Brian T

I got a slipless version of it, too, albeit at a used bookshop here. That was one title where the slip version sold out inexplicably fast, which really made no sense to me. I mean, other Kani slip editions from the same period didn’t sell out that quickly, and the film itself — while excellent — wasn’t exactly a title that Hong Kong fans were eagerly awaiting and/or just had to have with a slipcover. Weird what goes fast sometimes.

I’m planning on visiting the store this afternoon, mainly to throw a little business their way by getting a couple of titles. I’ve got some items in my cart on the website showing in CDN dollars so I can compare prices at least, and the store’s regular prices are always in line with the site (even after exchange). I’ll probably place a bigger order online tonight, though, because the site doesn’t charge tax to Canadian customers (yet!), which is kinda hefty up here, and their shipping to Canada is still less than the tax would be on a larger order. Plus there’s the points, which the store doesn’t offer but probably should.

DiggityDawg

I grabbed "Prey" & "The Doll Squad/Mission Killfast" .

Paff

Decided to hit up the bargain basement, the going out of print titles.

Decoder
Pale Blood
The Severed Arm
The American Scream
Solomon King

All were 10 bucks except Decoder, which was $16

sleepyhead55

Sigh. I got sucked in by the cheapie $10 ones and the going OOP FCE.

Pale Blood
The Caller
Breathless
Freeway

Was only interested in Freeway but I held strong and didn’t buy anything else in various other sales.

Brian T mentioned Bullets over Summer. I watched it prior to the sale . It’s definitely more of a comedy than an action thriller. I bypassed it because how much Law Lan annoyed me as a kid in those TVB dramas. She plays a similar character here , also not sure how much replay value I’d get from this film personally.

Paff

Am I the only one (of non-subscribers obviously) who now hedges on the two big sales, because the Subscriber Week prices are better? You just don't know which titles will be on sale though.

I've been burned on a couple of titles I spent over $25 for, only to see them go for $15 and lower at the Subscriber Week sale a month later. I held off on several this past weekend, in case they go cheap in July.

sleepyhead55

Yeah, I started to look at stock levels on certain items and trying to figure out whether or not they would get lower during the subscriber week sale as well. $10 is probably the lowest that they will price their BD’s so most people jumped on those that got price slashed.

Like I wasn’t paying $22 for Undeclared War if there’s a good chance it hits $15 or less. I like the film but there was still 600+ copies left.

Brian T

I still buy during both sales, but I definitely stock up more in the subscriber week sales and other deals between the BF weekends, so hedging is wise. Other than a couple of individual purchases online because I procrastinated too long and they were close to selling out, and two or three at the VS store here just to give them some business (and to treat myself since they’re just far enough away that it’s a nice day out), I’ve never otherwise paid full price for anything from them (or any other boutique, really), and the addition of those subscriber sales taught me to be wary of buying too fast. However if a title that I purchased at a higher price in a BF sale does turn up later for ten bucks or so in one of the others, I’ve sometimes purchased an extra copy to resell up here, because eventually everything does go out of print. Even though it means I’m technically throwing even more money at the same movie, the resale price — which can run fairly high over time — helps offset what I paid the first time around. So there’s some balance, I guess, and even a little profit.

I ended up with some doubles unintentionally this time around, though. I picked up three titles at the store during their version of the sale (which seemed to do really well):

MAGIC CRYSTAL
UNTOLD STORY 2
(used) BATTLE OF THE LOST PLANET / MUTANT WAR

I suspect both of those Hong Kong movies will turn up cheaper in subscriber sales, but since Hong Kong movies make up a massive portion of my collection, I’ll survive. LOST PLANET combo was simply super-cheap, so I should be able to regret the purchase less if they suck.

As I was leaving, though, I noticed that a bunch of titles from ‘departing’ partner labels were more steeply discounted at 35% off, although only the Culture Shock and Terror Vision titles were sticker-priced low enough (at $20) to ultimately match the discounts on the site. I picked up slipcover versions of . . .

VIDEO MURDERS
STREETS OF DEATH
MIND BODY & SOUL
NIGHT RIPPER
BLOOD, GUTS & SUNSHINE (documentary)

. . . for $13 Cdn each ($10 U.S.). Had I been smart, though, I would’ve checked my previous VS orders and realized that I already bought the first four — and a ton of others — for that price in a subscriber sale last year. D’oh! I guess that’s one of my pitfalls with their sales; I just keep adding more shit to my stacks here but don’t get around to watching them fast enough before yet another sale.

I’ve never heard of the BLOOD, GUTS documentary, but I’ve seen a couple of low-budget schlock shows from its director, so my expectations are kinda low.

Paff

Yeah, I did a last minute buy on Untold Story 2 late on Monday as well. I know it's a sequel in name only, but so what. It's 90s HK sleaze. It might show up on one of the upcoming subscriber week sales, but since I was gonna buy it regardless I just decided to get it now.

SterlingBen

Should I buy the Canuck bundle? Or wait?

Brian T

I was a little surprised they didn’t put the full Arcand trilogy in the larger bundle as well as on its own, instead of just Gina. Pricing seems pretty fair considering there’s some new-ish stuff in that bigger bundle. I guess the question is whether they’d be $10 in some sale down the road.

I was kinda surprised (or maybe not) that THE SADNESS sold out its 2000 slip copies so fast. Yay cardboard! The standard is getting low but I suspect that will be a repeat of the INTERMISSION game where the number will magically reset.