Paul_SD

Suppose someone released empty steel cases emblazoned with classic artwork from some of your favorite films. No discs, just empty cases...but very classy ones that you could easily slip your current discs into.
Would you be interested?

And yes, I realize that most people (myself included) would if they had the choice, rather have a newer superior presentation of a film that is currently afflicted with DNR or improper framing. But does premium packaging in and of itself hold any appeal for you?
And if so, what you consider paying for something like that?

PhantomStranger

There is obviously a market for it but American distributors largely think it's too small to matter. You see a lot more of it on European and Japanese releases, where the target customer for Blu-rays and movies are generally wealthier.

davidh777

I'd be interested depending on quality, the particular film, and the price.

Paul_SD

What I'm seeing is a small cottage industry type thing. A small operation could distribute these out of a garage with just a website and word-of-mouth generated through forums like this and others, and review sites.

It's not a get rich quick scheme, by any means. but it seems to me like something that is well within the realm of the do-able.
Much more so than putting out full titles (actual content) in special packaging. Though if I did try to start my own label, everything would get a steelcase. People can rip and torrent the films, and they can scan and print out copies of jacket art. The only real edge you would have is to offer something to the package that fans can't download at whim.

and by all means, please list the movies that would motivate you to buy a case.

Trevor

There was a time where this would have been right up my alley; and I could see myself coming back around to it. But for now, I'm desperately trying to embrace the exact opposite. I'm throwing away non-special cases and putting everything in binders.

And also moving to digital to a large degree. But both are slow processes with frequent back sliding; and off-topic rambles.

I'm sure I'd be interested in a few of these Paul. I'll always have at least a few bookcases devoted to 'my favorite things' with room for cool releases like you're envisioning here.

Shannon Nutt

I can see some people (not me, though) being interested in steelbooks. The question is, though, how collectible is a knock-off (i.e., unauthorized) steelbook going to be? Plus the studios would sue their asses off if they got caught. Or is the OP suggesting the studios (who won't even provide us with replacement cases/slicks of current releases) do this?

Paul_SD

I've been doing this with my comics and then selling off my trades and hardcovers. I'll still buy certain books here and there, but for the majority, I just want to read the stories...once.

I think most people, especially people in their teens and twenties, view this stuff a lot differently than our generation ever did. Collectible anything is very much a niche concern now.

BuckNaked2k

Sad part is, most fan-created art is better than what's released commercially!

Paul_SD

No, I was wondering about the viability of doing this as a fully authorized, licensed project. They would be done going through the proper channels, but would be created, produced and distributed by a small mom & pop operation- not through the studios.

I'm approaching this from the standpoint of someone interested in the illustration/design end. The reason I mocked up those three titles in the first post was because they represent three significant illustrators that produced plenty of key art for some major and well loved films. (l to r- Reynold Brown, Richard Amsel, Bob Peak). I would even toy with including booklets with the cases with the focus of the liner notes being more on the illustrator and less on the film.

For that reason, I would see this project devoted more to older catalog titles, rather than modern (90's up) ones as the design for contemporary films is usually more photo-centric.

Of course, there are ways to use photos that are extremely attractive too. That Leon case looked amazing just using photos.

Shannon Nutt

It's definitely a niche market, but I would think there would be some interest. I would limit (maybe even number) the run though. Making them a limited amount for a limited time and never doing any second runs would be the key to success here, I'm thinking.

Paul_SD

Absolutely. For one thing, limited capital is going to put a big crimp in how many could be produced. But yes, a very limited run would create appeal and incentive to purchase rather than to wait out a "good price". I would also toy with numbering the run. Under 500 for each title and maybe even split that up in certain cases (ex- 300 of Style "A" one-sheet art, 200 of style "B", etc).

Just looking around, blank cases seem to be around $7.50 each per thousand. Even getting that cost under $5 each, the eventual retail would likely be $20-$25 to cover all the costs. That cuts out a lot of sales. But in it's favor the run is only a few hundred- plus the fact that , while the cases would be Bd size, they could also accommodate DVDs, opens the pool of potential purchasers quite a bit.

Shannon Nutt

Let us know when you go on SHARK TANK with your idea.

Why So Blu?

Looks nice and I like the concept but it's just more shit added to what I already have. It'll turn into clutter in no time.

Pass.

Neil M.

If you have a good process for printing on metal, then I'd be interested. Anything else will fail. However, I think you'll have a hard time getting permission from the studios and even Scanavo assuming you use actual Steelbooks. I think someone tried this in the past and couldn't get past the idea stage.

zyzzle

No appeal whatever to me. What I would pay extra for is super-high quality, high bitrate, non tinkered with versions of my favorite catalog titles. In other words, how titles should be encoded and released to begin with.

Seems these days, that batting average for catalog titles is about 0.100

Less money should be spent on extras and packaging, and more on hiring a competant encoder and in authoring the movies correctly. Straight dope, no DNR, no teal 'reimagining', no 9 GB movie encodes on a 25 GB disc, etc, etc.

Drexl

This sounds like what Paul Champagne does, although he focuses on boxes for existing titles rather than new individual cases.

One thing I like about your mockups (at least from the front and sides) is that they're format-agnostic. If and when a 4k disc format comes along, or just a remastered version, you could use the same cases without being annoyed by the logo.

hasslein

I think there would be a market for an unfinished dvd series, I have Die Hard 1-4 dvd size steelbooks, but because dvd isn't popular anymore, 5 wasn't released in a dvd size steel. That is if you were willing to do dvd size as well.

Paul_SD

Good phrase.
And yeah, they would have to be- backward (DVD) and forward (whatever comes next) as well as non-region specific. The focus would simply be on the title/film and the art/artist.

I remember Champagne's stuff from a while back. He did/does good work.

hasslein, I would probably stick to the smaller size- though the dimensions of DVD cases did scale much better to one-sheet proportions.

Voting is going pretty much the way I expected. I think though this would have to be too expensive a proposition to make it worthwhile. Probably upwards of $40 each to allow for the proper tlc. I don't see how it could be done properly on the cheap.

PhantomStranger

The problem would be in getting licensing permission from the studios. Arrow Video in the UK (check most of their BDs) is basically doing this with their releases, including deluxe booklets and steelbook packaging. They are selling actual movies in the cases, however.

Paul_SD

The upcoming Zavvi exclusive Arrow titles, like Black Sunday, are what got me thinking about this. I saw how nice some of those looked and wished I could see that done for a bunch of stuff I already owned.
But I don't need more copies of the same disc. And I expect a lot of other people wouldn't either.

And as far as the licensing went- you're not licensing the actual film reproduction rights. This would fall under merchandising which might let it fly more under the radar, as well as being much more economical.

SterlingBen

Someone did this with the Friday The 13th Collection and it looked awesome. Almost bout it but couldn't justify $25 for a case.

Neil M.

I think 500 is way too many for any one title. I would probably go a maximum of 50 until you build a fanbase. In all seriousness, you would want to model yourself after Mondo. They've built up their fan base over time. Or you could just do timed releases where the run is determined by how many people buy the Steelbook. That actually might be the best way to do it since you'll have people buy extras so they can flip them in the future and you don't have to sit on inventory. I'd be willing to invest in this business. I just wish I knew more about licensing.

Paul_SD

The thing about the Mondo stuff is- if I were going to go that way (my own original designs/art) I would have much less problem doing this, as well as doing short runs.
For one thing, the Mondo stuff that I've seen generally uses a limited amount of colors and it's mostly line art. That kind of stuff would be relatively easy to silk screen myself (I did silk screening briefly 20 years ago, so I already have a little familiarity with the process and system).
In terms of licensing, I'm not positive but I believe that if they aren't using the official studio-designed logos for the films, and aren't using their supplied art, that they are able to dodge trademark laws there. Obviously for properties like SW or the Universal Monsters, where the studios own the designs of those characters and have those designs trademarked, using those in any way in a design (even as a silhouette) is stepping on the trademark. So there is some licensing involved, I'm sure.
Unfortunately what I'm thinking of involves full process colors whose tolerances are more severe. When you add stuff like spot varnishes, the printing is well outside of my "garage" abilities. And a short run becomes very expensive. I agree 50 is a much better run than 500, but then we are talking upwards of $100 per case at the least...and that's probably my cost not the retail price.

Before I investigate licenses I wouldn't mind knowing what kind of costs I'd be looking at as far as materials and printing go. That aspect alone might make this a non-starter.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts on this, whether yea or nay.

milo bloom

I say I would be interested, but I have to admit I would probably end up only buying one or two cases like this. Maybe for a title with really dreadful original packaging, or maybe to combine a few movies in a franchise that were released by different labels.

I have a few of the Paul Champagne metal boxes, but most of them are just on my shelves and not always displayed.

Josh Z

Was going to mention Paul Champagne, but Drexl beat me to it. Is he still active? I bought a couple of his DVD boxes back in the day, and was a little disappointed that his process of printing on the metal left the image a bit blurry. That could be a challenge here as well.

I have bought Steelbook cases on their own as part of Best Buy preorder incentives, and then followed through with purchasing the disc elsewhere.