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wondering
- Thread starter kingfish
- Start date
Shaal Mayan
Regular
You might want to try ebay or amazon's private seller list for lower prices.As for new ones maybe ,but Paramount needed for a long time to bring those price tags down .
Joseph DeMartino
Moderator
Paramount charged abnormallly high prices for their initial Trek releases (compared to other series) because they judged - rightly as it turned out - that the Trek fan base would pay what they asked. After years of having the sets available at these high prices they've picked off most of the hardcore fans and maximized their profits, so it makes sense to lower the prices to sell to people who like the franchise, but who don't live and breathe it. (Personally I bought two of the original 2-episode TOS disc and that has been it. I may consider buying all of TOS in the season sets if the prices is right, and maybe even seasons 3, 4 and 5 of TNG, which were the best of the post-TOS shows as far as I'm concerned. But I'm no Trek completist[/b])
By contrast WB set the usual list price for the B5 sets and retailer discounted them when they were new releases to boost sales. (WB may have also contributed promotional money or volume and other discounts to retailers.) After those initial sales the remaining stock is selling at closer to list because there is no longer the economy of scale involved in the initial big production runs. If keeping up with reduced present demand means running off a few hundred sets instead of tens of thousands, the per set costs are higher and so is the price. Paramount is probably still moving big numbers with Trek, WB isn't with B5 - and production resouces devoted to what B5 demand there is are not available for other titles.
I suspect that if WB ever takes B5 "out of print" they and the retailers may deeply discount the remaining stock, but until then prices are liable to stay about where they are. The economics of B5 and Trek are as different as they have ever been.
Regards,
Joe
By contrast WB set the usual list price for the B5 sets and retailer discounted them when they were new releases to boost sales. (WB may have also contributed promotional money or volume and other discounts to retailers.) After those initial sales the remaining stock is selling at closer to list because there is no longer the economy of scale involved in the initial big production runs. If keeping up with reduced present demand means running off a few hundred sets instead of tens of thousands, the per set costs are higher and so is the price. Paramount is probably still moving big numbers with Trek, WB isn't with B5 - and production resouces devoted to what B5 demand there is are not available for other titles.
I suspect that if WB ever takes B5 "out of print" they and the retailers may deeply discount the remaining stock, but until then prices are liable to stay about where they are. The economics of B5 and Trek are as different as they have ever been.
Regards,
Joe
Sinclair
Moderator
I already have all of TNG on DVD. I have season 5 of DS9 but have been reluctant to purchase the other seasons as I don't want to spend that much money. I hope they lower the prices significantly as I wouldn't mind purchasing the rest of the series, as well as TOS.
I may even purchase Voy or Ent at some point, assuming it's less than $10 a season.
I may even purchase Voy or Ent at some point, assuming it's less than $10 a season.
Ninja_Squirrel
Regular
For my tastes, all seasons of all Trek shows have been too expensive. It amazes me they've been able to sell them well at over $100 a season.
I'm with you. It would cost way too much to buy whole seasons, especially when I can TiVo 3 episodes of TNG and 2 of DS9 off of SpikeTV every weekday. I've tried to win season 7 of DS9 off eBay a few times, but personally, I think they cost too much even on eBay.
I agree that the middle three seasons were the best years of TNG. Season 1 was sub-par, season 2 was in the process of improving but still pretty rough, and seasons 6 & 7 had as many clunker episodes as it did good ones. The middle three were the most consistent in terms of quality.
However, I would count the final three seasons of DS9 as the best of Trek overall.
I'm with you. It would cost way too much to buy whole seasons, especially when I can TiVo 3 episodes of TNG and 2 of DS9 off of SpikeTV every weekday. I've tried to win season 7 of DS9 off eBay a few times, but personally, I think they cost too much even on eBay.
I agree that the middle three seasons were the best years of TNG. Season 1 was sub-par, season 2 was in the process of improving but still pretty rough, and seasons 6 & 7 had as many clunker episodes as it did good ones. The middle three were the most consistent in terms of quality.
However, I would count the final three seasons of DS9 as the best of Trek overall.
A_M_Swallow
Regular
Babylon 5 season sets are still on sale in Britain. They disappeared over Christmas but have reappeared at W H Smiths since. It looks like all five seasons have been classified as permanent sellers
darth_librarian
Regular
i've not paid full price for any DVD's as I paid full wack first time around for the VHS!!
