UK Steelbooks

[alienvariety]

Does anyone else in the UK feel like we get short changed when it comes to steelbooks? I've set out to solely collect UK steelbooks, and there are so many fantastic German and Canadian imports, but it seems like aside from chart topping movies that HMV and Play.com throw out releases for, we have considerably less selection, especially when it comes to older movies.

This isn't exclusive to steelbooks either in fact. Just blu ray transfers generally are much more limited within the UK than the US and others. I imported Memento years before it got a UK release. Similarly, A River Runs Through It, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The French Connection 2 (weirdly, as 1 is available...)

What's the consensus? Are UK blu-ray and steelbook fans being shafted?

 

[zoneism]

Good comment.

It is apparent over the years that the UK have struggled to turn out as many Steelbooks consistently as some other territories. The majority of studios here (UK) still have to answer to their head offices in the States and this inevitably leads to elements of red tape when agreeing Steelbook titles, let alone artwork.

I admire the German market for having adopted Steelbooks so well and almost demanding everything be released as an SB. You also have to take your hats off to HMV and Play in the UK for recently pushing for less obvious / smaller box office titles to be released as SB - HMV with the likes of Devils Double and Drive from smaller studios and Play with In Time (only £4m box office here!) and more recently Chronicle. It is also great to see Play and Fox / other studios listening to what the forums are saying and providing the fans & collectors with interior art / embossing / no certs etc as is being requested.

If you look at the Universal 100th Anniversary SBs, Germany released a large amount in one go first as demand is higher from the general public rather than just collectors whereas over here Play are releasing an initial batch of 6 to be followed by a further 6 not too long after (currently listed on their site as 'Notify Me').

It is great to see labels such as Eureka and Arrow are releasing more and more classics in SB as standard now.

There are definitely some great titles coming out later this year to have some fun with as Steelbooks, so let's keep our fingers crossed in the UK!

 

[Orekul]

I have to disagree with you on this one, I find the uk market to be a good place for blu releases. When you compare the size of our country to others in the world and look at some of the stellar releases we have had (loads of steelbooks and rising fast, look at the special editions we get). Sure some countries get releases we don't get or some catalogue movies don't always get a release here, however look at moc, eureka, arrow, studio canal etc. they release some great films in packaging that is very nice.

I think a couple of years ago your point carried more weight, however these days I think we get more than our fair share.

We have no g2 plant here in the uk but get loads more releases on steel than the country that most of the films originate from, in the united states they get better collectors editions but very few steels. Swings and roundabouts, for the size of our country we should be very happy.

 

[Colombianlove41]

I guess if you compare it to the rest of Europe...Or even just Germany.

 

[os5889]

I think money talks, there are 5/6 UK steels worth more than their RRP now:-

Metropolis
Star Trek
Shogun Assassin
Gladiator
Scott Pilgrim
Sweeney Todd (play.com)

None of them are stella values and the rest of the UK releasse are so mass produced there is seemingly little point in bothering with them. Its sad really but unless its a film I love Ive pretty much given up on UK titles. I mean an In Time steelbook...

 

[zoneism]

My original comments on In Time weren't to suggest it was a great film but more to highlight that UK retailers are identifying smaller titles to chase exclusives on rather than just the more deserving blockbusters.

They will be taking a risk as they have to commit quite early on to exclusive SBs and won't always have the full box office amount or critic reviews to base a desicion on and there is also a significant minimum run they would need to commit to. Can't help but admire them for trying(?)

I also think the Play SB cover image of In Time was the strongest version and made the standard BD cover look emarassingly poor.

I definitely agree with the above comments that the UK is getting much stronger of late

 

[jbsolo]

I think this year you have some of the best releases....and I can't catch up...gggrrrrr!

 

[halpme]

No Way. Just because there are more Steelies released in Germany and Canada doesn't make the UK "second class". There are about 200 countries on this planet, in two of them more steelbooks are released (I'm not sure if there are also more released in France? Doesn't really matter), so I'd say UK is "first class" for sure.

 

[shdl83]

Aussies need more steelbooks!!! Guess we have the steelcases though...

 

[o0 Deuce 0o]

i think we get more then enough these days.

 

[Prometheus]

My original comments on In Time weren't to suggest it was a great film but more to highlight that UK retailers are identifying smaller titles to chase exclusives on rather than just the more deserving blockbusters.

They will be taking a risk as they have to commit quite early on to exclusive SBs and won't always have the full box office amount or critic reviews to base a desicion on and there is also a significant minimum run they would need to commit to. Can't help but admire them for trying(?)

I also think the Play SB cover image of In Time was the strongest version and made the standard BD cover look emarassingly poor.

I definitely agree with the above comments that the UK is getting much stronger of late

hello, do you not think that 'In Time' got a SB release simply for the reason that it didn't have a good box office? Call me sceptical but it seems that a SB is often used as a tool to drum up extra sales, or to gain interest in an otherwise average movie. It seems to happen quite a bit here in the uk. There are exceptions of course. It's like you can tell when they're really trying to do a good steelie (so it sells better) and when they're not (when the film will sell well regardless).

 

[o0 Deuce 0o]

I dont think In Time was an avergae movie at all, i really liked it and it was something different for a change. I might be alone there though lol

 

[zoneism]

hello, do you not think that 'In Time' got a SB release simply for the reason that it didn't have a good box office? Call me sceptical but it seems that a SB is often used as a tool to drum up extra sales, or to gain interest in an otherwise average movie. It seems to happen quite a bit here in the uk. There are exceptions of course. It's like you can tell when they're really trying to do a good steelie (so it sells better) and when they're not (when the film will sell well regardless).

Hi Promethius. It is a definite consideration of studios and retailers in the back of their minds to drive business but it would not be good business to 'hope' that sales on a title will be good just on the back of a Steelbook release. If it doesn't work then the retailer is stuck with a load of exclusive stock which they can't shift and ultimately leads to less SBs being looked at.

I think Play saw some potential in the actual film of In Time and thought that a good way to heighten awareness was with an SB release. It also got SB treatment overseas too so they weren't the only ones. In the UK market In Time did not sell well at all in general, but one retailer did very well given the treatment they gave it (1 guess who it was )

The reason we love (or hate) this SB collecting game is because the SB versions are generally restricted in numbers and sell out prior to release date in many instances. Only HMV seem to not be selling through their exclusive SBs by release date recently but that isn't always a good thing for collectors. For instance they did sell through Drive very early on and already ebay prices are showing signs of picking up. This means all of us who bought 1 (or more!) now feel we picked up a great deal as well as a great item.

With the recent listing of the Play.com Chronicle SB it is apparent from the forums that collectors are buying into this release due to the fact they have done a great job on it and it is a 'really good steelie'. I reckon it looks great and will be even better in the flesh but the thing to boost it up the collectability rankings will always be if it sells out prior to release / goes OOP very early on.

Hope you find this of use and don't feel I have just gone on a bit

 

[joswin93]

I dont think In Time was an avergae movie at all, i really liked it and it was something different for a change. I might be alone there though lol

I agree, in time was way better than I expected, but back to topic I would say the uk is one of the worst countries for Steelbooks, yes we do have the odd release but most the time they have crappy art work, printed backs and no inside art work, personally Canada have it the best purely because of futureshop, I wish I could just pop out to the local shop and find some steels sat on shelves and in used DVD stores but that just isn't gonna happen here, plus with all the import taxes and most people trying to make money from steels it because very very expensive to get alot of steel to the UK, it my opinion it's the hardest country to collect in.

 

[funkydamo]

well, for me, here in the uk we have probably the 3rd highest rate of steelbook releases.
quality wise, we are shortchanged maybe.
its all down to taste though isnt it?

the quality of the candian releases is top dog. most come with data sheets, inside art, and of course no age ratings is par for the course in the US and canada.
embossing/debossing isnt too common still, and i hate the bi-lingual spines.
but overall, id say it beats the overall quality of german issues.

the quantity of german releases trump the rest of the world, they have 100s, but a high number has no inside artwork, quite a few have printed logos (huge, huge logos) and seldom do they have data sheets, so that means printed text on the back.

japan/thailand have some good releases, but far far far less in numbers than canada, germany and the uk.
and of course many are iron packs (which for me, are slightly inferiour in quality to steelbooks)

now the US? in the last 2 years, how many g2 steelbooks has there been? i cant name 1.
all viva cases, G1s or iron packs.

rest of the world? we have the dutch metalpacks, but they are so poor in quality id rather have an amaray case.
france have a few yes, but not anywhere near the number we do here in the UK.
Australia have some top quailty steels, but less than 10 in total?

so on to the UK.
we have maybe the 3rd highest number, worldwide, for steelbooks.
the quality is manybe not always great, with printed logos, no inside artwrod etc.
but lets not forget these: super 8, thor,captain america, pulp fiction, start trek, cowboys and aliens, akira, adjustment bureau, 2012, district 9, terminator 2 & 4, gladiator, grenn hornet, highlander, hurt locker, kick ass, machete, minority report, paul, salt, scarface, true grit.
and then the upcoming releases (and again, i may be wrong, but we have at worst, the 2nd highest number of forthcoming titles)

i challenge anyone to put forward a list as long, with as good qualilty steels, from another country.
and again i may be wrong, but all the above have inside artwork, very few of them, if any, have text printed on the back and printed logos, and a good percentage have embossing or debossing of some kind.

overall, i think we are pretty healthy. then look at the less critically acclaimed titles we have. count em up, we are in the top 3 countries for steelbooks for sure.

depending how you look at it, we are possibly beating canada too. certainly if you discount bi lingual spines.

i bet if we compiled a list of say 50 steels (not iron packs, viva cases, metalpacks, G1s) that everyone loves,that doesnt have bi-lingual spines, that has inside artwork... we could possibly come out with the highest amount in the list.
no doubt iron man or indy would come out top, but when you get outside of the top 10, i reckon we would dominate the list.

 

[digitalbabe]

Moved to feedback area. The UK has gotten dozens of Steelbooks vs many other countries/areas in the world. Some of them should have inside artwork and no printed stickers, but every other market that has Steelbooks released has had the same challenges. The Studios make the decisions on what features to have for UK steels. Things are changing where some of the 'omissions' of fan favorite features are concerned, but overall, the UK has one of the highest #s of Steels released.

 

[Prometheus]

Zoneism, yea I know what you mean, but I don't think the distributors/Play/HMV are gambling or hoping that sales pickup, I'm pretty sure they already have a good CRM system and know sales will increase. Take me for example, I have a strong preference to sci/fi movies, so any movie in this genre that is released in a steel book is pretty much a nail on for me. However if I see a movie that i liked at the cinema but was unsure on investing into again, a decent steel book will normally seal the deal.

Deuce, when I said average, I mean either not a big box office or not widely critically acclaimed, that's not to say the movie isn't any good. I have many movies I love but would accept that in the wider view of things, aren't seen the same as the masses. My point being I was referring to the marketability of the movie on bluray rather than the movie itself.

Having thought about it all, i do think we in the UK get a good deal, but i think like everybody we always want the best releases in our region, so not getting some of the previous Future Shop releases does annoy, but if I'm honest I think like some have said already, we are actually treated to some good releases.

 

[alienvariety]

It may be true that recently the number of steelbooks released is on the increase - but, as has been noted by a number of posters, the calibre of these steelbooks (and of the films) isn't necessarily of a quality that collectors are seeking. My criticism isn't specifically about the number of releases, but the number of high quality releases, and past films which still haven't seen a UK steelbook release, or in some cases, a UK blu ray release at all, despite often being available on at least one of those formats in numerous other countries. This seems pretty inexplicable to me.

I agree with much of what joswin93's posted; the majority of steelbooks I see most commonly for sale in the UK outside of HMV and Play (and occasionally Amazon) are imports from Germany or Canada. UK steelbooks tend to be, and of course I'm generalising wildly, of lower quality films, which yes, is subjective to an extent, but there should be enough of a range of steelbooks available that such subjectivity isn't an issue.

I'm not too fussed about the age ratings on the front etc., I think it's nice we have subtleties which differentiate a UK steelbook from others, but I am concerned that studios and/ or distributors are neglecting to offer the same range of films on steelbook and blu ray that exist in other countries. I gave a couple of examples in my op. Zoneism is right when he describes the difficulties this creates for the collector too.

 

[SlimJim24]

At least the uk has g2 steelbook releases. Think about poor old us in the US.

I think most would agree in terms of quantity that Canada, uk, and Germany are top three obviously. I don't really think its fair to discount the Canadian steelbooks based on their bilingual spine. But that's the name of the game though: personal preference. While I don't care for bilingual spines, I'd still buy any Canadian release over UK or Germany because I know what I'm getting. Inside artwork and a clean back artwork.

But back on topic, I think you all should appreciate the fact that you're even getting releases. I wish I could drive to the store and buy a steelbook, but instead I am forced to have everything imported. Hopefully that changes soon, but for now, it's frustrating. If nothing else, people from the Uk can easily obtain copies from the store to trade for releases from another country. I'd be happy with that option!

Although I can understand your frustration and respect your opinion, in the grand scheme of things you have it pretty good.

 

[alienvariety]

A fair point SlimJim24. I am doubting my original stance somewhat, although I still think the fact that there is such a chasm between Canadian/ German SBs and UK steelbooks warrants criticism. That there are countries worse off sucks for them, no doubt, but isn't really relevant to my initial complaint.