Steelbook collecting getting boring? Not the same as 12-18 months ago
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Why do you you/don't you buy Steelbooks?
- Thread starter mcbumblingnumpty
- Start date
I can no longer make profit selling steelbooks. This means demand has declined, thus in turn affecting collectibility. Just the facts ma'am, just the facts
Demand is higher than it has ever been, this hobby is more popular than ever. The reason why you can't make profit is because studios and retailers have realised just how profitable Steelbooks can potentially be. That means more Steelbooks both in terms of number of titles and print runs. Collectors only have so much money they can spend, so naturally the chances of a Steelbook selling out and commanding a premium are slimmer.
If you think they are flooding the market with steels then you need to learn how to pace yourself and buy only what you like and know you can afford. Ask any seasoned collector on the board and they'll tell you that if you try and buy them all you'll fail miserably.
It's always the same story with new collectors, they see all the pretty steels and try and get them all. You'll burn out unless you pace yourself. Believe me, you will enjoy collecting that much more if you do.
Could not have said this better myself, when I first started collecting I spent a good amount of money on Ebay to get steels that I "had" to have at the time. I ended up getting fleeced for a good sum of money and it made me take a step back and research all websites and price everything out before committing to buying something. Just like anything in life you must always research and study before going all in.
My man Snoo. Sometimes you have your moments buddy. And here I had you penned with the "dead" theorists out there. Sometimes, you surprise me. As for steels being "dead", far far from it. It's all to do with the law of supply and demand, that effects ALL goods and services, not just steels. If the demand is there, there will be enough supply to meet those demands. So the more you see new titles being release, you can gage the popularity of steels by this. I personally would like to see releases increases 1000x current levels. As I am very disciplined in my collecting, this would have absolutely no effect on me, except put a big wide grin on my face. If you're undiciplined, too bad, so sad.
The problem is people are expecting to turn a quick profit with these new releases. Those days are long gone, never to return. As a collector, you have to decide what direction you wanna take your collection. Collect for fun? Or profit? If you choose to collect for profit, then the way to go is with the older titles, for sure. There are no easy roads on this, you cannot squeeze blood from a rock. It takes money, to make money. Otherwise collect for fun. From alot of post I've read, it seems to me that the vast majority of you collect for fun. So there shouldn't be any complaints about all these releases. If I was collecting for "fun", I'd be having the time of my life right now. Not complaining, or declaring steels are "dead".
Thinking about it, all these new steelbooks being released has saved me money and made me enjoy steelbooks even more. I havent been collecting long but when i first started i wanted all the uk steels, even movies i dont really like, dont know why i wanted them i just did. But now i just buy what i like and its saving me money and my steelbook collecting is more enjoyable now than it was when i first started nearly a year ago.
I have 3 reasons why I buy steelbooks.
I have to like the movie and the movie has to be that good in my opinion that I know that I will want to see it more then once.
As a small criteria I asked myself ,if I would see this movie again within 3 or 4 months, would I still like it and enjoy watching it , does it still make me laugh, make my cry, scare me , or keeps me in suspense , then I would buy it as a steelbook.
The second criteria: is the movie released as a steelbook? Fortunately , lately we got more and more steelbook releases.
This is not always a positive development.
The third criteria : If the movie is released in 3D , does the steelbook also include a 3D disc?
My last criteria : because I live in Holland , I prefer steelbooks with dutch subtitels, I can perfectly understand a movie in English , but if the movie has dutch subtitels then my girlfriend can also watch the movie
I have to like the movie and the movie has to be that good in my opinion that I know that I will want to see it more then once.
As a small criteria I asked myself ,if I would see this movie again within 3 or 4 months, would I still like it and enjoy watching it , does it still make me laugh, make my cry, scare me , or keeps me in suspense , then I would buy it as a steelbook.
The second criteria: is the movie released as a steelbook? Fortunately , lately we got more and more steelbook releases.
This is not always a positive development.
The third criteria : If the movie is released in 3D , does the steelbook also include a 3D disc?
My last criteria : because I live in Holland , I prefer steelbooks with dutch subtitels, I can perfectly understand a movie in English , but if the movie has dutch subtitels then my girlfriend can also watch the movie
Steelbook Sitrep
You may agree with me, or you may not agree with me, but at the moment I'm just questioning the current situation with Steelbooks. Recently I've began laying off buying them and I feel that for a number of reasons they're rapidly becoming less of a nice little collectible item and more of a novelty that's wearing off.
- They're being overproduced.
It's got to the point where people like Zavvi are announcing new titles on Steelbooks every single week. It's making the whole Steelbook concept less valuable.
- Designers are getting lazy with the artwork.
Some call it minimalism but I call it 2 minutes on Photoshop and easily replicated on MS Paint. Potential for a Steelbook with great artwork just gets thrown out of the window and, again, devalues the Steelbook concept.
- Extra stuff you get with Steelbooks is declining.
Double plays and triple plays seem to have trickled away quietly and the last BD Steelbook I received a DVD copy with was End of Watch. Now you're lucky if you even get a UV card. What happened to postcards and booklets? Make the Steelbooks feel weighty again! Films aren't getting the respect they deserve, it's just "here's the film, now take a hike"
- Retailers are now charging too much.
I remember when my first new & sealed triple play Steelbook off Play.com was only £12. And now brand new titles are ~£18. Some have the audacity to charge £24. For a disc wrapped in aluminium, no more, no less. No extras. Nothing. Rip-off.
To me it looks like the only real collectible form of optical media for films now are digibooks, all are so well thought out and well-produced, and they're not overproduced and overpriced either. And I hope it stays that way.
Unless the situation with Steelbooks improves I doubt I'll be buying too many of them anymore. Am I the only one who thinks this or what?
:movie:
You may agree with me, or you may not agree with me, but at the moment I'm just questioning the current situation with Steelbooks. Recently I've began laying off buying them and I feel that for a number of reasons they're rapidly becoming less of a nice little collectible item and more of a novelty that's wearing off.
- They're being overproduced.
It's got to the point where people like Zavvi are announcing new titles on Steelbooks every single week. It's making the whole Steelbook concept less valuable.
- Designers are getting lazy with the artwork.
Some call it minimalism but I call it 2 minutes on Photoshop and easily replicated on MS Paint. Potential for a Steelbook with great artwork just gets thrown out of the window and, again, devalues the Steelbook concept.
- Extra stuff you get with Steelbooks is declining.
Double plays and triple plays seem to have trickled away quietly and the last BD Steelbook I received a DVD copy with was End of Watch. Now you're lucky if you even get a UV card. What happened to postcards and booklets? Make the Steelbooks feel weighty again! Films aren't getting the respect they deserve, it's just "here's the film, now take a hike"
- Retailers are now charging too much.
I remember when my first new & sealed triple play Steelbook off Play.com was only £12. And now brand new titles are ~£18. Some have the audacity to charge £24. For a disc wrapped in aluminium, no more, no less. No extras. Nothing. Rip-off.
To me it looks like the only real collectible form of optical media for films now are digibooks, all are so well thought out and well-produced, and they're not overproduced and overpriced either. And I hope it stays that way.
Unless the situation with Steelbooks improves I doubt I'll be buying too many of them anymore. Am I the only one who thinks this or what?
:movie:
I would tend to agree with the sentiment in the OP. However, Zavvi were merely filling an opening left by the closure of play.com's retail arm, and the financial woes of HMV and their subsequent lack of online exposure.
Digital copies are more than still available, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Oblivion and Les Miserables but there are a lot of single disks, then again who watches the DVD. The Studio would rather that if you want DVD you buy DVD and keep their costs down now rather than give the disk away resulting in a lost sale.
As to the charge of higher prices that I would totally agree with especially in these times. Whilst I don't think either play or the Studios were losing money with the £9.99 issues, they weren't seeing much profit either. Before play launched the waves last year most had been priced around £16-£18, some a bit lower the odd one higher.
Notwithstanding the above I was more of a "Glass half-full" type of person however that glass is now emptying mainly due to the sheer number of titles being released and the very long lead times. Digibooks are very nice but unfortunately until we get decent releases as in the US, I am limiting my choices.
Digital copies are more than still available, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Oblivion and Les Miserables but there are a lot of single disks, then again who watches the DVD. The Studio would rather that if you want DVD you buy DVD and keep their costs down now rather than give the disk away resulting in a lost sale.
As to the charge of higher prices that I would totally agree with especially in these times. Whilst I don't think either play or the Studios were losing money with the £9.99 issues, they weren't seeing much profit either. Before play launched the waves last year most had been priced around £16-£18, some a bit lower the odd one higher.
Notwithstanding the above I was more of a "Glass half-full" type of person however that glass is now emptying mainly due to the sheer number of titles being released and the very long lead times. Digibooks are very nice but unfortunately until we get decent releases as in the US, I am limiting my choices.
I won't lie, I do feel the quality has gone down, as has the "collectability" with the larger number of releases, and often, the size of the print runs.
I mostly agree with just about everything Liam posted above.
Still, I can't stop buying them and the collection just gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
There was a brief period in which I was overwhelmed by the amount of damaged steelbooks I received in a short period and very nearly did decide to quit.
Somedays I almost wish I had...
I keep seeing these posts from people saying they will be selective and just buy unique titles or only their favorite movies. I keep thinking, "Man, that's a great idea... I'll do that too!", only to realize later that I am an easy mark because nearly every single movie I come across has some appeal and is one of my favorites for one reason or another.
It's sad really.
I mostly agree with just about everything Liam posted above.
Still, I can't stop buying them and the collection just gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
There was a brief period in which I was overwhelmed by the amount of damaged steelbooks I received in a short period and very nearly did decide to quit.
Somedays I almost wish I had...
I keep seeing these posts from people saying they will be selective and just buy unique titles or only their favorite movies. I keep thinking, "Man, that's a great idea... I'll do that too!", only to realize later that I am an easy mark because nearly every single movie I come across has some appeal and is one of my favorites for one reason or another.
It's sad really.
I don't really agree with any of the points. The number of Steelbooks being released has increased yes, but the number of titles released in Steelbook form is tiny compared to the number of films produced. As for artwork, I don't think designers are any lazier now than in years gone by. Steelbooks have always tended to use recycled art. As for extras, I don't see a difference. Catalogue titles are still single disc jobbies and new titles still get the same discs as their amaray counterparts. The only difference would be that studios seem to be supporting UV more rather than physical DVDs and digital copies. As for price, £17.99 was the standard for new releases in the early days of UK Steelbooks. There has been a small upward trend in prices but that can be attributed to inflation and rising costs. Of course catalogue titles seem to have risen in price, but before Play.com there was no precedent. I would say that prices are now more in line with other retailers from around the world.
Hi,
personally, I think I wouldn't call myself a collector, but I'm more into buying them really since I discovered this forum, what was about six months ago. So I cannot speak, like many of you can, about the "good old times" where steelbooks were 9,99, premium finish, etc. I can only speak for my time as a steelbook friend.
That being said, I'm quite happy to see many movies released as a steelbook, regardless of embossing, matte or glossy finish, or else. But it's impossible for me to keep up with so many movies being released. When for example zavvi announces a new wave of four or five movies, I can preorder 2 as a maximum. My budget doesn't allow more, so I really have to select what movies I would like to have and what movies are worth the money.
I usually can afford to buy 3 or 4 steels a month that cost me 15€ each. But that's it.
The 2 Guns steel for example would cost about 30€ when I buy it in the group buy. I'm not talking bad about the group buy, but my end price of 30€ for a movie/steelbook is too much for me. I know that it's a new release and the price for UK customers is ok, but for the rest of the world it's quite high. And that's again where I have to choose what's worth it. I would love to have this, but I'm still not sure if I can spend my money on this.
I understand that many peoply are willing to pay higher prices for steelbooks, because they can afford them or because they call themselves collectors and "feel the need" to buy them. Unfortunately I can't.
personally, I think I wouldn't call myself a collector, but I'm more into buying them really since I discovered this forum, what was about six months ago. So I cannot speak, like many of you can, about the "good old times" where steelbooks were 9,99, premium finish, etc. I can only speak for my time as a steelbook friend.
That being said, I'm quite happy to see many movies released as a steelbook, regardless of embossing, matte or glossy finish, or else. But it's impossible for me to keep up with so many movies being released. When for example zavvi announces a new wave of four or five movies, I can preorder 2 as a maximum. My budget doesn't allow more, so I really have to select what movies I would like to have and what movies are worth the money.
I usually can afford to buy 3 or 4 steels a month that cost me 15€ each. But that's it.
The 2 Guns steel for example would cost about 30€ when I buy it in the group buy. I'm not talking bad about the group buy, but my end price of 30€ for a movie/steelbook is too much for me. I know that it's a new release and the price for UK customers is ok, but for the rest of the world it's quite high. And that's again where I have to choose what's worth it. I would love to have this, but I'm still not sure if I can spend my money on this.
I understand that many peoply are willing to pay higher prices for steelbooks, because they can afford them or because they call themselves collectors and "feel the need" to buy them. Unfortunately I can't.
My perspective makes the selection process pretty easy. The vast majority of steelbooks produced after 2011 look like garbage. The money I save by passing on every Zavvi [I've yet to order a single one] is spent on older releases that have increased in value. Do I get gouged? Maybe a little. But I'd much rather pay $20-25 over market value on an older steel than waste it on a 5,000-copy Zavvi release that every ninja will own.
See, I think it's the other way around. The vast majority of Steelbooks (admittedly not that many) produced before 2011 look like garbage. Plenty of banners, text and a lack of inside artwork. It's fine that you collect for a different reason than others, but saying the above is a bit foolish.
Did I say that others are foolish for buying newer steels? Did I even comment on whether I purchase newer steels outside of Zavvi? I'm not a particularly clever man but I was deliberate in my commentary, so I think I can do just fine without your judgement. Anyway, I won't derail this any further with an arguement over personal tastes.
You just have start buying very selective
.At the beginning of my Steelie "Career"
i bought up to 10 a Month.After a few Weeks i started asking myself,do you really want them anymore? The answer was "no". I almost sold all of them ,including the complete "Marvel Phase 1",and now i`m selective and can afford even the more expensive ones from Kimchi,Bluefans and so on. I went down to max 3-4 Steelies a Month.That`s absolutely ok for me
Quality instead of Quantity
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