Curse you for doing awesome, well-conceived things that I desperately want but are so incredibly expensive! Currrrseeeee yoooouuuuuuuuuu….
Seriously, this is a great idea. D23 is producing a limited-series collection of all the released Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets to date. This 54-disc collection will set you back $500, but it’s the only way to get most of these titles, many of which have been out of print for years. Now all I have to do is figure out if the price of the set is more that it would cost me to buy on eBay the out-of-print sets that I don’t already own. Grr.
When D23 started, I suggested that if they really want to make the fans happy (and make some money themselves), they should keep in print all the fan-friendly DVDs like the Treasures line that are now unavailable in stores. It’s insane to me that these sets are printed in such limited quantities only to disappear; it doesn’t do Disney any good if they’re selling for $100 on eBay.
A collection isn’t exactly what I had in mind – it’s being sold to D23 members, ostensibly the most devout fans, but these are the folks who are most likely to have been buying the releases all along. There needs to be a way to fill in the gaps in one’s collection – there are some that I’d love to have that I missed somehow – without dropping $500 for duplicates.
But still, it’s a great idea and for those who haven’t been collecting these so far it’s an enormous deal and a fantastic trove of rarely-seen genius. I hope they keep this series alive – every year, it seems, they threaten to end it. But it seems to me that Disney should at least have some product available that comes directly from the Disney himself. There’s nothing wrong with a little fan service, especially when it makes you money. After all, the cost of pressing DVDs is negligible once the content is created. Give the people what they want!
And I want that collection, so give me that!
Be aware that the D23 54-disc set is missing the Elfego Baco/Swamp Fox installment, but other than that, it appears that everything but the new Zorro releases is in there.
Michael,
I thought it was a great idea until I read the description:
Created especially for the D23 Expo, the Walt Disney Treasures Premium Collection DVD Set is an ultimate collection of 54 discs collecting highlights of the Walt Disney Treasures Series to date in one beautiful tin. Includes an exclusive lithograph.
Highlights…
huh?
Hrm. This is troubling, and it troubles me. I am troubled. Why would they do that? What did the Swamp Fox do to them? Currrrsseeeee yoooooooooouuuuuuuu Disssssssssssssnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy!!!
So the hope of someone busting up the set and selling on Ebay has been dashed by the key word Highlights? Man, what a waste of machinery.
Simmer down people – heavans to betsy, don’t you understand anything?
If they gave you everything, how could Disney sell you the “Complete Gold Edition” of the Treasures series next year? And if they included all the extras on the Gold Edition – then there’d be nothing left to put on the “Diamond Edition” that will be sholved out when ‘Prince of Persia’ tanks at the box office and the studios need a quick hit to make the quarterlies?
Silly, it’s almost like you expect D23 to be for your benefit and not Disney’s benefit. We, as fans, should be honored to support the company in each and every way they can dream-up – because being a Disney fan makes me special and being special makes me better. I know, because I have the limited edition ‘Frontierland Fry Cart’ eight anniversary pin from the Magical Outdoor Vending Magically Magic Wishes Celebration Event they held a while back just prove that I’m more of fan and therefore a much better person than people who didn’t go.
I only wishes these comment had bouncy icons and countdown timers to my next trip and let me post pictures of my cat dressed up like Tinkerbelle.
Oh wait….this isn’t the DIS?
On a more serious comment…
The commerical value of most these programs is pretty close to zero. But they do serve as great commericals for the parks and Disney in general. If Disney really wanted to serve the fans, they would post high quality versions of this stuff on a subscription-only D23 website. Fans could watch them whenever they wanted a quick fix and Disney would have these clips out in the marketplace working for the company instead of slowly oxidizing on DVDs in the bottom of a box in the attic.
To keep things interesting, they could also sprinkle in new short – like the tilt-focus and faux ‘ghost at Disneyland’ videos they did. Not only would it keep the marketing department busy, it would be a great teaching experience for college interns and others coming up through Disney’s ranks. It’s certainly without question that the tilt-focus video got more hype, was seen by more people, and was far more pleasing than that Stitch show which lasted for a few days.