Interesting that the first season is selling for the same price as the rest of the seasons, given that the first season has half as many episodes. But this does open the door for bargain basement pricing of the first season to try to get people hooked into the series.

gt0163c | May 30, 19:11 CET

My first post, so feel free to modify it. You won't hurt my feelings.

This is probably a good addition for people who missed out on the Chosen Collection or those who simply want to own everything Buffy related. I'm hoping they do something similar with Angel, since I haven't bought those yet.

theyarescientists | May 30, 19:36 CET

Fox sure knows which cash cows they can milk ... I mean, obviously, this is a great deal, and if I hadn't already spent twice the money to get all the DVDs I'd be buying those. (No, I am not bitter, but I think the companies should be careful how often they re-release the same content in a new box.)

Ariane | May 30, 19:48 CET

George Lucas has been called in as a high level "multiple DVD release consultant," I suspect.

They're going to pump out as many versions of hit DVD sets as they can to milk the format to death before HD or BlueRay or whatnot comes along...and then the cycle can start over...yet still no Season 2 of Twin Peaks...sorry, got wistfully crabby there for a second.

As a brief aside on Buffy DVD sets, there's a hilarious comic shop not far from my home where the original Comic Book Guy's still trying to get $49 for the original Buffy Season 4 DVD set. It's even proudly displayed by the cash register, collecting month after month of dust...

MrArg | May 30, 20:44 CET

Don't know why but Rent (yeah, the broadway muscial)just came to my mind.
Anyway, they're definetely cash cows. Over this part of the planet they're the company with the most expensive box sets. While Warner been able to release similar box sets for almost 1/3 of the price Fox been charging.

A Season set of Buffy, cost almost the same thing of 3 sets of West Wing.

Numfar PTB | May 30, 21:01 CET

I was at Sam's Club this weekend and all the dvd's are CRAZY cheap. Most are around 25 bucks, but Angel season 1 was only $17!

MySerenity | May 30, 21:14 CET

This is great news, because I've been trying to figure out for a few months now how to haggle a few bucks off the price of that season 4 set. I'm not paying 47.99 for it, and I'm looking forward to the slim sets.



The regular DVDs or the slimsets? The problem is, I'd need a Sam's account.

[ edited by Browncoat on 2006-05-30 19:20 ]

The Ninja Report | May 30, 21:15 CET

They were the regular--I was floored, and more than a little anger. When I order my Veronica Mars season 1 dvds, the cheapest I could find them were for $38.00 on-line. Over the weekend I saw VM being sold for $25.00!

MySerenity | May 30, 22:10 CET

Been a Buffy fan since it debuted in March `97 and I still don't own a single DVD of it or Angel. With the original single sets I was just being cheap and figured there might some day be a chance it would all be released in a series set, then the Chosen collection was announced and I was waiting for that. Then I just...didn't have the money last Fall. Now I'm kinda, "eh, it's on TV every day still and my friend Lisa has it all". Who knows when I'll get it.

Is there any point in waiting for High Def versions of Buffy and Angel? None of the seasons were shot in HD, as far as I know...were they? 'Cause if so, might as well just wait for those.

Getting a whole 5 or 7-season series on just one or two discs would be pretty sweet as well.

Kris | May 30, 22:11 CET

I wonder if the old sets will no longer be produced now that the slimline ones are out there.

I second Kris's question on how much better High Def versions of Buffy/Angel will actually be.

phlebotinin | May 30, 22:14 CET

To me, and I was thinking about this today over lunch, there's a drawback to having DVDs, and showing them to a person who has never seen the show. There's the hook, but there's also no waiting. You know, "two slayers. no waiting." has a new meaning, when you don't have to wait a week to see What's My Line Part 2, and you don't have those 3 minutes of commercials digging into your gut like acid, as you sit impatiently at the edge of your seat, wondering what's going to happen next.

I third the question about how hi-def the versions will be. It doesn't exactly bother me -- even used (I refuse to submit to the eBay craze) I can only find it for 30.00 to 35.00, so it's not as if I'll totally spaz if the slimsets aren't quite as bright and shiny as the regular sets, which are still being peddled full price.

FYI, last summer during the July 4 holiday, a lot of Best Buy stores were selling X-Files box sets at 49.99, as part of a grand Fox promotion. I think they did this to get rid of some of the stock (XF sets were regularly priced at 90 to 99 dollars), because they announced they were releasing cheaper slimsets later on. If it's to be believed that Fox is a one-trick pony (which they usually are), they might repeat this and put their current big sets on sale?

I know that Wal-Mart had a big sale a while ago where a lot of Fox sets were on sale for 20.00. I picked up Angel season 1 and Tru Calling for 20 each. I already had firefly, but I did do my duty as a faithful Whedonite and rearrange the display so that all the firefly box sets (there were only 2 left) in front.

[ edited by Browncoat on 2006-05-30 20:24 ]

The Ninja Report | May 30, 22:23 CET

Dang it, what about that extra special bonus disc from the Chosen collection? I would love to buy that all by itself.

gingeriffic | May 30, 23:57 CET

I went to Wal-Mart today to get the first season of Numb3rs. I saw a big display for the slimsets, for 25.54. Get 'em while they're hot!

Wal-Mart didn't have Numb3rs, so I went to Target and bought Numb3rs...the cashier told me that it includes a 5 dollar gift card. So I got Numb3rs for 37.99 and I got a 5 dollar gift card.

I don't know if this is the case for all Targets, but it was for mine. It's actually a pretty good deal, because it's a few dollars more than the online retailers, but you get that gift card.

The Ninja Report | May 31, 02:06 CET

gingeriffic said:


I'm with you. I spent a lot of money to get Buffy the first time around and, yes, I am bitter about the extras in The Chosen Collection. I'm not too proud to admit it!

But I'm a little meh about the slimsets. That's the DVD way of shelf life - the longer you wait, the cheaper it gets. As long as you don't get more than I got for half the price!!

cabri | May 31, 05:24 CET

Has anyone actually purchased a "slim" season yet?

I was wondering what the packaging is like. Someone please enlighten me. Thanks!

alexreager | May 31, 05:31 CET

THe packaging is the same as the Firefly sets, in the case and the plastic dvd cases. Looking at them face on, you can't tell that they're the slimsets. Only when you look at them from the side do you see the thickness is different. The graphics on the front are the same.

The back is very plain.

The problem I'm seeing is that Amazon.com's links show the full sized box sets, but the price is 27.99, like the slimsets. I don't think the links are for the slimsets, and in fact, I haven't been able to find them on Amazon.

[ edited by Browncoat on 2006-05-31 03:49 ]

The Ninja Report | May 31, 05:47 CET

The slimsets are great for loaning DVDs to others. I've done that multiple times with Firefly and have two friends currently working through my BSG sets. The key is making sure you get the right discs back into the right boxes (if you have them out for say a trip or something).

And, to Browncoat, about it not being quite the same on DVD, I agree. I watched Buffy on DVD. And there were multiple times I was very, very glad I did for that very reason. Less waiting to see how things were resolved. Of course, it also meant I had more than one groggy morning because I had stayed up too late watching the next episode. Had the biggest problem when I was finishing season 2. I was already staying up late to watch both parts of Becoming. Then when I got to the end of Part II, there was no way I was going to bed without seeing the first episode of Season 3. It would have been almost torture to have had to wait all summer.

gt0163c | May 31, 06:39 CET

IIRC, S5 of Angel was the only Buffyverse season to be filmed in HD.

Buffy still looks awfully nice in widescreen, though...except for crewmembers eating sandwiches at the side of the frame. :D

kipron | May 31, 06:41 CET

Hahahahahaha. i don't have Angel S5 on dvd, so I can't really laugh with you on that one, but if they did the slimset, I might do it.

The Ninja Report | May 31, 06:53 CET

Browncoat, I think dvds are the only way to go. Nothing beats total immersion!

jcs | May 31, 07:23 CET

Also if you only watch the episode on Television you are nmissing a snippet of every episode that has been edited for commercials. The DVD's are so worth it.

To watch any episode any time you want is a treat. I don't even regret paying more for them at the time than I would now because I have gotten a lot of pleasure for my money in the last few years.

I still don't have Angel Seasons 3 or 4 so maybe I will finally pick them up.

Xane | May 31, 09:28 CET

I can't watch Once More, With Feeling on tv anymore knowing that about 8 minutes is gone.

eddy | May 31, 09:56 CET

If it makes it less expensive to get the dvd sets into public libraries, then I'm all for it!

killinj | May 31, 16:03 CET

When someone gets a slimset, report please. I want to know how it fares against regular sets in the sound and graph dept, and what the disc graphics look like.

The Ninja Report | May 31, 18:39 CET