madmoose

I've been wondering actually How "rare" some of these movie packages say they are. Saving private Ryan has been on my local walmart shelves for 3 years and it says super limited edition right on the front. The spiderman gift set is selling for $19.00 at my local walmart and when it came out it was 33.00 and "super limited". So whats the deal with all these?

bboisvert

Marketing 101. Saving Private Ryan is probably the worst offender. The "Special Limited Edition" has been in-print for over 4 years.

C_Fletch

You could say "Super duper limited edition" And it still doesn't mean JACK SQUAT!!! Just complete marketing BULLSHIT!

Brain Stew

Usually the things that are the most rare are the ones that are not marketted as rare or for collectors. (i.e. TV Guide Collector Editions)

MEJHarrison

If the packaging implies that it's rare, it's a safe bet that it's not.

Jackskeleton

The words Collectable, Rare, Limited Edition, etc have become whored out. they mean nothing in today's world. they want to play on your memories on how comics became collectable back in the early 90's. But they forget to tell you that the only reason why they became so profitable was because those comics back in the day were disgarded and thrown away by there owners and owners mothers thus lowering the chances of someone finding a copy that is in mint condition. The number of actual owners went down and the demand went up. The moment comics started with the labelling of "collectors edition" things died because now everyone was buying those CE's and when the market is over saturated with said items, they become worth crap. it's all about supply and demand. Movies are the same. you get titles like Salo that are worth a grip and in limited quantities and you get the situation that it is in... everyone wants it and supply can not catch up. Market experts see this and play upon your common misconception on how the collectors market works. they want you to believe that you are getting something that is rare or hard to find so that you will be more willing to drop you money on it in a moments notice.

Don't believe the hype. the words are meaningless and 9 times out of 10, if it says those words it is far from ever becoming anything of a collectors item.

gutwrencher

I think I only have 1 dvd that is rare. that would be Bava's Rabid Dogs. not only is the dvd super tuff to locate....but since the rights were sold and a new film is being made out of it.....it will never exist in the current form again. as for all the others....they will all be rare once they all go oop. look at yer entire collection with a future eye and it's all limited!!

jayson1017

Usually the special limited edition dvds have some special supplement that will be available for a limited time. But, as Jackskeleton stated above, its all about supply and demand.

hugo1000faces

http://www.theonion.com/onion3710/ev...llectible.html

Fok

Would you consider Bad Taste rare? Each case is individually numbered. I haven't seen Robocop CC for a while either.

Rat Faced Killa

that makes me quite sad, as a fan of Spaghetti Crime/Thriller movies and Bava. Wish I would've got this one.

Jackskeleton

Numbered at what though.

Cowboy bebop box set was limited at first to 9,000. that number in itself is huge and considering the supply and demand, all those who would have wanted it, got it.. not to mention that they bumped up the number to 15,000 + so that in itself was a self destructing "collectors item" because the market was already saturated with it.

Lets take another example.. Army of Darkness. I have in my hand right now #4248 of 30000... Now you say it must be worth something since it was numbered.. but look at how many were produced. that number alone, 30,000 is well more then most smaller studios can produce of other films on dvd. Let alone the fact that there is many different versions of this film released already that essentially make up the same exact items of this one with the only difference being that mine has a different cover with pretty numbers on the back.

Numbering means jack shit in the long run because after a while, the numbering in itself becomes yet another marketing toy to trick you into thinking that you are buying something of great rarity and importance. Of course there is those few instances were this isn't the case, but over all, it's just another marketing trick.

As for Robocop CC was not limited, they had a good run and I'm sure if you look hard enough in remote locations and suncoast in malls not many go to, you can find it. Now why was it considered rare? the extra blood and the name Criterion Collection on it's case. hee, you see most folks come to think that anything that bares the name CC on it is an instant seller on ebay for three digit figures. I brought up the case of salo earlier. this was a rare instant were they produced some and then stopped. supply was not meeting demand and thus you have those who demand it paying a lot of cash on ebay for it.

Bad taste came out in two versions. they meet demand of those hardcore fans of the film by releasing a good amount of copies of those limited edition versions, but I do recall they released a normal version and thus meet demand for those who weren't willing to pay the extra.. for the extra's.

Numbering on sets is nothing but another empty promise that it will be worth anything more then what you paid for it. sometimes demand peaks after the intial run has ended, sometimes they crank out more, sometimes they don't. that is when the market picks up for it. It's not a certainty. So don't assume you are investing in anything other then entertainment.

gutwrencher

just look at the Herzog/Kinski collection.

fnordboy

How is the Cowboy Bebop set a self destructing collectors item? I could sell my empty box from the set on ebay right now and get close to 200 for it. This was/is probably the most sought after anime DVD release so far.

Kinyo

The only movie I consider to be rare is Salo.

speedy1961

I consider my copy of Trailer Park Boys rare as I've never seen this series anywhere in the U.S.

Darryl

On occassion at horror conventions you'll find the Rabid Dogs DVD for sale, and the R2 SALO is still easy to locate. The only time I had seen the Criterion Salo for sale was at Kim's Video in NYC - and the box was on display in the window, faded cover and all... I was fortunate to pre-order Salo when it first was announced from buy.com and used a $10.00 off coupon too (those were the days!). I'd say the rarest title I own is the UK Warner Bros. Wicker Man box which was limited to 5000 numbered sets (and I'm not even sure how difficult it is to find).
The UK Amicus box set is a worthy find too - great collection, also limited to 5000, but still available since it has only been available for a few weeks. I highly recommend it.

Jackskeleton

Because a fool and their money are soon departed. Ebay buyers are the easiest to fool with these items. they are the ones who want to buy into the whole "collectors" crap like flies on shit. Another factor comes into play here, anime in itself prior to the inclusion of a box with one of the disc was a market were you either bought all the disc in singles and not get a box when the box set does indeed come out or you just waited for the box set. In either case, these are just rush jobs. hell the ebay prices were like that when you could actually find tons of these in stores for some reason. People are just lazy I suppose. In either case, give it a couple of years and when the next wave of either HD dvd versions come out with there own box set or another set comes out, the price will drop so much on this. Look at Laser Disc, how much do you see the Nightmare before christmas collectors box going for on ebay? How about the other giant box sets? they drop down in price a great deal when the next best thing.

The example on cowboy bebop was more along the lines of showing how #'s mean shit in the long run since they pimped it out as only 9,000 and then turned it into 15,000 without making much hype about it. Hell I'm willing to bet that there was well more then that produced.

But Ebay should be no way an indicator on how much items are worth.

fnordboy

The Bebop set I would say was produced close to those numbers (though I would bet on more then they are saying), it is very hard to come across one nowadays. One that I say wasn't released in the limited number that is claimed is Boogiepop Phantom Ultra set. Supposedly only 2300 were made yet I know RS sold out about 600 of them atleast, and every Best Buy I go into has atleast 5 on the shelf. I will watch the inventory move...and lo and behold a few days later there are another 5 on the shelf. It is ridiculous.

Of course there is always someone out there who will pay outrageous amounts of money for something. I still don't say that the CB set was self destructive. That is probably the most successful LE release. Escaflowne was self destructive. That is still fairly easily found.

There is no indicator of worth, except what you think it is worth to you. On the other hand if you want to sell it, ebay is good for getting the maximum market worth for it...and then some.

gutwrencher

I keep forgetting about my signed and #erd copy of I Drink Your Blood. if true....I'm only one of 500 who got a hold of a copy. I'd say thats pretty rare.

Gunner

The star of the movie, Bhaskar died on 9/03/03. If you have a signed copy (as I do) you will not find the studio releasing this movie with all of the signatures again.
This is an extremely neat collectible for this genre of movie.
DO NOT SELL.

TomOpus

I was going to post about this too. I wonder how many of those 500 are owned by fellow DVD Talkers

gutwrencher

yeah....that was sad. and dare I say....satisfying when I thought of him signing the dvd just prior. in a morbid way....it made the dvd more special.

btw...I never sell/trade titles from my collection. I buy for a reason and each title in the library serves it's purpose. if I recieve an "already own" gift....or obtain a worthy upgrade....I may get rid of a title. even then...I'll maybe give it to a friend or employee.

gutwrencher

thats right, TomOpus! that thread we had goin' a while back showed a ton of member support. I wonder how many tried but were too late?

celluloidwisdom

Some of the Creative Design Art editions are rare -- especially those that include signed and numbered items as part of the package. I have 2 copies of the Linda Blair-signed CDA EXORCIST set (I believe 500 were available; one I acquired by pure luck -- the eBay seller didn't advertise it as a signed edition, but I'm not complainin'...).

Of course, rarity doesn't necessary equate to a higher dollar value, but I certainly consider those DVDs "collectibles," and I'm happy to have them in my collection.