Weekly Roundup 6/11 (1 Viewer)

[David Lambert]

[rant]The Early Bird Gets The Worm![/rant]
[c] [/c]
Standard disclaimer: All prices are taken from the websites of each chain, the week of the release (so as to catch any week-of-release sale prices). All prices are subject to change by each chain. Prices and inventory in-store may or may not match the website price. If a price is marked "$_N/A_" in the grid, it means that this title is not shown as available on that chain's website...but it COULD still be in-stores!
[c]
__________TITLE___________Amazon_BestBuy_CrcCity_CostCo_SamsClub_Borders
Are You Being Svd? Movie_$14.99__$12.99__$15.99__$_N/A___$_N/A___$14.99
Arthur #1: Doctor________$ 9.74__$ 9.99__$ 9.99__$_N/A___$_N/A___$ 9.99
Arthur #2: Good Sport____$ 9.74__$ 9.99__$ 9.99__$_N/A___$_N/A___$ 9.99
Arthur #3: School Days___$ 9.74__$ 9.99__$ 9.99__$_N/A___$_N/A___$11.99
Arthur #4: Great Summer__$ 9.74__$ 9.99__$ 9.99__$_N/A___$_N/A___$ 9.99
Black Hawk Down__________$19.88__$15.99__$15.99__$17.49__$18.28__$23.99
Buffy/Vampire Slayer: S2_$43.88__$39.99__$45.99__$39.99__$39.95__$58.99
FH's Dune: SE Dir.'s Cut_$20.24__$19.99__$19.99__$17.99__$_N/A___$23.99
Hall & Oates: 7 Big Ones_$11.24__$12.99__$12.99__$_N/A___$_N/A___$16.99
Kate & Leopold SE________$22.49__$19.99__$19.99__$17.99__$18.48__$25.99
Lost In Yonkers__________$18.71__$22.99__$19.99__$_N/A___$_N/A___$23.99
Monster's Ball___________$17.99__$14.99__$15.99__$15.99__$16.98__$23.99
Real Genius______________$18.71__$19.99__$19.99__$_N/A___$_N/A___$23.99
Shatter SE_______________$14.99__$12.99__$15.99__$_N/A___$_N/A___$14.99
[/c]
* CompUSA decided to not leave well enough alone. It seems they want to make up for the Harry Potter for $9.97 debacle by offering...Harry Potter for $9.97! Yes, according to their new circular ad the same deal is back, minus the free mousemat. The same emphasis is on the FullScreen version as in the previous ad, but once again the WideScreen version is also mentioned in the ad. I'm sure most of the readers of the Roundup have picked up this title already, but if you know anyone who missed it, now's their chance. Also in the CompUSA circular are new releases Monster's Ball for $14.99, Black Hawk Down and Kate & Leopold each for $17.99, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 2 for $39.99, as well as some older releases (I might as well list them: Ali, Total Recall SE, Matrix, First Blood, & Rambo for $16.99, 12.99, 14.99, 11.99, & 11.99). [rant]I'm sure supplies are quite limited once again, so hurry if you dare![/rant] :rolleyes
* After getting a couple of private complaints last week, I went ahead and put Borders back into the Roundup for this week. Frankly, I shouldn't have...they should be embarrassed at how high some of those prices are. Note that the Hall & Oates disc is actually $2 above list price! I've included them this week just to prove my point, and next week I likely am going to resume taking a breather with that chain, at least for a while. If I see a bargain I'll write it up the same way I do Target and K-Mart.
* EDIT: I neglected to mention that Best Buy's deal is back for 10% off of all Collector's Sets. For those of you who are instantly thinking of a Buffy double-discount, though, don't waste your time. They covered themselves this time around with a note that states "Markdowns Taken From Regular Prices. Sale Limited To In-Stock Items. Selection Varies By Store."
* After writing up this week's Roundup, I will take a quick trip to the grocery store and then come back to finish writing up my review of Frank Herbert's Dune: Special Edition Director's Cut for TVShowsOnDVD. I can tell you right now that it is a vast improvement over the original disc. If you were interested in this title, get it. Keep an eye out for my official write-up; hopefully I can get it to Gord in time for a posting today.
* I decided to NOT put in the Roundup the Olsen Twins' release Getting There: Sweet Sixteen & Licensed To Drive due to a previous bunch of confusion here on HTF about this title getting mixed up with a popular-around-here film from the '80's called License To Drive. The latter title isn't on DVD yet, and I wasn't sure I wanted to confuse things further. BUT, if you have or know a young lady who likes Mary-Kate and Ashely Olsen, and wants their latest effort, then I can tell you that this disc is $12.99 at Circuit City and $14.99 at Best Buy and K-Mart. Since two of the Olsen Twins' older DVD efforts are getting markdowns this week, I thought I should mention this new disc SOMEwhere.
* Target is offering a deal for PS2 buyers. If you buy a PS2 at it's new normal price of $199.99, and a DVD remote along with it, you can get your pick of a free DVD valued at $14.44. Meanwhile, on the new releases they are showing $16.99 on Monster's Ball and "Low Price" on Black Hawk Down and Kate & Leoplold.
* K-Mart has Frank Herbert's Dune: Special Edition Director's Cut for just $18.99, a price only beaten by CostCo. Non-CostCo members should get it there, or get it price-matched! They also have for $19.95 each the new releases Kate & Leopold, Black Hawn Down, & Monster's Ball.
* Wal-Mart has Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 2 for $42.44.
The latest markdowns according to VideoTropics web site (DVD Title/Old SRP/New SRP):
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• Holiday in the Sun $24.98 $19.98
• Our Lips Are Sealed $24.98 $19.98
Other Price Reductions not listed at VideoTropics:
--------------------------------------------------
None...aren't a pair of Mary-Kate and Ashley vids good enough for ya'?

 

[george kaplan]

CompUSA is a joke. I noticed that this morning too. They run out of stock on their 3 day sale in 15 minutes, and now with no stock in their stores they advertise it for another week? That seems close to fraud to me. Of course, I suppose technically they'll ship one more copy of the full-frame to each of their stores to stay within the letter of the law. Pathetic.

As for the upgrade, thanks again Dave, although I don't have any titles coming I'm interested in until July.

As for Borders I tend to agree with you. They're mostly good because they stock most everything, and if it's something less popular, out of stock in the other B&Ms and the different mail orders, there's a good chance they'll have it. But they're rarely a first choice. Then again, they're not as bad as Barnes & Noble, which charges full MSRP on everything.

 

[TonyD]

$22.99 for lost in yonkers? holy mackeral. is that a paramount title?

 

[Gary_E]

I saw this deal in today's Best Buy newspaper ad:
If you buy 2 selected MGM titles @ $9.99 each you get a third free. I don't have the paper with me but some of the titles were:
Mr. Saturday Night
Caveman
Great Balls Of fire
Men At Work
and about a dozen others.

-Gary

 

[David Lambert]

Everyone note that I just edited the main Roundup post to include info about Best Buy's 10% off deal on collector sets. Read the fine print, though!

I saw this deal in today's Best Buy newspaper ad:

Here's the entire deal. Buy any two of these at $9.99, get a third one for free:

• Best Seller
• UHF
• Mr. Saturday Night
• Men At Work
• The Manhattan Project
• Great Balls of Fire!
• Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers
• Caveman
• Kingpin
• The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
• A Fistful Of Dollars
• Spaceballs
• What's The Worst That Could Happen?
• A Bridge Too Far
• Hoodlum
• The Great Escape

[rant]Oh, I also neglected to mention in the Roundup post that Best Buy will take $10 off the combined purchase of Buffy Season 1 and Buffy Season 2...if you need both of them.[/rant]
Plenty of Father's Day related deals going around this week, so keep your eyes sharp!

 

[David Lawson]

I mentioned this in a separate thread in the Video Game Software section, but Best Buy is also taking 50% off all Dreamcast games in stock.
Also, CompUSA is throwing in a free GameCube controller when you buy a Cube at the standard $149.99.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

CompUSA is also listing Buffy at $39.99. Since BB's ad says "Hot Price", it makes it easier to pricematch

 

[Carlo_M]

It's a slower week in terms of # of titles compared to last week, but man am I in the poor house this week! (Bought none last week, must be in the Guinness Book of Records).
Buffy S2, Black Hawk Down, Kate & Leopold and Monster's Ball. You can guess which two are for the girlfriend and which two are mine.

 

[Matt Birchall]

Just got back from Best Buy, where they price-matched CompUSA for Harry Potter for me for $9.97. Two copies, widescreen, of course. One of the guys there called the CompUSA and was told that they only started with something like 37 copies of Harry Potter total--like 27 pan & scan copies and 10 widescreen copies. Therefore, Best Buy was only going to price match for an hour after opening, figuring that CompUSA would have sold out by then.
Picked up the Dreamcast game Tennis 2K2 for $9.99 as well, which was a pretty good deal. It looks like this Best Buy is no longer being sent any Dreamcast titles, and this half-off sale seems like its meant to clear out the remaining Dreamcast titles out to free up space for XBox and GameCube games, so this might be the final death rattle for Dreamcast stuff, at Best Buy, anyway.

After getting a couple of private complaints last week, I went ahead and put Borders back into the Roundup for this week. Frankly, I shouldn't have...they should be embarrassed at how high some of those prices are. Note that the Hall & Oates disc is actually $2 above list price! I've included them this week just to prove my point, and next week I likely am going to resume taking a breather with that chain, at least for a while. If I see a bargain I'll write it up the same way I do Target and K-Mart.

Bah. . . Let the complainers do their own Weekly Roundup for Borders themselves. I can hardly believe there are people who would actually gripe about something like that, after all of the time and effort you put into the Weekly Roundup already, for everybody's benefit. Takes all kinds. . . Oh well, keep doing what you're doing, the way you want to do it. Thanks a lot for the work you put into it every week. I always look forward to reading the WRs every Sunday, just like clockwork.
-mwb-

 

[John Thomas]

For the uninformed (me), does Circuit City or Wal-Mart price match? The closest Best Buy is about an hour away and there's a few items that I'd like to get a bit cheaper.

 

[Rob Lutter]

Buffy:S1 and Buffy:S2 at Best Buy for me!
(and I gotta pick up some of those discounted titles for dad )

 

[Bill Balcziak]

I had a telling experience trying to get Best Buy and Circuit City to pricematch this morning. Care to guess the results?
Best Buy experience: Negative attitude all the way. The combined responses implied I was trying to steal something from them by asking them (politely) to price match a competitor (CompUSA). I handed over the ad, and it took a huddled discussion between the checkout clerk and THREE supervisors, then a phone call to CompUSA, then a lot of mumbling about "not sure" this and "I dunno" that before the "write-up slip" actually got written up to quantify the pricematch. Then the slip had to go back for a signature and more gnashing of teeth before it finally got rung up. All this for a $10 price match--and I buy literally $1000s from this fine chain. (The irony is that all this took place while we stood in the shadow of a 30-foot sign that trumpeted the ease of Best Buy's "PRICE MATCH GUARANTEE!")
Circuit City experience: Instant "no problem" from the clerk. Same item, same ad, same price match request. Instant price adjustment. Got the difference + 10% off. In and out in five minutes, including shopping time.
Moral of the Story:In the span of an hour, Circuit City stole every drop of goodwill I used to have for Best Buy. By taking a hardline on THEIR OWN price match policy, Best Buy took a 20-year customer and made him ponder why he would ever come back.
Best Buy can spend a zillion dollars on their fancy new HQ in Richfield, but they can't provide a customer 5 cents' worth of good attitude 10 miles to the south. I hope somebody at Best Buy reads this and sends a link to Bradbury Anderson for his personal review.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

Real Genius & Buffy will be it for me this week. I think I'll hold out for the SE of Black Hawk Down. I might give into temptation and get it though. I haven't seen it yet. Gonna give Vanilla Sky a spin tonight.

Hey David, can't a fresh 22yr old (bday yesterday) get some Olsen lovin'? ;P I can imagine what they're gonna be when they grow up, they already have their own magazine, tv shows, games, website etc...

 

[David Lambert]

Hey David, can't a fresh 22yr old (bday yesterday) get some Olsen lovin'?

Um...jailbait?

 

[Mike Frezon]

the one with the nekkid Halle Berry

Yeah. I've gotta check out that Monsters Ball. Probably as a rental, huh? Although.....I think my local Hollywood Video is pricing itself out of my business. At $5 per rental for five days, all I gotta do is figure I might watch a movie three times to make up my rental expense. A couple of places have Monsters Ball listed at $14.99 this week.

 

[David Lambert]

For anyone who wants to know more about Dune, you can read what I think.
For anyone thinking of picking up Monster's Ball just for nekkid Hallie, there's really no needLink Removed

 

[george kaplan]

David,
I for one appreciate the extra effort you put into this. Thanks! (with an emphasis on the ! )

 

[Mike Frezon]

!!!

Actually, Dave, those pix pretty much sell me on wanting to see the movie! :b

 

[BooneG]

David,

How can you say that its not worth picking up Monster's Ball for the Halle Berry nakedness? She is so hot in this movie. I picked this movie up a few days ago and have been enjoying it ever since.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

David, you know I have to take every opportunity to preach the gospel of Lord Whedon It's my job, and I take it very seriously