Desirability of steelbook collecting

C

creasey275

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Sep 20, 2012
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The year 2012 has seen a massive surge in steelbook releases, and collectors. Of the 35 pages of threads on HDN steelbook forum, 24 have been started this year. Back catalogue films, new releases and multiple releases in different countries has, I imagine, lead collectors to become more choosy about which to buy and where to buy it. "Limited" releases to 4,000, shop exclusives and steelbook treatment(debossing...) are now crucial deciding factors whether customers buy, and judging by the posts on numerous thread here and elsewhere reporting that a lot are keeping steelbooks sealed, over-riding the film itself.

Now for the statement.

In 2012 the huge increase in steelbook releases has lead to the decline in desirability of steelbooks. Discuss.
 
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Heche1981 said:
Another factor which I think contributes to the decline in collectibility is lack of knowledge. There may be many more SteelBook collectors now than there ever was before, but many newbies to the hobby are either misinformed or uneducated about what is actually available to collect. Most tend to see what Zavvi have to offer and assume that's all there is, but don't realise that there are now over 350 UK Blu-Ray SteelBook releases to choose from! Then you have your international releases, and the so-called "grails". It's easy for a newbie to become easily overwhelmed by it all!
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I think the nature of collecting has changed drastically too. A lot of newbies don't want to spend what was the market rate for a rare OOP steel. You see it all the time in the threads where people go 'I'll never spend over $50 on a steel'. That's cool. That's their right. A newbie 2 years ago wouldn't have minded so much as steelbooks were still pretty rare back then compared to the flood there is now.

I don't begrudge them. Why spend X amount on something when it's probably been re-released for cheaper somewhere unless you really really want it?
 
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I've ended up setting aside around 15 steels, to sell on, after a bit of collection pruning. Will be steering clear of the auction approach now and listing them all as either BIN or with a reasonable initial bid amount. Don't want to give them away, like some of the recent auctions.

I'm not looking to make big bucks, just attaining at or around retail would be fine. :thumbs:
 
 
I don't so much care about the value thing. (Though I hate when I miss a limited run and will need to pay out my nose!) That's not what I buy them for. And buying to resell is a lot of work for the gain.

I don't even protect my steels other than to be careful with them in general. A sealed steel looks ugly:(
 
nick4amber said:
I don't so much care about the value thing. (Though I hate when I miss a limited run and will need to pay out my nose!) That's not what I buy them for. And buying to resell is a lot of work for the gain.

I don't even protect my steels other than to be careful with them in general. A sealed steel looks ugly:(
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if you care about them as much as i do,you might want to work on that protection thing. seriously even the jiffy bags while they dont look the best are better then nothing..or the plastic shells you can get. seriously no one likes getting a damaged steelbook :(
 
nick4amber said:
I don't so much care about the value thing. (Though I hate when I miss a limited run and will need to pay out my nose!) That's not what I buy them for. And buying to resell is a lot of work for the gain.

I don't even protect my steels other than to be careful with them in general. A sealed steel looks ugly:(
Click to expand...

ben6212 said:
if you care about them as much as i do,you might want to work on that protection thing. seriously even the jiffy bags while they dont look the best are better then nothing..or the plastic shells you can get. seriously no one likes getting a damaged steelbook :(
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Agreed, at least use the clear poly bags, they're only about £2-£3 for 100, they don't look the best but they help to stop scratches.
 
 
^meh, nothing special there. The Town used to be worth like $50, but now that the UK & US each have an edition, it's obviously plummeted in value. But even $50 isn't much more than the retail cost of the steelbook plus shipping.

jammyone said:
Agreed, at least use the clear poly bags, they're only about £2-£3 for 100, they don't look the best but they help to stop scratches.
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for realz, a gloss steelbook is easily ruined as simply as sliding it in & out of the collection. Learned that the hard way.
 
 
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but there are titles that make money wether it be at the start as worlds end could be purchased at £20 and on ebay over £30-£40 as with kick ass 2 also
 
@lgans316: Wow, you sure know how to post links! To be fair most of the titles you link to aren't highly sought after steelbooks, rather they're mass produced and available in several different countries all over the world. If you can post links of auctions for steelbooks that have a track record of fetching high prices and are exclusives and not produced in the ten's of thousands all over the world with the same artwork then that might prove your point.

I don't mean any offence with this question but do you consider yourself an optimistic or pessimistic person?
 
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lgans316 said:
There is a separate thread for that to keep it busy. The links shows not so mass produced titles not doing well.
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Not so mass produced? Resident Evil 5 and TDKR isn't mass produced? Come on!

No answer to my question?
 
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