UK region 2 Lost Tales DVD only ú4.99

[princevintari]

For those who haven't already picked it up yet HMV.co.uk are selling it for ú4.99 including delivery to the UK.

http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=285;5;-1;-1&sku=693916

[Andrew_Swallow]

The DVD is 264th in the Amazon.co.uk sales ranking. Although they have reduced the price by 40%. It just never sold in the high street. This is not good news for a second direct to dvd.

[I love Lyta]

*&%$º!!!!!!!

[raw_bean]

The DVD is 264th in the Amazon.co.uk sales ranking. Although they have reduced the price by 40%. It just never sold in the high street. This is not good news for a second direct to dvd.

It is *now*. It made it up into at least the top 100 when it first came out.

I don't think we need to be pessimistic. Were you expecting this to break DVD sales records or something? LAst we heard on the subject, JMS said the DVD had sold a lot more than WB expected and they were pleased. Just be patient.

[princevintari]

The DVD is 264th in the Amazon.co.uk sales ranking. Although they have reduced the price by 40%. It just never sold in the high street. This is not good news for a second direct to dvd.

Without any promotion I doubt many copies actually hit the shelves of the high street retailer meaning it probably sold poorly in the actual shops. However I imagine a large percentage of Babylon 5 fans found out about the DVD being released on line, probably pre-ordering it or ordering it in the first week or two of its release.

I don't think we need to be pessimistic. Were you expecting this to break DVD sales records or something? LAst we heard on the subject, JMS said the DVD had sold a lot more than WB expected and they were pleased. Just be patient.

I wish JMS or Warner Brothers would let out how many sales the Lost Tales has actually made, then at least we could be reassured and have a better idea on how well it is really doing. I know Jan posted a useful post saying it's going to take a while before the information is all in. Still there should be plenty of unofficial data like the Amazon.com figures.

[Andrew_Swallow]

Were you expecting this to break DVD sales records or something?

I was hoping that the sales of the DVD would be 10 times the cost of making it. That would ensure that a series is made with the episodes having a bigger budget.

[princevintari]

I was hoping that the sales of the DVD would be 10 times the cost of making it. That would ensure that a series is made with the episodes having a bigger budget.

I guess I was hoping for the same thingand who knows it may well have surpassed 10 times the cost of making it? Nobody has any idea what the online sales were like for just region 1 alone.

I also had the same thoughts that once the DVD was released an entire series of Lost Tales would be commissioned. I suspect JMS is delaying any kind of negotiations knowing that the writers strike is upon us, given how poorly they are paid I suppose I can't blame him I just wish they would announce something. (Four cents for every DVD sold)

[I love Lyta]

I bet WB just doesn't talk numbers so they can say it wasn't enough and have an excuse for not doing any more TLT.
Yeah, I know I sound WB bashing lately, but somehow I can't shake the feeling off that TLT is going to suffer kind of the same fate Crusade did. And that makes me quite angry...

[Jan]

The thing is, though, that except for being too timid about releasing B5 on VHS, DVD etc., WB has always treated B5 well. They didn't have anything to do with the demise of Crusade as we all know.

The thing I'm more concerned about is the writer's strike dragging on. This'll have an effect on all sorts of things.

Jan

[Garibaldi's Hair]

I don't think there is any hope of WB releasing actual sales figures ... why should they? The telling phrase from JMS' posts on the issue is that they have sold an order of magnitude more than WB were expecting.

If that is the case, then why wouldn't they ultimately order more (even if they wait until after the writers' strike). WB obviously went into this expecting a certain number to be sold, so this raises two distinct possibilties.

* They were expecting enough sales to justify continuation of the project, and by fulfilling that expectation, we can expect there to be further discs.

* They were expecting too few sales to justify continuation of the project.

If the former, then it is only a matter of time, strikes etc. before more are announced.

If the latter, then it smacks of cynicism on the part of WB. "Let's throw the fans a bone and when it only sells as few as we expect it to then we have a perfect excuse not to make any more B5.". Having sold more than they expected they are reviewing their options, and could still order further discs.

Since WB is a business, then the second option would be a non-starter. Why spend money on a pointless project just to prove a point, when the obvious thing to do is just not do anything because you don't feel it has sufficient profit potential?

If JMS is correct in his statement that a lot more discs have been sold than WB were expecting, then I honestly believe it is only a matter of time before more are/another is announced.

He could, of course, have been fed duff information.

[RMcD]

There's no need for anybody to get paranoid. It's pretty hard to speculate in the absence of any information one way or the other, and TLT differs from all the previous projects in that in theory it can go into hibernation and come back to life again at any time without contracts expiring, sets being dismantled and cast and crew moving on.

[I love Lyta]

Yeah, yeah, I guess I'm just too impatient.
It's like with TV series. I just can't stand waiting a whole week to see the next episode...

[Darth_librarian]

calm down...

Firstly, this is all UK specific, and lets face it, this was never designed as a blockbuster that would run and run. 80% of those who wanted it probably got it in the first week, and a lot had it pre-ordered. The bottom line is how much it made, and I'm certain its turned in a hefty profit.

HMV's pricing is crazy anyhoww. They often put 'surplus' stock on sale. After a while, expect it to go back up to ú14:99 as it becomes a 'niche' item that you can still get online elsewhere for ú8.

I honestly did not expect this to sell on the high street anyway, its target audience is all about the Internet.

[Jan]

I honestly did not expect this to sell on the high street anyway, its target audience is all about the Internet.

That was part of my beef with WB's lack of promotion, though. At a couple of conventions I found that people who weren't online all the time (unlike...me ) were the ones who didn't hear about TLT at all but were very interested. I'd say that WB targeted the online audience, mainly by trusting to word of mouth 'advertising' and the online video diaries but they could have done better if they'd done more offline print and television advertising.

Jan

[princevintari]

I seem to remember (IIRC) JMS saying that studios can fiddle the figures to make a show or movie seem like it doesn't come into profit. Saying something like unrelated shows or movies losses can easily be taken from more profitable projects. Who's to say that Warner Brothers aren't doing this now? I realise I have no proof to even justified this comment yet it does happen. Another thing to remember is internal politics can make or break a show or movie according to the executives in charge at Warner Brothers or any other major studio.

Given JMS' principles they could actually want to sink the franchise knowing he's not going to prostitute it like Star Trek. That way they could reinvent it as a brand new show... Babylon 2261 or some such thing? Stranger things have happened and JMS would have no control over it since Warner Brothers own the TV rights.

RMcD, I kind of agree with what you're saying but I don't believe the Lost Tales could successfully go in to hibernation. I think at this point the Lost Tales is in a make-or-break situation and needs to capitalise on on the momentum from voices in the darkness.

I believe Warner Brothers needs to order several DVDs at the earliest opportunity to draw in those fans not impressed with this first DVD. I'm sure most of the people on this board including myself would happily continue paying for more low-budget character pieces within the B5 universe. However there's a large section I believe that just won't be satisfied by that, even if that was JMS' original plan to make small stories, and you can't give them time to move on from the franchise. It's not like it's on TV and you can tune in to see the next instalment, you need to pay hard cash to pickup the DVD.

by ordering more Lost Tales it also enhances the Babylon 5 syndication package and TV channels willingness to show B5. It is certainly more inviting having brand new stories to premier, the more stories the more overall value B5 has .

Darth librarian, agree with what you're saying about HMV in general but its pricing of the Lost Tales has been exceptionally well priced. In fact it's been the lowest priced UK region 2 DVD of the Lost Tales available at ú8.49 including free postage and packing. It may well be more expensive now after their clear-out of surplus stock at ú4.99 but HMV and in fact most online retailers have priced the DVD (initially) most competitively. Strangely after many years of being on DVD I've yet to see the Legend of the Rangers available for less than ú7.