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Huge 4th Quarter for Vintage Fans (1 Viewer)

Stephen Bowie

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While the fall sales are still going on, I feel I should put in a plug for something nobody's mentioned in their purchase plans: Koch's 17-episode STUDIO ONE Anthology. I have some other things in the queue before I'll get around to writing about this in detail on the blog, but I've looked through an early copy, and it's been produced with the care of a Criterion DVD or a Paul Brownstein effort. Copious extras, a thick booklet with detailed liner notes, image quality that's about as good as you can expect for kinescopes, and the episodes have been selected with some intelligence.

It's pricy, but it's the most important early TV release of the year. And there are more than 100 surviving STUDIO ONEs, so I would hope that good sales might encourage a Volume 2.

Stephen Bowie
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Bob Hug

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Timeless has posted episode listings for the 2-disc, 10-episode release of Captain Gallant here:

Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion

The good news is that only three of the ten episodes are duplicated on the two single disc releases from Alpha Video (Revenge, The Boy who found Christmas, Dr. Legionnaire). To my knowledge, there was only one other commercial DVD release of this series on the defunct Canadian public domain label Cascadia Entertainment and a few of the episodes on that release were duplicated on the Alpha discs. So this new release from Timeless is certainly welcome. DVD Pacific has this for less than $5 shipped.

DVD Pacific - Buy New DVD Movies, HD DVD and Blu-Ray discs
 

Gary OS

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Well, after a huge October we moved into an equally huge November in this fantastic 4th Quarter that has been filled with vintage material. Here's the classic releases I bought this month:

HOWDY DOODY 40 Episode Set
FATHER KNOWS BEST Season 2 (Highly recommended, by the way)
THE LONE RANGER Seasons 1 & 2 (again, highly recommended)
DISNEY TREASURES - ANNETTE
DISNEY TREASURES - DR. SYN
DISNEY TREASURES - CHRONOLOGICAL DONALD (yea, I know it's technically not a TV release)
MR PEEPERS Season 2
BURKE'S LAW Season 1, Pt. 2
DANIEL BOONE Season 6
McHALE'S NAVY Season 4
GOMER PYLE Season 5
STEVE CANYON V. 1
ROUTE 66 Season 2

Casualties of the economy (i.e., things my wallet couldn't afford right now) that I had interest in included:

POPEYE V. 3
M SQUAD
NIGHT GALLERY Season 2
STUDIO ONE ANTHOLOGY
WAGON TRAIN COLOR
HAWAII FIVE-O
THE TEXAN

Did anyone else take advantage of the great vintage material that has been released in November?


Gary "one month to go in this greatest of great quarters for classic TV releases" O.
 

Peter M Fitzgerald

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Yup, I did--

POPEYE VOL. 3 (not really a TV show, but since you listed it...)
NIGHT GALLERY: SEASON 2
DISNEY TREASURES: DR. SYN
(though it's on back-order)
M-SQUAD (ditto)

I also just grabbed a slightly-under-the-radar vintage TV release that streeted in R1 in Sept:

PETER COOK & DUDLEY MOORE: THE BEST OF WHAT'S LEFT OF "NOT ONLY... BUT ALSO..." --which features, among other things, SUPERTHUNDERSTINGCAR, a hilariously dead-on parody of the then-current Gerry Anderson's "Supermarionation" shows, like THUNDERBIRDS and STINGRAY.

I plan on ordering on street date:

Best of PASSWORD

Already pre-ordered:

THE INVADERS: SEASON 2

On my Christmas List:

RAWHIDE: SEASON 3, VOL. 2
ROUTE 66: SEASON 2
 

bmasters9

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I did. I have #5 of "Hawaii Five-O," and I preordered it from Best Buy last month. I've already finished the set.
 

Bob Hug

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I picked up the following:

DR. SYN: THE SCARECROW OF ROMNEY MARSH
MR PEEPERS, Season 2
BURKE'S LAW, Season 1, Pt. 2
ROUTE 66, Season 2

Although they were earlier releases, I also picked up HONEY WEST and SHARI LEWIS CHRISTMAS. Still waiting on M SQUAD from DVD Pacific and, thanks to a great Black Friday sale at Deep Discount, I finally ordered the complete JIM BOWIE series for just $21 shipped!

I've finished the three-part installments of DR. SYN, but haven't watched the movie version and I'm nearly halfway through ROUTE 66. Despite a few minor issues (for me), Infinity has done a nice job with season 2. The stories always manage to hold my attention.
 

Gary OS

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After two huge months (October & November) that drained my wallet like never before, I entered December with fear and trembling, wondering how I could perhaps make up for a few things I had passed on in the first 2 months and still buy some of the items I wanted that were being released in December. It hasn't been easy to get through this fantastic 4th Quarter for Vintage Fans, but here's what I bought during this last month of the year.

Firstly, I was able to find some phenomenal deals on things I had passed up in Oct/Nov:

M-SQUAD
THE TEXAN
WAGON TRAIN COLOR
HAWAII FIVE-O


Secondly, through some generous "Santa's", I was able to pick up most of the things I had targeted for this last month of December:

CANNON S1, V2
PERRY MASON S3, V2
GUNSMOKE S3, V1
HAPPY DAYS S4
RAWHIDE S3, V2
PETTICOAT JUNCTION S1


By my count, I bought over 30 TV on DVD sets during this last quarter. I left a few things behind and will wait for some sales in '09 to try and fill in the cracks. But overall, I'm happy I was able to get as many sets as I did.

My feelings are that we will not soon see another quarter like this one as far as the sheer number of vintage releases. We will continue to see solid releases month in and month out, but I do think the quantity will naturally suffer with the economy.

Gary "I sincerely hope everyone got what they wanted during this huge 4th quarter of '08" O.
 

Bob Hug

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Gary, may I ask as to what kind of deals did you find on these titles?

I picked up "M Squad" from DVD Pacific for under $62 shipped and I paid $24 for the season 5 set of "Hawaii Five-0" from Deep Discount a few weeks back. But I am looking for a deal on the "Wagon Train" set. Not sure if I'll pick up "The Texan" as I'd like to pick up "Laramie" season 3 during the first quarter.
 

Gary OS

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Bob, the day after Christmas Barnes & Noble started a major sale on their EDI dvds. Since I'm a member I get their discounted price as it is, then I used some 15% off coupon codes on top of that and ended up getting "M Squad" and "Wagon Train" for $48.87 each, and "The Texan" for only $28.50. I hopped on those deals because I didn't feel I'd be able to beat those prices no matter how long I waited. I had found "M Squad" for $58 from another site but luckily hadn't opened the box so I sent it back free of charge.

I got the Hawaii Five-O set from the same place. I thought that was a great price for a newly released dvd.

Gary "B&N is great, but you have to have a membership in order to take advantage of the best deals" O.
 

Bob Hug

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You really hit the jackpot on those titles, Gary. Certainly, they're great prices that I haven't seen elsewhere, though who knows what the future may bring. It'll also be interesting to see what Timeless Media has in store for 2009.
 

Jeff Willis

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Here's my Q4 list.

DREAM OF JEANNIE S5PERRY MASON S3 V1UNTOUCHABLES S2 V2LOVE BOAT S1 V2HONEY WEST COMPLETE SERIESADAM-12 S2THE MUNSTERS COMPLETE SERIESLOONEY TUNES COLLECTION 6
LONE RANGER 75th ANNIV SET
DONNA REED SHOW S1ROUTE 66 S2
UNTOUCHABLES S2 V2PERRY MASON S3 V2
My Q1 '09 list so far:

MANNIX S201/06/09MATLOCK S201/13/09ROCKFORD FILES S601/20/09THE INVADERS S201/27/09THE LOVE BOAT S2 V101/27/09BEWITCHED S702/03/09BARNEY MILLER S303/17/09ROOM 222 S103/24/09
 

Gary OS

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That's a great haul in, Jeff. For some reason I forgot to add HONEY WEST to my list. I think it was originally scheduled for September but maybe it slipped into the 4th quarter due to a slight delay. Can't remember for sure, but I definitely picked it up in the November DD sale.

I think we are going to see more 70's and 80's shows in the upcoming quarters, as opposed the more 50's & 60's shows. My thought remains that what we've seen in this last quarter of 2008 will not soon be duplicated in terms of the sheer volume of vintage releases. The 1st quarter of '09 looks very good and it's nothing to sneeze at. In spite of that, I'm pretty sure I won't be buying nearly as much as I did in the last three months. But that's ok with me because my wallet desperately needed a rest.
htf_images_smilies_smile.gif


Gary "hoping we hear some good release news about RAWHIDE and PERRY MASON soon, and keeping my fingers crossed that FKB did good enough numbers for Shout to issue a 3rd Season set" O.
 

Jeff Willis

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Gary,

Honey West was in Q3 so I goofed. It was released on Sept 02, according to my Excel sheet :D Without that file, I can't keep up with release dates & what I have in the collection.

As for Q1 & '09, I also think that the releases will slow down due to the economy. It might be a mis-perception by me, but I'm guessing that the majors are being more cautious in the older shows' releases to reduce the risks of excess inventory in the warehouses. But I can't complain about Q109 so far.

I have reduced my DVD buys to more or less "sure things" for me. I have seldom blind-bought and have not pre-ordered since early last year. My reasons for not pre-ordering are 1) The Fugitive S2V1 (enough said, right?) and 2) I need info on print/transfer Q & edits before buying TV/DVD.

The holidays have allowed me to make a dent in my un-viewewed list. I'm getting close to finishing S2 of the Dick Van Dyke Megaset and after 4 years? I'm viewing S5V2 of "Combat!". If I don't hold the HTF TV/DVD record for slowest viewing of a series-shelf-life of 4 years, I bet I'm in the top 5 :laugh:
 

Gary OS

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Jeff, I can never remember release dates either so don't sweat it.
htf_images_smilies_smile.gif


I completely agree with you on the slow down from the bigs. They won't slow down on newer shows, IMHO, but I do think they are going to be more cautious with older material now. It's a shame if that's what we might be looking at. But it does seem that things are moving ever so slightly in that direction.

Gary "I bet I'm more behind in my viewing that you are Jeff - I really need to slow down my buying and catch up" O.
 

Steve...O

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Wow! I'm impressed with what all everyone has gotten. I'll confess that I didn't buy very many TV on DVD titles this last quarter primarily due to economic concerns and secondarily because of backlog and being very busy with my job. I picked up the latest Perry Mason (awesome transfers) and Looney Tunes Vol 6 and Santa brought me Hawaii Five-O and Popeye Vol 3.

I absolutely agree with Gary, Jeff et al that the majors will be slowing down in 2009. With the economy and related concerns the worst its been in my working career buying DVDs and other luxuries will be way down on consumers' priorities. On the movie forum it's already been noted that sales of deep catalog ("classic") titles have suffered a great deal in 2008 and I frankly don't see it changing anytime soon.



Gary, I may have posted this already elsewhere, but the CBS Syndication Bible says PERRY MASON S4 is currently being transferred to HD which is a good sign releases will continue.
htf_images_smilies_smile.gif


I'd be shocked if Shout was disappointed in FKB S2 results. They obviously went the extra mile with S2 which shows they had a lot of faith in this product. It's unfortunate that S1, which is being remaindered at Sam's Club for something like $17 or $18 now, didn't have the same treatment but Shout possibly didn't want to make the investment until they had a better idea of what the market potential is. If I was a fan of the next wave of shows Shout is releasing I would be a bit concerned since it appears they may be glutting the market with shows that appeal to the same general demographic. Not trying to be a glass half empty guy, just realistic.

Steve
 

Gary OS

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As to your last point about glutting the market, I must confess I have the same exact fears. I'm hoping that Shout is able to manage all these different shows and still be able to concentrate on ones they are in the middle of (like FKB). Speaking of which, while I can't reveal sources, I have it on the strongest of authority that the Season 2 numbers, which are still coming in mind you, have not been great. Not horrible, but not great either. I think Season 3 is up in the air at this point, but I hope I'm wrong. It will possibly be a coin flip type decision unless numbers have risen over the holidays on the set. Hope they have and Shout feels strong about another set. But my latest Intel says the numbers were not great coming out of the gate.

Let's just keep our fingers crossed for a FKB Season 3 announcement in the coming weeks.

Gary "great news about PM - hope Rawhide is still slated to keep pace" O.
 

Steve...O

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Gary, I'm sorry to hear that FKB S2 possibly underperformed expectations. I hope for the sake of FKB fans everywhere that S3 and beyond is still workable.

Unfortunately it is a sign of the times that shows and movies of this vintage are going to be an especially tough sell now. While not true for all buyers, the demographic for these releases likely skews older and these are the same people who saw their 401ks and other retirement funds go up in smoke this year. Like you, I'm 20+ years from retirement and the losses I took this year have me greatly concerned. I can only imagine the panic of co-workers who planned on retiring in the next few years and now have to wonder how they are going to support themselves.

This is not going to be a popular opinion around here, I know, but I believe studios may be wise to put some of these vintage releases on hold for the time being until such time the market rebounds. WHV has done this for some of their theatrical releases and while there are some complaints about why "XYZ" is not out yet I think it's a sound business decision which will ultimately benefit the consumers. Lacklaster sales of "XYZ" will not cause "ABC" to not be released.
 

Gary OS

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Steve I agree with everything you wrote, but want to add that I don't think these classic shows - if put on hold for now - will see a "return to glory" via dvd down the road. As you yourself said, we are the group that would be most interested in the vintage material, and if said material is put on hold all that's happening is we are getting older and therefore the base to buy this type of material is disappearing. Frankly I see this as a no win situation. If the studio does the sound business thing and postpones these releases because of the economy then we don't see them now and continue to grow older and either (a) lose interest and/or (b) die off. If the studio releases them now many of us can't afford them and the low sales hurt future releases. It's a no win as best I can tell.

Gary "I'll be even more pessimistic than Steve and predict that we have already seen the 'golden age' of vintage TV on DVD and will not see it duplicated any time in the near future" O.

P.S. And no one will be happier than me if my prediction turns out to be wrong!
 

cajunhillbilly

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Sorry to hear FKB season 2 did not do too well. I love my FKB sets. How did Donna Reed season 1 do?
 

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