Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

I'd say bootleg. Amazon usually indicates somewhere if a product is a DVD-R or manufactured on demand.

Or someone just putting the item under the wrong listing.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

It will be interesting to see how VCI responds. The only VCI DVD-Rs I've seen for sale were at Oldies.com and I'm assuming they were legit and released by VCI, though I believe some of the titles were still in print as pressed discs. ???

This MOD trend which appears to be spreading like a virus to smaller companies is very disheartening and is causing me to pick up as many pressed copies as I can afford before they all go to the horrible paradigm that WB has wrought upon us.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

Indeed. I will post VCI's response here when it arrives.

My followup question (rhetorical for now) will be if their DVD-R's are distinguishable from their pressed DVD's using just the fine print on the package, i.e. when dealing with Marketplace sellers who potentially have old stock. I recently noticed a lot of sh*t that's gone out of print and am scrambling to fill my own library. Thankfully I have a region free player and can shop around more than some. Although that doesn't help much for titles like old movie serials...

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

I'm a serial fan too Tao. I know it's a long shot, but do you have any 1st hand experience with Gryphon Entertainment (Amazon incorrectly lists them as Kojo Pictures) releases? They're an outfit from Australia, I believe, and they have released several rare serials on three disc sets! Here's a couple:

Pirates' Harbor - Republic Serial - 3-DVD Set
The Adventures of Sir Galahad - 3-DVD Set
The Black Widow - Republic Serial - 3-DVD Set

They're cheaper if you order them from a dealer down-under, but I can't find anything about the quality. The only review I was able to dig up (for Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, here) said that "The episodes which are 30 minutes, have been compressed and squeezed onto 3 disks. The video is quite poor and artifacted (sic)" which doesn't make much sense since the episodes are only 20 minutes and even if they were 30, it's not hard to put 4 episodes of that length on a DVD without running into problems. Of cource that doesn't mean that the guy is wrong.

Okay, I've hijacked this thread enough for one evening....

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

I'm afraid to say anything good about Roan right now but............... They do have a very nice Undersea Kingdom if you can find a real one.

Since Amazon themselves have it back in stock it likely is pirated also.

http://www.amazon.com/Undersea-Kingd...0937240&sr=1-2

I am so glad 95% of my Roan collection was finished before this BS started.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

The Roan DVD-Rs that are cropping up aren't "pirated." They're put out by Troma (the company that owns Roan for any readers that may not know.)

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

Do you know that for a fact? Last I heard, we've been given conflicting statements from Troma.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

I contacted the Director of PR at Troma and she told me that they are putting out the DVD-Rs. She's high enough up in the company that she'd know, and I can think of no reason that she'd lie about it. (And every reason that she'd want to discourage people from buying pirated copies of their product.) I'd say it is a fact.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

They must be selling the DVD-R version or they really screwed me.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

Something Weird has been going DV-R on some of their releases - for me, Olga and Johnny Firecloud/Bummer. Bummer it is. I have two DVD players, one flat-out rejects them, the other plays but with a whole lot of pixilated badness on the picture.

Cleaning up old business from a thread I do not want to bump, I got a pressed copy of Pre-Code Hollywood: The Risque Years from an Amazon seller for < 20.00 that had only a few fingerprints on it, so I'm happy with that.
When I went to catch up on my feedback for other purchases, I saw the canceled sale from newtownvideos (the guy who strung along Moo/4 and I for over a week) and I was able to leave feedback for the experience.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

Johnny Firecloud/Bummer and Olga are Image releases, so it shouldn't be anything other than a DVD unless you got something else.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

Something Weird has always offered DVD-Rs of rare titles that never made the cut with their IMAGE agreement. But they switched to all DVD-Rs a couple of years ago and severed ties with IMAGE as far as I know. It's news that they are coming out with previous IMAGE releases on DVD-R though. I didn't know that and thought they were still just doing more obscure titles from their own catalog and website.

As for serials, I've been very happy with all the ones I've bought from VCI and have found them to be the standard bearer for serials in general.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

I've bought some Image titles directly from them recently and they were DVDs and they've also been really good about distinguishing what titles are DVD-Rs. That's what seemed odd about it.

I have a promo copy of Evil Bong 3 that I popped in my PS3 a few days ago and it was saying the disc was a DVD-R. Doesn't look like it at all but maybe it is. Full Moon might be going that way too or just with promo material.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

if that's the case my entire problem is with both Amazon AND their 3rd party sellers for not id'ing the dvd's as burned. As the rights owners, Troma obviously has the right to sell burned discs.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

Good for you! in my experience of emailing sellers, it seems that most sellers carrying the Roan sealed titles are drop shippers who can not examine the physical product; so used is likely the way to go on these from now on.

To repeat myself, it really sucks that they're not being id'd. At least with WAC's, MMOD, etc we know exactly what we're buying.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

I have also been scrounging eBay for used, especially if they say they include the insert. Usually a good sign it's original and not the DVR. Wish you luck on the hunt.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

Both DVD-Rs I got had inserts.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

Again, I'm really glad I'm so close to being complete. used is such a crapshoot on the net as to condition & I'm pretty fanatical about scratches.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

VCI Sale at DD. Not great prices, but DD seems to be the only place that ever puts VCI on sale.

VCI SALE

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

Don't forget to compare prices with the sale VCI is doing now. Info posted a page back.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

My last 3 dd orders I've had to return at least one item due to a dd error.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

I've have horrendous issues with DD this last month. Over 77 DVDs ordered, 6 received.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

No one replied to my VCI email, so I decided to call them just now. I spoke to a very helpful woman with the sweetest southern accent,who appears to be their lone customer service person. She had forwarded my email to somebody higher up. It's true: VCI is now selling certain items on DVD-R. She said they actually started several years ago. I asked specifically about one of the serials mentioned in my Amazon link, Undersea Kingdom, and she was able to tell me they started manufacturing it on DVD-R in December 2011. (I asked about another, and Buck Rogers is still a DVD.) Unfortunately neither their web site nor the packages reliably state which is which. But she also said that she's willing to field these questions. I expect that management will eventually opt to post the information on the web site (at the very least), to cut down on inquiries. I'm off to investigate buying some used serials... :(

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

Guess I better hurry up & buy the Prowler while it's still a real disc.

Re: Official VCI/ROAN/ALPHA Bargain Thread
 

VCI is a family run company and I believe only has something like 16 employees. I have had nothing but good experiences with their customer service, but it's true that their E mail responses can sometimes lag.

I used to love this company, as much as I and others on this thread love Roan, but starting last Black Friday with their somewhat lackluster sale, then reducing the E mail sign up discount by half, not listing prices on their new site without having to click on each title and now this news about moving to DVD-Rs, I have to admit I am disappointed in the direction they are heading. Obviously everyone is trying to survive this economy and we all know DVDs are fading away, but VCI seems to be inadvertently alienating potential customers when they should instead be courting them.