Crash, Dollhouse, The Unit...: What's with all these strange Pre-Orders at Amazon?

[Samuray]

A couple of days ago I was ecstatic when I found "Crash - Season 1" on Amazon up for preorder -- on Blu-ray Disc, no less! With all those TV series being abandoned on this format, I didn't expect a show from a smaller network to get the HD treatment, and i was extremely happy to be proven wrong.

My delight was short-lived, though, because only two days later I found myself being able to preorder "Dollhouse - Season 1", "The Unit - Season 4" and "Sons of Anarchy - Season 1", all on Blu-ray. All of these are great shows, especially "Anarchy" made my heart leap.....but at the same time, all these preorders seem extremely unlikely to be real.

Don't get my wrong, I'm talking about real preorders here, not just a fan-made listing with the option to receive an email if and when the title becomes available. All those sets can really be ordered, for a fixed price, they don't just have a date yet.

But come on....Amazon can't be serious about this? None of these sets have been announced, not even hinted at, and at least in the case of "Sons of Anarchy" a release on Blu-ray was considered highly unlikely not too long ago. Looking at the TV-on-DVD landscape there is a clear trend away from Blu-ray, which saddens me....but I can't argue with "Desperate Housewives - Season 5" being announced as DVD only and "Prison Break" probably being abandoned on BD, with only the final two episodes seeing a HD release.

Well, anyway.....where are those Amazon listings coming from? Are they based on anything? I can't imagine them to be real, but since when does Amazon allow unannounced and unlikely-to-be-released items to be preordered?

I'm a bit confused, maybe someone knows more about this?

.Samuray

[NoQuestion]

Amazon gets word from the studios in advance before we, the consumer, ever hear about anything. I posted over in the digitalbit insider thread about all of the sony/fox/mgm titles including the tv series. Jeff said that these are coming sometime mid summer (around June probably IMO). So yes these are real and announcements will be coming within days or weeks.

[LEHD]

I will like to buy Dollhouse and Son of Anarchy but FOX prices are too high for me

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by LEHD

I will like to buy Dollhouse and Son of Anarchy but FOX prices are too high for me

I will be buying Dollhouse as well. The price may come down before it releases though. It's probably just a price they put there until they decide on a more final price. I wouldn't expect it to be anymore than $40.

[LEHD]

Originally Posted by killowertz

I will be buying Dollhouse as well. The price may come down before it releases though. It's probably just a price they put there until they decide on a more final price. I wouldn't expect it to be anymore than $40.

I don't know firefly only have 13 episodes and is really expensive 89.99 as the retail price is to high for me and prison break s3 is high too but who knows maybe it will be cheap

[ScarredLungs]

I am happy that the Unit is coming soon! I really enjoy this show!

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by LEHD

I don't know firefly only have 13 episodes and is really expensive 89.99 as the retail price is to high for me and prison break s3 is high too but who knows maybe it will be cheap

$89.99 is the MSRP for Firefly. It has never been that in any store I have seen it at. It is $69.99 at Best Buy and $57.99 on Amazon.com (has been that at both places for a while). Most TV seasons start out cheaper than that on BD, and also tend to go on sale after a while too. I'm using ones such as Chuck and Terminator as examples. I have seen them on sale more often than not at Best Buy. I'm aware they are produced by Warner Brothers, but still.

[liam1972]

Originally Posted by LEHD

I will like to buy Dollhouse and Son of Anarchy but FOX prices are too high for me

I will def be picking up Dollhouse. Im hooked on that show. Cant wait to see where they are going with this.

[DIY_HD]

It may also be possible that the studios use pre-order counts to determine the number of copies they produce, at least for the initial run. Not only is this an indication of demand, but it may also influence the price. That is, if few are pre-ordering, perhaps it's because the price is too high.

I don't have a problem pre-ordering from Amazon because of their price guarantee. Just hope that a lot of others pre-order the same BD you do. The more they produce, the lower the price per copy.