Forum - View topicRampant Consumerism or Prudent Purchasing?
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Isikari
 Posts: 118 |
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So, I've been looking to expand my meager anime collection as of late, and have been searching around online for the best place to buy DVD's. What with having to dodge bootlegs and all, finding a reliable and not insanely expensive source can be a bit tricky with some series.
However, the real point of this post is the extraordinary disparity in price that I've noticed between volume-by-volume releases and Boxed Sets. I've seen Boxed sets (Non-bootleg) that are 50% or less than the cost of the volumes. The only downside is, they're released anywhere from six months to a year or so after the last volume comes out. So, to all of those with Anime collections rivalling their nearest Anime Store / Library / Planetary System, do you buy volume-by-volume as the series is released or a Box set at the end, and why? P.S. You'll notice from the title I'm not biased at all. ~ Isikari |
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Steventheeunuch
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It absolutely depends. Normally, I'll wait for a boxed set release at some point, however certian titles will get my support in singles, just to give them more of a push (things like Gao Gai Gar, Hellsing Ultimate, and if it ever came stateside, Legend of the Galactic Heroes). Some things, like Jojo's Bizzare Adventure, I'll get in singles because the chances of a boxed set ever coming out for that is damn near impossible.
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ikarisama
 Posts: 32 Location: Penticton B.C. |
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It really depends on the series. Some series like Fullmetal Alchemist, Evangellion and Azumanga Daioh I loved so much I had to buy disc by disc. Others like Nadia The Secret of Blue Water I bought individually because the company had taken the chance on a classic series I really loved and I felt I had to buy the individual discs, plus I was impatient. Then there are series I felt were good and I must own but I am not willing to shell out $100-200 for such as Midori Days and Getter Robo.
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Shorty22
 Posts: 504 |
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It all depends on timing, how it's released, and opinion of the show. For examples;
1. Timing - I just discovered Peacemaker and Chrono Crusade on Showtime Beyond. I really liked the series, so I searched for them. Well, by this time, all the singles were released AND sets were available, so it only made sense to buy the cheaper sets. 2. Released - I pick up the box sets of Naruto because I want it uncut, so I must wait for sets. During sales, sometimes you can find singles cheaper than any set, so you get those. Also, when an older series gets a rerelease into a set, it comes up to the front again and you'll see people commenting on it, which may get you to go pick it up as well. 3. Opinion - Typically I buy singles of series I think really need my support asap or because I enjoyed them a lot and want to rewatch them sooner rather than later. I bought Cyborg 009, Shaman King Uncut, and Yugioh Uncut to support them, but they were all cancelled anyway. For enjoyment, I bought Fullmetal Alchemist as it was released, knowing full well that with a series that popular there would be a set eventually. However, right now, I've become lazy and backlogged, so I haven't been buying too much new stuff. However, a couple sales have caused me to cave in... |
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Nagisa
Moderator
 Posts: 6128 Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh |
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I've only recently come into a position where I can start spending my money on fun things like DVDs, so I'm currently trying to play catch-up on old releases that I really wanted but had to miss out on. For this reason, I almost exclusively buy box sets, because it's the quickest way to get caught up on, say, the Seikai Trilogy, Twelve Kingdoms, Outlaw Star, and random Gundam odds & ends. Once I manage to get down some of the stuff I've been waiting years to be able to afford, I might slow down and start getting single volumes...for shows that are good enough, anyway (Haruhi, Black Lagoon, Rozen Maiden), and just keep getting box sets for impulse buys, longer 30+ episode shows (hi, Fullmetal Alchemist), and "S'alright" kinda lower priority series (Fate/stay night, Mai-Otome, Ergo Proxy).
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16963 |
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I usually wait for box sets. There's just too many out there for me to buy single disks for. I usually rent them from Netflix and the ones I like I buy the box sets for. Now, for those special series I just love or are just that damn good I get single volumes. The only 4 I'm getting single volumes for right now are Nerima Daikon Brothers, Hare+Guu, Ergo Proxy, and Moonphase. Moonphase is for my gf and the other 3 are for me. I plan on getting Rozen Maiden (also for gf) when it's released and the second season of Oh My Goddess tv.
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undeadben
 Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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Since I am another one trying to catch up on years and years of not buying I look for value. Not always the box set and not always the cheapest price but for anime that has been around for a while whatever I can get for the best value is what I'll buy. A lot of the time that is a thinpak box set just because the cost far outweighs what I'd get with finding singles. However finding bundle sales on singles a well as sale prices on bricks is always nice. Like I recently picked up bundle sets for Desert Punk and Rod the TV in singles, which was the best value I could hope for. And then there is the magical bargain bin at TRSI that occasionally has some great offerings for entire single sets sometimes with artbox, like my recent purchase of Chrono Crusade. And then there are the great sales on bricks that I can't pass up either, like the TRSI 12 days of Christmas sale that brought to me A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Samurai Champloo, and a couple others.
However just because I'm catching up on years of not buying and then building my book and movie libraries, I also want to enjoy some of the fun of buying singles for things as they are released. With these I make sure to always pre-order, especially if there is a studio sale at TRSI where pre-orders are included that sometimes net 45% off after the sale price and Got Anime membership. And I'm a bit weird in that I like to dig into not only things I have seen fansubbed and loved but also a few things I have never seen to sort of balance things out. Currently I am collecting in singles MoonPhase, Full Metal Panic TSR, Pani Poni Dash, Solty Rei, Black Cat, Shakugan no Shana, Basilisk, and this month I will finish up Rumbling Hearts as soon as it is shipped out, and I already started on Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, with my pre-order for the SE LE super duper set to be released in May placed and all set to go. So I guess until I catch up a bit more with things I want or would like to see, I'll just buy about anything, Brick, Thinpak box, bargain bundles, as long as there is good value involved, but I also enjoy spending on singles as they come out too. |
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digitalkikka
 Posts: 462 Location: Chicago, Illinois |
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I usually just buy whatever's available for the anime I'm interested in. If there's a box set I'll buy it but if there isn't one out yet I go for the singles. That may have to change though considering the number of new shows that I'm interested in for 2007. Waiting for box sets sounds tempting when I add up the cost of adding 6+ new shows to the 10(ish) I'm collecting.
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Miho
 Posts: 95 |
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It depends most of the time. I'll usually wait for a box set to be released if the singles are hard to find, but I really perfer the singles, especially for ADV's releases. I don't really like ADV's thinpak box sets because I like having the extras, but if the single releases of their shows didn't have good extras (such as Angelic Layer) then I'll go with the thinpak release instead. I plan on buying the singles for Princess Tutu, since I've heard that the extras are quite good, and plus they aren't very expensive.
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NGE1113
 Posts: 1081 Location: Alexandria, VA. |
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When I first started buying DVDs, I had really one rule when it came to buying: stick within a set monthly budget. What that month's purchases consisted of didn't matter, though it tended to be far more singles than boxes. Almost all of my singles were newer titles that were just being released, or OVA collections / movies. I bought box sets to catch up on stuff from yesteryear that I had missed the first go-round (if available), or wait for one for shows that had been completely released recently (more than once, I picked up all the singles for an already released series, only to find a solicitation for a box set within a month or two). However, I'm not following this method of purchasing at the moment (and don't anticipate to return to it for some time).
Given the fact that I gave up my full-time job to transfer to a 4-year school this semester, I'm pretty much in box set mode for the next couple of years. That is not to say that I don't buy singles anymore, but the series in question must be well worth my money to buy it via that route. Anyway, as others have already posted, I'm pretty much on the buy for value bandwagon. I've now taken to doing my homework so to speak, since there are excellent bargains out there to be found if one looks for it (and I try to). I don't mind passing up new stuff for a couple of years, since there's plenty of older material out there that I've had on my to-watch list, but didn't have the money to buy at that moment in time. EDIT: bit of post clarification Last edited by NGE1113 on Wed Feb 28, 2007 1:31 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Brand
 Posts: 1029 |
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I'll buy singles for a series I really really want, like Hellsing Ultimate, and Paradise Kiss. But for a lot of other stuff I try and find it on sale. As mentioned TRSI has some crazy sales, I picked up that Giant Robo box set for $12.99 during that Christmas sale. The Geneon sale they had where it was 25 dvds for $100 bucks was awesome too. I also find that ADV has some great sales on some of their older stuff. I got all of Bubble Gum Crisis 2040 for like $12, and the Devilman Lady Box set for $15. So basically I wait and find great sales on stuff for the most part.
Last edited by Brand on Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:41 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Isikari
Posts: 118 |
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Alright, so far the results of people's posts have been very different from what I expected. The categories are split into what appears to be three categories;
1) Value Buyers: Psycho 101 and Nagisa (As well as myself) are examples of Value buyers, searching for the best prices (Which usually ends up being box sets) and are willing to wait for a good price. I expected a lot more people like this, but still, this group was fairly well represented. 2) Anime Supporters: Short 22 and Steventheeunuch represent this category well. These are folks who will occassionally buy a boxed set, but really enjoy purchasing singles as they are released to help anime they feel need a little help and as a show of support. I expected a few people in this group as well, about as many as replied (Percentage wise). 3) Anime Now: NGE1113 and digitalkikka are both excellent models for this archetype. Fans such as these, for the most part, will buy Singles / Box sets / whatever is available for the current anime they are watching. Honestly, I didn't expect this group to be large at all, yet multiple other posters mimicked the buying behaviors of the above members. I look forward to hearing other responses and seeing if the relative size of the groups shifts, or if there's another I haven't discovered yet (Although I think the three groups above should cover it). ~ Isikari Psycho 101, Nagisa, |
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EngrishFan
Posts: 75 Location: Somewhere in chilly Canada |
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I typically fall under the "Anime Now" category for two seperate reasons, purchases for myself and material for my club (though they both tend to overlap).
Things that I purchase for personal enjoyment are pretty self explanatory, so I won't talk much about that. For the vast majority of my library I made the selections based on what I had already seen fansubbed (let's NOT get into that discussion) and were shows or movies that I enjoyed enough to want to purchase almost immediately. Of course, being a bit of an extras/bonuses w**** (*cough*Haruhi*cough*) makes me default to individual purchases quite a bit. Also, I tend to be my university's primary go-to guy for stuff we show throughout the year. Our school's student council is fairly conservative, so they tend to breathe down everybody's necks and demand full documentation for every little thing we do. Turns out they don't like the idea of fansubs that much (not just licenced shows, but unlicenced ones as well) so SOMEONE has cover our tracks. I generally just take random stuff out of my collection for our meetings, though I do occasionally plan ahead and and get some shows we'll show later on (usually when planning for a new year). We usually show things the exec would enjoy anyways, and being second in command makes it a little easier to get my voice heard. Every once in a while I will get sets, though usually they're from sales like the aforementioned Geneon one or whenever my local anime shop has something for cheap I may have missed for whatever reason(s). |
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the Rancorous
 Posts: 2248 Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys |
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I guess I fall into this category as well. I've been a fan of anime ever since the Sci-Fi channel would have those 1-2 week long anime-fest and the Saturday Anime thing (years ago, I tell you, years ago) but I have only started building a collection over the past 1-2 years. Honestly, with older series, I prefer getting the box sets since I hate having to track down individual volumes of series' that have already run their release course (Vandread needs a box set release, damn it!  ) But when it comes to newly released things, if I like it enough, I won't hesitate to pick up the singel volumes as they're released, plus, I am the impatient type  . However, a rule I have for myself is that I will not buy anything that I know I won't want to watch more than just once or twice; having said that, most new releases get Netflixed for the first 1-2 volumes before I decide if I want them or not. And, a few newly released series' are still just getting a netflix viewing through their releases ( IE: Shana, Negima, ) And, the content of the releases can also affect my purchasing, such as trinkets and goodies that come with the volume releases. The most noteable of this are FUNimation's releases of Moonphase (that nice binder book with post-cards in each volume) and Basilisk (best box on my shelf, and the LE DVDs with their booklets), these types of things can easily grab my attention.
My collection defintely pales in comparison to others' on this board, but like I said, I don't buy anything that I won't want to watch over and over, so I am still proud of it. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar Posts: 16963 |
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I'd love to be an anime now guy but I don't make that kind of money. Of course the fact I can't bring myself to make many cheap meals and blow $300 bucks a month at the grocery store doesn't help. I also used to be an anime now guy, in the vhs day. Now I gotta get all those series on dvd. Shows like Rayearth, Ranma, Slayers, Evangelion, Kenshin, Gasaraki, Bubblegum Crisis 2040, Nadesico, Escaflowne, Street Fighter 2V, EVERY vhs of Dragonball and Dragonball Z. Some were even bootleg vhs and I had to record them multiple times. Needless to say short of winning the lottery old and new titles gotta be value packs for now. Thank god for Netflix and Animelane or else I'd never stay up on current titles. Last edited by Redbeard 101 on Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:21 am; edited 1 time in total |
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