MojoLists

When it comes to buying many of the available TV on DVD collections, I just don’t get it. I have a few TV shows on DVD and for the most part I have been happy with them. What I don’t get is the need to watch Sanford and Son again and that is one of the better shows available today.

If it was ever on the small screen it is most likely available on DVD and now many are making their way to Blu-Ray. Has no one ever heard of Tivo? These show are available out there, I have seen them in my Sat guide. As a serious collector of movie media I understand the collectors bug, perhaps it's the cost of sets that puts me off. I can justify the cost of the Sopranos and many of my favorite Sci-fi shows, to a point.

I am a big fan of the Stargate  franchise, both SG-1 and Atlantis, but even my serious collectoritis hasn’t convinced me to buy these. I probably just lost most of you but I do like my Sci-fi and it is one of the few things I can still get my 15 year old son to watch with me. I won’t be buying these anytime soon however because they are on TV, all the time.

I did a cost analysis of lowering my DirecTV subscription to the minimum and starting to purchase the shows we watch on DVD or Blu-Ray. It didn’t pan out however as the cost of these TV sets is high, besides, it is pretty tough to avoid spoilers until the set comes out.

I hang my head in shame when I admit to owning all 5 seasons of Andromeda, a series that forced its writers to work with a special effects budget of about $75 an episode. It is one of my guilty pleasures though so I will accept the ridicule now. I guess I do in fact understand the desire to own many of these shows, at least if you really loved a series but is there really any joy at all in watching Survivor again?

Amazon has always been a leader in offering great deals on media and these Blu-Ray discs for less than $10 sale is no exception. Of course, there is a catch, as always, in this case, you have to buy multiple discs, and the more you buy the more you save.

Just choose discs from the generous selection. Buy three and save an additional 30%, buy six and save an additional 40%, or buy ten and save an additional 50%. Pretty simple and it appears that Amazon hasn’t raised the normal price of the discs for the sale.

I picked up Death Proof and Planet Terror, both of which have greatly improved picture and sound compared to their DVD release. In addition, I grabbed the first season of The Universe, a favorite of mine along with three other picks and received the full 40% off. I couldn’t find ten discs I wanted but the choices in this sale are pretty good, I highly recommend checking them out.

Disney chief Robert Iger suggested in a recent interview that Disney needs to raise their prices on Blu-Ray discs. I was shocked and more than a little disturbed by this, not that I think it would last long if attempted. Where the Iger’s thought does worry me though, what if people kept buying?

Blu-Ray prices are already high and Disney is near the top of the pricing lists already. I have always written this off to the fact that Disney makes superb, even amazing Blu-Rays, from picture and audio quality to their interactive features. They rock the Blu-Ray world and even include the SD DVD version in many of their Blu-Ray sets. I am willing to pay for this convenience sometimes, at others times I figure I can wait and buy when prices come down.

Disney holds its movies in a vault for long periods, only releasing classics for short periods, which keeps their value up.  Many of their classics are worthy of this and I understand the idea of maintaining the value of these movies by releasing them at intervals that bring the magic of Disney to generation after generation without wearing the movie thin. I wait for these releases and relive moments of my childhood, often with my young nephews.

The scary thing is that raising prices across the board on Disney Blu-Rays hurts the consumer, especially in these tough economic times. Disney sales will drop and that is the last thing Blu-Ray needs right now, it is important to at least keep things where they are, not move backwards.

I hope Iger and the rest of the Disney heads realize the power they hold and make a decision that will help ensure their classics are shown in the best possible format available for generations to come.