THE BLOB (1988) from TT going fast, now limited to 1 copy per person (1 Viewer)

As of 10 hours ago, Twilight Time has limited purchases of The Blob (1988) to one per person (down from 3), per TT's Facebook page. Looks like they are going like hotcakes and they expect a sellout soon.

And that's with 5000 copies.

Glad I got mine.

Placed my order yesterday during the first hour of availability...horror genre titles have notoriously sold out quickly at Twilight Time, even with the increased pressing run of 5,000...I KNEW this was going to happen, so I didn't sit on my behind and wait...

What I can't help but wonder, does this film really have that much of a cult following, or did Twilight Time very cleverly use a marketing ploy to create demand for it?

I just wonder how many have been purchased with the intention of flipping on eBay.

I see nine listed so far, one with a bidder at $50.

I just ordered mine, as I really enjoyed this version, and it makes a nice companion to the Steve McQueen original via Criterion.

I ordered my copy, too. This film is fun and I'm thankful for the second chance to be able to get a copy. Thanks TT.

Kyrsten Brad said:

As of 10 hours ago, Twilight Time has limited purchases of The Blob (1988) to one per person (down from 3), per TT's Facebook page. Looks like they are going like hotcakes and they expect a sellout soon.

And that's with 5000 copies.

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Told ya they should have changed their name to "Hotcakes"...

Mark-P said:

What I can't help but wonder, does this film really have that much of a cult following, or did Twilight Time very cleverly use a marketing ploy to create demand for it?

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It has its audience for sure. This film was a staple on HBO in its day and I remember at my local video store in the late 80's(Videotyme) it was never in stock. It is a very well done horror film with an attractive cast. But the bigger question is how many of the fans are buying it as opposed to those that just want make $80 by selling it on E-Bay?

I bought a copy, but I have to wonder why since I never really was a big fan of this film. Hell, I actually viewed it in a movie theater during its theatrical run. I thought it was okay, but since then after a few viewings over the last 26 years, I care less for it.

Mark-P said:

What I can't help but wonder, does this film really have that much of a cult following, or did Twilight Time very cleverly use a marketing ploy to create demand for it?

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Oh, I think it's real alright Mark. The cult appeal is definitely there.

As for the rest...well...do we all know how to spell s-y-n-e-r-g-y?*

* This title was confirmed at least a year and a half ago!

This is one of those movies, even though its in my collection...is not worth the upgrade from SD to BD, IMHO.

Robert Crawford said:

I bought a copy, but I have to wonder why since I never really was a big fan of this film. Hell, I actually viewed it in a movie theater during its theatrical run. I thought it was okay, but since then after a few viewings over the last 26 years, I care less for it.

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See? This is exactly what I'm talking about. People who don't even care for the film getting swept up into the frenzy because they see everyone else grabbing a copy before they're gone. Kudos to TT on the marketing strategy!

This may be selling quickly, but the combination of a longer run plus the fact that buyers cannot easily order a large number of them for eBay resale, would suggest to me that it will be a while before we receive "low quantity"alerts.

I passed on The Blob because I have never cared for the film and I hope that the copy I did not buy finds a home with a fan that really enjoys it. I don't think there was any "marketing ploy" used to sell it because I think outside of places like this not many people even know to go to Screen Archives to purchase these films. There really is very little or no marketing being done for them...it's word of mouth mainly it seems...at least to me.

I did purchase the other two genre pictures Twilight is frightening people in October with -- The Believers and Audrey Rose -- and I'll be curious to see how those do as the horror releases seem to sell well and quickly. With so many great catalog titles on blu-ray and coming to blu-ray there is no way I'd blow $30.00 on a title I don't like just because it is in demand.

Horror films do very well. The major studios don't seem to understand this but the independent guys do, which is why for the past few years the only exciting Blu-ray releases have mostly been low budget horror and cult oddities in surprisingly great editions. Twilight Time knows this, and, hopefully, will keep us horror fans happy for years to come.

Reggie W said:

I passed on The Blob because I have never cared for the film and I hope that the copy I did not buy finds a home with a fan that really enjoys it.

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A real fan of the movie who needs to watch it ONLY on Blu-ray will be as ready to buy it day one as any of us. For all the other fans (about 90% or so) who can accept watching it on DVD or digital HD won't be missing out on anything and they'll be saving about $25 too.

Mark-P said:

What I can't help but wonder, does this film really have that much of a cult following, or did Twilight Time very cleverly use a marketing ploy to create demand for it?

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If they got an additional 2,000 copies, they must feel that there is an actual demand. A chunk of that demand might be coming from scalpers but for TT, a sale is a sale. Personally, I'm hoping that everyone that got copies to scalp can't find any buyers because scalpers usually end up destroying the industries that they leach off of.

Less than 1500 copies are left and it's expected to sell out within 2-3 days.

https://www.facebook.com/twilighttimemovies/posts/851747204843947?notif_t=notify_me

TravisR said:

If they got an additional 2,000 copies, they must feel that there is an actual demand. A chunk of that demand might be coming from scalpers but for TT, a sale is a sale. Personally, I'm hoping that everyone that got copies to scalp can't find any buyers because scalpers usually end up destroying the industries that they leach off of.

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I agree Travis. It's pretty obvious that their are fans for movies like this since all the Twilight Time genre titles tend to sell out faster than their non-genre titles. I'd argue that TT only release the horror that the snoots look down on to cover the cost of the more "prestige" titles sitting around their shelves not moving. Which is my main problem with the limited edition model. Even without the scalpers, there's a chance that more casual horror fans who aren't stalking their announcements might miss them, like I did with their "Night of the Living Dead" and "Fright Night" discs. Two titles I never thought would be limited editions due to their cult status, and marketability. :S

Ouch - 30 bucks? I might have jumped on this at 20, but with the Shout! halloween sale coming up very soon, I have to mind my pennies.