Cowboy Bebop: Remix - Beez Box Set

Aion

Aion

Time-Traveller
http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/-/37/51/-/1 ... oduct.html

To those who paid for the first two box sets new, it's a slap in the face. At least Beez aren't asking for two box sets when there's an Anime Legends brick set in existence...

A reviewer of the Remix releases said that there's little to no difference in terms of video quality. Both versions shimmer. As far as I know, only the audio was upgraded. Unless these are different than the R1 releases, expect little change.
 
It's not really a kick in the teeth. The Cowboy Bebop half season boxes were released in November 2005, so it will have been four years since the release.

Really there's no reason to look at Anime Legends releases for comparison, because we know Beez can't go down to that level of prices for various reasons.
 
Aion said:
http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/-/37/51/-/11124373/Cowboy-Bebop-Remix-Complete-Collection/Product.html

To those who paid for the first two box sets new, it's a slap in the face. At least Beez aren't asking for two box sets when there's an Anime Legends brick set in existence...

A reviewer of the Remix releases said that there's little to no difference in terms of video quality. Both versions shimmer. As far as I know, only the audio was upgraded. Unless these are different than the R1 releases, expect little change.
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This would be the last item of our October lineup, it's one we've been asked for repeatedly. What we were waiting to do was issue it on another format but that's been held back for endless reasons I suspect.

Given it's also cheaper than the original sets together and as one set, we've done everything we can to ensure that it's value for money for those fans who do want to double dip on a UK release. It's also no more of a slap in the face than for people who did the same in the US Aion.

It'll be out in time for London Expo too so anyone attending will probably get a good deal on it there as well as a launch-special :)!

- Andrew
PS Unlike the Brick edition this one comes in a nicely slim-packed box too :). More pics to follow when I have one in hand to do an unboxing with.
 
I was comparing the brick release against this in an attempt to show Beez are doing something right: releasing one box set. I'd rather pay £35 for an art box than pay £20 for a brick set...in most cases, anyway.

The problem with this release is by now every Beez buying person will have paid £60 for the first two box sets. They'll now have to sell those and take a bit of a loss. And importing people will own the brick set already.

This makes me wonder... Are Beez planning to release comlplete Planetes and WHR collections? If so, I understand why Mr. French posted the FP prices in the sales thread.
 
That's nice... A better RRP than I was expecting for the UK too.

It has extras (I assume it has the US extras) and it has 5.1 sound. Actually, the 5.1 sound (not just a glorified upmix) makes it worth the double-dip alone.

A Blu-ray would have been Oh so nice though.

I'm the impatient one who bought the R1 brickset last January, and I'm watching it again now. One episode a night, savouring it.

I think enough time has passed since the original release to snag a whole new bunch of fans with this.

The only thing I don't like is the cover art. Even the R1 brickset with it's silver and black monochrome is more appealing. The absence of Jet and Ed on the cover is an issue I guess.
 
Oo, some Julia on the cover.

Like a few people here I already have Bebop so I'm not likely to upgrade to this, however since it's Bebop and more affordable I suspect it will do rather well. Good news for newer fans and those who haven't bought it yet :)

Of course I'd rather it was something new but this is a show which really needed to be brought back in the UK in single box form so I can't sulk about its inclusion in Beez's latest batch.

R
 
I already ordered the Remix set from Austraila (they really put a lot of work into the design, very nice and colourful and more reflective of the series than the Beez sets look).

The main feature of Remix is the new 5.1 audio but it looks like the video has been cleaned up somewhat from the original releases and to me the colours looked crisper. The extras are more interesting than the other sets because we actually have some audio commentaries this time but really if you already have the originals it's not worth another purchase. If you haven't bought it yet though that seems like a great deal!
 
Sy said:
I already ordered the Remix set from Austraila (they really put a lot of work into the design, very nice and colourful and more reflective of the series than the Beez sets look).
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You paid 10 pound more for nicer box art?




ftdbub.jpg
 
Don't know where you pulled that £10 more out of, looks like it could have been from that monkey. I actually paid about the same.
 
unellmay said:
Sy said:
Don't know where you pulled that £10 more out of, looks like it could have been from that monkey. I actually paid about the same.
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Retail aus $100
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Back when it was first released there, the exchange rate was probably closer to 2.50 for every pound, which would work out at about 40 quid, which is the same as that set.

I've got the two sets myself, so this i'll pass on, but i would've got it otherwise.
 
I can see no reason at all to double dip on this set. There seems to be nothing substantively improved over the last release (except for the price! I paid about €100 for the two box sets about 2 years ago. The prices are ridiculous, but I guess that's to be expected from Beez and the series really is something special so I suppose I don't mind too much).
 
CitizenGeek said:
I can see no reason at all to double dip on this set. There seems to be nothing substantively improved over the last release (except for the price! I paid about €100 for the two box sets about 2 years ago. The prices are ridiculous, but I guess that's to be expected from Beez and the series really is something special so I suppose I don't mind too much).
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Quite reasonable that you see no reason to double dip on the Remixed set if audio isn't your thing :).

However the "ridiculous" prices you refer to are a bit confusing. Whether you were talking the original Bebop boxed releases were in-line for box set prices two years ago when nobody was discounting any box set particularly for starters. So at the time they were what was to be expected from the industry as a whole in that case :).

Secondly if you're referring to its street price for the remix £49.99 for a 6 DVD remastered set with extras included and a new box isn't a bad price when you consider that'll be discounted at retailers - making it cheaper than other remastered and older releases like Evangelion for example.

So please clarify how you feel the price point of the Remixed set is ridiculous? Keeping in mind it's designed to replace the original sets more than anything and throw a bit extra in there too...
 
Andrew, I'm pretty sure he means that the price for the original separate sets were 'ridiculous' and not the price of the new Remix collection. Looking back though the thought of having to pay about £25 - £30 for 3 DVD's a set does make me dizzy. I'm glad Beez are finding a way to lower prices.

Also just wondering why the choice of the darker colours for the look of the set? It looks fine graphically but it's not really that representative of the content of the series, which is more fun than dark when something more on the lines of this newer Australian set seems more fitting...

mmb416wp.jpg


Also, long shot. Any chance of releasing any subtitled Lupin III releases... ever? :p The Italians got their releases spot on, something like that would be beyond awesome.
 
Sy said:
Andrew, I'm pretty sure he means that the price for the original separate sets were 'ridiculous' and not the price of the new Remix collection. Looking back though the thought of having to pay about £25 - £30 for 3 DVD's a set does make me dizzy. I'm glad Beez are finding a way to lower prices.
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Same here on both counts (which was meant and the dizzying factor), however I'd stand by the statement that at the time they were not even perceivably ridiculous prices due to the matching of the industry rates. Even now actually in terms of profit and loss the current price divide is actually misleading but again that's a story for another day!

Sy said:
Also just wondering why the choice of the darker colours for the look of the set? It looks fine graphically but it's not really that representative of the content of the series, which is more fun than dark when something more on the lines of this newer Australian set seems more fitting...

mmb416wp.jpg


Also, long shot. Any chance of releasing any subtitled Lupin III releases... ever? :p The Italians got their releases spot on, something like that would be beyond awesome.
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I'm actually pretty fond of the Madman release, theirs was actually custom requested so a unique to Australia. We've actually altered ours since Play.com etc got ahold of the image though so I'll upload the different one when I have a 3D. It's again black and white but one that I'm far more keen on really :).

As for Lupin, I'm a big fan of it and would very much like to get my hands on it - that's all I can say for now as at present it's not on our lists but it's one like Xam'D that I'd love to see on it!
 
God, DVD retail prices used to be ridiculous!

Before I discovered online shopping, I used to collect TV series boxsets as and when they were released, and I remember paying full retail price for some shows back in 2000.

£99 for an X-Files single season boxset, £120 for a Star Trek TNG boxset. It kind of puts those early anime prices in perspective. DVD prices came straight from VHS prices, where people were paying around £15 for two episodes on a single tape (that would add up pretty quickly for a 26 episode series) The overheads of videotape manufacture were one thing. That couldn't be justified with DVD, and so prices quickly came down.

Anime has a whole other set of overheads though, which is why anime collections will always be more expensive than domestic TV on DVD. Still, I think we are getting to a happy medium now, especially with Manga's releases. With some shows and their pretail discount, we're looking at a pound an episode or less. Some download to own solutions ask for more!

I think that £50 for Cowboy Bebop Remix is pretty sweet, given where the anime market is right now.

Andrew, what's the video going to be like on this, are you working from the US masters (slight shimmer, interlacing on discs 1-4), or will you be giving it a buff and polish?
 
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