Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by Herry Dunston

Ah, dang it! I was hoping the quantities would last until early next month. And I was gonna use my money to buy either another Criterion blu-ray from B&N or Two 3DS games for one price.

Now I might have to skip these sales to rush in on The Train.

Whoa, is there a 3DS sale I missed?

[Herry Dunston]

Originally Posted by jshaide

Whoa, is there a 3DS sale I missed?

BestBuy's doing a B2G1 sale on certain Nintendo titles next week. I was weighing my options on another Criterion or buy Zelda and Kirby with what little money I have, but with The Train reaching the low quantity zone and it's a high seller, I might have to scrap all that.

[Page14]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

FROM SAE:

July 18th - LOW QUANTITY ALERT for TWILIGHT TIME - Fewer than 250 copies remain of THE TRAIN (1964). This is strictly limit one PER CUSTOMER.

I'm kind of surprised that SAE didn't send a notification to people subscribed to their email list. Or maybe they did, but I just didn't get one. ...Or maybe they don't send out email alerts anymore???

I wonder because about 5 minutes ago I received one of those "New and Notable Releases" emails from SAE, but no mention of The Train running low was in it. ??

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by Page14

I'm kind of surprised that SAE didn't send a notification to people subscribed to their email list. Or maybe they did, but I just didn't get one. ...Or maybe they don't send out email alerts anymore???

I wonder because about 5 minutes ago I received one of those "New and Notable Releases" emails from SAE, but no mention of The Train running low was in it. ??

they've been doing it more on their facebook page anymore

[Page14]

Originally Posted by wormraper

they've been doing it more on their facebook page anymore

Kinda sucks for people who don't use Facebook regularly (or at all).

[PuppetMasterBlu]

Originally Posted by Page14

Kinda sucks for people who don't use Facebook regularly (or at all).

Yes it's one of the many things TT does wrong.

[erlinmeyer]

you can set it up so Facebook sends you an email(with the post) anytime Twilight Time DVD Label posts to it's page, that way you don't have to check facebook

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by erlinmeyer

you can set it up so Facebook sends you an email(with the post) anytime Twilight Time DVD Label posts to it's page, that way you don't have to check facebook

Well, that's fine if you have a Facebook account. I don't imagine they do that for people without an account there.

[erlinmeyer]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Well, that's fine if you have a Facebook account. I don't imagine they do that for people without an account there.

well then you may just have to go to where you can order it from...tried giving an easy way to get notified, but go to screenarchives.com and you will find the same as what went on facebook..."July 18th - LOW QUANTITY ALERT for TWILIGHT TIME - Fewer than 250 copies remain of THE TRAIN (1964). This is strictly limit one PER CUSTOMER."

[noirjunkie]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

I would have normally rushed out to grab The Train before it goes OOP, but this title has sold pretty quickly so there's a good chance it will get a re-release. Am I the only one that isn't so concerned about Twilight title going OOP anymore?

I wouldn't bank on it coming back in print. Eighteen of TT's titles have sold out (The Train will be #19), and of those, the company has announced plans to re-release four of them. Granted, some of the titles that have sold out are nowhere near the end of their three-year window at TT, but there's no guarantee that TT will re-release all of its sold-out titles.

Bottom line: if you want The Train, get it now. Once it sells out, it might never come back in print.

[spawningblue]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

I wouldn't bank on it coming back in print. Eighteen of TT's titles have sold out (The Train will be #19), and of those, the company has announced plans to re-release four of them. Granted, some of the titles that have sold out are nowhere near the end of their three-year window at TT, but there's no guarantee that TT will re-release all of its sold-out titles.

Bottom line: if you want The Train, get it now. Once it sells out, it might never come back in print.

Yeah but many of those took a while. This took what two months? It seems like they are re-releasing their quick sellers which this would fit into. You're right, nothing is a guarantee but I would say this has a good chance.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

I wouldn't bank on it coming back in print. Eighteen of TT's titles have sold out (The Train will be #19), and of those, the company has announced plans to re-release four of them. Granted, some of the titles that have sold out are nowhere near the end of their three-year window at TT, but there's no guarantee that TT will re-release all of its sold-out titles.

Bottom line: if you want The Train, get it now. Once it sells out, it might never come back in print.

Actually, Redman has explicitly said that they won't reissue all of their OOP titles. Now some might take that with a grain of salt, but there you have it.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

Yeah but many of those took a while. This took what two months? It seems like they are re-releasing their quick sellers which this would fit into. You're right, nothing is a guarantee but I would say this has a good chance.

That's assuming that TT can relicense it. Now that Kino has started raiding the MGM catalog, TT might have competition. Some might think that a good thing, but it remains to be seen.

[spawningblue]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Actually, Redman has explicitly said that they won't reissue all of their OOP titles. Now some might take that with a grain of salt, but there you have it.

Well if he said they would re-release every OOP title it would be bad for their business and sales. I don't think they will re-release every title though. Some took quite some time to sell out. It probably wouldn't be smart for them to risk selling another 3000 but I have a feeling any title that sold out within a month or two will get a re-release.

Yeah Kino is competition which could be a good thing, but I wouldn't be surprised if they make more money from Twilight. Plus didn't one of their employee state they get first dibs at a re-release? Nothing in this collecting game is ever a guarantee but usually if there's a big enough demand the film will get re-released and this film is definitely pretty popular.

[Brad1963]

Nick Redman and Brian Jamieson established Twilight Time (with their own money) not knowing how it was going to do. They treaded lightly because it was and is a risk for them. If it failed they would lose money and would be stuck with excess inventory. Unlike Kino, Criterion, Olive, Shout… they do not have any financial backing. They have indicated quite a few times they are surprised by TT’s success, and are now re-thinking a few things including re-issues and additional quantities. At the same time, they have no intention of changing how they do things. It seems to be working quite fine and do not feel they have to change anything else.

As far as not being in the loop about low-quantity alerts, give me a break. In addition to FB, it is posted on SAE; it is mentioned on Blu ray.com, Home Theatre Forum and all the places we all read on a daily basis.

[Page14]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

.......... As far as not being in the loop about low-quantity alerts, give me a break. In addition to FB, it is posted on SAE; it is mentioned on Blu ray.com, Home Theatre Forum and all the places we all read on a daily basis.

I'm not sure if your post was directed at me or not, but speaking for myself, I wouldn't know about the low-quantity alerts without somebody (anybody) on this forum mentioning it (or through the email alerts we used to get). I do visit the other websites you mentioned, but I wouldn't call it regularly ... definitely not on a daily basis.

With the email alerts, the alerts came to you ... you weren't expected to seek them out. In fact, I think that's one of the main reasons I subscribed to SAE's email list.

I think I'll stop here. Anything else I'm thinking would come across as griping and I don't want or mean that (... and my thoughts might not even be accurate, so I'll let it alone). I like SAE/TT ... love their product!

EDIT: I guess I just got used to relying on the email alerts ... and then they seem to have stopped without any kind of notice. Now I know not to rely solely on email and to look into other ways. Good to know.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

Well if he said they would re-release every OOP title it would be bad for their business and sales. I don't think they will re-release every title though. Some took quite some time to sell out. It probably wouldn't be smart for them to risk selling another 3000 but I have a feeling any title that sold out within a month or two will get a re-release.

People seem to think it makes a difference if a title sold out quickly, but I don't see it. The way the model is set up, as long as a title sells out (or close enough to it) in three years, it's done what they'd hoped it'd do.

Other than a quick influx of cash, there's no "benefit" to selling a title out in three months as opposed to three years. Sure, that quick influx of cash helps keep Redman and Jamieson afloat, but it seems clear that making piles of cash quickly was not the reason they got into this game.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by jayembee

People seem to think it makes a difference if a title sold out quickly, but I don't see it. The way the model is set up, as long as a title sells out (or close enough to it) in three years, it's done what they'd hoped it'd do.

Other than a quick influx of cash, there's no "benefit" to selling a title out in three months as opposed to three years. Sure, that quick influx of cash helps keep Redman and Jamieson afloat, but it seems clear that making piles of cash quickly was not the reason they got into this game.

I just buy the movies I like and I do not worry about the 3,000 limited editions, sold out titles, probable reissues, ect.

[schlock]

Originally Posted by jayembee

People seem to think it makes a difference if a title sold out quickly, but I don't see it.

The difference is that if a title sells out very quickly, that's a very good indicator that there are still probably a ton of customers out there that missed out in the few weeks it was available. Thus, that would be a prime title for TT to consider relicensing. And something like Enemy Mine, which took a long while to finally sell off, would be a much bigger risk to relicense and try to sell 3,000 more.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by schlock

The difference is that if a title sells out very quickly, that's a very good indicator that there are still probably a ton of customers out there that missed out in the few weeks it was available. Thus, that would be a prime title for TT to consider relicensing. And something like Enemy Mine, which took a long while to finally sell off, would be a much bigger risk to relicense and try to sell 3,000 more.

Fair point. But the revenue generated by any given title would be, at most $90,000 (3000 copies X $30 per copy -- yes, I'm going strictly by revenue rather than profit, as I have no idea what the associated costs are). And it would be $90K whether it sold out in three months or three years.

Now, the benefit to TT in selling out in three months versus three years is that they can turn that money around to license more titles. On the other hand, one of the perceptions (however true or false it may be) about TT is that if you don't get it quickly, you might not get it at all. While this might get more people to jump in earlier, it also might cause people to not bother at all. The more titles you keep in stock, the chance exists to grow your consumer base if they think there's a better chance of getting a given title a year or two after it's come out.

Quite frankly, the OOP titles I'm most interested in (other than the newer releases that have recently gone OOP) are ones that took a while to sell out: The Egyptian, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mysterious Island, The Big Heat, and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.

I'm not terribly excited by horror/thriller titles from the 70s and 80s, so things like Fright Night and the DePalmas I don't care about. Even Christine, which I liked well enough back when it came out, I don't have much interest in owning.

It just strikes me that the reasoning behind Redman and Jamieson starting Twilight Time in the first place seems at odds with the notion of relicensing only titles that sold out quickly.