Ranger

I hardly watch these shows, but I do think they're great shows. I was curious about their prices for their box sets, and saw that it was like $100 for just one season.

Is it fair to compare them to other cheaper box sets like NYPD Blues, 24, Buffy, etc? Why do they cost so much? Because of a more dedicated fanbase?

Chew

I think you should do a good search on this question. The responses got just a bit heated the last time price and quality of the shows you mentioned was discussed.

But, if you ask me: Paramount is just greedy.....

Ranger

Well, I did do several searches, but kept coming up empty, the closest threads was "The most expensive DVD set" and "ST:TNG you buying?".

Chew

Here you go, hope you have a couple hours.

CaptDS9E

I know the x-files is expensive as is has to do with all the people who get money from the show. I know David D and Gillian A get a nice size of the profit from all x-files stuff they are in. It was one of the main reasons David D left for a while as he thought he was getting short changed. Then i think he got even more. As for trek i would think the same reason .

capt

Ranger

Thanks. What a surprise it was 10 pages. That one was locked for length, do I hear bids for a part II?

jarofclay73

I was told that the X-Files and ST:TNG are "niche markets" and aren't expected to sell to a wider audience like Buffy or Friends. So, the price is marked up to recoup. As for ST:TNG, you have to figure in the large box it comes with. And you can find new season sets at Costco for about $85. As for X-Files, it comes in the same type of packaging as Buffy and my friend who collects both almost always gets defective discs. I think my friend now tries to buy X-Files used. It's way too expensive to keep up otherwise.

Jackskeleton

1 Hour show
a season which cost fox a grip to produce and recover cost
production of said dvd

Chew

Already done here

But, it didn't get any nicer.

JestersTear

I still maintain that the studio takes the "geek" factor into account, they believe that the fans of these shows are so rabid, they don't mind being screwed on the prices.

Jackskeleton

Can you really say you are being screwed over in this whole box sets? I mean you get a season full of episodes that are 1 hour long, in most cases you get behind the scenes commentary and production notes. It's a very nice package for the price if you ask me.

Bandoman

I would really like to get STS9, but at those prices I'm going to pass. I wonder if they'll ever come down in price.

Bcolon

X-Files: These were the first season sets to come out so I think Fox tried $150.00 (or whatever MSRP is) to see if the public would spend that much. They did. However the TV DVD product was almost nonexistant at that point. I think Fox realized in later releases Buffy, Simpsons, Angel that they would sell alot more copies if they were priced more reasonably. In addition, the people who buy the sets would not have been able to buy as many different series because of the $100-$120 price most places sell these for. I predict that1 about 6 months after season 9 of X-files comes out, Fox will do a price drop to the $70 dollar range to attract the people who skipped the series do to the price.

I also disagree with the person who said X-files and Star Trek were much more of a niche audience than Buffy. In its prime, Seasons 3-7, X-Files probably attracted 4 times the audience than Buffy did in its prime. Star Trek has been around for 35 years now and has a huge following, especially for Next Gen and DS9. I know the last movie bombed, but that has nothing to do with those series popularity. Don't get me wrong, Buffy is my all-time favorite show, it is just not as popular as X-Files or Star Trek.

The Star Trek series: As one of the previous posters said, Paramont is greedy. Plane and simple. Especially when they try and rationalize the reason we didn't get the nice plastic case Europe got by saying they wanted to keep the price under $100. Bull *****! They could have sold those sets at $75 bucks with the plastic case and still made a ton! Plus more people would have bought them.

That's my opinion anyway.

Incidently this is the TV I currently own on DVD:

X-Files Seasons 1-4

Buffy Seasons 1-4

Next Generation Seasons 1-7

DS9 Seasons 1-3

Simpsons season 1

I had to quit buying the X-files sets to when the Star Trek sets started coming out.

In addition, due to the low price points, I will probably pick up the Alias and 24 season 1 sets even though I have never seen an episode of either. I couldn't even think about that if they were a 100 bucks a pop.

Ranger

That's just what I'm wondering, doesn't many other box sets have the same thing? How many more episodes of The X-Files and ST:TNG had in comparsion to other recent TV shows on DVD? Also, can you get a link about how 'difficult' it was to put said shows on DVD? I won't argue the pricing for the Sopranos since that's HBO anyway.

Ranger

That's exactly what I think too.

laserdogg

I hate paying even the "street" prices these sets go for and I wince a little when I pick up the boxsets on sale the week they come out. I stopped buying that way and now haunt the used outlets as they always get the releases the same week or near enough.

Just today I was in CD Warehouse and a young woman brought in 3 NEW boxsets: STTNG Seasons 6 and 7 and X-Files Season 7. I know the store pays 20 - 25 per boxset so I offered her $35 for the X-Files set. She accepted of course and we both went home happy. That and eBay have saved me some loot on those boxsets. The STTNG releases were must haves, so most of those were snagged the week they came out from BB or online.

STDS9 isn't as essential, so I have been biding my time for those. The only tricky part is making sure I end up with the "Bonus" DVD discs that BB tacks on for the initial supply. I'v found 1 and 2 cheap and now I need to start looking for 3.

It also kinda adds fun to the hunt.

JestersTear

When there are other series, like 24, that are coming out for half the price?

The Star Trek: The Next Generation releases sucked for their price. A season and 4 "documentaries" that didn't add up to an hour total. Oh boy.

The Simpsons, which admittedly is only a 30 minute series, gives you a full season and commentaries for EVERY episode for about $35.

Yeah, I can say we're being screwed.

Jackskeleton

Then be a educated consumer and don't buy them. Just because YOU believe it's a crappy hand we've been dealt doesn't mean the rest of us believe that.

24 is a series with little syndication value. It might be highly rated by it's a series that has to sell at once and as a whole.

Paramount is just pretty greedy with what they have because of the fact that they are still clinging on these few money makers of Bond and star trek. Not to mention they are cranked out quickly so you really can't expect as much on the disc as you would if it was taken more time to get ready.

The X-files, for it's buck is one series that I don't feel screwed out of. it's good, not to mention I get them directly from the fox store for about 60-70 bucks. so it's not as bad for me. Just have to educate yourself on where to buy it for the right price and not feel cheated out.

MasterofDVD

Yeah....I mean only suckers end up paying the full price on these sets. If you go to a MediaPlay or Suncoast to buy these sets then they deserve to pay double for them. And I don't mean to tick people off with that statement.

I owe all the X-Files sets so far and even is I couldn't find then at 74.00-80.00 per set I would probably of bought them at any cost. When at its best it was a huge hit. I think it's a bit of a ripoff and a "screw you" to fans to price these sets so high but like I said.....shop around. True fans will cough up the money. And I have 7 times so far for this show. And they are some of my favorite DVDs in my collection.

danol

I can't believe you don't know the answer
both shows in their time were really popular to lots of folks who own analog.
The DVD sets are cong in what the OAR of 1.33:1.Patrick Stuart has sworn he will not put on another ST uniform which made him a house old name. X-Files was good only when Fox decide to vacate the series
since people didn't accept the new replacement the slow was doomed.


Take Hunter it was very populabe when the gall who played Dee Dee McCall left the series the replacement wasn't accepted.


There are sucessful TV series when a new replacement is accepted like in the The Avengers, when Honor Blackman quit Dianna Riggs filled the spot and was immediatly accepted, yet after she left and Linda Thorson came on the audience did't like her as they liked Dianna Riggs.



They tried again in 1976 but without Dianna Riggs the show went under in one season, even though John Steed was played by the same man with all 3 actresses.


The very popular show could have been a "Gunsmoke" which ran for 25 years, actor James Arness who played a FBI agent in the horror movie THEM in 1954 gained exposure and the audience ate him up for 25 years as U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, not 7 years like ST-TNG they stopped the very popular show to take the expensive sets to the big picture ST:TMP arrived 1979.


You get the modus operandi AKA method of operation, what goes up and stays up long after the series was stopped. Only in the box office flop did ST-TNG crew playing in Nemesis, knew it was the end.


Patrick Stuart goes back to Shakespeare and sees 2 young men in their starfleet uniforms was ready to cut their heads off
sitting in the first row of the theater.


Star Trek will go on and on in paperback novels when reading them you will hear the original stars on more voyages where man has never been before.

Bcolon

tasha99

Buy them off ebay or half.com. Then they're only 50-75 bucks a season, and you can recoup all your money if you resell them.

Jackskeleton

I think what he ment was that they can't produce more Star trek TNG and the films are pretty much dead for the time being. so they need to milk this for what they can since syndication prices by now are pretty low

X-files aswell. The show is over and how can fox really capitolize on the name and syndication if it's already been around the block a while. were as with fox can not make much more money off of so they need to get what they can for the time being.

either way, they were expensive to produce and it's a way the studios can get you.. but it's not a rip if you shop around and become a informed consumer.

Chew

I second that.

Ranger

So the studios doesn't get any money from networks paying to air reruns?