Only the single seasons (5) which I have them all. Over this past year they have been discounted heavily so I would imagine a Full Series set is a given in the near future.

I have been anticipating a complete series set of this as well and would not mind double-dipping at all if it's a nice package (and hopefully has some bonus special features). My mom is a big fan of the show too so I'd probably just give my current sets to her.

Completely agree. I've done it with Six Feet Under, Buffy, Angel, My So-Called Life (okay, this was a single set that I sold to replace with another single set, but still has relevance as being a re-release), Alias, Seinfeld, The X-Files, Strangers With Candy... etc.

In most of those situations SFU, Angel, Buffy, MSCL, Alias, SWC - I've made enough from selling my existing sets to cover the cost of the mega set, and then some.

In the case of Seinfeld, I'm about $20.00 short of the cost of the new set, but since I never bought season 9 it's like paying just $20.00 for the ninth season, a collector's box and the coffee table book.

I buy what I want when I decide I want it. If the studio decides to release a big collector's set down the line it's not like I have a right to complain. Nobody forced me at gunpoint to purchase the previous sets in the first place... and I like having the new sets that don't take up as much space, etc.

This just about sums it up for me. I like being able to buy a season set when I want, when I see a good deal on it etc. I dont worry about a future mega set coming out. In fact I dont own any mega sets yet, despite owning the complete runs of Buffy, Angel, Homicide and the X-files not to mention several other series that I own all the to date releases for. If i see it, i want it enough and it is cheap enough i pull the trigger. I like smaller sets as well. Space is definitely at a premium. I put everything into slim boxes, with custom covers. All those bulky angel and buffy old style set boxes are now in single width dvd cases, for example.

In the case of Seinfeld I am going to sell the individual seasons, however I am keeping the gift sets I got. Those are pretty bad ass and collector's items.

I try to stay away from the "mega sets" anyway since replacing a disk will be a bigger hassle if you get a bad one or something happens to it.

I don't regret for a minute that I bought X-Files as they came out. Sure I spent around $500 on a series that can be had for much less now, but I was also able to enjoy them on DVD much earlier.

Not to mention most of the megasets are weird shaped and not meant to be shelved.

Also, the megasets seem to be targeted at the more casual fan of series. As in, "Oh look, I can have the whole series of ****** for only $xxx.xx.

Personally, on shows I really care about owning, I feel it's better to support them upfront and help make sure they complete the run. X-Files was a pioneer in the TV on DVD genre for example.

The only thing that's bogus is when they put new extras in the megasets. Those discs should be offered to people who own the individual sets at a reduced cost.

I think your mistaken about comics, especially now. Sure back in the day people thought they where going to put there kids through college with the death of superman, but anyone who collects knew that wasn't gonna be so. But now, you definitly get your moneys worth through ebay. You just need to know what to buy. For instance Mouse Guard, or Walking Dead where both cheap when they came out a few years back and now you cant find mouse guard less then a hundred, and walking dead 1 is 65 bucks. Its not on the grand scale of the golden age, but somone can collect, and if purchased right support their collection with sales.

With tha being said, DVD's arent money makers. I mean I bought the Evil Dead, book of the dead. And thought it would be so rare, but now u can buy it for 10 bucks some places.

I missed out on Xfiles when it came out, so I only started collecting last year. I was a little upset that the series is coming out in a whole, but when I think about it I am already a few seasons in as far as watching, and I also look like more of a collectgor since i have all the single boxes instead of 1 big one.

That isn't typical though that a season set goes from $80 to $20, it is a Sci Fi TV Show deal where they charge outrageous prices for shows like X-Files and Star Trek because they know the science fiction diehards will pay for it.

But if it hadn't come down that far, I wouldn't have bought it. I have a limited amount of expendable income, and other things I'd like to buy. For $500, I could have bought something that was more fun for me than a set of television programs.

I disagree. The sets were that pricey because the VHS box sets were even more so pricey.

Fox sold the best of season sets for 45.00. I forget how many episodes there were...maybe 6 or 9...in each set but the price per episode was considerably high.

Paramount sold each EPISODE of Star Trek on video tape for 15.00.

The decision to set their DVD sets at the prices they sold them at wasn't to gouge the customer. Hell, if they were gouging the customer it was in the VHS sets. They were (and I do believe this firmly) trying their best to price the sets in a market that was new and developing. The sets were quite a BARGAIN compared to trying to complete those shows on VHS tape. Even at full MSRP, which I doubt very few people paid.

As the market for DVDs exploded, the prices had to come down. And so did movies on DVD (which cost $25.00-$30.00...and nobody whines about how studios were gouging consumers of certain movies because they could gouge the fans of that movie...it was a new emerging market). They could not sustain growth of movie and TV shows on DVD if they kept movie prices at $25.00-$30.00 each and box sets for $150.00 each. And a six disc box set for $150.00 when DVDs normally cost $25.00 brand new in that time period didn't seem at all unreasonable.

As the market exploded, and as the prices came down, it was inevitable that Fox would be forced to rethink their pricing on the X Files box sets. But when they came out, there were more reasons why they charged what they did than "because they know the science fiction diehards will pay for it."

And, come to think of it...it seemed like my spending money went much further in 1998 and 99 when new DVDs were so expensive and new TV show box sets were so expensive than it does now with the regular prices on these being much lower. And I made less money per year back then as well.

If I buy two half-gallons of milk, it's usually going to cost me more than if I buy a gallon, and it's going to cost me still more if I buy four quarts.

You almost always get a discount for buying in bulk, so there's no reason why a complete collection shouldn't cost somewhat less than all the volumes separately.

There's no real difference between the Complete versions of TV series and box sets like the Roger Corman or Vincent Price collection, in which a number of previously released titles are repackaged with one or two new ones in a boxed set at less than the cost of each title separately.

Older titles, whether they are catalogue titles that have been out a while or older seasons of TV series, rarely sell well, so studios are always trying to get additional money by packaging them in double features or sets or by adding adding a few features and calling it a Special Edition.

If you did buy the individual seasons earlier, you had the advantage of being able to watch them for a few years already. and there is no guarantee that there will ever be a boxed set anyway.

are there certain studios that are more likely to release series sets? i suppose that might also make a difference when determining whether to hold out for a possible complete package. or is it just popularity of the show and not necessarily studio? looks like fox (buffy/x-files/angel), sony (king of queens/seinfeld) and warner bros. (friends/west wing) do it quite a bit. these are all recent shows, and i don't know all series' studios off the top of my head, but i don't think universal really does this, and i haven't seen this from buena vista, so maybe that's a safe bet to get regular seasons from those studios.

i think also whether or not the series is still on the air makes a difference in deciding whether to wait or not. for something like desperate housewives, which creator marc cherry has said is slated to run 7 seasons exactly, you have a definite timeframe for when the complete series set (if there is one) would come out. for most shows, especially younger shows, you might not know how many years they show would last. i figured The OC would've dragged on for years even as its quality was declining, so i wasn't expecting a complete series set so quickly. a show like nip/tuck will probably eventually get a series set, but you don't know how many seasons it has left in it, so technically, if they keep dragging it on with last-minute renewals (nbc-friends-style, maybe) it could be years and years before you get the series set.

for me, that's one of the reasons i tend to get season sets. i can't wait to get complete series sets even if they are in cool packaging and offer more special features. i want to enjoy the show when i want and not have to wait until a show has run its course and/or gone through a lengthy season-by-season release to have it all at once.

it is a catch-22 (right?) in a way since people waiting for series sets leads to lower sales numbers, and lower sales can stop studios from releasing seasons altogether, this stopping people from getting the series sets they're waiting for.

and someone mentioned earlier that the series sets are geared towards people who DON'T have the season sets, but this is untrue. there was an article someone posted a few months back that quoted someone from warner bros. that they found a large percentage of people buying the series sets were people who owned the individual sets. i think the fact that they add an extra bonus disc or new packaging is specifically intended to force the crazed, if not rich, fans that will dish out even more money because they're so devoted. it's always about the money.

i remember buying the friends: season 10 dvd set and it having the mail-in to purchase the dvd case for all 10 seasons, which i did send away for. at the time, they actually sold the case with all 10 seasons inside, so people who bought the seasons individually technically got the exact same set that someone who purchased the series set got, packaging and all. then about a year later they released that red-box set that's now available everywhere.

i think the most fair thing to do and maybe even a way for them to make more money would be to offer consumers the extra box/bonus disc separately. i assume it probably ends up costing them about $5 to make the packaging? they can sell it for $40 (yes, $40 is a lot to pay for packaging, but i'm sure there are plenty of people who would glady pay that... better than shelling another $150-200 for a set of discs they already have when all they want is the box) and make plenty of money that way. will this ever happen? who knows?

i've resisted any type of complete series double-dipping so far, but there are some really nice sets out there now. if there ever are any crazy deals where the series sets somehow go for around $75 or less (like when best buy had the 50% off HBO sets and the sex and the city series set dropped to abour $90... decent price, but still a bit high) i might buy them just for collector's sake. when i think about it, i can't believe i would ever do that, but some of the packaging looks so cool (x-files, oc, king of queens) that if i had expendable cash, i might just give in during a moment of weakness.

The bottom line is you control your money. It's up to you if you think it's worth it to get the entire series set or buy each individual season.

It's not a safe bet. Universal is releasing Miami Vice. Buena Vista released Alias, and most likely will eventually release complete sets of their current hits like Lost and Desperate Housewives when they finish their run.

Does anyone every think there will be the option to get the packaging? Especially cause more Complete Series sets are same discs with new packaging.

What would be awesome is if the studios started including some sort of proof-of-purchase slip in the DVD case, so you wouldn't have to cut up your cover. Then, when the megaset came out, they could have an offer where folks who bought the individual seasons could send in their proofs-of-purchase and get whatever additional extras disc and megaset packaging. If giving it away for free is too much, they could at least give people the opportunity to buy the extra disc & packaging.

I have now noticed that several people have already suggested this exact thing in previous posts, and even that it has actually been done to some extent! Sorry for the redundancy!