Desirability of steelbook collecting

[creasey275]

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.

 

[frankfish44]

As a collector, the internet has opened doors previously closed. For those who invest and hype steels, the internet is not as friendly. Many would be buyers are paying close to cost and ignoring auctions as a purchase option. Also global releases have further devalued most releases. Why pay ridiculous prices while the same steel is available for cheaper from another region/country. The sticker and slip phase are passing. There will be a new driver in the future but as always, a correction will occur to balance everything. Like mama said. What goes up must come down.
Many may disagree but this is always true.

 

[alumini2004]

Hopefully the quality doesnot decrease....

 

[nickforall1987]

the amount of new countries starting to produce steels its going way to high, for instance skyfall has been produced at exactly no unique artwork by all 202 countries of the world (exaggeration to emphasize) i mean is this really the point? making a steel limited to 4k for example, IMO, its pointless to have 10 countries dong exactly the same means for me 40k not 4....never the less lets hope demand increases aswell...

 

[trinitycorps]

I think that the problem 1 is, steelbook became popular and, unfortunately, the producers are getting more and more greedy and more and more lazy, because most (doesn't matter if it is a collector, a seller disguised as a collector that buys 20 copies so he can make extra money or the regular buyer that finds it cool) will buy it anyway, the demand is high, will keep high no matter so why not supply ?

It is the logical thing (economically speaking), why produce 1000 worldwide if he can sell 100 thousand and get a lot more money? They do not care about the "hardcore collector".

I know that this is me being the master of obvious but is good to have it here. Sorry if my comments sounds acid or too jaded too folks, It is not my intention to upset anyone.

 

[dv8mad]

The value decreasing actually makes me feel a bit better since I like to open and view my collection. When I get something worth too much, I always feel bad for opening it even if I didn't pay all that much.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a great example.
I picked it up from Zavvi with a birthday coupon and ended up getting it for only $22 or so shipped to Japan.
Of course, as soon as it got here, I saw people selling it for 3 or four times that and had a bit of an internal struggle before cracking it open.

I think I need to stop looking at forums and auctions a few days before receiving a new steelbook.

 

[Lutzo]

The value decreasing actually makes me feel a bit better since I like to open and view my collection. When I get something worth too much, I always feel bad for opening it even if I didn't pay all that much.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a great example.
I picked it up from Zavvi with a birthday coupon and ended up getting it for only $22 or so shipped to Japan.
Of course, as soon as it got here, I saw people selling it for 3 or four times that and had a bit of an internal struggle before cracking it open.

I think I need to stop looking at forums and auctions a few days before receiving a new steelbook.

I think this sums it up pretty nicely!! Last weekend my wife wanted to watch "Casino Royale" and I said that I only have it as a sealed steelbook and its value will drop significantly if I open and watch it.

I can get a Box Set with all 3 Daniel Craig Bond BR movies in Germany for 25€, but the Casino Royale steelbook sells for $50+ on ebay.... I decided to no longer buy steelbooks before, but sometimes I still do impulsively... my new policy is to sell every steelbook with a value of over 50€ before it gets rereleased/drops in value and hope for DigiBooks/MediaBooks/DigiPaks of the movies that I actually want to own/watch. For some reason it really depresses me if something I own decreases in value significantly (Zombieland, Matrix trilogy, The Town). It probably helps if money is not an issue for a collector - then it is easy to just ignore rereleases and all, but recently I figured that the perfect release for ME PERSONALLY is a DigiBook/Mediabook that I can open, watch the movie, read the book part and where the value (with few exceptions) stays the same....

 

[Sirjump]

What about the upcoming 4k titles. Will this perhaps have an impact on value and demand? 4k players and tv's are backwards compatible, but are we going to see a dramatic shift like DVD-BluRay was?

 

[Jango]

What about the upcoming 4k titles. Will this perhaps have an impact on value and demand? 4k players and tv's are backwards compatible, but are we going to see a dramatic shift like DVD-BluRay was?

i gues we have a bit time till 60" tv's come regular in households.

 

[stevo]

This notion of steel books decreasing in value, because more countries are producing them is starting to be a common theme around here. The fact that more countries are producing them is a very good sign people. If theres more supply, that means that there is definitely more demand. It means our little niche hobby is going big time, it's a good thing, not bad. You want the steels you purchased for $20 now sells for $50? well, then you need alot more people in this hobby. The decrease in value of some of the titles mentioned are due to the fact that our hobby is maturing. People are more savy, they're not just gonna jump on a title, just because its hyped as "rare". People are much more knowledgable nowadays. You think that the various Superman & Spiderman comics can sell for $100 000's of dollars, if it had a small niche collector community?

The fact that some people are quiting because steels are being released more is actually quite comical IMHO. Let me ask you?, who's forcing you to buy it? Quiting now is like quiting when this hobby is just starting to take off IMO.

 

[apsmith21]

To that end, Scanavo has long rumored giving consumers the ability to tell the difference between the printings of a steelbook.

How or when that will come to pass is another matter, but they realize on some level that if they don't have the collectors that buy a number of these releases, even if they reach the general public, you folks are a very influential part of their market.

They should have the long view, or they won't be able to maintain a constant sale of product if they flood the market with release after release.

 

[chanfm]

This notion of steel books decreasing in value, because more countries are producing them is starting to be a common theme around here. The fact that more countries are producing them is a very good sign people. If theres more supply, that means that there is definitely more demand. It means our little niche hobby is going big time, it's a good thing, not bad. You want the steels you purchased for $20 now sells for $50? well, then you need alot more people in this hobby. The decrease in value of some of the titles mentioned are due to the fact that our hobby is maturing. People are more savy, they're not just gonna jump on a title, just because its hyped as "rare". People are much more knowledgable nowadays. You think that the various Superman & Spiderman comics can sell for $100 000's of dollars, if it had a small niche collector community?

The fact that some people are quiting because steels are being released more is actually quite comical IMHO. Let me ask you?, who's forcing you to buy it? Quiting now is like quiting when this hobby is just starting to take off IMO.

These are good points and I agree that that is the correct reading of the present market.

 

[VRob98]

I see things as polarizing in terms of value. There'll be a continuing glut of cheap product on the secondary market (eg. new Warner wave), while from the ever-growng roster of new releases we'll see a few rarities and exclusives pop up that will be more valuable and sought after than ever before. The same mass market interest that generally keeps prices down will also drive up the prices of those titles which aren't produced in sufficient enough quantity to go around.

From a purely personal viewpoint, steelbooks are worth less to me as objects these days because they don't seem as unusual or special anymore. Pretty much everything gets the steelbook treatment now, so it's basically become just another packaging variant. In terms of outright monetary value though, I'd guess that what's in my collection has never been worth so much as it is now. Swings and roundabouts, I guess.

 

[chanfm]

I think that rare steels will in future be more sought after than ever. We are now in a transition phase in which a few major collectors have decided to leave the hobby. Hence there are more rare steels than normal available for purchase. Once this phase is over, rare steels will be more sought after than ever.

I am lucky to be able to get a few of these rare steels at this time. I am pleased to have them in my collection.

 

[frankfish44]

Blame our beautiful forum here and the wonderful GB hosts for declining values I remember having favorite sellers just to get a release back in the day. No more thanks to the GBs here No need to bid up items anymore. Honestly as more pple join HDN, they become more educated as to what these steels cost. No way I will overpay for any item ever again. As for the grails, only a few are realistically after them. Values decreasing is good for my hobby. Cant complain

 

[themanfromunkle]

managed to get copies of Disctrict 9 & Machete for £15 each on ebay-both unsealed but near mint-for every copy of Skyfall listed over £40 on amazon or play there are 5 copies on ebay under £20-not a sellers market at the moment but as people have pointed out here, more and more collectors are getting rid of their steels and suppliers are releasing everything under the sun in a steel-(just look at some of the exclusives on Zavvi!) I for one believe that the holy grail titles will still be around (look at the Marvel steels) but there must be people who double up on all steels and are sitting on stock because-frankly-some titles are never going to make more than what you paid for them-ho hum....

 

[Staind]

i think the value of some nice Steels are decreasing very hard at the moment...anyone else is thinking the same ?

 

[MENTAL MAGPIE]

While i agree a lot of steels have gone through on ebay auction at lower prices, theres also steels like uk iron man 1 & 2, Gladiator, Braveheart and so on that continue to rise, also like its been said above, more people are finding HDN like me, that used to buy overseas steelbooks on ebay, now i join the GB instead, I for one find myself playing catch up with all these new releases that i want and dont have as much money spare to spend on old releases as i have so many pre orders to pay for.

 

[jcm]

Yes they certainly are, Iron Man future shop just sold for $152

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231002869638?redirect=mobile&autorefresh=true

i think the value of some nice Steels are decreasing very hard at the moment...anyone else is thinking the same ?

 

[Fork]

Yes they certainly are, Iron Man future shop just sold for $152

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231002869638?redirect=mobile&autorefresh=true

to be fair it is in pretty poor condition, 152 is more than i would have paid for it

 

[surfury]

I see things as polarizing in terms of value. There'll be a continuing glut of cheap product on the secondary market (eg. new Warner wave), while from the ever-growng roster of new releases we'll see a few rarities and exclusives pop up that will be more valuable and sought after than ever before. The same mass market interest that generally keeps prices down will also drive up the prices of those titles which aren't produced in sufficient enough quantity to go around.

From a purely personal viewpoint, steelbooks are worth less to me as objects these days because they don't seem as unusual or special anymore. Pretty much everything gets the steelbook treatment now, so it's basically become just another packaging variant. In terms of outright monetary value though, I'd guess that what's in my collection has never been worth so much as it is now. Swings and roundabouts, I guess.

Couldn't agree more and I'm sure Warners will flog their wares as much as possible, (what's so special about 90 years ?). Once again one of my favourite rant topics is raising its head. As folks have said there are more Steelbooks from all corners of the world but they (the studios) don't make the most of it and instead set out a template for a Steelbook to be used Worldwide. The only nominal difference being a slip to localise it together with the variance in local quality productions processes. A few specials might appear but it gives the whole collecting habit a very large yawn quotient