UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - Columbia Classics Volume 4 -- in 4k UHD (2 Viewers)

[sbjork]

Amazon has it for $149.00 now. Matching Walmart 3rd Party which is the SONY eBay store "Please Rewind"

Amazon.com

Well, my Zavvi order hadn't even been picked yet, so I was able to cancel it and order from Amazon instead. It said it was in stock, so hopefully I won't get screwed by the switch.

 

[SD_Brian]

DeepDiscount.com is still selling it for $139.95, if you want to save $9.05 over Amazon. My copy arrived within a couple days of ordering it from them.

 

[Garysb]

DeepDiscount.com is still selling it for $139.95, if you want to save $9.05 over Amazon. My copy arrived within a couple days of ordering it from them.

It's still listed as back ordered and therefore unavailable for purchase at Deep Discount. You can leave your email address and they will advise when back in stock but there is no guarantee the price won't change once it is available.

Ebay shows people are selling the individual films in the set without the digital code. The prices being asked are ridiculous with Starman by itself priced at over $70 in one listing. Sleepless in Seattle priced at $40 to $60, Kramer Vs Kramer $40 to $50, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner $40 to $59 etc. The only reasonably priced at $30 or less are auctions and that is because the auctions are still open. Who knows what the final price will be.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Dropped to $149 at Amazon today.

Amazon.com

 

[Robert Harris]

Dropped to $149 at Amazon today.

Amazon.com

Will they refund to those who purchased earlier? Prices seem all over the map.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Will they refund to those who purchased earlier? Prices seem all over the map.

If the price drop doesn’t happen during the week of release date, Amazon will not issue any refunds.

 

[titch]

It's quite likely to be discounted at around 50% off the original $215 retail price, sometime during the coming months. The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K Volume 3 took four months to be discounted 45% from Amazon's original $81 retail price. I don't think this collection will sell out, as it has been released in five different territories.

 

[Garysb]

These sets are listed as limited editions and the first 2 volumes sold out. Has it been announced how many copies are available for sale and does the number go down as the volumes go up as first volumes usually sell the best.

 

[Felix Martinez]

Dropped to $149 at Amazon today.

Amazon.com

Ordered and already received, but… Starman came with 2 4kUHD discs - the John Carpenter film and instead of a blu-ray, the other disc in the keep case was a 4kUHD of Starman, the Complete Series episodes 1-11. Does anyone have Columbia/Sony home video contact info? Strange!

 

[Felix Martinez]

Ordered and already received, but… Starman came with 2 4kUHD discs - the John Carpenter film and instead of a blu-ray, the other disc in the keep case was a 4kUHD of Starman, the Complete Series episodes 1-11. Does anyone have Columbia/Sony home video contact info? Strange!

Oh shoot, disregard, I see the blu-ray of the film under the UHD, they were really stuck together!

 

[sbjork]

My $150 Amazon copy shipped today (and I used my card, so 5% back from that). I'm content. Will this one sell out as quickly as the others? No, probably not. Am I willing to take the chance? No, definitely not. For those who wait and maybe do end up getting a better deal, I'm happy for you in advance. But I'm still content on my end.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Purchasing decisions are a personal matter so I have nothing else to say in that regard. Until I purchase this box set.

 

[Chip_HT]

These sets are listed as limited editions and the first 2 volumes sold out. Has it been announced how many copies are available for sale and does the number go down as the volumes go up as first volumes usually sell the best.

Volume 1 looks like it took about 7 months to sell out.

Volume 2 looks like it bottomed out in price around month 9, then jumped up around the 1 year mark and got difficult to obtain around 14-15 months.

Currently, Volume 3 has been out for about 18 months and is still available for a double digit price. Although it looks like it bottomed out around Thanksgiving and has been trending upward.

I'm getting all of that just from the Amazon price tracking site.

But I don't know if any of that will inform any trends for volume 4 -- the biggest variable being the higher starting price for this set.

 

[Blu_rayfan66]

Just a friendly reminder that many of the titles released in these boxsets get individual releases in European markets months after the boxsets are released. So do not panic if there are only 1 or 2 films you are interested in getting to add to your collection.

*** I stand corrected- see 2 posts below...

 

[titch]

Just a friendly reminder that many of the titles released in these boxsets get individual releases in European markets months after the boxsets are released. So do not panic if there are only 1 or 2 films you are interested in getting to add to your collection.

That was really only the case with Volume 1. Have any titles been released individually from Volumes 2 and 3 since then, apart from The Last Picture Show?

 

[Blu_rayfan66]

That was really only the case with Volume 1. Have any titles been released individually from Volumes 2 and 3 since then, apart from The Last Picture Show?

Yes, you are correct...only titles from Vol. 1 released individually so far, and The Last Picture Show on it's own thru Criterion (and so probably a different transfer too).

I do see a listing with a release date of Oct 14, 2021 for Sense and Sensibility from Vol. 2 on Amazon Germany but do not know for sure if it actually got a release....

Alternatively, these European boxsets have all dropped in price below 80 euros at one point or another.

...then there is always the option to find them on eBay.

thk for the reply

 

[PMF]

As Robert Crawford has stated - and I’m paraphrasing - how we budget, spend and save our monies on disc selections always boils down to a personal decision; to which there is no right or wrong.

Agreed.

Presentationally, and for my own value system, I feel that every individual film from the Columbia Classics program is handily worth a minimum of $30.00 - be it a desired title or not - as we are given the opportunity of having a film that’s been thoroughly cleaned, re-addressed or restored and placed onto the 4K/UHD format by Grover Crisp and his Rolls Royce team. So much research, work and care has been placed upon each of these titles that, otherwise, may not have been seen again in such a tremendous light. Indeed, these are catalogue titles treated like a first-time release of Oppenheimer.

Add to this, a tremendous amount of bonus features, which are sometimes inclusive of secondary full-length films and thoughtfully written essays in a hardcover book; plus a handsomely solid box of sturdy artwork and design that lends a consistency to our shelves of display with each and every building block volume.

This Columbia/Sony series remains to be a class act.

I take all of these attributes into consideration, as Sony/Columbia needs to make some kind of profit; which is deserving and necessary to continue its program of celebration. Certainly, Columbia/Sony is far more deserving of our direct supports than a greedy seller on eBay who just waits to pounce upon those who waited too long for the perfect split-hair price.

 

[Dave H]

As Robert Crawford has stated - and I’m paraphrasing - how we budget, spend and save always boils down to a personal decision.

Agreed.

Presentationally, and for my own value system, I feel that every individual film is handily worth a minimum of $30.00 - be it a desired title or not - as we are given the opportunity of having a film that’s been thoroughly cleaned, re-addressed or restored and placed onto the 4K/UHD format by Grover Crisp and his Rolls Royce team. So much research, work and care have been placed upon each of these titles that, otherwise, may not have been seen again in such a tremendous light. Indeed, these are catalogue titles treated like a first-time release of Oppenheimer.

Add to this, a tremendous amount of bonus features, inclusive of sometimes other entire films and thoughtfully written essays in a hardcover book; plus a handsomely solid box of sturdy artwork and design that lends a consistency to our shelves of display with each and every building block volume.

This Columbia/Sony series remains to be a class act.

I take all of these attributes into consideration, as Sony/Columbia needs to make some kind of profit; which is deserving and necessary to continue its program of celebration. Certainly, Columbia/Sony is far more deserving of our direct supports than a greedy seller on eBay who just waits to pounce upon those who waited too long for the perfect split-hair price.

The thing is, whether they care or not, Sony is essentially creating the eBay market themselves not releasing these individually. Even a higher priced steelbook for each film would be suitable enough - sort of what they did with The Lawrence of Arabia. You didn't have to buy the boxset to get Lawrence or Dr. Strangelove for that matter.

Why not offer the boxset, and then offer each title via steelbook? However, I get it. At the end of the day, the boxset is what Sony thinks is best from a business perspective and continued support of the format. I just hope other studios don't follow this as we saw it with Paramount's recent horror set too.

 

[Nelson Au]

I'll be picking the set up this weekend at my local video retailer. I know it's substantially pricier than the previous three, but I will then have them all. For my American friends, in U.S. dollars I will be paying $154, not much more than $25 each. NOW...I'll be 69 years old in a couple of months. I just can't see how waiting for prices to drop on items I want to enjoy in my lifetime benefits me. What would I be waiting for? I felt the same way when I got married last April. View attachment 213773

Congrats on your marriage! And I agree, if one can afford it and there’s no sense in waiting to enjoy something before it’s too late. Your post gave me hope.

 

[Blu_rayfan66]

The thing is, whether they care or not, Sony is essentially creating the eBay market themselves not releasing these individually. Even a higher priced steelbook for each film would be suitable enough - sort of what they did with The Lawrence of Arabia. You didn't have to buy the boxset to get Lawrence or Dr. Strangelove for that matter.

Why not offer the boxset, and then offer each title via steelbook? However, I get it. At the end of the day, the boxset is what Sony thinks is best from a business perspective and continued support of the format. I just hope other studios don't follow this as we saw it with Paramount's recent horror set too.

just fyi...this set (Paramount horror) is now down to $74.99 on Amz...$15 per movie.

I never complain about the prices charged for 4K discs...if that is what it takes for the studios to be able to keep releasing films on physical disc in such amazing quality then great.

It is also nice to know I will never have to buy the movie again as this may be the best quality we will ever see on disc.

Besides, I remember paying $25- $30 regularly for DVD's at Tower records when that format released and nobody complained back then.