Is E.T. really limited? (1 Viewer)

[Keith_R]

Is the current release of E.T. on DVD really that limited? is there a certain time period of which they are going to stop selling it? I did a search and didn't find much on this subject. Thanks.

 

[greg_t]

According to the press release, it is only going to be available for ten weeks, which started on Oct. 22nd.

 

[Tom June]

Yea, I believe that they're gonna stop producing and shipping the E.T. DVD after Dec. 31st. After that, whatever's left in a stores inventory is it.

 

[Travis Olson]

If that's true, what's the point? I suppose so they can sell a bunch of copies, but it just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Tom June]

Yea, I know...It's completely rediculous. Disney does the same thing. They'll release a film and leave it out there for about a year and then they'll put it back in their "vault". It seems to me that the studios are losing money by doing this....but hey, what do I know?

 

[Frank Doorhof]

This is clever marketing.
They will force people who are thinking about the title to buy it. The real fans will buy in anyway.

The doubters are in this way forced to buy it now.
The biggest turnover is by release of a DVD, when you can boost it all in the first year this is clever.

And after a year you just release a new version without extra's or more extra's.

I'm still feeling a bit cheated by Disney when the started releasing titles out of the first box in SE's.
The promised that the well known box would be the ONLY way to get those titles on DVD, and only in limited time.

Greetings from Holland,
Frank

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

Yeah, I just saw the commercial yesterday warning me that if I don't buy E.T. by December 31st, it will be off the shelves.

I can't say I approve of this "buy it now or buy it never" tactic. It's a form of blackmail. Sure, I don't HAVE to buy it, but they don't give me the choice of WHEN. What's wrong with giving customers a choice? It's kind of a sleazy way to make a sale.

It's also a lie. I bought a VHS copy of Fantasia back before the days of DVD, because they said it would be "gone forever" after a limited sale time. Well, forever only turned out to be a few years, because it was back out on DVD. I still haven't re-bought Fantasia!

So, is betraying your customers really helping your bottom line?

 

[Dewitte]

From experience, I can only think of one title that we physically took off of the shelves, and that was the Tarzan 2-disc edition about a week after January 31 of this year. January 31 being the date that the Tarzan discs, Mulan, the Platinum Snow White and one other that I can't think of at the moment went "back into the vault."

Well, we still have some copies of the Platinum Snow White and Mulan for sale after almost a year. You could probably find a copy of E.T. after December 31. It's been a solid seller, but it's never sold out for us.

De, Part-time Suncoast Guy

 

[Richard Kim]

Yea, I believe that they're gonna stop producing and shipping the E.T. DVD after Dec. 31st. After that, whatever's left in a stores inventory is it.

Well Saving Private Ryan was also supposed to be a "Limited Special Edition" and yet it's still readily availible.

Either way, I'm glad I got ET in my collection.

 

[Dave H]

I don't think this is a form of blackmail. Sure, this is a marketing plan, but lots of products and services are only available for a limited time. Besides, I'm sure ample copies were made and will always be around to some extent. I would imagine the gift sets are even more rare, however. I should have picked a few of those when they were mismarked online for twenty some dollars.

 

[James Bergeron]

This peeves me off as well. I am thinking of getting ET but don't want to purchase right now, I'd probably get it on a slow month or something. But it will be gone, oh well to bad for them!

It really peeves me off what Disney is doing, my copy of Dinosaur (which I watched once) is now messed up. Not sure why but the last 4 chapters don't run at all! I can't replace it GRRRRR.

 

[Joe Reinwald]

There are at least 20 of the ET box sets at my local best Buy. Same goes with the Spidey set--they have two separate stacks of those.

With respect to Disney, I thought they were the only distributor (?) that did that. I know my wife wanted Beauty and the Beast and Snow White, and I got those right when they came out. She also wants the first Little Mermaid, and that's nowhere to be found. I guess we grab it the second time around, if that comes.

-Joe

 

[greg_t]

I saw a commercial for E.T. last night that said that there are only two weeks left before it is pulled from the shelves. I imagine they still have hundreds of them on ebay though.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Of course, no one has said that a different version of the DVD will not be replacing the 2 available now. Most commercials say it's your only opportunity to get this "special edition DVD set"-- not necessarily saying they won't come out with a bare bones version after the 1st.

-Vince

 

[Dewitte]

With respect to Disney, I thought they were the only distributor (?) that did that. I know my wife wanted Beauty and the Beast and Snow White, and I got those right when they came out. She also wants the first Little Mermaid, and that's nowhere to be found. I guess we grab it the second time around, if that comes.

It will be a while, but that time will come. There's a Disney guru who haunts the forum and he could probably tell you.

De

 

[Ron-P]

Tried to find it over the last week and have only located Fool Screen. Ordered it from BB.com they shipped me FS. Returned it at the local BB and begin to search again. The search ended today at CC. They only had a couple WS left.
A good movie, but not a favorite of mine, so I fall into the buy it because they are pulling it off sale camp. At least I know my daughter will enjoy it.
Peace Out~

 

[Patrick Larkin]

Put me in the same boat as Ron-P.

Didn't really want it but had to have it since it was going OOP. My daughter is freaked out by ET now but I'm sure she'll enjoy it as time goes on...

BTW, picked it up at Walmart for $18.99. They had a dozen or so, PS & WS.

 

[JustinCleveland]

I picked mine up at Best Buy the week it came out, they were pricematching K-Mart, and it cost me 14.99. You know what? I finally watched it last night. I only bought it planning to sell it on eBay in a year for 30 bucks... but now I don't think that's going to happen! I'm heartbroken.