Due on Blu (Again): Alien Anthology
January 26, 2011 
3 Comments
If you missed out on buying Alien Anthology when the November release was gone by lunchtime in some shops, retailers will have new stock from March 2.
The packaging will differ from the original, with its stark, embossed cover, but the content will be the same: six discs, four movies (two versions of each), and 60 hours of extras.
It also will sell for slightly less, $100 compared to $120 — although you can buy it discounted from Amazon.co.uk for only £28, as many Kiwis would have done when local retailers sold out early because they received only limited quantities from distributor Roadshow Entertainment.
They say Roadshow only brought in a “low number” from Australia and it was a “one-off drop,” so they couldn’t re-order — which was frustrating as the copies they did receive sold readily.
One reckons sales of Alien Anthology would have matched those of The Pacific on Blu-ray had the stock been available.
“We actually sold more of the expensive Egg Edition than we did the regular Blu-ray set.”
So, did Roadshow “massively underestimate” NZ demand, as one vexed reader wondered?
“Online, it’s always listed as ‘sold out’ or ‘shipping in a few weeks’. I’ve asked a number of retailers, none of whom seem to have any idea when they will get any stock.
“All this seems surprising for what I would have thought would be one of the high-profile catalogue releases of the year.”
“No, we certainly didn’t underestimate the demand,” a Roadshow representative told ScreenScribe.tv.
“The stock was limited to us and was a special release (including the ‘egg’).”
In other words, because we’re such a small market, NZ was at the end of the queue for the global release and had to be satisfied with a relative handful of units — hence Roadshow having no choice but to risk being left with ‘egg’ on its face.
I stumbled onto a 30% off Blu-rays sale at Whitcoulls before Christmas and relieved them of their last ‘Egg’ – for just over the price of the non-Egg edition – but of course I’d have bought the other one if they’d had it.
The shortage of supply obviously inflated the sales of the deluxe version to people who just wanted to get their hands on the Anthology in some form, like myself – but I think if people had known the egg LIGHTS UP (no, really), they could have sold even more!
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February 27, 2011 at 2:14 am
This article has an error: this set doesnt have six discs – states on the case four discs. Even Mighty Ape has it listed as a four-disc set.
According to the distributor, it will have the same content as the original release — which was a six-disc package. Only the packaging and art are meant to have changed. WIll double-check Monday and update in Tuesday’s New to Blu round-up.