Farscape The Complete Series Coming Soon From A&E Home Entertainment (1 Viewer)

[Mark Talmadge]

Talk about stupidity ... someone is actually selling Farscape Starburst volume 3.2 for $1,000.00.

 

[BobO'Link]

I'm not convinced to sell off my Starburst packages yet. I am fortunate to have the DVD-9 sets. These have a full season on 9 disks with 3 disks of "bonus" material per season. The new version will have "six jam-packed disks filled with hours of revealing bonus materials" per season. So you're apparently getting the same product on 6 disks instead of 12. Sounds like it's either highly compressed *or* double sided disks. The full package is a 25 disk set. The DVD-9 Starburst collection is 48 disks for all 4 seasons. This sounds like "The Peacekeeper Wars" is the 25th disk.

While I really like the looks of the new packaging and smaller shelf space this would take up, if this *is* single sided disks with double the amount of data per disk *or* double sided disks I think I'd rather keep what I have.

 

[BobO'Link]

Out of curiousity, where did you guys sell your sets? The places I've checked are offering $2-$5 per for the Starburst editions.

 

[smithb]

Originally Posted by BobO'Link

I'm not convinced to sell off my Starburst packages yet. I am fortunate to have the DVD-9 sets. These have a full season on 9 disks with 3 disks of "bonus" material per season. The new version will have "six jam-packed disks filled with hours of revealing bonus materials" per season. So you're apparently getting the same product on 6 disks instead of 12. Sounds like it's either highly compressed *or* double sided disks. The full package is a 25 disk set. The DVD-9 Starburst collection is 48 disks for all 4 seasons. This sounds like "The Peacekeeper Wars" is the 25th disk.

While I really like the looks of the new packaging and smaller shelf space this would take up, if this *is* single sided disks with double the amount of data per disk *or* double sided disks I think I'd rather keep what I have.

Basically, there are 18 hours to each season on 6 disks. That is only 3 hours per disk, which is not a big deal compression wise to a single sided dual layer DVD-9 disk (basically 4 episodes a disk) and a quite common arrangement. For the older sets to be 48 disks they were probably single layer or just did not maximize the space on DVD-9's. Unlike the first set of Starburst sets that were 2 DVD-18 disks. All in all, these should not suffer from compression issues due to space issues. These disks could easily contain another hour of extras or commentaries.

While I can't make it out in the picture the 25th disk is not the Peacekeeper Wars since that is owned by someone else and not actually part of the TV series but an afterwards TV movie. I'm assuming the 25th disk is all extras.

 

[smithb]

Originally Posted by BobO'Link

Out of curiousity, where did you guys sell your sets? The places I've checked are offering $2-$5 per for the Starburst editions.

My understanding is that the sets used to go for more then now, probably closer in time when they went OOP and people scrambled to complete their collections. I'm not sure when Mark sold his but on another thread I saw people were commenting on this.

From what I understand, if you want to maximize what you can get you need to sell on ebay, half.com amazon marketplace or something like that. Personally, that's not worth the time and effort to me, so I sell to one of the online resellers where I get a quote, pack it up and mail it the next day, and get a check within a week. I use newtownvideo.com since I've found they give the best prices, especially for more rare items. They also give a shipping credit when sending in 16 or more items valued at $2 or more and insurance credit when the value is over $50. Their online price quotes are based on supply and demand so for each item selected to send in the price goes down about $1 for the next guy. Since I got $192 that would mean the next person selling the same items would get arround $180. The quotes were all over the place from one collection going for as low as $4 and the highest at $30.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I sold mine about two years ago. I had the original first releases as well as the Starbust editions when they were still in print.

 

[smithb]

Well Amazon has the preorder up for the new complete megaset of Farscape for $104.99.

Not bad considering what it use to go for.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Yeah, I plan on buying the complete series set.

 

[BobO'Link]

Just saw over at TVshowsonDVD.com that A&E is partnering with BB for a limited edition (5000 sets) BB exclusive called "Farscape: The Complete Series Megaset" that includes "The Peacekeeper Wars" mini. No art of the package, but I'm sure it'll be way overpriced and sell out quickly. November 17th release date with a $149.95 MSRP.

 

[KyleC]

Sorry to bump an old thread but I just saw that Farscape the Complete Series is only $58 on Amazon. Has anyone purchased the new set any seen any differences between this and the Starburst Edition?

www.amazon.com/dp/B002GP7ZWI

 

[AlexF]

thedigitalbits did a quickie review of it comparing the new bits and missing bits. That review can be found here:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/spinsheet112309.html

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I read that review on Digital Bits and decided against purchasing any of the Farscape releases. I'm disappointed that A&E produced such a crappy release for a series that fans have been waiting for. You would think that they would taken some care into producing this set and instead, we get a rushed and very crappy release of Farscape by a studio who was more concerned at rushing this series to the stores instead of taking some care into producing the set.

Sorry, A&E, but I won't be purchasing this set ...

 

[AlexF]

I picked it up -- a couple of my Starburst editions of the second season have had some pretty major problems since I got them.

I'm disappointed at losing some of the special features, but to be frank, most of them I wouldn't have missed -- only really the text commentary stuff. There is a bit of image degradation that I've noticed, but to be perfectly honest, with the way that the show was filmed the first three years it's very minor.

The thing I'm happiest about? I sold my Starburst set, bought this, and came out ~$40 ahead. I also came out almost 18" of shelf space richer.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

After reading TheDigitalBits review I also decided to keep my Starburst Editions. I don't mind trading a little shelf space for better A/V quality and more supplements.

But with the Complete Series set now on sale at Amazon for $58 I'm going to go ahead and purchase that set and use it as a backup for my Starburst Editions. I paid about $20/set (or $60/season) for the Starburst Editions, and the first two seasons are on DVD-18s to boot! So at that price I almost can't afford *not* to purchase the set!

 

[DavidHAN]

I had to get this as well. Already owning the first season in the Starburst edition and the first two Starburst editions of season 2. I bought the original season 2 set at a price i couldn't turn down. So I do have some repeated episodes as far as season 2 goes. But now the complete set is here and the price is a no brainer for someone that doesn't have all the episodes.
I was a late comer to the Farscape universe and it was very confusing how to, and what to purchase as far as which edition.
I like the extras on any DVD I get and these are no exception. So it's too bad they couldn't have somehow found a way to include all extras that had been on the Starburst editions.
I don't think I'll be able to tell much difference in video quality (or hope I don't). but at least I will now be able to watch the whole story.
I have had the Peacekeeper Wars movie for sometime now, and am glad I will be able to see it as well. Even though I could have watched it at any time I didn't want to ruin the sequence.

 

[RickER]

I am sticking with the first A&E set. The PQ looks pretty good on those, even on my 52 " LCD.

 

[Rick P]

Well, you're gonna love this... I got the BB Set.. TWICE... BOTH copies, on the Archives volume... TWO disc 2's, no disc 1. Returned both, got a raincheck for when they come back in stock..

but here's the good part... I thought I could get in contact with A&E and get a disc 1, since it was obviously a packing error. Guess again, they ABSOLUTELY DO NOT deal with any problems with their product unless you buy it DIRECTLY from them... everyone else, tough luck.

Headed to Amazon, that's 15 bucks cheaper than the raincheck I got... and I already have the Peacekeeper Wars discs.

 

[smithb]

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge

I read that review on Digital Bits and decided against purchasing any of the Farscape releases. I'm disappointed that A&E produced such a crappy release for a series that fans have been waiting for. You would think that they would taken some care into producing this set and instead, we get a rushed and very crappy release of Farscape by a studio who was more concerned at rushing this series to the stores instead of taking some care into producing the set.
Sorry, A&E, but I won't be purchasing this set ...

I don't know Mark, you are putting a lot of faith into one review. Especially for a series you seem to want, don't have anymore, and this will probably be all you will be able to get. And don't count on a Blu-ray release. Henson has already commented about the cost to redo all the CGI for HD and it didn't come across positive.

So far I have seen the Digital Bits review saying the video is not as good, another review saying it is the same as the ADV, and another person saying they thought the new one's looked better. The video was never great in the beginning but more then acceptable. I cranked up the first episode to check it out and off of memory it still looks more then acceptable to me. I no longer have my Starburst disks to do a direct comparison but a friend does so I may try at some point. So if there are differences it didn't look to me like anything to make a fuss about. And I watch on a 92" screen, in case you are interested as a reference point.

As for the comment about the episodes being crammed into less disks. It makes me wonder if they were using this to justify some of their opinion about the video. What I don't understand it why it took 48 disks for 88 episodes in the first place. The current 26 disks are dual layer with four episodes a disk. This is plenty of space to store these episodes with a few commentaries and is typical for most TV shows. When I get a chance I am going to compare file sizes between these and the Starburst editions.

As for the extras, yes the Starburst editions did have more and this is an individual call for people to make to determine how much they value them in dollars.

For me, I sold off my Starburst editions for $190 and bought the new complete series for $60. With that other $130 I got the complete Homicide and Dr. Quinn series. For me that more then justifies the loss of some extras. But again, that is a persoanl preference.

As for the packaging, I much prefer it to the previous release but then again I like to save space. I already ditched the box and prefer to just put the 5 standard sized DVD cases on my shelf. I think A&E did a great job with the packaging of all three of these recent released. They are functional, protect the disks, small foot print, and still can look good on the shelf (more so the homicide and Dr. Quinn then Farscape).

Considering this comes out to less then 0.70 cents for each hour long episode and you still get a fair amount of extras, I would consider it a steal compared to many other TV show releases. Not only would I say it is not crap, but an excellent release by A&E, and I can say this as someone that actually owns it.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I'm not putting all of my faith behind that review. I have seen the packaging and I think it's very shotty of A&E to use standard DVD cases to house the DVD's in. Every DVD set that I have purchases, that uses these standard DVD cases with flipper pages have all come with damaged disks, and more than one damaged disk, I might add.

Matlock Season 2,24 Season 7, Family Ties Season 1-5, Leverage Season 1 and many others.

This is why I'm staying far away from this release because A&E obviously doesn't care about releasing a quality version of this show to DVD. The ADV releases were, by far, the best, and A&E should have spent more time packaging this set together. And the complete series collection? What a piece of crap for a set. All they did was bundle all four individual seasons together in a cheap box. I would have expected something like a thinpack DVD case? Another DVD studio just proves that they are more interested in releasing cheap inexpensive sets while overpricing their DVD releases.

Sorry, but I'm still passing on this. I already have this series on backup DVD's and until a studio actually releases a quality version of this series, I'll be passing, once again.

 

[smithb]

Well...we all have different prioities I suppose, which must be some aspect of driving studios crazy. While I've had issues with floaters and scratched disks in the past, I did not have a single issue with any of the three A&E sets in this regard, and that's a fair number of disks when you think about it. The main reasons disk come dislodged is a result of the hub design and whether they use that stiff brittle clear plastic in my experience where the hubs break or crack. None of these sets fall in that category. Also, I've had issues in the past with how the trays connect. No issues with these sets in that regard either. So you can't always lump all standard looking cases together when it comes to how disks are stored, there are minor but important design differences at times.

As for packaging, again I like it. I guess I prefer a minimalist design that saves space, has nice cover art, and protects the contents. I have no problem with thinpaks, I like them when it comes to saving space, but in this case it wouldn't have done that. I have only seen thinpaks hold up to two disks at a time. These cases hold up to six. The double wide cases used in Homicide and Dr Quinn hold up to 8.

So for me, this is exactly the type of storage I look for. Quality is in the eye of the beholder. So maybe it isn't that they are being cheap but just that they are focused on more essentials in DVD storage design that some of us prefer. So I would rate this superior to the ADV releases in all ways except for the amount of extras.

I would ask how you can call this overpriced? The Starburst collection generally went for around $192 to get the collection (average of $16 a release on sale). This went for $60 on sale. I also have purchased my share of TV show releases over the past few years and if this is considered overpriced then 90% of all sets are overpriced.

It's good you kept a backup set because I wouldn't count on anything else for quite sometime.