GatorDeb

According to CCC, lowest it has ever been.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Spiderbite

Dang. I have often wanted to get this monster and dig into it. Never seen an episode but have heard so much about it.

Anyone have views on it?

stingermck

Do it.

It is a monumental challenge. I bought it a couple of years ago without seeing an episode and did not regret it. I am about 2/3 finished with the series. For the money you get an incredible amount of value for it.

Spiderbite

Are there any other stand alone releases or movies that you need to get to complete everything or does this have it all?

stingermck

It has it all, though there were 2 movies released during the show.

House of Dark Shadows takes several of the early story lines and condenses it down to a 90 min bloody horror film.

Night of Dark Shadows takes the cast from the back half of the series, cast in different roles and is loosely connected to the show.

Both are worth a watch and are available on DVD and Blu.

Spiderbite

Thanks for the info.

So where those releases all new filming or just excerpts from the TV show edited together? When do you watch those? After you complete the series?

stingermck

All new filming. I watched them sometime during the watching of the show. It didnt take away anything from the show. Barnabas acts completely different in the movie then the show. You can look at them as a parallel universe story. Not necessary but worth a watch.

Spiderbite

^Thanks again!

Ordered!

stingermck

Awww yeah!

rbrown498

I am completely on the fence about ordering this. When the complete set first came out several years ago, I figured that I could pick up the previously-released volumes a few at a time, used, for good prices. By doing this, I thought that I could have the entire series eventually for much less than the complete series cost.

So I started in on it. I've bought all of the Dark Shadows: The Beginning sets, and the first nine sets and a few others of the series once Barnabas hit. I haven't tallied up how much I've spent so far, but I think that I'm averaging about $10 per set...and I've got 18 sets, with another 14 to go.

Two issues complicate my getting the rest of the series in this manner:

1. I'm having great difficulty finding a lot of the remaining sets for under $20 a pop.
2. At least four of the sets that I've bought so far have been bootlegs with inferior picture quality, even though they came from reputable dealers. When I informed these dealers that the sets I had received were bootlegs, they didn't believe me, because THEY had bought from reputable wholesalers. To make a long story a bit less long, I don't want to keep running the risk of getting bootlegs.

So...do I get the coffin, or do I continue to try to find cheap sets? It's not like I've run out of episodes to watch yet; I've only seen the first 35 episodes, so that doesn't play into the equation. I could conceivably wait months, even years, to buy the rest of the sets. But because of the two issues above, should I bite the bullet and buy the coffin, even if it means rebuying over half of the series?

Decision time--your advice?

stingermck

Buy the coffin. It the 2nd largest DVD set produced, so for collectors it is a great set to own. I think each case holds 8 disc, so overall it saves a lot of space too. You get the full episode book too. Plus you get it all in one shot, rather than collecting. And with a series like this I feel it may get harder to find one day.

Or look at it this way. Its 18 cents per episode, with a count of 1,225 episodes

davidh777

If you were still enjoying the hunt, I'd say keep at it. But it sounds like you're running into more frustration than anything, so I'd say get the coffin. You'd probably save money in the long run, and might be able to recoup some cash by selling what you already have.

rbrown498

Thanks, y'all! I think that you've convinced me to go ahead, bite the bullet, and get it. And you're right, David, I can always sell off the collections that I've already got. Even if I don't sell them off, buying the complete series at $225 for the remaining 14 sets that I don't have works out to a little more than $16 per set, which is cheaper than I'm currently finding them. Win/win!

Quack

What's the largest?

PhantomStranger

I would love to own this set but I know I would never get around to watching 95% of it. This is a set I would love to say I own but it's still on the pricey end for me as a casual fan. There is no way this type of monster DVD set would be made today.

stingermck

Prisoner Cell Block H, with 170 DVD's

ntnon

Is there a US release..? I can only see an AUS one for $900...

bsmith

You are probably safe with the Amazon DOTD listing, but even with large sets like this there are counterfeits making the rounds with the coffin and all. Several were bit by cheaper listing by marketplace and ebay sellers. I remember one buyer saying they received a knock-off and when they complained the seller said to keep it and they would send another. That says something about the cost of the fake sets to produce. The easiest way to tell was the rather flimsy coffin and that all disks were single layer instead of dual layer.

I picked up the limited set when first available. I got through a little over a 1000 episodes before taking an extended break. I've thoroughly enjoyed it but one has to understand what they are getting into. It is still a soap opera in structure so the pace is very very slow when you think 260 episodes per year. Most episodes are taken in one shot so mistakes are common and the acting can be a bit over the top. But the gothic feel is original and sets it apart from any other soap. Some of the original elements are lost so expect a few kinescopes to appear from time to time. As interesting and unique as it is, DS is not for everyone.

Spiderbite

Thanks for the info.

I am up for the challenge...though it may take me 10 years!

ProfessorEcho

My local library has the entire series and I've been slowly watching it now for a few years, with extended breaks between story arcs. Even though some of my grade school friends were tuning in everyday after school when this series first aired, I never watched it. So it's all been new to me.

I actually enjoyed the show more before Barnabas joined, but it maintains a level of interest and intrigue after that, depending on the directions they choose to go in. I'm at a point now where it has gone into some really ridiculous story arcs and it necessitated my taking a long break. The worst part of it is that once they latch onto a running story, it can take months of episodes before there is any resolution to it. That causes some serious dragging, which makes wanting to start it up again tough. But I am persevering and would like to own the set one day, but it's still too pricey for me even at yesterday's discount.

stingermck

The first 200 or so episodes before barnabas, that focus on Vicky are fantastic. I too am coming back after a break, and just started the 2nd time travel storyline. Only 184 episodes for that arc!

davidh777

Are these half-hour episodes instead of an hour?

rbrown498

Well, they ran in a half-hour time slot, but the length of each episode is 20-21 minutes.

skywalker8

I bought the set on Amazon two years ago - I think it was $250 then, believe it was a deal around Black Friday. My wife and I didn't start watching it until January of this year (last year I watched all of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and I wanted to finish that first). We've been watching it, sometimes more regularly than other times, and have gone some months without watching it at all, and then other months where we watch a lot of it... It is now late October and in almost 10 months we have watched just over 200 episodes, one episode away from Barnabas' arrival. We figured this would be something that would take us about 5 years to get through. Hopefully we'll end up at around episode 250 by the end of the year.
So far we've enjoyed it a lot, although we always figured that it would become very different once Barnabas arrives.

Spiderbite

Got the set in today. Damn it is pretty! Very nicely packed as well.