Steelbooks losing their buzz?

[BenSV650]

Over the last year there seems to have been a tsunami of new steelbooks with massive print runs and lower quality finishes flooding in.

At first, I thought all these new steelbooks were great but lately I've found myself buying less and less and becoming less interested in steelbooks.

To me they just seem less special than when I first started collecting. There isn't that thrill of a new steelbook occasionally getting released, now there seems to be 20 new steels announced every week. They're now so common place they just seem to be part of the norm. To be honest lately I would rather just buy the cheaper amaray than spend more on a mass produced steel.

This isn't a rant, just something I've been feeling lately.

Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me?

 

[HUBMUSWELL]

Very true Ben...On the flip side, there have been some fantastic releases over the past year.

I tend to avoid the mass produced stuff and concentrate on Specials...Blufans, KimchchiDvd, FNAC etc

 

[UpsetSmiley]

I agree and that's my primary concern with collecting steelbooks. I have recently become hooked and thus here I am, a noobie on hidefninja.

 

[jaws finatic]

I'm not concerned so much with whether or not its mass produced. My only concern is whether or not I like the art. And with some exception, whether or not it has inside artwork.

The only buzzkill is having to hope your steel doesnt show up damaged, which I've had one thus far that has out of maybe 7.

 

[ABjerg]

Exactly the reason why I don't really buy steelbooks no more.

They are massproduced, every movie gets a steel, and like 80% of them is a poor boring finish which might as well could've been an amaray (aka loosing the actual point of a steelbook - being a better and nicer edition with unique design/art).

 

[jdslater]

I'm kinda getting over it aswell.
I've got a baby on the way so my overall spending is down anyway but ive got films I havent watched on the shelf (I still have Hunger Games unwatched).
I'm starting to love having nice slipcases again. For PR I got none of the steelbooks as I thought they were a little boring and got the standard lenticular and a Best Buy slipcase release.
I wasn't a huge fan of MoS but loved the Target digibook and got that.

That being said, if I like that steelbook release. I'll get it. But the price still makes the difference in getting it. I like having triple plays and when you get to steelbooks being over £20 and not even have a digital copy something is wrong.

Some big movies coming out this year. Godzilla could be an awesome release.
But then again, I thought Pacific Rim would be aswell.

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I would also add that I'm getting more impressed by the smaller companies. I never really looked to Arrow etc. Even though I've admired their effort at giving the customer more extras then the big studios I got their steelbook release of Lifeforce. In the past I would have perhaps got the R1 version but those extra features made it very easy to go for their steelbook.
I might look to them for other releases in the future.

 

[Wreck]

I would say they are just more mainstream now .... but if you like limited or "extras" then you just have to hunt harder to know what is coming out that is meeting that criteria. The fact that masses are coming out just make that harder for that type of collector.

For the most part tho, I still buy just as much steelbooks as before if not more ... but that is mostly because I get a lot of the zavvi steels that are around $20USD. For me, thats a cheap price for me to have that movie in a metal case with nice art.

I cherrypick which "higher priced" limited ones I want to go after due to budget but then I buy a lot of zavvi titles just to get "those movies I want in steelbook form".

But none of which takes away the fact that I've grown very tired of matte finish. If you do a combo of matte and gloss/varnish then it can still look very cool. Other then that I'll take any finish besides matte right now. But admittedly it doesnt really stop me from buying a steel in matte based on the title ... it will however make me seek out the "gloss" one tho if one exists. (ie. Man of steel USA) A lot of times one Country will do gloss.

That Sin city Gloss from USA is a DAMN nice steel and its pretty crazy that I was able to pick it up for 9.99

 

[psychoscot]

I still wouldn't class myself as a serious collector. I have cherry picked over the years films that I love, or directors/genres I'm particularly interested in. The fact I like comic book movies has meant I've collected a fair few over the years that are really pleasing in terms of a quality product.

I will buy a new release in steelbook form if I saw the film in the cinema and intent on owning a home copy, but it's not essential. The quality has definitely gone down now just as products always do when companies learn they can make money from it. The finish these days generally is not a patch on the odd one or 2 that would get released each month in years gone by. It's a mass produced product and I do agree that with some of the releases now I'm not as excited on the wait for it to arrive. The only 2 steels over the last 12 months that took me back to the older days were Kick Ass 2 and the Blufans Face/Off. The quality was just superb on both and it is saddening to see that when they do produce great steels they can be bloody fantastic. Unfortunately 85% of them now aren't anymore appealing than the standard blue box and in a lot of cases not as nice if it happens to come with a nice slip.

Just like any collectable product that all of a sudden is getting mainstream attention, the quality drops and the thrill of owning them dips. I'll still continue to cherry pick, but with the poor quality getting more common place I will be buying less and less.

 

[jammyone]

But none of which takes away the fact that I've grown very tired of matte finish. If you do a combo of matte and gloss/varnish then it can still look very cool. Other then that I'll take any finish besides matte right now. But admittedly it doesnt really stop me from buying a steel in matte based on the title ... it will however make me seek out the "gloss" one tho if one exists. (ie. Man of steel USA) A lot of times one Country will do gloss.

I'm with you on that, the matte finish on a lot of steelbooks is so boring and overdone now, I know that gloss is more expensive but we are buying a premium product so why can't we have a premium finish.

Bring back gloss!

 

[bam777]

After the Thor 2 steelbooks sold out at Best Buy stores in just hours I think the buzz is still going strong.

 

[StoRM]

After the Thor 2 steelbooks sold out at Best Buy stores in just hours I think the buzz is still going strong.

+1 on this. I just started collecting and was bummed out when Best Buy had sold out of this release. I ended up getting one in a trade from a nice member on another forum though so it all worked out.. Now that I have that release I'm drooling over the lenticular slip from kimchidvd though. haha.

 

[dfoles]

Spoiler

I would say they are just more mainstream now .... but if you like limited or "extras" then you just have to hunt harder to know what is coming out that is meeting that criteria. The fact that masses are coming out just make that harder for that type of collector.

For the most part tho, I still buy just as much steelbooks as before if not more ... but that is mostly because I get a lot of the zavvi steels that are around $20USD. For me, thats a cheap price for me to have that movie in a metal case with nice art.

I cherrypick which "higher priced" limited ones I want to go after due to budget but then I buy a lot of zavvi titles just to get "those movies I want in steelbook form".

But none of which takes away the fact that I've grown very tired of matte finish. If you do a combo of matte and gloss/varnish then it can still look very cool. Other then that I'll take any finish besides matte right now. But admittedly it doesnt really stop me from buying a steel in matte based on the title ... it will however make me seek out the "gloss" one tho if one exists. (ie. Man of steel USA) A lot of times one Country will do gloss.

That Sin city Gloss from USA is a DAMN nice steel and its pretty crazy that I was able to pick it up for 9.99

I was gonna quote a specific part, but this as a whole sums up how I am now.
1. Be selective on premium steels
2. Watch Zavvi for price drops and deals
3. Most US steels are matte and cheap, but good collection filler.
4. Sometimes we get lucky and have a nice steel released in the US, been getting a little gloss here and there.

Recent Examples:
Ender's Game (Target) - decent artwork, gloss finish, no embossing, no inner art.
Hunger Games/Catching Fire (Best Buy) - good artwork, matte finish, no embossing, inner art.
Thor Dark World (Best Buy) - nice artwork, matte finish, debossing, inner art
The Wolf of Wall Street (Target) - terrible artwork, gloss finish, no embossing, inner art.

So they're starting to try a little more, just haven't quite figured out the right formula.

 

[toonminator]

I know many disagree but I still think they haven't topped Iron Man FS yet. I even like the blue banner because it has a shiny effect instead of the bland matte blue of later releases. I too only buy from Zavvi for selected titles. Mostly titles of which I'm not sure will ever get a new release (i.e. Prestige + The Game). Because so many movies will get multiple Steelbook-releases noaways I''m still patiently waiting for a glossy Steel of Iron Man 3 to accompany my FS and Taiwanese 1 and 2 :movie: