Transformers hit DVD store shelves earlier today, but before you clunk down your hard earned money at your local Best Buy, you might want to know what stores offers which DVD exclusives.
I used to collect DVDs religiously, and have a collection that fills two walls. I’m not saying this to brag, but to establish that I come from a DVD collecting background. However, in the last year, I have bought very few new DVDs. I’m not sure if it’s that I just don’t have the time to watch them anymore, that I use netflix, or that I’ve maybe lost interest in special features. But now I only buy a few DVDs a year. One thing that is really starting to piss me off are these store-exclusive dvd packages.
For example, if you buy Transfomers at Best Buy, you get two little transformer toys. You can see the Optimus Prime figure in the middle of the photo above. It looks like something that would come out of a happy meal. Yeah, Not interested - who cares.
If you buy the DVD at Target however, you do get something truly cool. The Transformers DVD case transformers into Optimus Prime (also seen above). It’s something I would love to have in my collection, and here is where the problem begins:
Wal-Mart is offering an exclusive 2-DVD pack which includes Transformers: Beginnings, a prequel narrated by the voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, which is described as:
See what happened before Optimus Prime and Megatron came to Earth in the stylized, action-packed prequel, Transformers: Beginnings. On their home planet of Cybertron, the Autobots and Decepticons are involved in an explosive battle over the coveted AllSpark. With the fate of the universe at stake, the Autobots send it far from the reach of the ruthless Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. But there are even more surprises in store when it crash-lands on Earth. Narrated by the voice of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), this gripping adventure is an essential for every Transformers fan.
I would like to buy the Transforming DVD case, but I also would like to watch the Transformers prequel. But the way it is set up, you can’t have both without buying Transformers on DVD at two different stores. And yes, I understand that is the whole point. It just blows from the consumer standpoint.
Our friends at FilmSchoolRejects have round up of all the different editions (standard, special edition, hd-dvd, best buy giftset…etc), and that’s not even including the store exclusives. And who knows which edition comes with the store-exclusives. In the past I have gone to a specific store for a DVD exclusive to learn that the exclusive only comes with the Full Frame edition (ick!).
October 16th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
I wanted to buy this but now this is just bull****! eBay here I come!
October 16th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
I’m with you Pete. This is absolutely unnecessary. I now have 5 different copies of Transformers — including the HD-DVD, which is by far the best DVD release of all-time.
It is sad that they have to spread out these “limited” items among retailers; sad for consumers that is. But then again, without things like this and the advent of steel book editions and other various DVD gimmicks, there would be no reason for movie fanboys like us to visit eBay…
October 16th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Pete,
Why are you forgetting to mention the /Film collectors edition that comes with a signed photo of you and Mr. Spielberg as well as that nifty /Film t-shirt (available in xs sizes only due to DVD case restrictions)?
Chad
October 16th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
I think you should buy both versions, keep the exclusives for yourself, and give the extra DVD away to a lucky blog visitor!
October 16th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
or you could just download transformers beginnings from bittorrent and save your money. that way you only have to buy one dvd. besides, wouldn’t it feel good to steal from wal-mart?
October 16th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
So does the Walmart Exclusive version contain the prequel plus the contents of the two-disc special edition? Or is it just the movie and the prequel?
October 16th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
I buy my DVD’s in China for 8RmB ($1) each. Pirated but I’ve come to not care. I watch them one time and then throw them away (mostly TV shows but some movies). I would gladly pay $3-4 per DVD but no more. Those are the only economics that make sense in this market. The crazy marketing/sales of these products in the US and the attempts to export those insane economics and tactics to developing markets is unsustainable.
P.S. Before you get anti-piracy religious on me, also note that this is in all practicality the only way we have to consume Western media in China. It’s either pirated Western media or free Chinese media for the average consumer (particularly TV). There is only so much Chinese Opera, anti-Japanese WWII soap operas, and game shows one can take (shudder).
October 16th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
DO NOT BUY THE WALMART EXCLUSIVE!!! It does not contain the special edition extras and the ‘prequel’ is a 19 minute piece of garbage where they take the stills of the prequel comic book and do rather bad voice overs. Peter Cullen’s contribution is about 10 seconds of material. I’m currently trying to figure out how to return an opened dvd to walmart so I can get the real 2 disc special edition.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
I spent the better part of 1998 to about 2004 buying DVDs I wanted on a regular basis. I tehn spent from 2004 to now to sell just about all of them used on Amazon or local places that buy used movies.
I got tired of being treated as a criminal, instead of a computer. DVD player that won’t let you stop/skip/anything the ‘you’re a criminal’ ads, unable to stop previews, unable to fast forward through a 30 second FBI warning, many things like that.
It’s just not worth the effort. Netflix is easy, you pay someone else to deal with it and having shelves of DVD aren’t worth much. Buying DVDs these days is a waste of money.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
wow:
So you prefer all of us to be single-minded? just because there’s a war going on, it doesn’t mean it has to control all of our lives. You’ve just showed how simple-minded you are.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
I like the exclusives, I want retailers vying for my dollars (then again, I don’t feel compelled to own one of each). I picked up the Target transforming box (just so you know, it’s the 2-disc special edition, in widescreen) and it’s pretty darn cool. The case unfolds to over a foot tall. My kid fell asleep with it clutched to his chest, which is the first time he’s used a DVD case as a teddy bear.
@ Jeremy: Thanks for the heads up re the Walmart exclusive. I was planning to find a torrent for it but now I won’t even bother,
October 16th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
If you want all the extras on a single DVD release, exercise some self control and don’t buy more than one. If you do you’ll only encourage this sort of thing.
October 17th, 2007 at 12:13 am
I GOT IT!!!! how bout we wait 2 months for the 3-disc wonder Edition with xs t-shirt and 3d glasses with a piece of film cut from the original and hand tattoos for 99.00??
October 17th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Just use pirates bay, screw the exclusives.
-Gooney
October 17th, 2007 at 4:50 am
http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1388029/6976998/
Demonoid.com - TRANSFORMERS BEGINNINGS-BONUS DVD -AVI FORMAT
October 17th, 2007 at 6:06 am
So your biggest problem in life right now is that you HAVE to buy TWO DVD’s? boo hoo! waaaah! Lets get the gov’t involved.
October 17th, 2007 at 6:21 am
Well, one might try what I did. I bought the collectors and My friend who really didn’t care for the collection, bought the prequel..I copied hers and put it in with my collection…done. No extra cost. I really wasn’t too concerned about the toys.
October 17th, 2007 at 6:55 am
ebay…bittorrent here i come
October 17th, 2007 at 8:50 am
meh. Transformers was not that great to begin with. Once all the fanboys of the film mature, they’ll see what I mean. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed some aspects of the special effects and the nods to the original series and move (I did grow up with Transformers after all) but the movie just wasn’t that great, imho.
Feel free to flame, I’ve got my extinguisher ready.
October 17th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Echo — It’s ok. You don’t have to like Transformers. All that matters is that enough people liked it, and went to see it, that they are going to make another one. That’s all that really matters.
October 17th, 2007 at 9:47 am
I finally just watched it last night for the first time and was highly entertained by a movie I didn’t think I’d like despite growing up playing with the toys and watching the cartoon. They did a good job making this film.
October 17th, 2007 at 10:41 am
…just one more reason to pirate the the HD version of the movie for your PC, the WS version for you home theater and all the special features disks and supplemental stuff as you like. Then if you really want the transforming case…buy that one.
October 17th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
So I bought the hd-dvd version of the movie. The picture was great, but my question is why they didn’t encode the audio in Dolby True HD. Sure you get Dolby Digital Plus, but on a high budget movie like this, there is no reason that they should not include the best sound unless they are intentionally not doing it so that you will have to buy it again when they re-release the movie in HD with the Dolby True HD soundtrack. Special Features are ok, but I buy it for the movie. I want the best picture and the best sound, and 30 bucks for a movie should get me that. Hollywood is getting gready, which can easily be seen with the whole itunes tv show fiasco where they wanted to increase their share of the profit so that it would cost the consumer $5 an episode for a tv show. That is $120 a season for a 24 season show. If they want to be greedy, I say download away.
October 17th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
So what if there’s multiple DVD sets? No one ever said collecting was going to be a cheap hobby. If you have to pay extra to get what you want then you’ve got two options, suck it up and pay or do without. Don’t think it’s fair? well guess what? LIFE AIN’T FAIR. I collect stuff mysel;f and theres loads of unfair things about it. I don’t like the high prices of Transformers Convention premiums. But I don’t have any choice other than suck it up and pay through the nose or don’t and go without. So don’t whine to us about how mistreated you feel when given a variety of choices. Because sometimes that’s just the way things are and all the crying in the world isn’t going to get that milk back into the overturned glass.
I have no sympathy for you whatsoever.
October 19th, 2007 at 6:48 am
Don’t get the Walmart exclusive… the video is just screen shots of the prequel comic. and the narration by Peter Cullen in ONE DAMN LINE…
October 19th, 2007 at 8:41 am
I don’t think I read anyone mention the Costco Gift Set of the Transformers DVD yet so I’m pitching in my 2 cents.
Out of sheer excitement and without knowing what other “editions” and “variants” were out there, I ended up getting the Transformers Gift Set from Costco. The Gift Set included the Special 2-Disc Edition DVD of Transformers, a book that’s supposed to be a guide to the movie, and a radom keychain of either Optimus Prime or Bumblebee (I got Optimus Prime).
The book is pretty ugly. The cover is a “hologram” of the Autobot Insignia that changes into Optimus Prime’s face when you look at it at an angle. The contents were bleh–Movie stills and some of the cheesy passages from the movie. I think the book is really targetted towards kids.
The keychain was extremely low quality. Plastic and a very bad paint job. You can get better looking toys at a Dollar Store.
October 20th, 2007 at 7:11 am
I recently bought the transformers dvd with the transforming case, and it is FREAKIN SWEET! I have the Optimus Prime figure standing in my room. I also recommend it to everyone. It is the bomb- diggity.
October 20th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Unless you are a millionaire it is very hard to maintain a near perfect movie collection. Now with all the choices and competing standards makes this even worse. In the end Transformers special edition was of course a necessary addition to my movie collection.
October 24th, 2007 at 6:18 am
DVD? Pass…I wanted to love this movie but…
I hated the production design - why does Prime have lips? And the semi chosen as Prime’s body was awful. Why is Megatron not a gun? I can live with bumble Bee not being a VW I suppose - but there is so much I was disappointed with in the movie. Where is James cameron when you need him?
November 6th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
There’s a Costco giftset now too, includes a giant movie guide book with 2 keychains. The two keychains are thankfully unlike the best buy mickey D knocked off, but movie replica of Prime and Bumblebee.
However I wish they packaged them all in transforming cases with the special beginning story =\
November 23rd, 2007 at 5:10 am
is this a money spinner planned from the beginning?
I know fandom would spend for their hobby but this is crazy.
what the heck would people do with 2-3 transformers the movie dvds when it is logical to just buy one copy with all of the features??? the prequel part is a must yes but to buy a little from store a and store b of the same thing??
November 26th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
goooooooooood