• Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Posted: **Sun Jul 11, 2021 11:08 am**

Strip out things like limited-run Steelbooks and similarly "collectible" box-set packages and I like to take a look every now and then at "regular", retail Blu-Rays that have gone out of print and might be worth something.

This Shout PINK PANTHER box has to be at the top of the list. New copies sell for $400, used above the $200-$250 mark...hard to think of another "retail" release as worthwhile at this stage! (Except Shout's HALLOWEEN box-set, which is even more in-demand)

Incredibly it remains the only release of all the Peter Sellers Panther films on Blu-Ray anywhere in the world -- and may end up being the only one considering the MGM sale to Amazon. (Unless another label is going to get involved in the very near future).

There was a solo release of the first film from MGM/Fox, but in the U.S., the Sellers sequels never saw a release outside this one (just as an aside, CURSE, SON and the Arkin INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU are available still from Kino Lorber).

Posted: **Sun Jul 11, 2021 11:08 am**

There was also a standalone Blu-Ray release of RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER in the UK because Universal (through ITC back catalog) controlled it (still does? who knows).

Posted: **Sun Jul 11, 2021 11:45 am**

Another one, sells $250-ish

Posted: **Tue Jul 13, 2021 12:57 pm**

AndyDursin wrote: ↑Sun Jul 11, 2021 11:08 am There was also a standalone Blu-Ray release of RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER in the UK because Universal (through ITC back catalog) controlled it (still does? who knows).

Andy I think that one is still with Universal, 99% of the ITC films ended up at Granada Carlton in the never ending take overs that happened, but just like Dark Crystal a number of films that Lew Grade did "USA deals with for co-financing" stayed with Universal, bit like the EMI films they have a hold on, Deer Hunter etc. The eagle had landed another odd ball it is with Network, but it seems still controlled by Granada Carlton, all very messy stuff really, as indeed who owns what usually is!

Have to ask, do people really pay these enormous sums for a disc? seriously it is the film industry eventually new people come in tenure & everything changes & things get a new release or life or license, it is just a waiting game. But I suspect some can not wait I guess?

regards
Andy b

Posted: **Tue Jul 13, 2021 1:02 pm**

Indeed, those are actual sold prices on Ebay (the asking prices are usually higher!)

Certainly a good sign right now for physical media becoming valuable if nothing else. If there's something that's niche driven, a Kino Lorber disc, etc., in your collection, it's best to hang onto it because those are the things that won't be reissued again -- and the best form to have it may be the discs you have right now.

Posted: **Tue Jul 13, 2021 1:47 pm**

I remember buying that Mill Creek Daimajin set for five bucks at Best Buy maybe nine years ago, and that's selling for $134 on Amazon right now.

That lavish new Arrow release might drive the price for that down, but it's still indicative of the value of physical media in the era of streaming. There are a number of Kino titles I ended up not caring for when blind-buying them, yet I'm keeping them in a drawer somewhere while they quietly go OOP and suddenly what I spent ten bucks on will be going for eighty on eBay.

Posted: **Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:02 pm**

DIAMAJIN is likely to plummet with the Arrow set coming soon but that's one more example!

There are a number of Kino titles I ended up not caring for when blind-buying them, yet I'm keeping them in a drawer somewhere while they quietly go OOP and suddenly what I spent ten bucks on will be going for eighty on eBay.

Even a disposable Cannon movie like 52 PICK UP is already at that level now.

We're seeing it already but Blu-Ray has the potential to become a very collectible format, especially since it's poised to be the "last stop" for physical media for a lot of films. Especially now with these mega-corporations consuming film libraries and people starting to freak out that MGM titles are going to get "locked up" by Amazon like Fox's at Disney.

If you're looking to do a fire sale of your discs -- now's NOT the time. Wait.

Posted: **Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:16 pm**

LOL. And I hated "52 Pick Up" so much as a blind buy I threw it away!

Posted: **Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:39 pm**

AndyDursin wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:02 pm We're seeing it already but Blu-Ray has the potential to become a very collectible format, especially since it's poised to be the "last stop" for physical media for a lot of films. Especially now with these mega-corporations consuming film libraries and people starting to freak out that MGM titles are going to get "locked up" by Amazon like Fox's at Disney.

This is what people who sneer at those still buying physical copies of movies or music in the era of streaming will never understand. A lot of this stuff will NEVER appear on a streaming service, or if it does will just be for a finite amount of months before it vanishes again (or it might be edited...withness Splash and Adventures In Babysitting on Disney+

). Once a movie or CD is on my shelf, aside from my apartment complex buring down or disc rot setting in (which has only happened on a very small number of CDs/Blus over the last 20+ years), those are MINE, baby, and they'll never be taken out of my hands and mutilated to remove "problematic" content.

Basically, if it's a movie you might want to see at least once more in your lifetime, it's worth buying an actual copy of. And even if it's not a good movie...buy it anyways for future selling/trading purposes, if there's even a chance of it going OOP. Hell, JoJo Rabbit, an Oscar-winning film that hit Blu and UHD all of a year-and-a-half ago, is already getting scarce.

Posted: **Tue Jul 13, 2021 4:44 pm**

Eric Paddon wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:16 pm LOL. And I hated "52 Pick Up" so much as a blind buy I threw it away!

I agree it's terrible. I thought it was OK when I rented it in high school but I thought it sucked when I watched the Blu-Ray -- and it has all kinds of people I like in it! (The score may be worse than the film...)

Posted: **Tue Jul 13, 2021 4:48 pm**

Monterey Jack wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:39 pm
AndyDursin wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:02 pm We're seeing it already but Blu-Ray has the potential to become a very collectible format, especially since it's poised to be the "last stop" for physical media for a lot of films. Especially now with these mega-corporations consuming film libraries and people starting to freak out that MGM titles are going to get "locked up" by Amazon like Fox's at Disney.
This is what people who sneer at those still buying physical copies of movies or music in the era of streaming will never understand. A lot of this stuff will NEVER appear on a streaming service, or if it does will just be for a finite amount of months before it vanishes again (or it might be edited...withness Splash and Adventures In Babysitting on Disney+ ). Once a movie or CD is on my shelf, aside from my apartment complex buring down or disc rot setting in (which has only happened on a very small number of CDs/Blus over the last 20+ years), those are MINE, baby, and they'll never be taken out of my hands and mutilated to remove "problematic" content. Basically, if it's a movie you might want to see at least once more in your lifetime, it's worth buying an actual copy of. And even if it's not a good movie...buy it anyways for future selling/trading purposes, if there's even a chance of it going OOP. Hell, JoJo Rabbit, an Oscar-winning film that hit Blu and UHD all of a year-and-a-half ago, is already getting scarce.

Exactly.

Physical media will always have its place because there will always be an audience for the best version of something -- and with streaming it's an even trade or often inferior to Blu-Ray because of fluctuating bit-rate and compression. Time is not going to change that, not unless the source itself gets remastered beyond what's on disc already.

For the lion's share of catalog films, most will never get remastered beyond HD (1080p), so what we have is the best we're going to get.

Posted: **Tue Jul 13, 2021 6:10 pm**

AndyDursin wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 4:44 pm
Eric Paddon wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:16 pm LOL. And I hated "52 Pick Up" so much as a blind buy I threw it away!
I agree it's terrible. I thought it was OK when I rented it in high school but I thought it sucked when I watched the Blu-Ray -- and it has all kinds of people I like in it! (The score may be worse than the film...)

Exactly! At first glance there are so many "old familiar faces" in it that it seems like it'd be worth viewing but my God, the film was just a monument to bad taste on all levels. Frankenheimer's insistence on endless scenes in porno shops that just went on and on made me turn my head away because I was feeling ill (It wouldn't surprise me if this also helped influence Denise Mathews, aka Vanity's decision to get out of the business and wash herself entirely of it). The premise of the plot was stupid (that anyone would cheat on Ann-Margret), the stakes involved were mere chump change, the ending was predictable and yes, an awful, AWFUL score. Sometime after "Black Sunday", Frankenheimer seemed to forget how to make a good film.

Posted: **Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:01 am**

Just randomly looked up The First Power, a Kino release I bought for ten bucks a few years ago. Now it's going for $135 dollars on Amazon. For The First Power

Who the hell BUYS movies for that much, even OOP ones?

Posted: **Mon Jul 19, 2021 10:54 am**

Selling for $40-ish on Ebay, which is a better indicator since that's actual price paid -- but STILL that's a hell of a lot more than that movie is worth!

Posted: **Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:16 pm**

I like the movie -- it's one of the rare horror movies my mother actually recommended to me, and we watched together back in the VHS days -- but it's amazing that a movie that took about five years to sell out and was bargain-basemented down to $10 at several points didn't become something people would pay a premium for until the magic initals "OOP" were put in front of the title.

A lot of Scream Factory titles are like that, they hit that five-year mark, don't sell any more copies, get put on sale for cheap, and the SECOND you can no longer get copies from the source, prices shoot up to staggering levels on the secondary market. And for garbage like New Year's Evil and Without Warning.

Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable

Re: Blu-Ray: The Out of Print and Valuable