Actually, that was one of the better prices. On eBay right now, there's a sealed copy that has a bid of $800.00! Two people have sold just the box (including one with the unglued lenticular photo) for $30.00 and $37.00. I asked Micky in my interview (this is before I bought the set), is there anyway the Blu-ray set could be released at less than the $199.00 original sales price. I mentioned perhaps in a more bare bones release, without the box etc. He said he really didn't have any control over the situation. Here's the question and his response: Four years ago, The Monkees Complete Series box set was released on Blu-ray. The episodes look superb from what I’ve seen on YouTube. Unfortunately, it’s sold out now and going for between five and eight hundred dollars on eBay. Any chance that would be re-released in a less lavish package, less expensive for fans? I have no idea. I have absolutely no idea. I haven’t heard. I’ve not been privy to any discussions about that myself. You know it would be nice. But, as you probably know, we the four Monkees, had very little to do with any of the production, television, or recordings or otherwise, certainly in the Sixties. And to this day, we get very little economically, if anything at all, from things like that. Never did. Marshall Micky Dolenz Discusses New "The Monkees-The Mike & Micky Show Live" Album and More
Indeed----price gouging. The complete series of Three's Company sold for about $50+/- before it went out of print, a few years ago. Lately, I've seen prices as high as $750.
If you put something up for auction and it sells for a high price that's not price gouging...it's an indication of how much someone is willing to pay. All those people that complained this set was $200, and didn't get it when it was available, are now paying after market prices. In my opinion this set was worth every penny when it came out. Those of you that want to stick with you DVD sets either have no idea how incredible the show now looks or don't care. That HD restoration doesn't come cheap and I for one am very thankful they went to the trouble. Never thought I'd see the show in this remarkable quality. Of all the reissues associated with The Monkees it may be the most important in terms of an upgrade.
HD restorations *don’t* come cheap, it’s true. But, with the news that they only sold a portion of the ones they manufactured then they likely did not recoup that cost. Just from a purely business sense, you’d think they would at least finish the job. And with aftermarket prices what they are, I find it odd Rhino has not gone further.
It was available for what... a year? If they lost the elements to make more sets that’s a shame but the demand wasn’t there to make it a priority. They were probably fed up with the whole thing from all the complaining that some alternate song from ‘71 reruns wasn’t included as an optional audio track.
Yes the complaints were ridiculous and probably contributed to the lack of follow-up these sets deserve. I was moving to a new State, and had no money to spend, but I remember seeing those posts and thinking, “You people need your heads examined!”
Reading through some of the posts in this thread and seeing some of those complaints, those people complaining should be ashamed of themselves.
I do find it weird they haven't released the final two SDEs. From what I've heard the rest sold very well, I would think Headquarters and Pisces would be no brainers from a financial point of view.
I don't know any of the inside stuff but it sure seems like there is a lot of friction between them and Andrew Sandoval now. Maybe that's the reason in itself. They just don't want to deal with it anymore. Not to mention, we're all pretty picky about our Monkees stuff (but deservedly so in many cases).
I’m surprised Sandoval doesn’t try to buy the rights to the Monkees franchise and put the stuff out himself. He’s a one-man production team already.
I was actually wondering if he could do something like that. I'm sure there's TONS of red tape with the actual recordings though. But yeah, if he bought the rights to the HQ and PACJ era stuff to use, I'd be all in. Granted, SDEs of those boxes would probably run a couple hundred from the get-go (I betcha). Edit: Sorry, off topic with SDE talk. Something to do with the show would be great too.
I highly doubt it would be even remotely possible for Andrew to secure the rights to the music catalogue. Here are my reasons: 1.The rights holder probably would not want to part with them. They allow Joe Friday to license for reissues, but nothing new has ever come from him. 2. Even if Rhino/Sony would be willing, the cost would most probably be prohibitive. Andrew has already sunk everything he has into this book deal, and he has said he may not break even on that. Andrew doesn't seem to have that sort of capital. 3. If he could somehow scrape the $$ together to secure the rights, he would need a label to agree to produce the product. Maybe he could go in with Joe Friday, but then whatever profit he might be able to secure would be split in half. So, I really don't think that would ever happen- not a big enough market for him to risk bankruptcy.
When I read that recent comment from Andrew in "Davy Jones mode" I thought "uh oh." That does not bode well for seeing the deluxe editions finished. Still, before Rhino owned the catalog, who ever expected all nine albums to be released on CD, let alone the abundance of bonus tracks, alternate mixes, etc. that we have now. Arista never even finished releasing the albums as bare-bones CDs.
I wouldn't doubt him already having them done (or near finished) sitting on a hard-drive somewhere. All Rhino would need to do is give a green light, tweak whatever needs tweaked, write up some liners, manufacture, etc.
I cringe at little at the price you paid, but it is an outstanding set (not perfect, but much better than what I expected. I, for one, am eternally grateful/relieved that Sandoval didn't DNR the picture to death or futz with the aspect ratio ala Beatle releases). And paying out for something you really want (especially an item this rare) every so often ain't so bad. (I say this as someone who unloaded a truck-load of money to get that 19-disc Sandy Denny box set ).
