Anchor Bay Tins...(my opinions)

[gunner]

I mean no offense to anchor bay or fans of these editions but here's my opinion on thier latest tin packaging...I have a wooden cabinet I had built to store my dvds in.It's absolutly perfect in shelf space to hold 330 keepcases and even has a glass door to keep dust away.I guess I'm a little anal about my dvd packaging since I keep all of my cardboard snap cases on a seperate wall shelf since I feel they don't look that good when placed beside each other. When anchor bay anounced that they where going to release tin editions it was assured that these tins would be the same size as a keep case so I rested easy.Then months later when they hit the market I was mortified,Heres this great big,huge tin which looks cool but certainly wouldn't look normal placed beside my other A.B. titles.I personally wish anchor bay would go back to putting out the two disc limited editions instead of these tins.Another little piece is the "made in china" sticker on the backs of thier tin packaging,I think that adds a cheesy effect.Compare your "Halloween"2 disc set with the "Halloween 5"tin edition and compare yourself which one presents itself as more desirable.

[gunner]

I will be more apt to buy a tin edition if there is a keep case included.I also am very impressed with anchor bay's customer service.They're still a small company that derived from two cheap vhs releasing companys of the past,video treasures and starmaker.They've come along way and I am, and always will be a true fan of this company.

We've run this topic into the ground but for the sake of the new kids I'll say this one last time.

I hate the bloody things.

See all I want is the movies, not a bunch of crappy cardboard inserts or a photobook with a total word count that couldn't fill a Post-It note. And what made me all the more pissed is that I had to resort to either buying the tin edition (Evil Dead 2) or not buying the movie at all (Halloween 5 and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) cause for some reason the tins were all that I could find in my area.

Hellraiser is a separate issue and as such is a tin I can't truly bitch about. I wanted Hellbound and I wasn't too keen on waiting a year to get it. As for Repo Man, I never saw the movie until I found the standard release and while I love the movie, I'm not about to shell out more bucks for the tin. Especially after I bought the soundtrack on its own.

I understand that people love them, even though I can't fathom why.

And for the record I keep mine in the closet under all the model kits I never built. Thanks to photoshop and Mircosoft Publisher I just made my one keep cases...

[mutleyhyde]

Gunner; Starmaker and Video Treasures. Who would've thought they would become the premiere genre DVD producer? That totally blows my mind! I only got the Hellraiser and Repo Man tins, for the reasons already voiced by Django - however, I'm increasingly tempted daily to pick up the Beyond tin. I'll let you know.

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"When I go to confession, I don't offer God small sins - petty squables, jealousies - I offer him sins worth forgiving!"

May the Hammer eternally bleed!
M. Hyde

I guess for me, it really depends on the movie. I bought Hellraiser, as others mentioned, for Hellbound. I bought the regular version of Halloween 5 because, well, it was more to complete my Halloween cycle (1-2-4-5) than because I adore the movie.

On the other hand, I recently bought "The Beyond," absolutely loved it (that's another post somewhere...) and now I'm thinking about buying the tin version of that. I think they're a nice idea and I would probably buy tins for any movies I *really* like (Re-Animator next year...) but not for ones I'm only so-so on.

And like SantaSangre, I put my box-set-type-stuff separate from my "regular" keepcases as a compromise.

[Jeremy]

Essentially, the tins are just a capital-raising venture on the part of Anchor Bay. They looked at the fantastic success they had with the limited editions of Halloween and Army of Darkness, so they decided to continue it.

Personally, I don't like them. I don't have a lot of shelf space, and I'm not currently employed either, so the $45 I would spend on a tin would be much better invested in the keep cases.

[ArrowBeach]

yes, but tin of CANDY? Hmmm.

I agree that they're hard to display, but I still really love mine. I just lined them up on TOP of my bookshelf. The cover art looks great on all the tins. They just demand special attention, that's all.
Carey

[Mark Relford]

I'm not a tin fan either. Didn't care for the banged up inserts and booklets. Plus, my ED2 tin was scratched to shit!

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"Have you ever had an Egyptian feast?"

[DVD Connoisseur]

I agree with SantaSangre - the tins are special and deserve a place of their own in a collection. The Anchor Bay tins are a great collectable as those with a limited DVD budget (such as myself) can set themselves the goal of collecting all the tins. It's a lot easier (and a whole lot less expensive) than collecting Criterion editions like some people do. Also, the genre for the Anchor Bay tins is largely horror biased so there won't be many titles which you think twice about adding to the collection. Two Lane Blacktop was new to me but, following a viewing, I have no regrets purchasing it. Some of their tins have been works of art, for example, The Beyond tin. Next year, the tins will be even better as they'll contain a keepcase for collectors like gunner who have a purpose built cabinet or who prefer to have an overall "look" to their collection.
On a seperate note, Anchor Bay offers excellent customer service. I know this shouldn't affect my views on the tins but it shows something about the company's views on their customers. I e-mailed AB to ask if it would be possible for them to send me a Hellbound postcard as mine was missing from the AB tin. I didn't expect any response as I'm a UK customer and I bought the disc set from a UK supplier (who, incidentally, didn't acknowledge my e-mails). To my surprise, Anchor Bay responded immediately with a friendly e-mail, informing me that a card was now on its way. The card came in a huge envelope, with a cardboard insert to stop "bending" damage (although the postman did have a go at bending the envelope to make it a more letterbox friendly shape) and cost Anchor Bay $1.80 to send. Now that's customer care. I love those guys. That act of kindness has secured my custom as long as they keep producing their quality DVDs.
We may be jumping the gun as the poll has only just started but this is one topic I feel passionate about. Thanks for listening to me!

[Dave]

Anyone want to guess what Django voted for on the poll?


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David W. Anderson - dave@horrordvds.com
Webmaster - www.horrordvds.com

[rhett]

I agree with gunner, and feel Anchor Bay should stick to the 2-Disc sets. I love my AOD and Halloween sets much more than any other DVD's. I might invest in tins if Anchor Bay includes the slip for a keep case though...

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"i spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up for i realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply...evil." - Dr. Loomis, Halloween

[Dave]

I also think Anchor Bay should stick to their 2 disc sets and NOT make them limited (hmmm...I see another poll idea coming).

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David W. Anderson - dave@horrordvds.com
Webmaster - www.horrordvds.com

I personally love the tins. If you really like a film then this is a godsend. I own tons of DVDs and have made special room for the tins. They are simply different than regular DVDs, something special for the collector or big fan. Anchor bay has released each film in tin limited verson AND in regular keep case. If you don't like the tins, don't buy them. issue solved. buy the keep case. I have The Beyond tin proudly displayed on top of my TV, and it's a good conversation topic. And I also like the limited number of them. To me it's like comics or toys. you snooze, you loose. You know when a tin is being realesed, save up, then buy it.
on a different note though, what's up with the cheap ass jewel cases? in a word: lousy.

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"Do you have to open graves to find a girl to fall in love with?"

I don't have anything against tins, but I just find them useless. The standard releases are enough to satisfy me.