Buffy Chosen Collection Availability (1 Viewer)

[Bryan^H]

It's back on Amazon.com for $169.99. I'm gonna bite the bullet, and order a copy. YeeHaa.

 

[CraigF]

Has anybody got any factual info that they won't just make more of these to satisfy whatever demand there is? I find it hard to believe they wouldn't (before the hi-def release I mean), but you never know, they may be the first "studio" who doesn't like money. It's bound to be killing sales of single season sets at least somewhat, so they'll have to do something about that. Either lower season set prices, or discontinue the box. A gamble...

I'm still on the fence re the set. If I could get it for $100 or close then I'd sure jump. There are still plenty of copies on the shelves around here, but this is typically quite expensive in Canada though a real "bargain" compared to the season set prices.

I'm a little suspect of amazon.com having a half dozen sets, then killing the listing, then back up with a bunch more in a few hours. They've done this extremely often since before release...some of us have noticed (go back to the beginning of the thread), the well is pretty deep it seems. And with their "associates" drastically changing their prices with amazon availability. Makes me feel like a "witholding" to stimulate ("panic") demand.

 

[Jeff#]

High-definition re-release of Buffy? No....I believe this complete series set will be the last to come out on any form of DVD. 20 Century Fox has milked Buffy for all it's worth...except for the spinoff.

Now they have to put ANGEL out in a 5 season box in the same standard definition DVD format (although the last few years were shot in widescreen).

 

[Scott-S]

Yes, I agree that something seems fishy ie this sets availability. Unless Amazon is receiving a few copies every once in a while, it wouldn't make sense. I would think that they would receive larger quantities at a time and they would remain available for longer than a few hours.

Either way, I have my box on the way from someplace else.

 

[Andy_Bu]

Why do the widescreen years have any affect on a DVD release? I have a ton of TV released in widescreen on DVD.

Andy

 

[RobertW]

the first season of Buffy, while good, pales in comparison to what the show became. they're basically a "monster of the week" format, but the show came alive when they began doing seasonal story arcs.

i got jobbed by Amazon for my set; had it on pre-order for something like $129 forever, but just before the set was released, they dumped my order, and jacked up the price of the set. luckily, DDD had it cheap, and i discovered the 20% discount just in time.

as was mentioned, roughly 140 1-hour episodes, plus special features, for far less than $1 per hour. and record companies wonder why their sales are down when they're charging $12-18 for an hour's worth of music.

 

[Jeff#]

I didn't say they did, and I have a lot of movies in 16:9 widescreen format too. But I know people who don't like the black bars at the top & bottom of their screen. People like that are satisfied with 80% of the whole picture. I tell them that even if they buy the widescreen format of a film and if they own an ordinary television, they can also switch their DVD player settings from a 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio. That automatically does the opposite, changing the 16:9 picture into a 4:3 panned and scanned image.

Give me the widescreen originals any day.

 

[TravisR]

If Fox releases Angel in a box set, the episodes will be in their proper aspect ratio. Besides the fact that Fox almost always does right by ARs, it's only going to be the same discs repackaged. If it was riht the first time, it'll be right the second.

 

[Andy_Bu]

Agreed, OAR is best.

Andy

 

[Jeff#]

If the effect of making a movie that's best viewed in 16:9 mode appears as 4:3 when you turn off the letterbox mode, "cropped" looks the same as "panned and scanned" to me.

 

[Jay_B!]

any word if we are getting an Angel set this year similar to Buffy's Chosen Collection? I've been debating getting the sets since TNT's relocated it to the early morning timeslot, especially since season 1 is at Wal-Mart for $19.86, but I keep thinking there's gonna be a collectors edition set for that too, so I am waiting.

 

[CraigF]

I broke down and picked up the Collection. Considering I've only seen S1, that's quite a blind buy! But I thought S1 was pretty good, and everybody says it's not even close to being one of the better seasons, so I should like it alot.

It was weird getting it at amazon.com because it would go in and out of availability while I had it in my cart and was trying to check out. I suspect this was happening to a few people, but eventually I hit the button while a copy wasn't "spoken for". The available copies did not last long at all.

Since amazon sells all they can get it seems, and quickly too, I'm still surprised they can't get more. They must be one of the larger disc retailers, so you'd think they'd have good connections. I still think it's a purposely limited (or slowly doled out) availability to help stimulate demand, especially so since most potential buyers are fans and I'd suspect already own all/most of the season sets and so have to be "nudged" into purchasing the Collection by making it seem harder to get. I highly doubt I'm a typical purchaser, buying mostly the whole thing blind.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

The region 2 set for ANGEL came about one year after the Buffy set. So I think it's a good chance next November will see a similar set released for ANGEL.

 

[Jeff#]

I don't care about Region 2 for ANGEL. What about Region 1 (USA)?

 

[Jay_B!]

thank you Jeff, it's nice that it's out in region 2, but I care about region 1

 

[Andy_Bu]

Then you don't understand the definition of pan and scan I think.

Andy

 

[Jeff#]

You thought wrong, because I do.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Pan & Scan is when the image loses information on the sides and "pans & scans" to view the most important information. Example, two people talking to each other at the opposite ends of the frame, the scene might pan across to view whichever one is talking at the moment.

Cropping on a DVD player simply zooms in on the center of the image. So you're not really panning and scanning anything. You're just masking off the sides to get a bigger image of the center. In some cases that'd mean people on the sides might be invisible to the viewer, or you'll have two noses talking to each other with a big dead center...

 

[Andy_Bu]

Exactly,

That is why Jeff was mistaken when he says a DVD player will Pan and Scan. It does not have the ability to do that. It can only crop.

Andy

 

[Brian D H]

I am so glad I found this thread!

I am a huge Buffy/Angel/Firefly fan who had put off buying Buffy. At first I didn't because I figured there was no rush, and then I was thrilled when my patience was rewarded with the box set. But, until this thread, I had no idea that this box set was limited.

I was just able to buy one at Barnes and Noble, (barely). Amazon, DVD Planet, Best Buy, DVD Pacific, DDD - everyone else (at less than $200) is sold out.