Cannon And Others Coming Back Courtesy Of VEI (1 Viewer)

[Ron Lee Green]

My Barnaby Jones complete series had a similar setup. A hard plastic outer case, but inside the discs were stored in wallets as pictured in that ebay listing. It also had that same little note with VEI's phone number to call them if I have any problems.
Don't know why the seller put 4 discs in his listing for Matt Houston. If I were going to buy it from that seller, I would email him/her first to ask him if that's a typo.

 

[bmasters9]

That's how my set of Hotel is packaged as well. Seems VEI would be consistent along their line.

And believe it or not, that's what I changed my copy of that Cannon release to-- I thought I would like the wallet it came in, but then I decided that the discs would probably be better protected in envelopes.

 

[Robert13]

I purchased VEI's newest release of "THE DIVISON" (first time ever on dvd!) and all discs came housed in a big thick black case with the disc-folio inside. I don't care much for sliding the discs in and out, it seems they would become slightly scratched overtime. So I transferred them all to regular dvd cases with flip-trays.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

My Barnaby Jones complete series had a similar setup. A hard plastic outer case, but inside the discs were stored in wallets as pictured in that ebay listing. It also had that same little note with VEI's phone number to call them if I have any problems.
Don't know why the seller put 4 discs in his listing for Matt Houston. If I were going to buy it from that seller, I would email him/her first to ask him if that's a typo.

Just a guess on my part, but I suspect the seller purchased the set for Seasons 2 and 3 (as he might've already had the higher-quality Season 1 from the earlier six-disc release), then decided to sell-off the inferior VEI (and now, "spare") copy of the first season.

Probably why he priced it at $20.00, also, as that price would've been a bargain for the whole thing.

I don't think the fact his photo obscures the "all 67 episodes" is an accident. I'm sure it's on purpose so that no one can say "your listing says it's for the whole series."

I don't think it's any surprise it didn't sell.

 

[bmasters9]

I don't think the fact his photo obscures the "all 67 episodes" is an accident. I'm sure it's on purpose so that no one can say "your listing says it's for the whole series."

Another thing I never thought about on first examination-- him blurring out the part about all episodes, just to sell something that was just the first go.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Another thing I never thought about on first examination-- him blurring out the part about all episodes, just to sell something that was just the first go.

He seems a little bit like a con artist. If someone doesn't take a close look, they think they'll be getting the whole thing. Then, if they complain later, he has a (weak, IMO) argument for deniability. Still, I would think anybody 'taken in' on this would not have a hard time getting their money back through eBay arbitration. The con job looks a bit too obvious to me.

 

[Bob Gu]

HIGHLANDER: The Complete Series is available now from VEI. Anybody have it yet, or order it? Any thoughts on what this will look like compared to the old release?

 

[Blimpoy06]

HIGHLANDER: The Complete Series is available now from VEI. Anybody have it yet, or order it? Any thoughts on what this will look like compared to the old release?

Isn't Highlander one of the shot on film, but assembled on video shows from the 90's? I picked up a blu-ray set of season 2 in a used store years ago as a curiosity. I wasn't all that impressed. I never really was a fan and sold it a year or so ago. I hope those who like it won't be disappointed.

 

[Ferdinand Hudson]

HIGHLANDER: The Complete Series is available now from VEI. Anybody have it yet, or order it? Any thoughts on what this will look like compared to the old release?

$40. I wonder how many DVDs they crammed these onto... Either way, I think I'll pass on this since I have the original sets and doubt VEI can top those.

 

[Bob Gu]

I was not of big fan of HIGHLANDER either, but liked the historical flashbacks. I was interested enough to watch the theatrical movies the show was based on, but was disappointed that the how and why the immortality thing worked was never really explained.

 

[mattfire64]

I was a bit miffed when I saw that VEI was getting Highlander after I just took the effort to buy the old DVD releases (sans the final season, which is WAY overpriced on the third party market), but go figure...

According to a preliminary Amazon listing, this set is slated to be on 23 discs. By comparison the region 4 complete series set is on 46 (!) discs. Ouch.

Also, the discs on the old Anchor Bay Highlander sets have 3 to 4 episodes per disc. The old sets from Anchor Bay also have a lot of special features (commentaries, character profiles for every episode, outtakes, etc.) which I imagine maybe some of which will be brought over to this newer release. I do believe Highlander was shot on tape, but it is less murky looking than some other shows from the same era (DS9 comes to mind).

As for the show itself, it doesn't really begin to pick up until the second season when the Watchers are introduced. The first season was good to introduce the characters and hand the baton over from the movie series, but the introduction of the Watchers gives the series an Arc that ties things together and makes it unique from the movie series.

Since VEI has released several different Sci Fi series over the past year (Poltergeist: The Legacy, Viper, Highlander), I do wish they would look into releasing some series that haven't seen DVD release yet (Sightings, The Burning Zone, The Visitor, Prey, Brimstone).

 

[Ferdinand Hudson]

I do believe Highlander was shot on tape, but it is less murky looking than some other shows from the same era (DS9 comes to mind).

The series was shot on 16mm film and edited on video. During the production of the original DVDs Bill Panzer claimed a good chunk of the negatives had burned up but years later series producer Donald Paonessa claimed the negatives were safely stored away. Who is actually right I can't really say but I'd probably give more credence to Panzer.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

The series was shot on 16mm film and edited on video. During the production of the original DVDs Bill Panzer claimed a good chunk of the negatives had burned up but years later series producer Donald Paonessa claimed the negatives were safely stored away. Who is actually right I can't really say but I'd probably give more credence to Panzer.

Probably doesn't matter anyway. Doubt anyone would go to the expense of re-assembling everything from the 16mm elements, overlaying new on-screen captions, replacing any video effects (if there were any...I didn't watch this show).

 

[JayHink]

Just a guess on my part, but I suspect the seller purchased the set for Seasons 2 and 3 (as he might've already had the higher-quality Season 1 from the earlier six-disc release), then decided to sell-off the inferior VEI (and now, "spare") copy of the first season.

Probably why he priced it at $20.00, also, as that price would've been a bargain for the whole thing.

I don't think the fact his photo obscures the "all 67 episodes" is an accident. I'm sure it's on purpose so that no one can say "your listing says it's for the whole series."

I don't think it's any surprise it didn't sell.

I, too, have spare copies of Matt Houston & Hotel season 1 releases where I'd like to sell off the VEI versions & keep the CBS/Paramount versions. Thought about doing it on eBay with a clear description they're the VEI versions. Haven't gotten around to it though.

 

[westumulka]

HIGHLANDER: The Complete Series is available now from VEI. Anybody have it yet, or order it? Any thoughts on what this will look like compared to the old release?

Yes... it arrived today (along with The Division). but not had a chance to watch it yet. Still working my way through season 1 of The Outer Limits on blu...

 

[bmasters9]

Bumping this up: now have Sept. 18, 1983 Reading Eagle newspaper (purchased it from EBay, and just received it), and on the cover of the TV guide within, there is an image for the premiere that week of Hotel, and inside on the Wednesday evening page, the grid for that evening, a listing with description, and another picture of the cast (last picture is extremely blurry, because I could not get a good method of positioning the paper).

 

[Desslar]

Bumping this up: now have Sept. 18, 1983 Reading Eagle newspaper (purchased it from EBay, and just received it), and on the cover of the TV guide within, there is an image for the premiere that week of Hotel, and inside on the Wednesday evening page, the grid for that evening, a listing with description, and another picture of the cast (last picture is extremely blurry, because I could not get a good method of positioning the paper).

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Cool to see. Just curious - did you buy it for this ad, or because you like that newspaper?

 

[bmasters9]

Cool to see. Just curious - did you buy it for this ad, or because you like that newspaper?

Actually, it's more than that-- I collect old newspapers from my youth, because then (and before then) one could get a decent-sized newspaper any day for a low cover price (nowadays, you pay a king's ransom for nothing interesting).

Of course, these vintage papers usually cost a pretty penny, but I'd much rather pay that for quality papers from then than pay anything for anything now.

 

[LeoA]

Out of curiosity as one that just recently got their first VEI release (the McMillan & Wife complete set), do they make a habit of not even trying to conceal the layer change?

On almost every disc in the first two seasons, I notice a brief hiccup when that happens. The most recent time literally was about 5 seconds after what would've originally been a commercial break.

Everyone else, even Mill Creek, seem to successfully conceal these where they're not going to stick out like a sore thumb, such as during the transition where a commercial break would've been inserted. But not VEI with their McMillan & Wife set. Instead they'd rather it show up on something like a car chase scene.

When we're talking two episodes per disc, I don't even see why there's anything to hide here. Simply put one episode on one disc layer and the second episode on the other. Yet seemingly on every disc either near the end of the first episode or early in the second episode, a layer change occurs.

 

[Desslar]

Actually, it's more than that-- I collect old newspapers from my youth, because then (and before then) one could get a decent-sized newspaper any day for a low cover price (nowadays, you pay a king's ransom for nothing interesting).

Of course, these vintage papers usually cost a pretty penny, but I'd much rather pay that for quality papers from then than pay anything for anything now.

I see, makes sense. I am lucky in that my hometown paper (Washington Post) is available online through my library all the way back to the 19th century. Sometimes I like to go back and read through a random day in the past, before the paper shrunk down to postage stamp size in the 00s.

I especially enjoy going through the TV section. Too bad it doesn't have color illustrations like yours.