The Monkees complete TV show on Blu-ray box set.

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Pizza, Sep 8, 2015.

  1. Marshall

    Marshall Forum Resident

    Thanks longdist01 for the kind words, too. Micky was really pleased with being a part of those shows. Looking at a few of the YouTube videos from the White Album
    Tribute shows, it looks like those were fun shows to attend, also.

    Marshall

     
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  2. pablo fanques

    pablo fanques Somebody's Bad Handwroter In Memoriam

    Location:
    Poughkeepsie, NY

    I did something similar with my new turntable last year but it was more like $150 :hide:
     
  3. MartyTem

    MartyTem Forum Resident

    I won’t say a word. :shh:
     
  4. cloggedmind

    cloggedmind Doctor Do-Very-Little

    Location:
    Limbo
    Interesting info from Andrew Sandoval (as noted on monkee45s.net and other forums) via his listing for a sealed Blu Ray set:

    "Only a few thousand of these sets were released to the public via Rhino mail order and on tour. People always ask me when they will be available again and I will tell you the absolute truth: I do not know and I am kinda doubting with the world in lockdown it will happen at all. I have asked Rhino and they say they can no longer find the unassembled parts for these. If you want one anytime soon, this is the only want to get it. The other question people ask me is if there will be a cheaper version someday. I’ll tell you, I truly doubt it!"

    A few thousand released and pieces missing.. makes one wonder about release strategies and what, exactly, went on during that big warehouse move last year.

    As suggested in another forum, this does not bode well for Monkee releases previously hinted at: the long awaited PAC&J super deluxe, the Later Years box set and, as stated above, the bare bones series blu ray likely will not materialize.

    Any time I read about limited editions and whatnot, I'm reminded of the infamous "Criterion Closet", where limited and long out-of-print media mysteriously replenishes and is offered to directors, insiders and the like, usually for a wee bit of publicity and kind comments. No matter what, there always seems to be a disproportionate quantity of extra copies turning up.
     
  5. D-rock

    D-rock Senior Member

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    He seems a little bitter towards Rhino. Wonder what happened? Maybe he pushed for the blu-ray and Rhino gave a nasty response.

    Still holding out for the two remaining SDEs and his revised, updated book. That and the Mixology book. I'd be a happy camper with having those.
     
  6. D-rock

    D-rock Senior Member

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    What other Monkees forums are there?
     
  7. Marshall

    Marshall Forum Resident

    Total coincidence, but interesting that Andrew's comment on the Blu-ray box set appeared two days before my interview with Micky was published. As I mentioned, I asked
    Micky about the set being re-released, and he had no idea about that. So, it seems to me that there is a market for the box set.

    Marshall

    My interview with Micky Dolenz:
    Micky Dolenz Discusses New "The Monkees-The Mike & Micky Show Live" Album and More
     
  8. cloggedmind

    cloggedmind Doctor Do-Very-Little

    Location:
    Limbo
    There's ongoing discussions on HomeTheaterForum and Bluray.com.

    Mr. Sandoval got dumped on unfairly about the box set construction, as he had nothing to do with the design or the boxes getting torn. The losses and bad buzz associated with replacing damaged sets likely led to tensions between he and Rhino, again unfairly, as the whole brouhaha led to a huge loss when it came to projected sales vs initial investment. While the relationship with Andrew and The Monkees as an entity remains amiable, John Hughes has repeatedly turned a deaf ear to any questions about future box sets or revisiting any previous collections of material short of "best of" compilations-- read into that what you will.

    Mr. Sandoval devoted a great deal of time and attention to obtaining access to the original show elements and supervising the remastering process. Recall that Sony/Columbia/whatever they were called in the 90's had no intention of granting access to original materials for any reason (even going as far as lying and saying they were unable to locate the negs), so that very aspect of the restoration is short of miraculous. The episodes are stunning, the colors pop and "glow", and the mono mag soundtracks are a revelation for a 50 year old show that one could argue was originally and ultimately a "failed" series. The included extras are, indeed, plentiful, comprehensive and essential for the diehards.

    Yet, withal, initial investments were not recouped and preorder costs were not enough to come close to breaking even, and I suppose that's where the tensions stem. In lieu of confidence and support, Sandoval gets saddled with blame for all the misfires.

    And it goes further than than with fans if you factor in other issues like the dreaded speed issue for "Teardrop City" that had been so hotly debated.. so many nitpicks.

    Just opinion based on I've read thus far. Or, as my 10th grade teacher always wrote, "Opionion".
     
  9. cloggedmind

    cloggedmind Doctor Do-Very-Little

    Location:
    Limbo
    That is one of the best and most candid interviews with Micky that I've seen, btw! He seems so relaxed and off-the-cuff, not relegating to stock or well-rehearsed answers. You know the ones-- the crowd-pleasing stories usually reserved for mainstream press. Detailed, honest and insightful.
    Well moderated and well done!
     
  10. Marshall

    Marshall Forum Resident

    cloggedmind,
    Thanks so much for the kind words about the interview. I greatly appreciate it. As I mentioned, I really enjoyed speaking with him. With the box set, I guess I was thinking that perhaps the situation would be like the Batman TV series Blu-ray release. After the Blu-ray box set with the miniature Batmobile, book, etc. was released, there was a pared down release of the show in the familiar, multi-disc Blu-ray case. This was the situation, too, with the Monkees DVD box sets (that looked like little record players for the two seasons) that I bought in 2003. Then later, the Monkees shows were released in the multi-disc DVD cases. I see the prices for the Blu-ray set on eBay, and if the seller gets the money okay, but to me, the price is really expensive (no matter how limited). Just my "Opionion", too.

    Marshall
     
  11. Grand_Ennui

    Grand_Ennui Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
  12. Propinquity

    Propinquity Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gravel Switch, KY
  13. Michelle66

    Michelle66 Senior Member

    While it might be unfair to blame faulty construction on Andrew Sandoval (and the restoration of the episodes is revelatory), he does deserve some criticism for saying the set would include material that wasn’t there after all.

    The entire episode was a textbook example of how not to promote and market a niche item designed to appeal to a fervent fan base.

    There is no need to rehash everything yet again (as it’s all there upthread). But, transparency goes a long way, and it was a pretty rude awakening for people to receive damaged goods then to discover previously-promised material wasn’t there in the end.

    Also, the set was delayed almost six months. Rhino had plenty of time to revise the list of contents and express their regrets to customers before they discovered this on their own after the fact.

    (Luckily, I hadn’t pre-ordered, so I bought the set knowing what to expect. The episodes really do look fantastic and I’m happy I bought it.)
     
  14. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

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  15. Marshall

    Marshall Forum Resident

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  16. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
  17. D-rock

    D-rock Senior Member

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
  18. D-rock

    D-rock Senior Member

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    Remember that 10-Bluray holder someone found sold somewhere cheap. Then someone created a nice insert you'd could print out? I did that with all my discs. It actually looks really nice.

    Had Rhino done that, they could have saved themselves a lot of headaches with the fancy and poorly constructed box. Buuuut ... the original box looks beautiful.

    Wonder how much money they lost in replacing entire sets, discs and boxes? I had to request a third box. The second replacement box had arrived in pieces. That glue that held the lenticular cover on wasn't very good glue.

    It really makes no sense that they scrap there old boxes, collect what discs they have and make a single 10-disc holder and sell them. Andrew could write a updated insert book for it.

    Has Rhino had enough of Monkeemania? Things definitely changed when Warner took over. Can't remember all their names but there were 3 from the original company that were diehard fans and really cared about Monkees products. Bill Inglot .. and I can't remember the other guys name. Pre-Sandoval. He supplied Maggie McManus from the Monkee Business Fanzine with all the updates. Remember the MBF hotline? Then when Rhino bought the catalog, Rhino had their own hotline. Ahhhhhh.. the good old days.

    Fred you gotta remember all that. Your Monkee connections and activity go way back. I'd say you gotta be in the top 3 Monkee historians list.

    I really wish Ed, Maggie & Chadwick would re-release their book "The Monkees: A Manufactured Image". At least digitally. I know some info has since been clarified and corrected. But that portion of the book that lists and has pics of all the albums, Group - Solo - & Other, was phenomenal. It had all the singles/Album images and catalog numbers with dates and not just the US releases but others. And the pics from Ed's collection is awesome to see. We need a thread for Ed to post all those great things.

    I'd tag Ed & Fred in this post but I don't know how ...
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2020
  19. RobRoyF

    RobRoyF Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southland
    Yea, I see your point about the TV show on BluRay and what Rhino did does not add up.

    Unfortunately I did not buy it, but had it been priced at 100 or so, I probably would have purchased it. I don't really enjoy the TV show as much now, so I would probably watch it rarely anyway.
     
  20. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    It was worth the original asking price but I decided to do a wait and see and finally bought it when it got discounted. I don’t know the costs involved in producing and manufacturing it but the selling price was initially too high for the average Monkees fan. It also didn’t help that the show got recently re-released on DVD before the Rhino set. I’m sure that slowed down sales too. It did for me. Shame if this caused the final nail in Monkee boxes. I really want those last few boxes. If they are finished, they should at least re-release the Headquarters set. Oh, well.
     
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  21. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    Yeah, but the DVDs looked and sounded terrible.
     
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  22. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    They did. The blu-rays are beautiful. Nonetheless, the DVDs were still an investment for those who bought them, like myself. They filled a nitch in your collection which made the blu-rays - which do look wonderful - less desirable or needed. That and price didn’t help. But I eventually bought a set.
     
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  23. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    I was so disappointed when I bought the DVD boxes, after having seen pristine syndication prints for years.
     
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  24. j_rocker

    j_rocker Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    When did they ever show pristine syndication prints?
     
  25. cloggedmind

    cloggedmind Doctor Do-Very-Little

    Location:
    Limbo
    Summer '87 or '88 in my area ran episodes that truly looked like they had been just filmed. Standouts for me were The Wild Monkees, Monstrous Monkee Mash, and The Frodis Caper, which had rich color palette and realistic flesh tones that clearly out-shone other syndicated versions on MTV, Nick, and other local stations.

    The problem? They were se-vere-ly edited, with some songs and scenes literally chopped in half or removed entirely. No Colex logo on those that I recall. If I ever get a working vhs player I'll revisit some of those tapes. One or two still float around here, somewhere.
     
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