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DVDs at Dollar Tree store (1 Viewer)

Marc Fedderman

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Feb 28, 2004
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441
I've been lurking around these parts for a couple of months, but this is my first post. I happened upon the site while googling the Walmart $5.88 bin and was pleasantly surprised to find myriad other frugal cineastes. Great site, from top to bottom.
As for my tempting subject, the Dollar Tree store near me (Deerfield Beach, Fl.) had several cases of DVD titles for a buck. I grabbed the following: His Girl Friday (a beguiling romantic comedy starring Carry Grant and Rosaland Russell), Beat the Devil (a John Huston pic, with Boggie and Gina Lollobrigida), Suddenly (with Frank Sinatra), Escape From Sobibor (with Rutger Hauer and Allen Arkin), Laurel and Hardy in Flying Deuces (featuring Oliver Hardy's inimitable vocal prowess in "Shine on Harvest Moon"), Woody Woodpecker and Other Cartoon Treasures (anything Woody on DVD is welcome), Mighty Mouse and Other Cartoon Treasures (not so much, but hey it was a buck), Superman and Other Cartoon Treasures , Betty Boop , Popeye and Other Cartoon Treasures (unfortunately not the vintage Fleischer shorts--these are in color), and Gulliver's Travels (animated, 1939).
The cartoon collections are in color and run ~90 minutes. All discs come in a simple cardboard folder with images on the front and synopses on the back. I can't vouch for the quality of these DVDs, as I haven't watched them yet, but one should consider this caveat: these films are obviously PD and though they all prominently boast Digitally Remastered at the top of the packet, it's a crap shoot.
If I've piqued anyone's interest, let me know and I'll report on the quality of these discs and the content of the animated collections.
One final note: I also picked up CNN Presents War in Iraq: The Road to Baghdad for a buck.
 

Mike Frezon

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Marc:

Welcome aboard the good ship USS HTF! Please do report back and let us know how you fell about your purchases!
 

David Lambert

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Welcome!
Good topic. Video Business magazine had a story about this the other day. I meant to mention it here, but it got past me. Here is their article (free registration required for that link):
 

Marc Fedderman

Second Unit
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Feb 28, 2004
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441
Thanks for the info David and the robust welcome Mike.

I watched most of the Woody and Mighty Mouse discs yesterday and as one might expect for a dollar, the quality was substandard (think old VHS tape, with the added annoyance of terrible cropping of the images). Still the collections held a few nice surprises. The Woody disc, for example, contained Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor a 16 minute Max Fleischer cartoon and Popeye's first appearance in color to boot. Also, one of the discs (can't remember which) had some Felix the Cat cartoons that I found amusing. My two main complaints (obvious resolution and cropping issues aside) are: 1. The titles are misleading--the Woody Woodpecker collection has a whopping total of one Woody cartoon and 2.The discs are divided into two sections one featuring the aforementioned "other cartoon treasures" and one (nominally)containing the marquee character. Unfortunately the featured block is just that, a block that is not broken up into discrete episodes. With no chapter selection, you'll have to fast-forward through the dreck to get to the next selection.

Interestingly, the unbilled cartoons are generally much better than those mentioned on the sleeve (the Woody collection contained 3 or 4 good Popeye cartoons).

I'm eager to see the quality of the movies (particularly His Girl Friday ) and I'll report back in later.
 

DouglasRobert

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Sep 12, 2003
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Not to seem stupid, but where are these in the store?

Are they in an aisle, and if so which one or are they in a bin or by the cashier?

Last time I was in there, I couldn't find them.
 

Marc Fedderman

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Feb 28, 2004
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441
Aaron,

The store is on Hillsboro Blvd., just west of Powerline, in the Publix shopping center.

Douglas,

They were located on an endcap, but there may have been some behind the register too.

Some updated info on the discs:

The Popeye collection has 5 of the excellent Fleischer Superman cartoons. The video quality on these are the best so far. The Superman collection, on the other hand, had a bunch of Fraidy Cat shows, that were almost completely unwatchable. I would complain about the shading, but shading connotes contrast and these were just black. I should note that there is some overlap on the discs, some cartoons appear in more than one collection.

I also watched His Girl Friday and although the transfer left much to be desired, the movie was every bit as charming as I remembered. There's a 10-15 minute glitch, where a digital line runs through the top portion of the screen, accompanied by occasional hissing on the soundtrack. The overall sound quality is average at best, but I think this has as much to do with the movie's harried dialogue as the "remastering." All qualms aside, it's definitely worth a dollar.
 

Shawn_M

Auditioning
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Apr 25, 2004
Messages
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HAY THERE GUYS I WORK AT DOLLER TREE AND WE GET THESE THINGS IN AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK SORRY I DIDNT SAY ANYTHING DIDNT THINK OF IT. BUT YA ILL KEEP MY EYES OUT FOR ANYTHING ELSE THAT MIGHT BE USE FULL. THERE ARE A LOT OF GREAT STUFF THAT COMES THROGH THE WEARHOUSE SO ILL KEEP THEM POSTED. GOTTA LOVE IT FOR A BUCK! IF YOU VIST THERE WEBSITE IT HAS A STORE LOCATOR THERE SO IF YOU ARE WONDERING WHERE ONE IS.
 

Ken.L

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Jan 7, 2004
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58
Shawn,

Thanks for the tip on the store locator on their website. I've not seen a store in my area but the locator showed the closest one at eight miles away. Looks like I'll be taking a little drive to one soon.
 

Dave Jessup

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May 5, 2003
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Thanks, Dave L, for the background on this. My print copy of VB should drop in today.

I was alerted to these by a fellow member of a forum devoted to 78rpm records.

Quality check: beware that copies of "Ozzie And Harriet Volume 2" seem to be defective; either no sound track encoded or no sound and chapter jams up.

But the price point is right - I grabbed a fistful of these yesterday, and with four out of five acceptable (as far as PD titles go), I'll try a few more. (Hello, Burns and Allen! Hello, Jack Benny!)(Goodbye, Nelsons!)
 

Ryan Wishton

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May 17, 2003
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Do they sell TV Box sets?

I have been looking for several FOX and HBO box sets incase they happen to sell them.
 

Aaron Silverman

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> The store is on Hillsboro Blvd., just west of Powerline, in the Publix shopping center.

Thanks! I visit my grandmother at Century Village all the time, so that's very convenient. The only trouble is that she's gone north for the summer!
 

Shawn_M

Auditioning
Joined
Apr 25, 2004
Messages
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ya no proplem guys it would suprise everyone how many stores there are. i think over 2000 now. pretty good for a doller store. Ryan I havent seen any box sets come thru the warehouse but there have been a few vediocasste tapes every now and then but not all the time. but it would suprise you what comes trough, some of it is amazing that its a doller. but i'll keep you posted if anything else comes thru:star:
 

Shawn_M

Auditioning
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Apr 25, 2004
Messages
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Hay douglas just ask anyone that works there thay should be able to tell you. I would ask for the manager though. And if thay dont have them tell them to get on the ball and order them. And have them call you when thay get in. just a thought. i think the DC out in Ill. should have them so thay should get them. not sure though. but its worth a try.
 

DouglasRobert

Second Unit
Joined
Sep 12, 2003
Messages
268
Just stopped over at the Bolingbrook store.

Wasn't sure if I was going to find them or not.

But walked in and right when you walk in there is a bin. Almost walked by and then noticed them. Yup they had DVD's.

When I first saw them, I thought they were something for children.

They are the same hight and width of a regular DVD case, but comes in a Paper gatefold sleeve, in full color.

They had some Dragnet (TV), Ozzie & Harriet, Flash Gordon (TV), Beverly Hillbillies and some movies including a John Wayne western. No cartoons were in the bin at all.

Picked up the Flash Gordon DVD. Thought I would pick up something Sci-Fi. It contains 3 complete episodes, each running about 25 minutes for a total of about 75 minutes, not the 90 as stated on the back.

Actually was surprised at how good the quality was for just a buck. Not like the Platinum Ozzie & Harriet I picked up at Wal-Mart (which was a smeary mess). This has a pretty sharp picture throught, except for episode 3 which had some excessive edge inhancement problems. At times every edge had a sort of squggly edges. Still didn't hurt it that much.

Later I will give further details about the episodes themselves.

The packaging shows the old Buster Crabbe ship on the back. This is not the ship shown in the TV episodes, which takes off vertically and looks like the standard 1950's spaceship design.

When you start up the disc, the FBI warning comes up then a simple Main Menu comes up showing simply Episode 1, Episode 2 and Episode 3 choices.

Overall I would recommend this one to just about aby Flash Gordon fan.

I'll post exactly what the episodes are later.
 

ReaganG

Agent
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Apr 4, 2003
Messages
33
Just wanted to report that the Peoria, Illinois Dollar Tree has a whole heap o' dvds. As you come in, there is a small bin near the door, and then there is a whole endcap near the registers.
There wasn't any animation DVDs, but there were a bunch of different movies and TV shows. There were also 2 different brands of dvds mixed together. They aren't sorted:frowning: but just think of it as a scavenger hunt:) I haven't checked any of them yet, but you can't beat the price! Go grab a big bottle of RBC root beer while you're there.
 

ReaganG

Agent
Joined
Apr 4, 2003
Messages
33
Just wanted to report that the Peoria, Illinois Dollar Tree has a whole heap o' dvds. As you come in, there is a small bin near the door, and then there is a whole endcap near the registers.
There wasn't any animation DVDs, but there were a bunch of different movies and TV shows. There were also 2 different brands of dvds mixed together. They aren't sorted:frowning: but just think of it as a scavenger hunt:) I haven't checked any of them yet, but you can't beat the price! Go grab a big bottle of RBC root beer while you're there.
 

Jesse Skeen

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Apr 24, 1999
Messages
5,033
So NuTech is getting into the $1 DVD business? Wonder if they'll include their porn titles? ;) Some of their porn DVDs are in DTS too! "I'll buy that for a dollar!"
Someone ought to put a list together of the contents of the TV show and cartoon discs- I'm hesitant to pick up too many of those since they're bound to include the same episodes- already got 2 discs with the same Lucy Show episodes on them.
 

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