I don't expect anyone to understand this any more than I do but . . .

I'm just trying to understand if there is a material difference between these two versions of WIZARD OF OZ, which have the same UPC code, and are both 155 MINUTES in length:

The so-called "SPECIAL EDITION"

The alternative, for about 1/3 less . . .

To make matters worse, on one comparison site I saw no less than (yes, this is not a lie) 13 different UPC codes for the same version of Wizard of Oz!

And if that wasn't bad enough, I've seen the term Special Edition used for one product on one site, and using the same UPC code it is not listed as a Special Edition!

I just . . . I'm ready to lose my mind!

If you don't want the fancy box and the little insert paraphernalia — you just want the most feature-rich version of WOO — can anyone here give me a bullet-proof identifier so that I can query these Half.com sellers about what it is exactly that they are selling? Because if it isn't UPC . . . and it isn't the TIME LENGTH . . . and it isn't the studio (because that much I've figured out, it's Warner please God that's true heh) just how the frack can a person tell what he's getting?

MISS PEACH


I won't even mention the threads I read on Usenet stating that half of these Warner Bros. WOO's were defective.

I don't understand where they get 155 mins, unless they add up the special features. Running time is 101 mins. The one I have, UPC 1256951232, was purchased at a regular store.

First off, you can’t trust listings on [no longer] half.com. People will list without regard for UPC. Sometimes that’s because they don’t have a proper listing and we have to get “creative.”

Note also that there’s a disclaimer on the page that all might not be as stated in the official description.

The UPC that TomOpus listed is the same as mine, and those you linked. You got yer pic, and a buncha extras, including about 6 hours of audio tracks. That version is in a snapper, the cover of which folds out. I think this is the one you want. If that's not enough, I can put you in touch with a Cairn Terrier rescue in your area.

You can send a question to the seller(s) to ask about any or all of the above.

Or you can buy it new from Deep Discount DVD for 15 bucks including shipping (bet you didn't factor shipping in, didja?) and move on with your life.

It can be rather confusing (especially when dealing with those re-selling)....

UPC 012569521223 was (as it is out of print) known as the either the "Gift Set" or the Deluxe Edition. Packages as a box set and had an original MSRP of $49.98


UPC 012569512320 is known as the "Special Edition". To the best of my knowledge the disc contents is identical to the above, but without the extras....


One wonders if the DVD Case in the Deluxe Set is the same that is sold individually and thus might have the UPC of the Special Edition....

???? I just checked Deep Discount and they have it listed as $18.73
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/redir...fier=WBD065123

Circuity city has it for $12.99.

That's my bad. I had a discount applied that I didn't know about.

They probably mean the original mono track is not on there, though I believe it's still listed. The current disc only has the 5.1 mix.


And I have the big set mcarver showed. I'm pretty sure it's just the DVD thrown in the box, that's how they do all the other deluxe sets like that. It's pretty nice, the script is interesting as it has a lot of dialogue that's not in the final movie.

Mcarver . . . hey, thank you for such a thoughtful response.

Now, when you say without the extras I presume you mean the physical extras (?) Please confirm that you you are not referring to additional digital extras (footage, soundtrack, trailers et al.).

And may I also ask, since Half.com lists one with Dolby SS and the other lists almost no detail . . . Does the Special Edition version of the Wizard of Oz indicate "Special Edition" anywhere on the packaging?

I'm not trying to nitpick, I'm just trying to understand how many different flavors of WOO there are. Special, Deluxe, Collector's (and then, I must presume, there was a version of WOO against which every other version is weighed ha ha). There are four right there God help me. Oh to have this assembled on one page somewhere. If only someone had a website that was devoted to DVDs and had a specific web page called VERSIONS that listed the feature differences.
I'm grateful at least one other person acknowledges just how confusing this is!

MISS PEACH

The reason I am buying (anything) on half.com is because there is a hard-to-find DVD on sale there that would be outrageously overpriced were I to venture the purchase on Fleabay.

I'm waiting patiently for a $15 off $50 Half.com code for the express purpose of getting this one DVD just mentioned, and I need one other for filler.

I assure you, if it were possible I would pay nothing for these DVDs by using my Barnes & Noble Rewards. As fate would have it, my taste is too ecclectic for most of what B&N offers.

I'll ask you what I asked Mcarver: Is the term "Special Edition" printed anywhere on the box? Because all else being equal, how the hell do you tell what you've got? It's kind of pointless to ask the seller when I can't tell him what it is I'm looking for.


MISS PEACH

Warner Bros. only released one version of the Wizard of Oz disc which is the special edition. And it doesn't say "Special Edition" on the box cover. Just make sure you're getting the WB version and not the old MGM disc which has been out of print for several years.

You could also just wait for Warner to give it a 2 disc special edition treatment. They will eventually.

God Bless You D-Ball!

Honestly this is a nightmare. Well . . . at least anyone else doing time with a WOO purchase can search for this thread and get their arms around it.

So I gather in Half.com's infinite indifference there isn't a spit worth of difference betwixt their two listings. Which means that some poor fool will see the feature-rich version and think it's different from the unadorned one tsk.

Thanks D-Ball. Now we'll see if I can grab one of the last 15-off-50 coupons before Half.com disappears into the ether next year. (sniff boo hoo)

Yeah, we complain about old Half . . . but won't we miss them when they're gone! tsk. Well, I will. I cannot count the thousands of dollars I've saved on out-of-print books that would have bid into the deep ozone if subjected to the buyer-hostile paradigm that is Ebay.


Miss Peach

I agree. At least the shipping is standardized for the most part. I also prefer selling stuff on half. I'll be sad when it's gone.

I will also miss them when they’re gone. The ability to list items for an indefinite period is a big plus with me.

I’m a little bit sore at them. I had a Lion King vhs to get rid of before the new release. They only had one listing at the time, and I listed along with an explanation and a pic I stole from Amazon. After that they added a coupla more listings (including the correct UPC for mine) and changed the one where I listed to “Spanish dubbed.” Mine sold, and – guess what – I had to deal with a return/refund and got a neutral feedback out of it. Oh well.

But friends . . . surely there will be some other site that will take up the (not insignificant) slack?

I expect EBay to do the most grasping thing and hold onto the name Half.com just to spite everyone and make sure no one else can get it. They aren't so vain as to sell it (which is what I dearly wish they would do, to be rid of them once and for bloody all). If Ebay thinks that by shutting down Half.com they are going to sucker me into their auction paradigm they are presumptuous in the extreme.

No, I have to believe that someone will take up Half.com's slack — at which point plan on Fleabay turning on the spigot once again some years down the road and reintroducing Half.com when the masses finally realize how tilted in favor of the Seller their auction paradigm is, and flee to some of the other nascient sites that are trying to simulate Half.com's Classified Ads model (Nextag, etc.)

Miss Peach



Still, I'm buying my books like there's no tomorrow heh heh.

Amazon is doing a similar thing.