pygospa

And next release, that arrived today. Here are the pictures I took. As you can see, a great booklet once more, with a couple of behind-the-scenes photos as well as cover artworks from around the world. Enjoy!

 

Today my copy of BLOODY MAMA arrived, and lucky me, I once again got a postcard, i.e. I was the 177th pre-order. I chose cover C which is once more the artwork by Timo Würz, cover A was too much text for a cover artwork for my taste, and cover B was a bit too much like a collage. I did not know beforehand that cover C was by Timo Würz, but once I had it in my hand I was sure of it, and checking the last page, I was right

The booklet is full of stills from the film, which I don't care too much about (I'd rather see different artwork, behind the scenes pictures, screenplays etc. pp.). But on page 18 there is something highly interesting! As I already mentioned, this is based on a real case, and from page 18 to 21 we not only get some information about the real people this story is based of, we also get some pictures of the real persons. Neat!

Here are some photos I took:

Here is a first glance of the Lineup and covers (taken from the back side of the front cover card from FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN). As we can see, Anolis plans just 2 Mediabooks, and a keep case. And as we can also see, no drawn covers, just two collages (which makes me really sad - I usually don't go for these covers and I also think they don't fit the rest of my Anolis Hammer collection at all - but well). Still wondering if they'll actually keep their promise. Both titles on the cover card where announced for this year, PRINCE OF DARKNESS was actually to be released on Halloween, while REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN was just announced recently to be released still in this year. Remember the joksters on Facebook and co?
 

On 8/26/2020 at 4:19 AM, pygospa said:

Still, on Facebook people are joking if Anolis could really pull of three announced films in half a year, in which they already have one release nearly ready for shipping. Anolis seems confident, with their coffin edition of their "Prince of Darkness" release already being up for preorder (however not the accompanying 3 other cover artworks), and reiterating that Frankenstein Created Woman will definitely be released "really soon". So let's see what the next weeks and months will hold.

Seems like they where right: Just two and a half more weeks before the holidays. They usually announce their releases on Sunday, that gives them two more days to still make this happen this year. One of them is tomorrow Go Anolis! Make it happen!  

My copy arrived today, and though I still believe I should have gotten both covers, I do like my colorful front artwork. The front cover card's backside - as usually - announces the next releases, PRINCE OF DARKNESS is already well known and there's nothing special about it, other than this should have been released in October and we haven't heard anything as of yet (I ordered the coffin in Febuary, as soon as it was open for pre-orders, and the Cover B a long while ago), but REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN has finally some artworks. Unfortunately, to be quite honest, I do not like any of the ones shown - I hope they'll still add another one, as for now there are only two alternatives for the Mediabook release. We'll see. If it stays as it is, I'll probably get the middle one.

But let's get back to this release, and I love it. Open the booklet and the first thing you'll get to see is a rare Japanese poster artwork. That's what I really LOVE with Anolis releases - they go the extra mile to get all the alternative and rare artworks that people will probably have never seen, even it this is a nearly 60 years old move! Browsing through the mediabook we get the classical british Quadposters, but also a Turkish(!) artwork, besides the German one, plus PR and set photos of the actors and rare lobby cards - and only a few scene photos. So all in all, once more, these pictures have added value to the 24p booklet.

Great release, and I am happy to see the 4 extras and two audio commentaries together with the movie

 

My copy arrived today, so naturally the first thing I did, was make some photos for you (as long as the sun is still up - these days that yellow steaming ball makes itself rather rare). Here you go, enjoy

Oh, and a few notes up front:

• FSK seal sticker was just on the shrinkwrap, pretty neat!
• Its the typical rather thin cardboard for the slip cover, the innser cover sheet uses thick paper, as does the booklet
• It uses the early days 14mm original Amaray keep case.
• Strangely it uses a 2-disc mount case, but it is just a single-disc release
• Especially as they use a "inner print" I would have loved a clear transparent package; but given that it is a 14mm package, one could actually even swap the ugly blue amaray with a Scanavo full-sleeve package. You would of course then need to print your own cover inlay - the original one would be too short. But it would be a possiblity if you are like me and dislike the blue package so much.
• The booklet looks from the design and content like your typical Anolis booklet, so I guess there was some cooperation there. It does however not bear the Anolis logo at all.

All in all it makes a good impression, and I am looking forward to seeing what other titles they might dig up that have been long forgotten. And finally, here are the pictures:

 

This one's more to my liking. Dracula is always good, Christopher Lee is always good, I am pretty excited for this release  

Release: 2021

Link (Wicked Shop): ???

Price: ???€

Limited: ???

As for trailers, I could only find a German trailer - but with English subtitles. No other trailers on YouTube Hope you can still enjoy it.
 

To be quite honest, this is absolutely not my cup of tea. I've seen (larger) parts of Robin Hood, Dracula and Space Ball, and did not like any of them, so I do not know what to make of this title... I am not big on comedy anyways, so....

What do you think? Do you know the movie? Is it worth watching and owning?

Release: 2021

Link (Wicked Shop): ???

Price: ???€

Limited: ???

Here's the trailer:

Want to see something really stunning, that may make you question your Cover choice (if it wasn't cover B)?

Someone else already asked the question that instantly popped into my mind: Will this also be the case for cover A, where you also have tears? But no, it won't - just the cover B. In a way this makes sense, as cover A has drawn tears and cover B doesn't. Still, this effect looks quite great and I do really like it.

13 hours ago, Grendel said:

Hi @pygospa;  🙂

Thanks very much for another "heads-up on a title worth investigating!

I have actually seen this as it's almost impossible to forget any film the iconic actor Robert Morley appears in, so I very much look forward to picking this up!  👍

Ah, nice to hear. I haven't seen the movie yet (nor did I ever hear about it before), but it seems like it could be good fun. As I love supporting Wicked Vision for their superb quality and efforts, and as I am eager to watch and get to know more movies that I haven't heard of yet, and as I trust Daniel at least a little bit in his taste of movies (with exception of their erotic and Jean Rollin series ), I would have gotten this no matter what. Still it is nice to hear that this is a movie to look forward to

Small update on the Mediabooks: Basically they are sold out. Cover B seemd to be the most desired one, followed by Cover C. Cover A - the one that I chose - seems to be the one nobody is interested in. This one is also sold out in most shops now, but Pretz still carries a few, and I guess other shops might as well.

Big update on the Piece of Art boxes, which is probably worth it's own thread - maybe I'll open one in the special editions section. We finally get some pictures, and what can I say. It looks stunning. It's like the boxes that Turbine uses (check it out here), so a box that is made out of a single piece of cardboard (I think Turbine calls them "cap boxes"), but it has a fixed glued in tray for the disk. As there is no bag or slip or anything for the booklet, that will probably just lay in there, which might be problematic for shipment as it might fly around, and get damaged. We'll see.

Description from Birnenblatt: The Size will be as high as a Mediabook, and the width will be 1.5x the width of a Mediabook (comapred to Tape editions, the tape editions have 2x the width of a Piece of Art box). The surface will be matt and they'll use thick varnish to create a relief on the title. The interior will also be used for artwork. And as someone asked in the comments (once more) Birnenblatt revealed, that there will be 4,000 units, so quite a large number.

Interesting as well for us collectors: They have three more titles that are being prepared right now for these Pieces of Art packaging. Their next title is already available for pre-order: Dawn of the Dead.

And now for what you've all be waiting: PICTURES!!!!

One more thing that is probably interesting: We don't see the back of the box. I'm wondering if that will show an Artwork as well, or maybe only a text back side? In the end, these things are made to be sold in stores, and for stores the advertisement information about the film and the technical data still seems to be a major factor (unfortunately). On the other hand, these boxes would be perfect for a continuous artwork (as shown on the inside).

Finally, I'll tag @Lordpercy, @Casiusco and @Mattrivers95 because if I properly read and understood your comments in this thread, you where the ones interested in this release, weren't you? Hope you'll enjoy and as always, I'd like to read your thoughts on this release as well, so if you are liking it or even getting it, or if you are hating it, please share you reasons with us I myself still haven't made up my mind, yet. I've bought the Mediabook, I love the artwork of the boxes, but I am not sure, if I want these enough to double dip, or if I should even cancel my Mediabook for the Box, or... I don't know 🤣

Release date: Dec. 18th, 2020
Preorder date: Nov. 27th, 2020 (!!!)

Buy Link: Single release, Bundle, Subscription (see below for explanation)

Price: 24,99€, 50,00€ or 279,99€

Limitation: 1500 numbered copies

Format: Dual format (BD+DVD)

Booklet: 24-p by Thorsten Hanisch (German)
 

Together with SLAUGHTER as their #1 in their "Black Cinema Collection", Wicked Vision is also releasing their #2 title for the series: THEY CALL ME MISTER TIBBS! As they are released together, you can either get it separately, or in a bundle with their #1 title, and there is also a subscription offer to get all ten titles. I've explained it all in great detail in the other post, so please let me refer you to that post instead of having to repost it all here:
 

As with their first release, this will come in the same unified overall series design that features the original poster artwork on the front, and other than that is just kept in a black-and-white design. It will of course also come in a full-sleeve Scanavo package (aka Criterion case, or pH Indicator case), and it will come without an reversible cover but instead feature an black-and-white inner-print. We again get a dual format, i.e. the movie being delivered on both DVD and BD. And also there is a booklet, but this time it's written by Thorsten Hanisch. Of course, what's not included is the box, as that is exclusively for the first release.
 

As with the first release, we get the main feature with English and German dubbing, but only German subtitles. But the extras do also come with English subtitles. Again, we get a German audio cmmentary with PhD Gerd Naumann and Christopher Klaese, and we get the second part of the 10-part documentary "From Mr. Tibbs to John Shaft: New stars and perspectives", as well as the original trailer and a picture gallery.

THEY CALL ME MISTER TIBBS (1970) is actually the second movie of a trilogy, the first one being IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) which is actually not considered a Blaxxploitation movie, probably, because of the cast and crew being dominantly white, and the movie not being a low budget production, but actually the adaptation of a novel by John Ball; this also led to a nomination for 7 Oscars and an award in 5 of these categories and is today considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". THEY CALL ME MISTER TIBBS, which came 3 years later, tried to build on that success, but as a low budget film, that was totally different in tonality and style, it could not fulfill the expectation at box offices. Still, today it is considered as one of the most important movies of the blaxxploitation movies, that is seen as an early model for the infamous SHAFT (1971)  In the film by Gordon Douglas features Sidney Poitier as police detective Virgil Tibbs who is investigating the murder of a prostitute and falls into an labyrinth of deceits, and is torn between his duty and loyalty.

Here's the trailer. Enjoy:
 

Shoot. I forgot to add the link for getting the single release. Can a moderator or admin please add this to the intial post? Use "Single Release" as an anchor for this link, please: https://www.wicked-shop.com/en/slaughter-black-cinema-collection-01-incl-matt-hard-slipcase-dual-disc-set.html

Thank you, and sorry for messing it up

As usually, especially if I start something like this, I'd like to know, if this is interesting for you? If it is, please let me know, and tell me, especially if you are planning to not get them as subscription, because then I know that I'll generate some value for you guys when posting these, and then I'll keep it up for the rest of the series, to inform you and let you know about new releases, so you don't miss them. If no one is interested in these, I can use the time differently

I myself was pretty excited about the release, and after sharing the teaser news in my collection thread (as I did not know where else to put them - maybe we should think about a "teasers and rumors" section for this forum? ), I also contacted Daniel and shared my excitement with him, and he then already told me a lot of information ahead of time, including sending me the covers. But I was sworn to secrecy .

For the first time in my life I opted for the "subscription". I know there are also a couple of other labels that have these (Birnenblatt, Anolis, etc.), but with Wicked Vision I not only have a good feeling and trust, but I also like to support the label. With the subscription with Anolis on the other hand, I had a lot of problems, ordering it, and as they already cancelled another order without any information just like that, I feel saver getting them separately from third party shops. So my very first subscription - I'll tell you how it goes (if it's interesting for you ), I am pretty excited about those small gimmicks that are included - I live for those goodies

Release date: Dec. 18th, 2020
Preorder date: Nov. 27th, 2020 (!!!)

Buy Link: Single release, Bundle, Subscription (see below for explanation)

Price: 24,99€, 50,00€ or 279,99€

Limitation: 1500 numbered copies

Format: Dual format (BD+DVD)

Booklet: 24-p by Christoph N. Kellerbach (German)

For over a year now, the German independent label Wicked Vision (mostly famous for their Mediabooks which I am constantly presenting to you here 😉) has been working on releasing a series of titles that can be classified under the series name "Black Cinema". It will probably be heavy on the Blaxxploitation genre but not limited to it. While this might be not so interesting to US/UK (and maybe even other countries?), as there has been a lot of releases from this Genre, for Germany this is huge, as most of these films will be Blu-ray premieres to us. The release series is somewhat inspired by Anolis' Galerie des Grauens series (which I described for you in great detail here), in that it will be limited to a fixed number of releases (10) and their first release will come in a slipcase that will fit in all the 10 releases. This slipcase box will be made out of sturdy hard cardboard with a matte finish and spot gloss varnish. I had a talk with Daniel and he was pretty excited about the end product and said it looks really stunning. Each release itself will come in a Keepcase. However different to Anolis in a G2 sized case, instead of a G1 sized one; however not in a standard Amaray, but instead a more sturdy and more stunning looking full-sleeve Scanavo packing (the ones also used by Criterion or pH Indicator). Same as Anolis' boxsets they will include a thick booklet, come as dual format disc releases, and will be accompanied by a lot on-disc of bonuses. The artwork will feature the original poster artworks in a unified series design, that is a plain but elegant black and white design with not much gimmickry, except for the Wicked Vision logo on top of the spine and a spine number. And - different to all previous releases by Wicked Vision, this Scanavo release will not come with a reversible cover, but will feature a black-and-white inner print. Interestingly for international buyers: Wicked Vision promises these bonuses to be English-friendly (with the exception of the booklet, I guess), so all the extras will also come with additional English subtitles. Another thing that took Wicked Vision such long time to get ready for these releases was the documentary that will be included in these releases. It's a exclusively produced 10-part documentation on Black Cinema, produced by Wicked Vision in cooperation with PD PhD Andreas Rauscher, which Wicked Vision is also mighty proud of. In the comments Wicked also promises to finish this until September 2021 the latest. That would mean, a new release could be come every month (if they are released individually) or if they are always in pairs, then every second month. At least for the start the first two parts of the series will come as double feature release, and besides buying them separately, they can also be bought in a bundle. And talking about the bundle, there is also a subscription offer, pay the 10 movies in advance, and you'll get them as soon as they get released and with some small additional goodies. It is 30€ more expensive if you get them individually, that 30€ is the price for shipping, which you would also pay if you get them individually. To offer you something additionally if you get the subscription release (which would help Wicked Vision, in advance for finishing the other titles of this series, one of which will be the anniversary edition of COFFY), Wicked will add you to their exclusive subscription newsletter that will provide a lot of production behind-the-scenes information and a lot of updates, you will also get an exclusive and personalized collector's card with every film, an exclusive beer coaster sets and exclusive posters. This beer coaster set will also be gifted to the first 100 customers that are the first to preorder the releases individually.

Now enough about the series as such, let's take a look at their first release of the series: SLAUGHTER. This release will be the first, and as such it will be the one that comes with the box (with no additional charge) to collect all the other parts. It will come - as usually with German dubbing as well as the original English audio, and it is the first time this is shown/released uncut in German (i.e. 92 minutes @ 24fps [BD], or 88 minutes @ 25 fps [DVD]). The feature film will not come with English subtitles, however all extras are with English subtitles as well. As for the extras we'll get the 24-page booklet with an essay by Christoph N. Kellerbach, an audio commentary with PhD Gerd Naumann and Christopher Klaese, and the first episode of Wicked Visions exclusive featurette on "Black Cinema" titled: "The Gangster as a style-conscious anti-hero", as well as a German theatrical intro, the original trailer and a picture gallery.
 

SLAUGHTER is a 1972 blaxploitation film directed by Jack Starrett (Race with the Devil, The Losers), staring NFL-player Jim Brown (The Dirty Dozen, The Running Man) as Slaughter, who wants to avenge the dead of his Green Beret Vietnam veteran father, who is killed by a mobster via a car bomb. To avenge him, Slaughter has to bend the rules himself and is hunted by both, the mob and the police alike.

As usually, I'll close with a movie trailer, but I'd also like to add two teasers that Wicked Vision posted long ago when first anouncing this series. I am only writing about it now, as we didn't yet know what package they would come in (at least not officially) and I didn't know where to put it in the forums at mediapsychos. Also sorry for posting this "so late" - it was already announced beginning of the week and preorder has also started nearly two days ago, but I was in hospital the entire week - hope you can forgive me ).
 

9 minutes ago, Cornbuster said:

Es gibt zwei "Nachzügler", die ich nun auf unserem Banner noch verewigt habe.

Nämlich Mike @Veum  und  Kannan @pygospa

Ui, sehr nice! DANKE!!! Ich bin zwar in der Regel nie so unrasiert, wie auf dem Bild 🤣 aber es gab auch zeiten, wo ich das mal war und sogar einen langen Bart hatte, von daher, passt das. Sehr sehr cool!

Sag mal, hast Du die Gesichter auch einzeln? Und wenn ja, dürfte ich mein Gesicht haben um es hier als Profilbild zu verwenden?

Auf jeden FAll vielen lieben Dank!

An English proverbs says "Do not count your chickens before they are hatched". Rember my last week, i.e. "movie week"? No? Then read the post above. Yes? Well, on Saturday I got another small package, ordered from Amazon because I was too late to order it from Capelight directly:



#1087 | DEU | Gretel & Hänsel | BD+UHD Mediabook

EAN: 4042564209259
Release dates: Nov. 11th, 2020
Region Code: B / -
Paid: 23,49€

Don't know that movie, have heard mixed things, but I got it for quite cheap, regarding that it also contains the UHD besides the HD blu-ray, and the mediabook looks phenomenal, has a really informative text, so all in all, I am pretty excited to watch this one, soon.

This week I only got one package, from my standard mediabook dealer, containing a large variation of different Mediabooks that I've had my dealer collecto for me over the year (9 are still missing, but as there are a large number of preorder titles, it's all fine with me - I save a lot of shipping money and he send's them in the batches as it fits him, so all are happy

#1088 | DEU | Gangland - Cops unter Beschuss [O-Title: Gang Related] | BD+DVD Mediabook

EAN: 4260646120623
Release dates: Nov. 13th, 2020
Region Code: B / 2
Paid: 19,99€

In my youth I used to listen to hip hop and most of it was actually German Hip Hop (90s Hip Hop from mainly Hamburg rappers/bands). Only a few American/english speanking rappers/bands managed to interest me, and the one that was my most favorite rapper, who I would say was also really influential to me and formed my thinking, was 2Pac. It therefore is a shame that I havent watched a single movie he did. This is a perfect possibility for me, to fix that gap.

 

#1089 | DEU | Ingenium | BD+DVD Mediabook

EAN: 4042564209464
Release dates: Oct. 23rd, 2020
Region Code: B / 2
Paid: 22,99€

This is a release of a German movie that is pretty unknown even in Germany. I just stumbled upon this by accident, but the trailer looked really great and interesting. This release from Camera Obscure looks rather great, a nice booklet, lot's of behind the scenes material, and unbelievable but true: This actually comes with German, English and French subtitles. Finally a German film that I could even recommend for international buyers - however I am not yet sure if the movie is also worth getting
 

#1090 | DEU | Todesparty 2 [O-Title: Cutting Class] | BD+DVD Mediabook

EAN: 4042564209259
Release dates: Oct. 25th, 2020
Region Code: B / 2
Paid: 29,99€

When you knwo my other postings, you know that I often b*tch about the horrible "translations" of titles we had in Germany. Cutting Class (1989), a movie staring a really young Brad Pitt (his seventh movie, but only the third he was also actually credited, in his third year of his acting career), was deemed to be better marketed to the audience if it was marketed as the second part of a movie it has nothing in common with: Slaughter High (1986). Slaughter High was released in Germany as "Die Todesparty" (Party of Death), and this one became "Todesparty II". To make things even worse, when Terror Train from 1980(!) was released for home video, the labels in Germany decided to release it as the third part of this series: "Todesparty 3". This strange thing makes it even funny for it's curiosity to have it in the collection under the German title. I own the "Todesparty 3", so I was interested in getting the other two as well - Slaughter High has a Mediabook release, and Cutting Class just got one. Movie is said to be horrible, but I am rather curious to also see one of Brad Pitts earliest performances.

#1091 | DEU | Upgrade | BD+DVD Mediabook

EAN: 7220347774676
Release dates: Sept. 18th, 2020
Region Code: B / 2
Paid: 31,99€

I cannot tell you anything more about this movie other than it is (in Germany) a direct to video release that actually was a total suprise and gaind a lot of praise. It wasn't even released in Germany for a long time, and people imported it from Denmark(?). Now we have this Mediabook from Nameless.

 

#1092 | DEU | Meine teuflischen Nachbarn [O-Title: The 'Burbs] | BD Mediabook

EAN: 4260186032554
Release dates: Sept. 15th, 2020
Region Code: free
Paid: 29,99€

This is a release, that Birnenblatt didn't really want to make, and I didn't really want to buy. It's a Vanilla movie release, and for that reason Birnenblatt only made a simple release (I think it was a VHS), and they didn't want to make a Mediabook as for them the Mediabook is the "high value" release with a lot of extras. But after a lot of request, Birnenblatt made a survey and then decided on this low quantity (333 copies) single-disk mediabook with no extras but of course a nice booklet text. I own The 'Burbs in a beautiful Scanavo-Fullslip release by Steelarchive, and therefore I didn't want to get it. But then it was sold out, people where posting images, and selling it for really high prices, and I felt like I did a mistake. Lucky me, there where a few additional copies that appeard in one of the web shops, and so I ordered it. Plus, of course, informed you:

#1093 | DEU | Nummer 5 gibt nicht auf [O-Title: Short Circuit 2] | BD+DVD Mediabook

EAN: 7220347777714
Release dates: Oct. 16th, 2020
Region Code: B / 2
Paid: 31,99€

Short Circuit and it's successor is one of the most influential movies of my life. I've seen it as a child, and always wanted to build my own robot, ever since. This got me interested in programming with age 14, and made me study computer science, and even specialize in robots, and work for a while in science with robots. So I was pretty excited that Short Circuit was released as a Steelbook a while ago, and I was rooting for Short Circuit 2 as well. Now I am a bit disappointed that I didn't double dip for this movie, when Nameless also released Short Circuit as a mediabook, but I will try to get that one sometimes later.


And that's it already it. Anything you want to see in more detail?

Thank you @Veum for posting that Group Buy link (I also didn't know where it was - due to my lack of Group Buying German articles for obvious reasons  ).

Birnenblatt answered me regarding my questions:

• Product pictures will follow as soon as possible and before release date
• They are not yet fixed on the limitation and will finalize their decision based on the preorders. They hope and plan for a 4000 units limitation but it could also just be 3000 copies.

Regarding their answers, I think it will be safe to wait a bit, for everyone that is still curious about the packaging and don't want to buy a "pig in a poke" (funny - in Germany we'd say "to buy a cat in a sack"). Given that 3000 copies is also quite high, especially if this release follows a 1000 units Mediabook release, this will not sell out during preorder time. I am still curious as I have no idea of what to expect here. I'll keep you informed

Today just 2 hours ago Birnenblatt announced that pre-orders for the box are open. However no additional information, what to expect, no product images, etc. from Birnenblatt 😐

However, the USPs on the shops have two pieces of information:

Quote

• veredelte Box
• Booklet: "'Lost in Translation' - Mit Scarlett Johansson und Bill Murray durch die Einsamkeit" (24 Seiten) - limitiert und durchnummeriert

My translation:

Quote

• ennobled box
• Booklet: "'Lost in Translation' - Walking with Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray through solitude" (24 pages) - limited and numbered

The other thing we do know, however is the price: 19,99€, so rather decently priced, and given that it even includes the booklet, probably the better deal (in regards to the Mediabook). I have already contacted Birnenblatt about product pictures and descriptions so that one knows what one is getting, and I also asked for the limitation of the edition. Let's see what they'll answer (probably tomorrow/after tomorrow). Until then, for those willing to jump into the unknown, here are the three shops that Birnenblatt listed who are going to carry this edition:

• Pretz Media
• Media Markt
• Saturn

Please be aware, that some (unfortunately especially international buyers?) seem to have problems with Pretz (if you are from Germany however, they are one of the shops with the best service and shipping that I know of and instant response on questions), which is renewed by what @Lordpercy has experienced. I just add them to be complete. I don't know about international shipping regarding Media Markt/Saturn, but as far as I know there is some kind of Group Buy for German products on this forum, somewhere (maybe someone can link it here? 🙂).

Best of luck everyone trying to get their hands on this one!


PS: They did also link a short documentary Arte (which is a French-German-TV station) to their announcement, on director Sofia Coppola, seen from "the view of music". It's in German, but you can of course auto-translate subtitles on YouTube. Just adding it, in case you are interested (I wasn't, to be honest ). [Click me]

There has been a lot of anger and confusion regarding this release, because a lot of people already have theirs (those who ordered directly via Turbine) and others have been waiting and contacting their vendor who seems to not be knowing where the packages of their customers are (all those who ordered via Amazon). Today Turbine has released a statement - and if you don't want to read it in its entirety here is the most important takeaway:

Never turn to the big corps, if you could also support your label directly!

Their Statement:
 

Quote

Information zur amazon-Lieferverzögerung von AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON:
 

Dass wir ausgerechnet bei einem so wichtigen Titel mit dieser für uns noch nie dagewesenen Situation konfrontiert werden, ist unglaublich ärgerlich. Für alle, die sich für die Details interessieren, hier ein paar Infos zu dem, was in den letzten Tagen vorgefallen ist.

Amazon glaubte wenige Tage vor Veröffentlichungen, einen Großhändler gefunden zu haben, der den WEREWOLF günstiger liefern könne als unser Vertrieb. Zu dem Zeitpunkt war der LKW mit der ursprünglichen Bestellung aber natürlich längst unterwegs. Wir wissen nicht, welcher Großhändler das gewesen sein soll und welchen Preis der angeblich aufgerufen hat, aber natürlich konnte der - zu welchem Preis auch immer - in keinster Weise die Menge liefern, die Ihr bei amazon vorbestellt hattet. Für diese Erkenntnis war es aber zu spät, denn das amazon-System hatte die Bestellung bei unserem Vertrieb bereits automatisch storniert. Die Ware vom Vertrieb kam also bei amazon an der Rampe an und der Mitarbeiter sagte dem netten LKW-Fahrer, er könne mit der Ladung wieder abfahren, sei ja storniert.

Bis die Ware wieder beim Vertrieb ankam, man bei amazon einen Menschen erreichte, um ihm das Problem darzulegen, die Ware neu rausschicken durfte (damit sie nicht nochmal abgelehnt wird), vergingen ein paar Tage.

Wir rechnen daher nicht damit, dass amazon vor Mitte der Woche mit dem Versand an Euch beginnen kann.

ABER: Es gibt die Boxen und amazon bekommt auch die vorbestellte Menge! Es ist also kein Problem der Verfügbarkeit, sondern ausschließlich der Logistik.

Uns tut das riesig leid, aber wir können es absolut nicht ändern. Wir können es ja selbst kaum fassen.

Liebe Grüße

Eure Turbine

My half-hearted attempt in translating it as good as I can:

Quote

Information regarding the amazon delivery delay from AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON:

Being confronted with a never seen before situation on such an important title is especially annoying for us. For everybody interested in the details, here is the information on what happend the last days.

Amazon believed that they had found a wholesale dealer that could deliver the WEREWOLF cheaper than our distributer, just a few days before the release. At this time our truck with the original order from Amazon was already packed and on the road. We don't know who this other distributer is, and which price they offered to Amazon, but the fact is - regardless the price - this distributer could in no way fulfill the amount, that the customers pre-ordered from Amazon. But this realisation came too late, because the system at Amazon had already cance11ed the the order from our distributer. Our truck arrived at Amazons loading dock, and the Amazon staff told our friendly truck driver, that he could return his delivery back to us as his system was telling him that this order was cance11ed.

A couple of days passed until the products arrived back at our distributer, he contacting us, we trying to contact someone at Amazon to explain the problem, and Amazon giving us the "go" to ship the goods once more to Amazon (making sure that it wouldn't be denied again).

We are counting on Amazon getting the products mid of this week and they will start shipping them to you as soon as they arrive.

BUT: These boxes do exist, Amazon is getting the correct amount that you preordered! There should be no problem regarding availability, it is just the logistics problem.

We are incredibly sorry, but this was out of our hands. And we cannot believe it ourselves.

Best regards
Your Turbine

Here are some pictures of my release. The ONLY thing I dislike (and this is an absolute first world problem): The position of the Turbine logo on the spine, compared with their other box sets. Other than that, a perfect release:



 

My copy arrived on Wednesday, and just to make sure that there is no bad blood: I didn't order via Group Buy (I never do, if I can get the edition directly - so only Filmarena, Blufans and some American Releases will be Group Buys with me ), but directly via Collectong, so naturally it's a little bit faster for me. And as usually, I'll share my photos with you to sweeten your waiting time, but before I do, some general words on the release and my personal opinion:

1. I opted for the Fullslip, though my favorite regarding the pictures was the double lenticular fullslip, which I did not choose due to the missing UHD disk. What I disliked from the Fullslip was the title placement, which I would have done differently (either on the top, or the bottom). In hand however the title works quite well because it stands out due to some rainbowy-reflective properties that are hard to describe, and unfortunately also hard to capture an camera. Also the rest of the finish is absolutely gorgeous!
2. The Lenticular sticker has a new property: It is coted with a small pastic film, that makes it smooth. I totally like that, it feels much better, and it is hardly visible. I wonder if they'll do the same with their Lenticular editions? It definately makes the surface feel much better.
3. For your SEALD collectors: Open the protective bag and you can take out the J-Card and the lenticular sitcker without unsealing the fullslip (but who would do such absurdity and never take out the gorgeous steelbook?
4. The gorgeous steelbook is really that: gorgeous. I cannot tell you why, it seems like nothing special on the pictures and the packet shot, but it looks really elegant making it really georgeous. It has the same quality that the Man of Steel steelbook has - it's a real beauty and one of the best steelbooks I had in my hands this year.
5. While the booklet is actually just a simple photo booklet, we do get some picture captions and a lot of behind the scenes footage, so again a lot of love from me for that.
6. Inside the steelbook we get a third disk in a sleeve wich is a bit strange. But I like it. The paper is slightly translucent, and feels like waxed paper, which somehow gives it an elegent quality. The envelope is of the same paper. This really fits the color scheme and pictures on the envelopes, and I really like this.

All in all I am really pleased with this release. And I hope everyone who preoredered one, will be too. I'd love to see some pictures from the guys getting the other releases. Here are mine for the fullslip:

 

You know what this week is? Movie-week! 😀  But before I explain that, I realised that I've made some pictures for two other updates that I never posted. So let's start with my two "end of October" updates:

#1076-1080 | DEU | Paranormal Activity 1-5 | Amaray
EAN: 886976494292, 4010884243741, 4010884245196, 4010884256093, 4010884252231

Release date: Apr. 30th 2010, Apr. 7th, 2011, Sept. 6th 2012, Feb. 21st 2013 and May 15th 2014

Region Code: ???

Paid: 6€

I actually would have gotten these a long while ago, when I got part 6, but I had an eBay bundle and part 6 as separate offer, and while I got part 6 for 1€, I was outbid on the package with 50¢ in the last second (and I think it was something between 3-5€). So now finally I could rectify that with a package offer on Facebook. 6€ for 5 films is a nice deal, I think, which is why I even bear that ugly blue Amaray packaging that I normally try to avoid at all costs. Finally I can watch these films I heard so much about.

#1081 | GBR | Psycho | FS XL + Steelbook (EverythingBlu BP #5)
EAN: 5053083220068

Release date: Sept. 7th, 2020

Region Code: ???

Paid: 46,28€

What can I say - I own the movie in an ultimate boxset but I love this label, and their little extras are worth a double dip. We get a poster, the movie in 4K, postcards, poster cards, and those special extras: this time a pin and a hotel key tag.

So now, let's get to this weeks "movie week". I think on Monday I got the mail, that a new package from @forenhase was to be expected soon - and all of a sudden on monday the post rings - normally this takes about 1 day after I get the mail, so this time they are fast? 🧐 Well.... not really. What I got instead was this:

#1082 | DEU | Downton Abbey | Slipcase + Jumbo Amaray 

EAN: 5053083224097
Release date: May 16th, 2018
Region Code: ???
Paid: 59,99€

I pre-ordered this without knowing what to expect, and to be quite honest, just regarding the package, this is quite expensive and rather carelessly put together. That being said, there is only one really beautiful release worthy of this incredible series, but it's just DVD I still plan to get that someday, but for now it's too expensive for too little. The release I got, though pretty unspectacular, has everything you can wish for: All 6 seasons (2010-2015) with their bonus "Christmas" episodes (each season used to start in the summer and end in the first November week, but starting with the second season they always put out a christmas special every Dec. 25th), totaling in 52 episodes. Plus the movie that was released 2019 in cinemas, and three bonus discs containing all extras that have been produced up to now. Looking forward to rewatching the series (and watching the movie for the first time).
 

So on Tuesday the post man rang again. Post from André? No sir, but from Turbine:

#1083 | DEU | An American Werewolf in London | Capbox + DigiPak

EAN: 4260294859357
Release date: Nov 13th, 2020
Region Code: ???
Paid: 51,65€

This should have been released on Friday 13th. At least that's what Turbine joked about (as I have informed you here), so I was surprised to get it on Tuesday, but I won't argue I will post some detail pictures in the joint thread from @RAK and me, that you can find here:
 

Wednesday, and this time the post has to bring the package form André. It HAS to! Well, it didn't.... Instead this is what the postman brought:

#1084 | HKG | Dunkirk | FS + Steelbook

EAN: 4897109140470
Release date: Nov 13th, 2020
Region Code: ???
Paid: 57,54€

Long have we waited, finally it arrived: Dunkrik, the ME16 of MantaLab. Just for comparison: Their latest release, "Bird's of Prey" was ME30; or in other words: ME17 was Ready Player One, from August 2018, Justice League from April 2018 was from April 2018. So, this was intended to come out somewhere in-between May and July in 2018. But in German there is the saying "Gut Ding will Weile haben" (a good thing needs its time), and Dunkirk turned out to be really good. I'll post some pictures shortly in the related post:
 

Thrusday came, and guess what it brought: Yes sir, finally. Andrés package:

#1085+1086 | CZE | Shazam! + Allied | FS + Steelbook and Lenti FS XL + Steelbook

EAN: -
Release dates: Aug. 12th, 2020 + Aug. 5th, 2020
Region Code: ???
Paid: 69,53€ + 54,16€

Finally, the Filmarena package. And as always there are some mixed feelings. Shazam! I generally really love. What I don't get - and this I find pretty anying - is why they do this back and forth with their fullslip size. I liked the thinner version and would have preferred they stayed that way. I don't mind the switch too much, though, but going back and forth? That's pretty stupid to me. Other than that, the Fullslip is a bit one-sided in the imagery, but the structured finish and gloss varnish look phenomenal, the magnet lenticular is of really high quality and looks phenomenal as well. The booklet is rather boring, but at least it has a few behind the scenes photos. The character cards are really great - I love it when they use back and front side - you have the kids on the one side, the adult hero representation on the other - this is really great. Allied also has a great Lenticular and I really love it, but it angers me that with Filmarena going for the Lenticular is always a gamble. The last few Lenticulars I got where aweful, and lately I opted more often for the fullslip because of it. Allied I got because I liked the different back artwork, but in hand I am really disappointed about it. It is much darker and much less colorful compared to the packet shot, and worst of all, it is obviously unsharp. It looks like the image was much smaller and just blown up. HORRIBLE!!!! Steelbook isn't as nice as well, but that's the WWA one, so no blame on Filmarena. Cards are pretty random so I don't really care, the booklet however is quite nice, because it has some text, which to me has much more worth than just some random scenes. All in all I would have now rather chosen the Fullslip. I liked the Fullslip as well, but thought it was a bit repetitive and I loved the colorful and different back artwork of the Lenticular.