Mmm, don’t seem to have mentioned this issue here yet, so here goes:
This is the latest (in Australia) Classic Doctor Who BluRay Box Set: Season 9, with the 3rd Doctor.
These box sets used to retail for about $80, but if you were lucky you’d get them for closer to $59 with specials etc.
So firstly - the price is massively increased. Whilst JB have them for $124, Sanity’s price, presumably the RRP, is $150.
Nextly, the arrival into Australia is MUCH delayed - it came out in the UK in March 2023. Why the delay? Because Universal, who took over distribution in Australia a while ago, decided they were going to discontinue the line. They issued a press release saying that the title was NOT coming to Australia, nor any further WHO box sets. However, a few months later, presumably either due to pressure from fans, and/or the BBC, they did make this release - with the higher price point - and made a new announcement saying - this is the last one they are doing.
Due to the price, I had not intended to buy it - I was going to abandon the range half way through. (Me! I said that! Can you imagine…!) I may yet abandon the range, but today, thanks to a card with some cash tucked inside, I decided I’d splurge and buy it. JB’s price as above - $124 - is better than Sanity’s $150…
The BBC have in the meantime announced the next in the range - Season 20 - which includes yet another cut of The Five Doctors (this will be the 4th), and also includes more discs than usual (due mostly I believe to a disc full of convention footage). Using that as an excuse - the UK price for the S20 box set is going to be about £10 higher. As such, who knows what the Aussie RRP will be - Assuming that someone actually steps in to replace Universal.
With no confirmed release in Australia - the only option to buy S20 will be direct from the UK, or via eBay/other sellers here in Australia who import the goods. Currently, the sets that retail for $80 tend to sell for $100 - $120 on eBay, so again - who knows what price you will be paying to get the UK release, which has the benefit of being in a better box as well, instead of the flimsy cardboard we get here. (Think back to the first 2 releases here in Australia… before Universal took over.)
I was happy to collect the Classic BluRay box sets due to the price point, as although I have all the DVDs, I appreciate that we’re getting improved quality, in some cases re-scans of the original prints, etc etc, plus new bonus features. But for $125 - $150 each, it’s just too much, particularly right now with interest rates sucking up so much disposable income.
(He had just spent 1 year colourising episode 1 of The Mind of Evil, which was the last Pertwee story that did not have its original colour print, and so when they then asked him to colourise 4 episodes in less than 1 year, he said no chance!)
