The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

The ones I was talking about were Spanish imports which they still sell some of on the site.

edit: Also, if you are planning on buying some stuff during next month's 50% off sale, pick up a Membership because you get an extra 10% off and a couple other things. It used to say on the site what it was but doesn't. I sent an email so I'll come back with more details when I get them.

man*machine

Very true. Full Moon fans can fool themselves all they want, but Band clearly doesn't have the rights to these films. He's playing legal loophole games and Paramount has just given up in the matter. It's just not worth it for Paramount to pursue such minor income for these crappy old direct-to-video genre films when they are dealing with huge revenues from mega-blockbuster films. I'm sure Paramount retains all the original negatives and masters for these Band productions and that's why Band (with his corrupt entertainment business history) has no other choice except to create new so-called "import" DVD releases taken from old substandard video masters instead of the original elements - he simply has no access to the original masters so these crappy DVD versions are all he can supply. I'm glad I don't like most Band or Full Moon features ("Pit and the Pendulum", Castle Freak", and a couple of others I do like). Otherwise, I'd be p*ssed off that Band is saturating the market with crap versions of all the Full Moon films. Would Paramount put them out themselves? Maybe not. But a company can own a product and do what they want with it - and a bootleg is a bootleg.

So basically, if you want VHS dubs on DVD of these movies, snatch 'em up! They're not authorized, but you get the movies on DVD so I guess that makes most fans happy. It's unlikely Paramount will do anything with these films anyway (especially after Band's blatant theft and saturation of the market with his 'import' copies) so go for it! Don't worry about legalities, ownership, moral issues, or actual rights - as long as you get your DVD, that's all that counts! What a great society we live in.

Carcosa

Ouch! That seems just a bit harsh on folks who just want to see movies they like. I hardly think its fair to be putting the moral weight of the world on them for such nonsense. Are nearly ALL of my pretty large selection of DVD's legit? You bet. Do I have a moral or ethical issue buying a bootleg when a "official" disc is not available? Not in the LEAST, I was THRILLED to get a decent copy of KING KONG on DVD off the net, and was thrilled to replace that 4 years later when WB finally released it.

Hardly on the level of screwing another man's wife, aborting ninth month babies or cheating on one's taxes.

jmj713

Why can't Band just get the rights to the series back from Paramount? I'm sure the price can't be too steep, seeing as how the studio doesn't seem to want to do anything with the property at all. I would think he'd like to release them in new transfers with special features and commentaries and such. That would be a dream set. As much as I love the PM movies, I'll hold off for now.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

They aren't VHS dubs. I own them and can actually see the quality as can others. I also have some VHS tapes I can compare them to. What you're actually thinking of is laserdisc transfers.

He isn't doing anything illegal.

From what I've read, he at least got the rights to sell the old Puppet Master box set. Before it was sold again, people were saying what year the rights switched back and during that year he started selling them again.

He clearly has rights to sell import versions of his movie and is doing that while making it easy for people in the US to cheaply afford it. In a dream world, it would be nice if the same was done for other import versions of movies like the uncut Friday the 13th. Paramount, crappy company it is, didn't bother to get the best version for it's Friday the 13th box set and just went with the easy to use rated version.

man*machine

You must be his lawyer.

OK, then - you read it on-line and some people said something. That's proof enough for me!

Imports that he creates himself in the US.


In any event, I didn't mean to come down hard on fans buying these sets as I do know there's really no other option and Paramount isn't doing anything with the films. But don't set Mr. Band up as some sort of messiah as if he was doing these releases solely for the fans. He's in it for the money.

xfilekr

When it comes to Band and Full Moon if it requires money he's not going to do it.
We'll never see SE of Puppet master movies, etc.
Personally I seriously doubt he has any of those rights and is just doing this stuff under the radar and getting away with it because its such a small cult following. Imports my ass- put a kangaroo logo on it and it's an import!
Don't get me wrong- Love the movies, but Band has gotten cheaper and cheaper and cheaper and the product has gotten progressively lamer as well. The puppet master replicas are a bust too as far as I'm concerned. Another example of CB being as cheap as possible and trying to get as much as he can for it.
Oh well.
There isn't a website that details the history of Cb and his various companies, etc is there? i think that would be a pretty fascinating read.

Lastdaysofrain

I believe there are still money issues with Band owing some stuff to Paramount. He does not own these movies (which is a different issue) and uses this "import" thing as a loophole. These ARE the same transfers as the VHS releases (they might look a bit better than the VHS releases, due to VHS vs DVD resolution) they are clearly from the same exact masters.

Carcosa

Yeah...I don't know much about Charles Band and I'm not on his...er...BANDwagon (sorry...couldn't resist). He may very well be the world's biggest asshole and have seen some mention of that as I've poked around the net, but it seems to be just scuttlebut from those probably not in the know. It has been mentioned that a few people that have worked with him have not spoken kindly about him...so there may be something to it. Either way...he is no messiah to me either...

Carcosa

I agree...I think he's doing it TOTALLY under the radar. If he wan't, the KANGAROO thing wouldn't be needed I guess I just don't have any troouble with it since Its the only option available.

I understand Man Machine's point...Band is probably responsible for the plight he's in with these films and is not the victim of the evil movie machine (Paramount)....yep, probably true.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

If you're going to be an ass about it, show my your sources where he doesn't own the rights. I'm guessing you won't and you'll just give some other response where you insult me.

I guess he's my messiah because I've bought some of the movies I like.

I would be shocked if a SE ever came out.

I also agree about those replicas. If they all get made I'll be shocked. They've put out statues of some of the puppets where they have a background and base that connects but they only made Pinhead, Blade, Six Shooter and Tunneler. Then they stopped. Same with the bronze ones they did except they stopped after two.

I know of the regular statues they only made 1990 of them but I managed to buy them really cheap during a sale. I plan on doing the same with the replicas because it's stupid to buy them at full price thinking they'll run out when you can wait and get them for 60% off later.

As for an import company, all you have to do is set up a company in name only and pretty much just say they make the movies. There's no problem, in my opinion, in doing what you can to get the movies out. Paramount isn't going to ever do anything with them and I'd much rather have a digital copy instead of tapes that wear out.

jmj713

Why? When they sell off the current boxes, what else is there to do?

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

"Find" more or make new copies of the old ones but sell it in a new Kangaroo box? I'm sure they could make a cheap box and use cheap cases like the other box sets.

I guess there could be a good version since some satellite hd channel called vroom aired a remastered widescreen version.

Julie Walker

There may be some rights issues with Paramount. For example,how long was the deal for Paramount to distribute the films? Did Paramount finance any of the Full Moon productions or did they pick them up after being produced independently? And if they were pick ups. Did Band sell the films completely to them, or did he sell them for only a limited period of time?

If Paramount financed the films,they may hold the rights for good. If it was just a pick up distribution deal. Depending how long the contract was. Paramount would still hold the rights until their distribution agreement expires. Who knows,maybe Band signed a 20 year deal with them?

Intruder, Brain Damage and Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh were all distributed by Paramount on VHS. And all three have been released in R1 dvd by independent companies. Intruder was from Bands new Wizard Video whatever company. And I think it may be a 'legit' release. Since it was originally supposed to come out in the early 2000s,but Paramount stopped it. Since they still had the rights to the title. And now I assume since no 'import' business is played with the release. Paramounts rights expired and Band went through with the release.

Toddarino

Sorry to bring up and old thread but I was wondering if paramount versions exist in dvd form? I was as a local used store and saw parts 2 through 5 individually. I would have picked them up, but I knew they were out of print and didn't want to play a fortune for part 1 on ebay. So did I just see this boxset in broken down form? Or were they released one by one?
I guess I'm just concerned about the bad transfer of the set when if I apply myself I can find them used individually again.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

Some were released separately but I don't think all of the ones in the box set were so I'd guess it was a broken up box set.

Transfer is going to be the same either way.

To answer Julie's question from over a year ago, they went with Paramount for VHS distribution. When Full Moon did the DVD, Paramount claimed they also owned the titles themselves so the stuff got recalled. Eventually things got settled and they started selling their DVDs again and started putting their crap up on iTunes.

joltman

To my knowledge, here's all of the Puppet Master releases on DVD:

• Puppet Master 1, 2 and 3 (individually released as Spanish subtitled 'imports')
• Retro Puppet Master, Curse of the Puppet Master, Puppet Master: The Legacy, Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys (individually released)
• Puppet Master 1-5, Curse and Retro (released together in the box set)
• Puppet Master 1-3 (released as part of the Full Moon Archive Collection)
• Puppet Master in 3-D (appears to be an unofficial release of the first movie in, from what I've heard, not very good 3-D)

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

I own it and it's not good 3D at all. I only watched the first few minutes so maybe it gets better but from what I watched, it was the same as if I used the 3D glasses on a non-polarized image.

gogogadget

Is Full Moon stuff valuable or collectible? I have the original box set, several action figures, and more, because of a family member who worked there in the late 90's. Are there any pieces I should keep an eye out for?

Carcosa

Hard to say whats actually valuable at this point. Nothing like it was at any rate.

Paramount did NOT release any Puppetmaster DVDs...only VHS and laserdiscs. Koch was the acting distributor until Paramount put the kibosh on them, since Band-Koch didn't actually own the video rights. I had seen the box sets selling for over $300 on eBay but those days are looooong over it seems. I do think its pretty interesting how many undiscovered boxes of the Puppetmaster keep turning up in the Full Moon warehouse. I'm guessing the Ark of the Covenant and Jimmy Hoffa are probably in there somewhere.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

I made some decent money selling the action figures I found from Big Lots. The only way to really check is see how much stuff is being sold for on ebay.

Lastdaysofrain

I see the Action figures in every comic book store bargain bin I ever look through.

jmj713

I suppose a remastered set of all the movies, with Puppet Master 10 due sometime this year is still a fantasy?

Gizmo

It will likely never happen.

jmj713

Gosh darn it.