Anyone who knows me from elsewhere online (Hi, Andrew!) won't be surprised that it's
this discussion that finally got me to register here.
My usual opinions tend to echo a lot of sentiments here, so I'm actually going to jump in at this point:
anime_andrew said:
Ah okay, it'll be the home video charts - which only captures:
A) Domestic sales
B) Major retailers
So what isn't included are:
A) All the Anime.com sales (we have a healthy sales channel there actually and appreciate the direct relationship with folks)
B) Event sales
C) Smaller retailers (people like Anime-on-Line etc don't show up)
So when you add it all together there's a good chunk of sales that don't show up.
OK. That's actually going to be quite telling.
Like it or not, "Major Retailers" took a hit when the high street stores all took a dive a few years back. With only one real major chain and even it having to scale back a bit (HMV literally downsizing stores in some locations like Guildford), collector editions just aren't going to sell well there. Leaving it to online retailers.
So you'll have your Amazons, Zavvis, HMVs and the like, but it is the direct and smaller retailers that are likely to get a fair chunk of these sales.
For Anime Limited CEs and UEs, it makes sense to buy directly from alltheanime.com owing to them often having early-bird discounts. And even if you miss the discount, there's sometimes just something nice about ordering directly from a distributor rather than a huge faceless corp. (Unless you can't easily get parcel deliveries larger than a jiffy-bagged amaray and only live a short walk from an Amazon Locker)
For MVM, again you have the option of buying directly from the distributor via anime-on-line.com which also carries the advantage of often shipping their pre-orders out ahead of street date as soon as they're in stock.
So that gives a major incentive to buy directly from two of the UK distributors rather than through channels where the sales data is more officially and publically captured.
Then you factor in Event Sales.
Sometimes discounted but, basically,
right there in front of you. And in a way that you just don't get in HMV, who sometimes just put out a placeholder amaray than actually having the real product for someone to have a decent look at. Plus, at an event where if you're seriously scouring the dealer area then you've already decided to spend a chunk of money on geeky hobbies.
(Unlike in HMV, where you might wander in on the way to/from spending a significant amount on new/replacement clothing or appliances - damn this "responsible adult" malarkey!)
That's how I got my FMP set. I was at MCM London last October. The set was available at a reasonable price but, more importantly, it was there in front of me. I'm no fan of big collector boxes but seeing something up close can really help decide whether it' value for money in a way that photos on listings just can't.
So I bought a series in a big fancy box... whilst wearing T-shirt that says I don't care about fancy boxes. Yes, I was well aware of the irony.
So, yeah, when comparing sales data it looks like Jerome only has bog-standard retail data to go on. Which is probably quite representative of standard editions but looks like it really doesn't cover a rather significant chunk of collector sales.
(Yes, yes, I know. my post count here will probably be low but my word count... quite likely wont!)
