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Some chat about Canadian stores

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Some chat about Canadian stores

Old 11-07-11, 08:34 PM
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Some chat about Canadian stores

Originally Posted by Brian T
This will only be of interest to Canadians I'm afraid, and only then Canadians living in Ontario with a Sunrise Records store in their city. I found these sets at the Toronto flagship store on Yonge Street this afternoon. I don't think they've ever been this cheap in Canada, let alone on the U.S. Amazon site (although they've occasionally come close; but then there's the whole shipping-across-the-border costs if you don't have a U.S. mailing address). As the title sez, I saw sets 15 through 20 (set 19 has the Gypsy figurine) today, plus the 20th Anniversary Set for $29.99 each. If you're a member of some membership club they have, you get them for $27.00 each, but not sure what the club costs are. The flagship store had plenty of copies of each set, so I don't imagine they'll be selling out anytime soon.

Sunrise's website doesn't list most of their DVD stock, so there's no helpful link to post. Obviously, this could be a "your mileage" situation, depending on where you live, as Sunrise only has 15 stores left in the chain:
http://www.sunriserecords.com/storeLocator.php

.
Too bad all the cool record shops on Yonge have either shut down or are about to. Sunrise is going to be last man standing and it was my least favorite store, though I always stopped in. I used to go up to Yonge once or twice a year, catch a show and dig through all the record shops. I don't even bother going up there anymore since the shops have fallen.
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Old 11-07-11, 11:12 PM
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Re: Sunrise Records (CANADA): MST3K XV - XX + 20th Ann. Sets $29.99 each

Originally Posted by Pizza
Too bad all the cool record shops on Yonge have either shut down or are about to. Sunrise is going to be last man standing and it was my least favorite store, though I always stopped in. I used to go up to Yonge once or twice a year, catch a show and dig through all the record shops. I don't even bother going up there anymore since the shops have fallen.
Well, I did find these there, so it's certainly worth the trip for those who want them, since I they'll doubt they'll find them cheaper anywhere else in the city, or the province. Or the country. Frankly, I haven't gone downtown just for the record stores since about 2002, and since there are plenty of other things to see and do either by car or with a TTC pass, I suppose I don't find it a hassle to wander through the record shops while I'm in the area.

HMV nearby has a small shelf of marked-down DVDs and Blu-rays where the occasional bargain can be found. Today I picked up FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION: JAILHOUSE 41 (this version: www.amazon.com/dp/B003VADSRI ) for $5.99. A nicely-priced replacement for the old American Cinematheque disc I sold for a huge profit many years ago. I also picked up the ROGER CORMAN 8-FILM COLLECTION (on DVD) for $15.00, from the regular shelves. Both Amazons (Canada and the U.S.) still want $37 for it ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SK5ZFC/ ) . It has been kinda nice to see HMV scaling down these past couple of years, too: some of their hipster goofball lifers needed to learn that "record store guru" was not a real career.

Sunrise is also the only place in Toronto that actually stocks massive quantities of the Archive DVDs from Warner, Sony and MGM (yes, those awful, terrible DVD-R's you slag via your sig). They're overpriced, just as they are online from the source, but it's nice to peruse them looking for titles to grab during the $10 online sales.

But yeah, obviously the days are numbered for Toronto's record stores—all record stores—but I don't think they've collectively "fallen" as much as you suggest, and I say this based on having been down there on a semi-regular basis. There are even a few die-hard indie record and video shops still chugging away in various neighbourhoods (albeit wheezily I'm sure).

Truth be told, though, I've had a U.S. postbox for over 15 years now, so I do the vast majority of my disc buying online from the U.S. (where I've undoubtedly saved thousands of dollars over the years). If anything, the brick-n-mortar stores are little more than catalogs to me, at least until I stumble across some gems like I did today.

Last edited by Brian T; 11-16-11 at 12:12 PM.
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Old 11-13-11, 08:58 PM
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Re: Sunrise Records (CANADA): MST3K XV - XX + 20th Ann. Sets $29.99 each

Yeah, a big stock of Archives doesn't inspire me to head back to Yonge.
I loved my trips to Toronto and did a lot of things there. I would get a subway pass and get off different stops and check out what was around. Great fun and a great city. The record stores made it even better and I'm sorry to see them go. Loved Sams and A&A and later HMV. Tower was great and all the little record shops on Yonge. Sunrise never did it for me. Sams and Tower are gone and soon HMV. Glad to hear there are other shops elsewhere.
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Old 11-14-11, 03:47 PM
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Re: Sunrise Records (CANADA): MST3K XV - XX + 20th Ann. Sets $29.99 each

I wasn't trying to entice you with Archive titles. They're there. If I'm there, I look at them, read the back covers, and leave them there, adding titles of potential interest to my iPhone list and ordering them when they're on sale at WBShop. Otherwise, I let DVDSavant do most of the work for me, and peruse the website once a month or so. They're overpriced, even online, but the WBShop sales make them so easy to pick up, and allow me to see tons of movies that, for all intents and purpose, you probably want to but never will.

Picked up another MST set at Sunrise this weekend (while doing other things downtown, as usual). When I paid they gave me a coupon for $5 any purchase, so I went back and grabbed another set for $24.99, at which point the clerk slipped another $5-off coupon in the bag. Sure didn't hurt to go downtown that day, and since I'll be down there again this coming weekend, well . . .

I probably shouldn't bother posting deals I find in Toronto stores, rare though they may be. This isn't the first time that doing so has resulted in gripes about how it ain't what it used to be, even though it kinda still is. Those lamenting the closing of "all" of the city's record/video shops is clearly unaware that many of them are still open. Stores that are "about to close", as you say, are by definition still in business, and thus might be worth visiting if that's your thing (it hasn't been mine for many, many years, frankly — never really got much at the indie places even in their heyday). Unless the lust all died for other reasons? Time? Money? Distance?

A&A was pathetic for years before it went boobs-up after expanding way too fast and offering an increasingly weak selection, so you must be going back decades for your fond memories. Tower had the best selection of all the majors, but was an overpriced joke with silly, pierced tat-clowns for staff. Certainly both chains died long before the web was a serious threat. The rest will follow suit some day, but for now, they're still part of the evolving downtown Toronto landscape, but should never be the principal attraction, then as now.

Last edited by Brian T; 11-16-11 at 12:13 PM.
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Old 11-14-11, 04:15 PM
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Re: Sunrise Records (CANADA): MST3K XV - XX + 20th Ann. Sets $29.99 each

Yes, A&A was indeed eons ago, I've been going to Toronto for several decades. Still, Tower and Sams are recent casualties. I remember I was in HMV and mentioned the loss of Tower and the record clerk told me of Sams troubles. The clerk at Sam denied it and they were still there on my next visit and then...gone. HMV is reportedly going bye bye too, I believe by the end of the year. I loved Sams so much that I took pictures on one of my last visits, just in case. It made them nervous and asked if they should be concerned. I said, no, I'm just a tourist and I love your store.
Good deal on the $5 coupon at Sunrise. That would keep me coming back too. I still won't touch those Archives and if I could, I'd send them all up there to you in Toronto. Feel free to indulge.
And, I love MST3k. Killer price! I'd jump on those if I was nearby.
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Old 11-15-11, 01:50 PM
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Re: Sunrise Records (CANADA): MST3K XV - XX + 20th Ann. Sets $29.99 each

Originally Posted by Pizza
I'd jump on those if I was nearby.
Had a feeling your main issue was distance. Clearly these stores were a major motivator behind your trips into the city, but I'm betting you have as little need for them as I do (and never really did), considering that many of them are still in business.


Originally Posted by Pizza
I still won't touch those Archives and if I could, I'd send them all up there to you in Toronto. Feel free to indulge.
Well, they all seem to be here anyways (can't say I've seen any in record stores I've visited out in the sticks), but I will indeed continue to indulge, only not at Sunrise's inflated prices. The Warner online sales are a blessing: I can pick them up for $8 - $10, watch 'em, rip 'em, and flip 'em for upwards of twice that and still undercut the ridiculous prices at Sunrise.

BTW, you might want to stock up on pressed studio catalog DVDs as best you can since a LOT of former "legit" DVD titles are being shifted into the archives, which could drive up the prices of the respective pressed discs as they go out of print. You stand to miss out on a whole lot more as MOD grows . . .

I guess I just don't (and won't) miss the "old days" of rummaging through stores with limited and/or used selections the way it seems that you do, but a bargain's still a bargain and worth posting here. I became an Amazon/iTunes/Toronto-Public-Library loyalist years ago, found more selection at all three than any store could match, and saved a mint in the process. I'd have thought going downtown strictly for record stores was at best a novelty, at worst a waste of time, even 10 years ago. If I go by certain record stores while I'm downtown, I go in. I don't go downtown for the record stores. I may find the occasional deal like these MST sets, but any time I enter Sunrise or HMV, it's simply to physically fondle the new releases, then leave with a short list of stuff to buy later online or get for free from the TPL.

Oh well, hopefully some other Toronto-based DVDTalk readers are able to take advantage of these prices, at least . . .
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Old 11-15-11, 02:55 PM
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Re: Sunrise Records (CANADA): MST3K XV - XX + 20th Ann. Sets $29.99 each

I doubt that MOD will phase out DVD, but even if it did, it would be a very short run. And, I've been grabbing the titles I want on DVD. Your report on Sunrise is the first I heard of any B&M actually having them. Certainly doesn't change my opinion of Sunrise.
Shame you live so close to what was a great record/CD haven and didn't appreciate it while you had it. I certainly enjoyed and embraced it more than yourself and I'm not a local.
And you should appreciate that at least I took the time to respond to your thread even though I'm not from Toronto. Up to this point, no one else has.
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Old 11-16-11, 11:55 AM
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Re: Sunrise Records (CANADA): MST3K XV - XX + 20th Ann. Sets $29.99 each

Originally Posted by Pizza
And you should appreciate that at least I took the time to respond to your thread even though I'm not from Toronto. Up to this point, no one else has.
Probably because you derailed it with your very first post, which was an unnecessary threadcrap. Not sure why I should appreciate your effort, really. I simply posted a good deal for fellow Canadians. I didn't anticipate any responses, actually. Many Canadian deals have been posted in this forum over the years without a single response, but many views. I find them helpful, and I return the favour once in a while. If even one or two Canadian members can benefit from a deal in their own neighborhood because of a post like that -- preferably without someone bemoaning the loss of some bygone era -- then I see no reason why other members shouldn't post them without incident. It's not like DVD or MST buffs within the city really care that "the scene" ain't what it used to be. A deal's a deal. Why turn it into something unpleasant?


I doubt that MOD will phase out DVD, but even if it did, it would be a very short run.
Strange. Who's been saying that? DVD has phasing out quite famously all on its own. MOD is a stopgap. How could a stopgap format possibly supplant a dying format? Mind you, nothing changes the fact that Warner is increasingly shifting titles formerly available on pressed DVDs into the archives with regularity. It was inevitable, really.


Originally Posted by Pizza
Shame you live so close to what was a great record/CD haven and didn't appreciate it while you had it. I certainly enjoyed and embraced it more than yourself and I'm not a local.
I appreciated it then, just as I continue to appreciate it now, obviously (unlike you). I just never made (or make) a bunch of record/CD shops with limited selection the primary reason for trips downtown, even back when I lived three hours outside the city, therefore I don't get all misty for the "old days."

Last edited by Brian T; 11-16-11 at 12:10 PM.
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Old 11-16-11, 12:18 PM
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Re: Sunrise Records (CANADA): MST3K XV - XX + 20th Ann. Sets $29.99 each

Wow. Pretty mean stuff there.
I did say it was a good deal and I love Toronto. And I am sad to see the record stores go. You zeroed in on the MOD stuff (yes, from my sig) and I responded, mostly as a joke, and I thought we were having a sincere bit of banter. I guess not. I noticed you seemed to get harsher with each comment. I meant no harm and I apologize for commenting in your thread and i will stay out from here on. Peace.

Last edited by Pizza; 11-16-11 at 12:23 PM.
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Old 11-16-11, 12:38 PM
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Re: Sunrise Records (CANADA): MST3K XV - XX + 20th Ann. Sets $29.99 each

Nah, just meeting your continual, unsolicited (and most recently likewise mean) inferences head on. No worries, though. I've asked to have everything after your original unnecessary threadcrap deleted, so that the original post about deal can stand the way it was intended to, without pointless editorializing. Fingers crossed!
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