread and was thinking it was about problems with the discs (which I have not encountered so far).
Anyway, mine plays back okay.

 

[Richard--W]

last night. I saw this thread and was thinking it was about problems with the discs (which I have not encountered so far).
Anyway, mine plays back okay.

If you get a chance let us know your impression of the mini-series and of the film version.

 

[WadeM]

Why is it taking so long for this thread to be locked?

I was kind of wondering that before.
Anyway, I wasn't going to post at all in this, but I will just make a quick point that, although it's unfortunate that the demand for this wasn't anticipated, and I do feel sorry for those who didn't get a copy if they wanted it, as I personally don't recall these selling this quick before, that Disney wasn't out to get anyone.
I think the general point of "limited, numbered editions" when they're released by major corporations isn't to decrease sales and to say "ha ha! We're not selling to you" and to make people mad, but, are, in fact, a way of increasing sales and demand and profit. So, if a company thinks that only, say, 33000 people might buy this product, if they say it's limited and numbered, well, now they've just brought in the type of collectors who like that type of thing, which has now increased sales by another 20% or whatever (I'm making up that number). In other words, now they're selling to 2 audiences (collectors who may not even care about the product that much and who wouldn't have bought the product in the 1st place; and those who are genuine fans of the product) instead of one (those who are genuine fans of the product). I've seen a few people post that they haven't even opened any of theirs yet, and it's been 8 years?!? So, now they can sell over 39000 copies instead of just 33000 copies.
Of course, they can't know for sure how many people will buy a product, but they do know that it won't sell that much and that they need to increase sales to maximize profit so that they can release more stuff that has a relatively smaller fanbase. If they could predict the exact number of people who would buy this, then that's how many they'd make. Again, Disney is business to make money. If things aren't limited & numbered for smaller selling items, then sales would be lower.
Anyway, that's my opinion.

 

[BillyFeldman]

My local Costco had plenty of Annette and Donald, but no Dr. Syn - eBay speculators strike again.

 

[Richard--W]

My local Costco had plenty of Annette and Donald, but no Dr. Syn - eBay speculators strike again.

Maybe it's the speculators or maybe it's the Disney fans.
Just because a Suncoast has one in Westminster doesn't mean the Suncoast will have it in San Diego or New York City. Just because the Costco in Detroit has one doesn't mean the Costco in Phoenix or Sacramento will have it, and these brick and mortar stores don't sell DVD's over the phone because they're not a mail-order business.

 

[Richard--W]

WadeM, your reasoning is sound and I agree with everything you've said. However, the point is that club members have become accustomed to buying the limited editions before, during, and after the issue date. If the limited edition sold out elsewhere, members could still buy it from Disney because a supply was kept on hand to meet that demand. Eventually the supply would run out, but that took months, or a year or two.
Wave 9 is different. As I understand it, Disney stopped selling Dr. Syn to members within two weeks (by the time I caught up with it, 19 days had passed). The membership was cut off first, while the DVD was still turning up unpredictably and intermittently in random stores, and by dodgy online resellers who charge outrageous prices.
So, why wasn't a supply retained for the membership this time? Why is this time different from previous times? You can understand then, why many members who sometimes buy from the Disney Movie Club after the release date, and who pay club rates for that privilege, feel cheated, especially when Disney's on-line and telephone support tells them tough luck.
Some retailers like Walmart, Costco, and Target sell Walt Disney Treasures as low as $20.00. I've picked up a few extras now and then for back-ups or to give away because the price was so low. I saw the Annette collection and Chronological Donald 4 on sale in stores before I bought them from the club (further, the advantage being that you get access to buying expensive but non-commercial DVD's like the Zorro series as well as replacements and tech support etc), but I did not see Dr. Syn anywhere, and I've looked everywhere.
With hindsight, perhaps my initial post was worded strongly, but that reflected the exasperation I was feeling after being unable to buy from Disney, after an extensive online search followed by a visit to all the stores in the area, before I posted.

 

[Rodney]

In case it wasn't clear the first time around: I have seen two Dr. Syn sets at FYE this past weekend.

Thanks Jason! With your earlier posting I went down to my local FYE and found a single copy of Dr. Syn! Yeah!!! Now to sit down and watch it! I haven't seen it since Disney Channel stopped doing Vault Disney. I wish they still had that on.
Good luck to everyone, and I hope everyone finds their own copy soon, and not from the speculators on eBay!

 

[Pete York]

I haven't seen it since Disney Channel stopped doing Vault Disney. I wish they still had that on.

Me and you both, brother, although I swear I must have caught Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar at least twenty times over the years.

 

[BillyFeldman]

Thanks, Peter, for saving me the trouble of having to respond to Richard W's maybe it's Disney fans post. Of course it's speculators - there's no doubt about it - I've seen them in action and, as you say, the sheer numbers from eBay sellers and amazon dealers is proof enough.

 

[Richard--W]

Frankly, the climate has changed from even a few years ago. The decision now isn't necessarily just that if you want to own it, you either pay someone who snatched up multiple copies of the release triple face or you don't. Some are going to reject that model, get the movie some other way, and not pay anybody a dime. Which is another unintended consequence for Disney not getting a read on the market.

Unfortunately true.
I will keep my eyes open for a copy for you.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I could maybe be convinced to trade my copy of Dr. Syn (yes, trade, no cash involved) for a copy of They Might Be Giants the George C. Scott film from Anchor Bay. Must be an original copy, not a DVR and in pristine condition.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

With hindsight, perhaps my initial post was worded strongly, but that reflected the exasperation I was feeling after being unable to buy from Disney, after an extensive online search followed by a visit to all the stores in the area, before I posted.

While the Disney Club may be owned by Disney, it is important to keep in mind that in order to prevent allegations of monopoly over supply, companies like the Disney Club need to be operated at arm's length. What this means is that the Disney Club would have to get in line with all other sellers with respect to allocation of sales units and would have to negotiate with WDHE in order to secure units for sale. Other retailers may have been able to offer stronger incentives than Disney Club, hence why the Club got a lower number of units. Unless the club is able to negotiate an exclusive deal with WDHE, it gets no preferential treatment.

 

[Richard--W]

No doubt Dr Syn Alias the Scarecrow will be discussed in The Age of Believing: The Disney Live Action Classics (2008), the new documentary by Peter Fitzgerald which airs for the first time on TCM tonight. It includes interviews with many of the people associated with Disney's first venture in live action films from the 1950s up through the 1970s. Where I live it airs at 5pm. Check it out.

 

[rich_d]

(2008), the new documentary by Peter Fitzgerald which airs for the first time on TCM tonight. It includes interviews with many of the people associated with Disney's first venture in live action films from the 1950s up through the 1970s. Where I live it airs at 5pm. Check it out.

I plan to tape it.
Additionally, the second disc of Dr. Syn has an extra which discusses Disney's live action films. The impetus to this being that post-war Britain froze foreign assets. Disney leverage his interest in doing live action films by funding the films by getting around the freezing of the assets by using them within Britain thus funding his live action films with the frozen funds. In other words, if the rules of the game are that you can't take the assets out of the country, use the funds within the country and export the film. Smart dude.

 

[Cees Alons]

Wow! I am amazed this thread hasn't been locked!

It's not locked, but that doesn't mean it wasn't followed closely.
As often usual on this forum: the thread appears to return to "normal" eventually when the posters are well-known and long-term members and the subject is worth it. We try to keep that sort of threads open as long as possible.
Cees

 

[Douglas R]

I was dithering about whether to order this but when I stopped dithering I found it had sold out. Anyway, I ordered a copy on 12/12 when Amazon was accepting orders again for a short period, and I've just had an email to say it's been shipped.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I ordered one on Friday from Amazon and received a ship notice today so this is still available.

 

[rich_d]

I ordered one on Friday from Amazon and received a ship notice today so this is still available.

My guess is that if you recheck your order, it was really ordered last Thursday. It was already back out-of-stock at Amazon by Thursday night where it has remained OOS.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

All but one of the various leads here didn't pay off for me, so my thanks to Jason V for mentioning FYE. I still didn't expect to find one there at this late date, but I did.
It was the first time in my life, and I hope the last time in my life, that I paid full price for a DVD, but the $32.99 was still about half of what it's going for now on eBay and Amazon Marketplace.