DS9 Sales vs. TNG Sales? (1 Viewer)

[Chad E]

Up until last month, I could find Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) sets in Future Shop going back to season 3... usually with the bonus disc still available. Up until January, I could find TNG sets in Wal-Mart going back to season 4. So it appeared to me that these sets did not sell out quickly.

Last week, my Future Shop received 12 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) sets (according to their computer). I didn't count how many sets my Wal-Mart had, but it appeared to be in the 10 - 15 range.

This week, only one week from release date, both stores were sold out.

I know this example is entirely anecdotal. I was wondering if anyone in the business knew how well DS9 was selling compared to how TNG sold when it was released?

I know DS9 has a very loyal fan base (hey, I'm one of those fans ), but I would be quite surprised to hear that DS9 sells better than TNG (albeit pleasantly so). Also, I've come to the conclusion that I better be picking each season up on release date!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Chad, here's the diff

They were definately getting at least twice as many TNGs are DS9s

 

[Chad E]

Thanks for the info, Jeff. I'm not sure if that was always the case for Future Shop, though... IIRC, when they didn't have TNG Season 5 on the shelves when it was supposed to be out, they looked it up on their computer, and they had 12 units of it in stock, same as what they had for DS9 Season 1. As for the other seasons, who knows?

That could definitely explain Wal-Mart though. Thanks!

 

[Andrew Bunk]

On a slightly different note, my local Best Buy had 8-10 copies each of TNG Seasons 2, 3, 5 and 6, with a few 7's about 2 weeks ago. The shelf is virtually bare now. I assume some may be shipped back to Paramount to make room for DS9. I just bought the whole TNG series in one shot last month, and I'm already up to season 4. Shows just keeps getting better!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

My Best Buy had at least 10 facings of each season, at 3 sets per facing that's about 30 copies

 

[David Lambert]

I don't know about FutureShop, but the average Best Buy receive 36 or 48 copies of each TNG season. The DS9 sets are being ordered in quantities of 12 or 24.

 

[Chad E]

I don't know about FutureShop, but the average Best Buy receive 36 or 48 copies of each TNG season. The DS9 sets are being ordered in quantities of 12 or 24.

Wow! Unless future shop was keeping a lot of them off the shelves for later stocking, they never had near this number. (And I certainly admit that this is a possibility.)

Their count for season 5 was 12 units. Seasons 6 & 7 seemed to be around this number as well, but I don't have a definitive number. Seasons 1 - 4 might have had a few more units, but I don't think it was much more than 20. I actually assumed that they cut back their order after season 4 because they just sat on the shelves...

 

[Rob Gardiner]

How many households have DVD players now that didn't have them one year ago?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

And how many of those are Trek fans? Answer: Not too many