I want to start off, and I think I speak on behalf of the majority of users here, by saying thanks to Ian and the team for amazing line of steelbooks issued so far.
The Disney line is looking great and will be the highlight of the upcoming Christmas season. I think it is a great way for Future Shop to sell more titles as well as I find myself buying doubles of movies I already own (on Blu-Ray) and also buying movies which I was not interested in previously. All in all, it is more sales for Future Shop, which I think, is the point.
Having said that, I think it would be a great idea for both the customers and Future Shop if we had even more steelbooks for older/classic movies. For example, I look at something like THE WIZARD OF OZ, which is a wonderful fan favourite. It recently came packaged with an Ultimate Collector's box, which I did end up buying for the Blu-ray version. Well, with all the gifts and widgets inside the box, I would have gladly traded them all in for a steelbook premium, and I think I am not alone. Same goes for the upcoming GONE WITH THE WIND box set. I would buy a steelbook offering over the box set if it was available.
Going along that train of thought, and having a background in Marketing, wouldn't it be great if Future Shop were to release a 'Future Shop Steelbook Classics' line or 'Future Shop Gold/Silver/Platinum/Favourites' steelbook line?
I think you could get away with charging a small premium ($5-7) together with the movies for films such as:
TITANIC
BRAVEHEART
DIE HARD
BACK TO THE FUTURE
ENCHANTED
THE GODFATHER
SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE
GREASE
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
HALLOWEEN
JAWS
INDIANA JONES
STAR WARS
(need I go on?)
I think this would be a boon to the steelbook collectors, and at the same time generate increased revenues for Future Shop on catalog titles that are on the shelves anyways. I think the boost in sales (as demonstrated with SLEEPING BEAUTY, and I'm sure with all of the upcoming Disney re-releases) could justify the costs.
I realize that a smaller quantity of steelbooks would have to be ordered to ensure that this does not become a loss for Future Shop. I would say that you could safely pass on the costs to the customer up to about $10.00 and still get away with it. In fact, if the studio drops the price, for example SUPERMAN, to $16.99, I would still pay up to $29.99 for a (duplicate!) version of SUPERMAN with a steelbook.
What do you guys think?
Hey, I have an even better idea for a title line: "Ian's Favourites" :-)
