What are the "rarest" BDs?

[BluBonnet]

re: REDS, I guess it is possible that it is technically OOP even if Amazon still has a bunch in stock.

But that just raises the question: does the OOP status mean something different to different folks? I suppose technically when a title is no longer being produced, it may qualify as OOP even if most of the online stores (and maybe even B&M stores) still have enough for a while.

For most people, I think OOP means that they are probably not going to find it anywhere, unless it's an incredibly obscure store or through an eBay reseller or an Amazon 3rd-party reseller.

Criterion has been kind enough to give us a heads-up when one of their titles is going OOP, and as a result, if you're fast enough you may still be able to get one from Amazon before they run out of stock, which may happen within days of the Criterion announcement.

[BlackRiderX]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

first issue of the "The Song Remains The Same" with the Cameron Crowe interview is imo the rarest US blu-ray.
It was almost immediately recalled, and only a handful got out.
certainly much rarer than "The Third Man" or "Hot Rod"
I have a sealed copy I got at Moviestop before they pulled it.
I'd also say the first press Akira is in the top 10 rarest US bds for sure.
who knows how many were made, but they were very scarce.

IMO none of the titles listed in this thread are even half as rare of some of the slipcovers I've been hunting down the last few months. I'd place the Zeppelin disc about as rare as Sony's pulled Robocop disc which I bought off Ebay for $11.25 a month or so ago.

[Arkadin]

I mean amazon still has the Criterion dvd "The Small Back Room" in stock and it has been OOP for a while now.
nobody cares about paying $35 for it.
simple as that.
It is still OOP.
the meaning of OOP hasn't changed;
it means what it always has--the original studio/company/distributor is not making the product anymore for whatever the reason is.
the product has been deleted.
whether a store still has any copies has nothing to do with whether or not a cd, dvd, or bd is OOP or not.
the end.
EDIT: as far as the slipcover rarity game, that is a whole separate thing imo.
the OP simply asked about rarest blu-rays.
a rare first press bd with a sleeve could certainly be considered a rare bd--like Akira--but imo that's a little different than say Dracula with a sleeve because the sleeve is the only unique thing about the Dracula bd.
the Akira piece had a booklet as well as the slipbox that is not present in the subsequent pressings.
I mean is the Dracula bd WITH a slipsleeve a super rare bd?--sure.
but just Dracula by itself is obviously not.
these types of questions always come up when someone asks about rare bds.
edit: well the Robocop disc may be rare but it is worthless because it looks like total crap.
IF a rare bd market really develops in the coming years, imo the Led Zeppelin bd will be right there at the front because it was a released bd that got recalled and has an error on it.
the Robocop was never officially released from my understanding so that's a big difference.
I honestly don't ever see that Robocop being worth anything more than $15.
is it technically a rare bd?--I guess. sure.

[Minimejer05]

Hot Rod and Zodiac.

[Mahatma]

Adventures of baron Munchausen

[cokelover]

Well from my collection the rarest I've got is The Producers, import from Japan.

[Drewza89]

Was the Sony Robocop blu-ray only sent to screeners? I never saw it in stores way back when it was supposed to be released.

I heard that the PQ/AQ was pretty rough. Is it the same as the Fox/MGM disc?

[BlackRiderX]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

I mean amazon still has the Criterion dvd "The Small Back Room" in stock and it has been OOP for a while now.
nobody cares about paying $35 for it.
simple as that.
It is still OOP.
the meaning of OOP hasn't changed;
it means what it always has--the original studio/company/distributor is not making the product anymore for whatever the reason is.
the product has been deleted.
whether a store still has any copies has nothing to do with whether or not a cd, dvd, or bd is OOP or not.
the end.
EDIT: as far as the slipcover rarity game, that is a whole separate thing imo.
the OP simply asked about rarest blu-rays.
a rare first press bd with a sleeve could certainly be considered a rare bd--like Akira--but imo that's a little different than say Dracula with a sleeve because the sleeve is the only unique thing about the Dracula bd.
the Akira piece had a booklet as well as the slipbox that is not present in the subsequent pressings.
I mean is the Dracula bd WITH a slipsleeve a super rare bd?--sure.
but just Dracula by itself is obviously not.
these types of questions always come up when someone asks about rare bds.
edit: well the Robocop disc may be rare but it is worthless because it looks like total crap.
IF a rare bd market really develops in the coming years, imo the Led Zeppelin bd will be right there at the front because it was a released bd that got recalled and has an error on it.
the Robocop was never officially released from my understanding so that's a big difference.
I honestly don't ever see that Robocop being worth anything more than $15.
is it technically a rare bd?--I guess. sure.

Some posters actually prefer the Sony cut of Robocop from what i've been reading. Havn't watched it yet so I don't know.

All I am saying that there are slipcovers like the Gold Paramount titles or the Harold and Kumar Comic-Con slips that are fairly impossible to buy. I've personally offered $500 to anyone that can get me a mint/near mint Comic-Con Harold and Kumar with the NPH slipcover and no one has it.

Now you want to talk about rare 'discs'? How about the Alien discs Weaver got over a year early via Fox, or some of the demo discs/studio screeners that rarely see the light of day. Those are what I'd consider RARE.

As a rule of thumb, I find that most Anime films tend to be the most expensive to track down after a while. They usually have a higher MSRP during release and they skyrocket even more after going OOP. Many of them are never rereleased and what is printed is usually done so in lower quantities. Importing Anime films can also be a super expensive hobby when a single title is $79+.

[Arkadin]

I totally agree that the anime stuff will likely command some of the highest prices when all is said and done for sure, as a lot of those bds are already expensive and rare to start with.
no doubt about that.
It will be interesting to see if enough film bds are even issued for a true rarity/collectable market to even develop over the next few years beyond a very limited number of pieces like steelbooks and/or super limited collector sets.
hard to say.

[BlackRiderX]

Originally Posted by Drewza89

Was the Sony Robocop blu-ray only sent to screeners? I never saw it in stores way back when it was supposed to be released.

I heard that the PQ/AQ was pretty rough. Is it the same as the Fox/MGM disc?

Different disc and different transfer I believe. I know it was sent out to reviewers early and Sony got slammed and stopped it from being released which actually shocked me at the time as many of Sony's initial releases were far from gems but they still made it to the market.

Now I don't know if any stores actually sold copies of it. Did they just print up review screeners, mass produce it and later destroy them, or did they ship to retailers and recall it? Might be a good question for one of the Sony insiders to answer.

[Arkadin]

btw: I don't see how anyone could prefer the "early" Robocop.
Josh Z watched a copy and stated it looks dreadful, similar to the first Fifth Element bd.

[BlackRiderX]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

btw: I don't see how anyone could prefer the "early" Robocop.
Josh Z watched a copy and stated it looks dreadful, similar to the first Total Recall bd.

Because the MGM/Fox version isn't much to be proud of either! It's a question of which transfer is closer to the original print. The Criterion dvd isn't that great either IMO.

[Arkadin]

my understanding is that the "early" Robocop looks bad, like in defectively bad, with massive artifacts and all kinds of compression and other digital noise issues, etc. etc.
the mgm Robocop, while poor, is nothing like that.

[painted_klown]

Originally Posted by blackriderx

The Criterion dvd isn't that great either IMO.

I agree, I always consider Criterion a company that prides themselves on excellent looking transfers, and their dvd is merely OK. With the MGM BD looking terrible as well...makes me want to lean in the direction of saying that there may not be a nice quality print readily available to use for mastering.

I do like thet fact that Criterion does give us a warning when something is going OOP. I bought the Third man, and Pierrot le fou dirctly from amazon when I found out about them.

My copy of Third man is in the plastic case too...now I wish I wouldn't have opened it.

What surprises me is that Studio Canal released Third Man on bd, and it appearantly has a really nice transfer, so I wonder how the Criterion release just keeps going up. It really hasn't even been OOP for THAT long. Must be just because it is Criterion. If it were simply about the title being available on bd...well that's covered.

Do you guys think the case makes the big difference? The digipack vs. the plastic? The great thing about BDs is that they are quite a bit more difficult to scratch than a regular dvd, so buying on the used market is quite a bit safer. Hopefully that also helps used Bds to retain their value a bit more. Makes the only "real" difference between new and used; the cellophane wrapping.

Some of you must have some "connections" to have/know about releases that didn't even surface! I must be far from being in "the know"...

[Drewza89]

If anyone is interested, here's some screenshot comparisons of the Sony and Fox/MGM Robocop blu-rays: Link

Very interesting stuff. While the Sony version has EE and boosted contrast, the Fox version has heavy DNR. So it's kind of a Catch 22.

If anyone has a Sony Robocop blu-ray that they would like to sell/trade, I'm definitely interested.

[Piollo]

Brotherhood of the wolf (UK)

[Vriess]

Originally Posted by Drewza89

If anyone is interested, here's some screenshot comparisons of the Sony and Fox/MGM Robocop blu-rays: Link

Very interesting stuff. While the Sony version has EE and boosted contrast, the Fox version has heavy DNR. So it's kind of a Catch 22.

If anyone has a Sony Robocop blu-ray that they would like to sell/trade, I'm definitely interested.

Not only that but the color on the two discs is different and IMO the Sony release is the one closer to how it should look. I would take the Sony disc over the fox one any day.

[Rinzler]

Retailer exlusives, I had to pay an arm and a leg for the Iron Man mask packaged BD and the Indy 4 Photo Book BD.

[dub2108]

Originally Posted by KennedyZL

Retailer exlusives, I had to pay an arm and a leg for the Iron Man mask packaged BD and the Indy 4 Photo Book BD.

Can't believe you had to pay an arm and a leg for the Indy 4 Photo Book BD. This little preowned shop in my town had atleast 6 unopened for $12 last week. Thought about picking one up, but the movie is just too bad to waste my money.

[BlackRiderX]

Originally Posted by KennedyZL

Retailer exlusives, I had to pay an arm and a leg for the Iron Man mask packaged BD and the Indy 4 Photo Book BD.

I have the Target gold/red Iron Man mask and the HMV silver Iron Man mask. The HMV version isn't even in this site's database!