My sentiments exactly.

It's not going to change any time soon.

As others have pointed out, the studios are in this to make money, and the consumer is going to take it up the arse no matter what.

The only option you have is to not buy the seasons and wait until the complete collection is released... of course when you do that, you run the risk of having so many other people not buying the individual releases that the studio just says "oh well, there's no interest for this show on DVD so we'll stop releasing it" (Night Court, for example).

My own problem with the practice is additional extras. If they release it all together from previously released material, no problem. It is when they tack on 4 disc of extras (look in your direction Stargate SG-1) is when the consumer gets the shaft.

Boy that didn't take long...my argument is proven right here:

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Dr-Katz...es-Extras/8202

So they release two seasons and then decide to do a series set with plenty of extras? Well good thing I didn't buy the first two seasons.

I don't mind. I sold my 5 seasons of Six Feet Under online and with my exployee discount, ended up breaking even after buying the Complete Series. I will do the same with Seinfeld too, and probably The Sopranos if that comes out next year.

Even though the total cost may be more, it's easier for some people to buy 6 seasons at 30 bucks each over three years than a megaset for 140 at one time (generally months or years after the individual releases).
I don't have a problem with it. Virtually everything "tech" drops in price as time goes on, and sometimes has added features (someone mentioned videogames, there was a big difference between launch PS2s and the slimline ones).
Having an exclusive disk or disks of extras only in the megaset is definitely annoying, I think it should be made available by itself for those fans who helped subsidize the megaset by buying the original seasons.

I do dislike "best of" or themed sets, at least at the expense of full seasons.

cowboy up

Or it could be like Gilligan's Island and Wonder Woman where they release it as a complete set and there aren't any extras.

to me, this is quite similar to when a music label puts out a hits compilation of a popular band that has 1 or 2 new tracks on it. to expect a fan that already has everyone of the bands albums already to buy another cd just for one new song, I think that practices such as these drive people into illegal downloading. My biggest problem with the video publishers is when they put out the 1st season or 2 of a series and then stop mid-stream because they dont find it profitable enough for them, perfect examples of this are mad tv and hbo's dream on. my feeling is that once a studio commits to put out a series on dvd, if they dont get the full series out within a certain time frame, it should automaticly become public domain for whoever chooses to put it out. if they dont find it profitable enough to put out, I am sure there is someone else out there that would.

It does annoy me somewhat, but only because studios don't offer you the opportunity to buy the packaging separately and/or bonus disc through a website or something.

But do you want to take the chance that they may not release the entire set? If its a show I really like I won't. I don't want to take the chance that the old seasons will go out of print and my only option is to overpay or buy used on Ebay.

It doesn't really bother me when they release entire sets. Maybe if they released extra bonus features or something on one of my favorite series then I might get a little annoyed. But I'm not going to freak out if I already have a series and then they release a new fancy box set. I'm not going to upgrade for a fancy box.

While I don't think the studios need to apologize for trying to get reasonable money from their product -- sorry, releasing a complete series box set is not double-dipping in my eyes -- I do think they could be accommodating. Take the X-Files set for example -- it is designed, clearly, to contain the inside digipaks from the existing season sets. So yes, I think selling the collector's box and any box set extras separately so fans can slide the digipaks out of their slipsleeves and stick them in a box sounds reasonable enough.

As Nateman stated, there is no guarantee that a certain series will sell well enough to warrant the entire series being released let alone a complete series set.

Also, I only see this being an issue if the complete series set has alot of additional extras that the individual sets didn't have. But, most people who buy TV on DVD are fans of the TV series, not the extra features.

Besides the special (usually condensed) packaging of a complete set, this bothers me as well. Generally I don't give a crap about extras and would never double dip for them alone, but in the case of the Brady Bunch complete set bonus disc, they actually threw in full length TV movies and cartoon episodes that will most likely never see the light of day on DVD separately. So I ended up buying the complete set as well as retain my single sets for the lenticular covers. These marketing people are geniuses. They know people won't want to wait years to get a complete set, while the episodes are sitting on the shelves, available to be viewed now. Yet, these same people are usually fanatical and want to be completists. Win, win for the studio (and the consumer, I guess, as long as you're loaded).

Of course when the single season sets don't sell because people are waiting, how do we get the complete sets then? King of The Hill anyone?

If you are a fan of a show, why would you want to wait three or four years at minimum for a complete series to be released together just to save a couple of dollars?

Look at it this way. All of the people that buy the Megaset will be in your position when the "HD Megaset" versions are released, and you'll have a better excuse to make the jump than they will.

Quoted for Truth.

Like I said earlier, for a TOD Collector, when someone says, “I’ll wait for the Complete Series set”, is one of the most annoying things people can say. If you like the show, PICK THE FU*KING DVD UP ALREADY!, your not going to be living in the poor house if you do so.

Agreed. Not to mention there is NO GUARANTEE there will be a mega-set of any show (except maybe Seinfeld). If people don't buy as they are released, what's the studio from stopping the releases altogether? Not only do you not get a mega-set, but you also don't even get finished series on DVD, which is a far worse problem, IMO. I'm currently waiting for more NYPD: Blue and Mad About You. :(

I could care less about the packaging, but the bonus discs of extras stings a little in these instances. At any rate, I wouldn't even know where to begin with a 54 disc boxset(Stargate). I'd much rather watch as they are released then trying to tackle something like that.

Doesnt bother me. I check tvshowsondvd every day. As soon as a complete set is announced, my seasons are on ebay about 5 mins later. So far ive done Buffy, Angel, Wonder Woman, and Miami Vice.

I love the megasets with added features. I have brought Alias, Buffy and I plan to buy the Gilmore Girls and OC. I sold off my regular sets which covered or came close to buy the megaset.

doesn't bother me a bit. I buy what I want when I want it. A few extras, a different box and some "new & improved" box art won't get me to pull the trigger a second time. I don't mind if they release them completely at a later date. As long as I have all the same episodes, I'm good.

Back in the early days when Season sets were being released, people were happy just to get a full season and not just some select episodes (like some of the shows did). X-files was the first show I bought and paid a premium of about $90 for Season 1. At the time (in 2000) I thought it was a fair price considering the retail was $150. Nobody knew then how successful these were going to be. I was just happy to have the "whole season" and couldn't wait to get more as they came out. If I had waited for the megaset, then I would not have had the pleasure of watching all 9 seasons over the last 7 years. Did I think it was expensive? Yeah it was but I'm a fan of the show so it was worth. Forward to today and I have sold off all my season sets to get the megaset. Why? Besides the extras, I wanted to save shelf space. I've done the same thing with ST:TNG, Alias, Monty Python shows and the James Bond Movies. The best part is either I covered most of the cost (ST:THG), broke even (Alias) or covered all the cost and make more money (Monty Python, James Bond and likely X-files) by selling what I have.

I don't really see a downside to re-buying the whole series if you clear out what you have. I did originally get alittle twisted about the Alias complete set since I thought the Rimbaldi Cube was a cool idea so I contacted Buena Vista to see if I could buy it seperatly but they said it could not be done. So I said F--it and sold what I had to justify the re-purschase.

I not a total completist to have 2 sets of everything so I don't mind letting go of any DVD (with some exceptions on Criterion versions).

Next on my list to "megaset" is Bablylon 5. You know eventually there will be one.

I'm a fan of X-Files, but not big enough of a fan to pay $80 per season to own it. I waited until the price came down to around $20 per season. Just because I liked a program enough to enjoy owning it doesn't mean that I'm willing to pay an unlimited price for the product. Either they'll reduce their asking price to what I'm willing to pay, or I'll happily do without.

Anger issues much?

If I choose to wait for a complete series set it's because 1) I know the studio has a good chance to do that 2) it may not be a show I want to watch right away 3) my unwatched pile is becoming a living entity unto it's own. I have bought season sets with the full intention to watch them ASAP but they are still unwatched because it's really hard to find the time to get through all my DVDs. 4) If it's a studio that has good sales (such as Fox or Warner Bros or A&E) then I know I will get a GREAT deal on them later on, and will likely be able to get two series for the price of one later on.

From a collector's stand point, it's not about one series putting me in the poor house...it's just I'd like to stretch my dollar. Is that a freaking crime?

I know somebody who HAS to have the new season sets when they come out. He doesn't have unlimited funds. So maybe while he's picking up the new season of Heroes, I am picking up Veronica Mars and Boston Legal from last year for the same amount of money he's spending. And later on I will get Heroes and something else for the same amount of money he spends on another new series set.

Realistically, I can't watch all these shows right away so it just makes sense to wait and get better values later on since they would sit unwatched anyway. I got over needing new series right away on DVD long ago when I realized all I was spending extra money was to have the set sit unwatched in my apartment for many months on end.

Wow...they don't have that out yet? It's not a show I follow, so I had no idea, but they have had the series set available in the UK for a few years now.