I'm pretty sure that I'm not alone in saying that I feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of forthcoming Zavvi exclusive SteelBooks, and no doubt a lot of you have strong feelings about this issue right now
Looking at the forthcoming SteelBook release schedule for Q3-Q4 2013, it's apparent that Zavvi are really pushing their SteelBook exclusives as much as possible. July has a manageable four exclusives (a relatively quiet month for media releases), as does August, but September has seven, and October eight!
While a lot of you will state that there are just too many SteelBook releases now, others may say they can cope, but would prefer if they were either cheaper or spread apart more. I've seen some people quote: "You don't have to buy them all" across these forums, and they're quite right, but there are people who do like to collect every exclusive release
From Zavvi's point of view it may not seem too bad, but what they fail in is spatial awareness. They don't look around at what other things are released around the same time, and this is why it feels overwhelming to many collectors - The same consumers who are most likely also visiting the cinema, buying box sets, new non-exclusive SteelBook releases (determined by the studios, not the retailer), as well as video game CE's etc. There really needs to be a balance based on other media releases, and that's something they're lacking right now!
Something else I've noticed about Zavvi is that they seem to like to bottleneck their exclusive releases into a particular day of the month, rather than spread them apart. For example, the 23rd of September has five releases out of a total of nine SteelBooks announced for that month, and the 28th of October also has five out of eight that have so far been announced for that month!
There are also rumours that Zavvi plan on releasing selected catalogue video game SteelBooks too in the near future, much to the dismay of many collectors who already feel overwhelmed. While many collectors will not be buying every single release, these on top of new CE releases and the already bulging Blu-Ray SteelBook releases is perhaps a little too much for many
As we enter the latter part of the year and approaching the holiday season, we'll start to see a deluge of other media LE's and CE's announced. Obviously Zavvi haven't bothered to take this period into account, and it could affect their sales of other forms of media as collectors are forced to choose between buying several exclusive SteelBooks or the must-have video game CE (this year sees the release of GTA V, which is touted to possibly be the biggest media launch ever!). October 2013 may be the time when many SteelBook collectors decide to give up collecting...
Looking at the forthcoming SteelBook release schedule for Q3-Q4 2013, it's apparent that Zavvi are really pushing their SteelBook exclusives as much as possible. July has a manageable four exclusives (a relatively quiet month for media releases), as does August, but September has seven, and October eight!
While a lot of you will state that there are just too many SteelBook releases now, others may say they can cope, but would prefer if they were either cheaper or spread apart more. I've seen some people quote: "You don't have to buy them all" across these forums, and they're quite right, but there are people who do like to collect every exclusive release
From Zavvi's point of view it may not seem too bad, but what they fail in is spatial awareness. They don't look around at what other things are released around the same time, and this is why it feels overwhelming to many collectors - The same consumers who are most likely also visiting the cinema, buying box sets, new non-exclusive SteelBook releases (determined by the studios, not the retailer), as well as video game CE's etc. There really needs to be a balance based on other media releases, and that's something they're lacking right now!
Something else I've noticed about Zavvi is that they seem to like to bottleneck their exclusive releases into a particular day of the month, rather than spread them apart. For example, the 23rd of September has five releases out of a total of nine SteelBooks announced for that month, and the 28th of October also has five out of eight that have so far been announced for that month!
There are also rumours that Zavvi plan on releasing selected catalogue video game SteelBooks too in the near future, much to the dismay of many collectors who already feel overwhelmed. While many collectors will not be buying every single release, these on top of new CE releases and the already bulging Blu-Ray SteelBook releases is perhaps a little too much for many
As we enter the latter part of the year and approaching the holiday season, we'll start to see a deluge of other media LE's and CE's announced. Obviously Zavvi haven't bothered to take this period into account, and it could affect their sales of other forms of media as collectors are forced to choose between buying several exclusive SteelBooks or the must-have video game CE (this year sees the release of GTA V, which is touted to possibly be the biggest media launch ever!). October 2013 may be the time when many SteelBook collectors decide to give up collecting...
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