×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
Answerman - What's Up With Dollar Store Anime Releases?


Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Mune



Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 374
Location: Minnesota
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 12:21 pm Reply with quote
This reminds me of the mid-2000s (2005 - 2006), when I bought up some cheap Pioneer/Geneon DVDS from Dollar General for $3 each. I ended up with Tenchi Muyo movies, Card Captor Sakura movies, Gatekeepers 21, and other over supplied individual DVDs. Most have left my ownership, but I still have CCS's 2nd movie.

Funny thing is, this was before Geneon announced any problems with their company.

Now, you can get tons of individual DVDs from the 90s and 2000s for dirt cheap depending on the series and company of origin. Funimation DVDs tend to be the primary company for this, especially those that have S.A.V.E editions.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 12:29 pm Reply with quote
I remember that flood of cheap dvds in the early 00's, we didn't really have much money to spend on that sort of thing so we thankfully passed on it.

A few weeks ago the one Movie Stop store in our area closed and liquidated their stock. We hit their sale about mid stream and my sons bought a number of game related items while I picked up a handful of Funimation SAVE editions for less money than a trip to McD's. That included several former Geneon titles. I wonder how many times they've been discounted like that?

Quote:
And then I remember that life is short, and my time would be better spent on media that actually makes me happy.


Something to remember, indeed.

Mark Gosdin
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 12:30 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, think I saw that PD version of Harlock. (Is that the one with the disco theme..."Take to the skies!"? Or was it the Corman Galaxy Express movie where he had the John Wayne voice?)

That comes from a Harmony Gold-style--not sure if it actually was them--attempt to sell the show for syndication back in the pre-Sailor Moon 70's, and nobody bothered to reclaim the dub after the syndicators went under.
Basically, any title you can get for a dollar is one the cheap manufacturers could get for free, and the makers hoped they could profit to sell for, well, a buck.

Nowadays, if we want to watch cheap, low-rent poorly-processed public-domain titles from rinky-dink bottom-feeding PD-scavenging video companies, we just turn on Amazon Prime. Razz
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
Posts: 717
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:00 pm Reply with quote
I look for these pieces of junk on DVD (and VHS too) whenever I hit up a thrift store, flea market, or the like since it's the only way to get any kind of English copy of some shows. The anime seems to usually be made by Enoki, Tasunoko, and Nippon Animation productions, but I have no idea who does the Korean stuff beyond Joseph Lai's involvement in the localization. These are the sorts of things I love to enjoy or love to laugh at, depending on whether it's a genuinely entertaining story or Solar Adventure. So I have a small collection of these sorts of discs and tapes amassed and pop them in occasionally for a chuckle. I actually just picked up three different anime versions of Wizard of Oz this week, even.

-Although Mondo TV genuinely confuses me as to why they started doing this process a year or two ago exclusively in Walmarts (although it apparently failed because they're all gone from stores now). It's the only way to get any copies of some shows like Tatsunoko's Cinderella Monogatari and Robin Hood no Daiboken at all. It used to be the same for Jungle Book: Shonen Mowgli, but Shout! Factory did a set for that. I keep my fingers crossed that they might do some of the old Tatsunoko stuff, too.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Brand



Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 1028
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:03 pm Reply with quote
My friend collects these DVDs. Some are alright, and some are OH GOD HOW DID ANYONE THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA!!! Some of them might be worth watching with friends while drunk and/or high. Here is a good example of how bad some of these can be, this one, is high on the awful. So, I wouldn't watch to much of it, it might make your brain leak from your nose.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:10 pm Reply with quote
Justin wrote:
For a few years these discs lined every dollar store and discount store in the country, and there were also reports of them showing up in the UK.

This may or may not count, but I recall seeing a glut of Salaryman Kintaro box-sets being vended for next to nothing in a small-town shop several years ago. I declined the offer through my suspicions of their authenticity, though I recall they later proved to be genuine.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief


Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 1684
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:37 pm Reply with quote
Brand wrote:
My friend collects these DVDs. Some are alright, and some are OH GOD HOW DID ANYONE THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA!!! Some of them might be worth watching with friends while drunk and/or high. Here is a good example of how bad some of these can be, this one, is high on the awful. So, I wouldn't watch to much of it, it might make your brain leak from your nose.


OMFG THAT LINK.

My brain is broken now. I am amazed and delighted. Thank you.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
revolutionotaku



Joined: 19 May 2011
Posts: 881
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:38 pm Reply with quote
I've been to a dollar store that sold DVDs of "Tekkonkinkreet".
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Philmister978



Joined: 12 Jun 2011
Posts: 301
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:46 pm Reply with quote
I went to one of my local dollar stores recently and saw a few copies of Kurokami for around 3 dollars. Before that, I saw copies of Lucky Star and Eureka Seven at another one closer to my house.

I'm also pretty familiar with the crappier, Korean-made junk too. Have spotted them in that second store on a few occasions.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
FLCLGainax





PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:59 pm Reply with quote
The cut '80s dub of Nausicaa had a similar type of DVD in France from some company called Lazer Film. It was a VHS port with French audio only.
Back to top
Brand



Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 1028
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:22 pm Reply with quote
jsevakis wrote:

OMFG THAT LINK.

My brain is broken now. I am amazed and delighted. Thank you.


Glad to serve. This by far is the most amazingly terrible thing I have even seen. I've seen things...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Wrial Huden



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 149
Location: McKinney, TX
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:27 pm Reply with quote
About a month ago, I walked into Wal-Mart and immediately came across a shopping basket a few feet from the greeter filled with Digiview discs. No anime, but for 50 cents, I grabbed a Hercules double feature (no, not the old Trans-Lux cartoon). Looks cheesy, but I figured, hey, have friends over and do a MST3K-style riff commentary.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Zalis116
Moderator


Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6864
Location: Kazune City
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 3:11 pm Reply with quote
Mune wrote:


Now, you can get tons of individual DVDs from the 90s and 2000s for dirt cheap depending on the series and company of origin. Funimation DVDs tend to be the primary company for this, especially those that have S.A.V.E editions.
I used to have good hunting on those, but nowadays, there's always those one or two volumes that're so expensive or hard-to-find that buying the re-release collection is more cost-effective.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 3:34 pm Reply with quote
For some reason I see a lot of the Marvel anime (Blade, Iron Man, etc) at dollar stores.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
gwdone



Joined: 01 May 2008
Posts: 272
PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 3:50 pm Reply with quote
I saw this article and went up to the local dollar store and found Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works Season 2 DVD for only $7.98 !!! Had to grab that one!!! ...........

Oh wait.. One little correction: Seems I saw this article and went up to the RS online store and found Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works Season 2 DVD for only $79.98 for the whopping 13 episodes with the following special features:
Textless Opening and Endings !!! Had to not grab that one!!!

I keep hoping it will go on even a partial sale, but no way. (Out since February 2016) Cough Cough Sad
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
Page 1 of 3

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group