I agree, MB -- $45 is reasonable for these boxed sets of TV series.  It's just that it adds up to a lot to get the entire series, but it gives one something to work towards.  A sort of life goal.  (And then, you can't take it with you ...)

Most of the DS DVD sets at amazon are priced $53.98, which seems odd since at least two people in an earlier thread, "Dark Shadows on DVD", talked about amazon charging about $44.  Have they raised the price?  They had a couple sets for less, but most of them are listed at $53.98.

I know there are other discount places, but I just know that amazon is very reputable and I'm surprised they charge that much.  I also checked with my local Borders store, and they are charging $59, same as MPI!  I have a 25 percent off coupon good at Borders through tomorrow so I may have to shovel out my car and race over there to buy one set (and then cut up some of my credit cards!).

 

Hi, Gerard -

If you bought one at the 2003 Festival for under $40 it must have been the currently produced version from MPI.  When I was at the 2002 festival in Anaheim, I was told by MPI that the music box would never be offered again, and so when the Festival organizers offered a few pristine "originals" (produced in 1996) for $100 (or $150, I can't remember), I decided to buy it.  I'm not disappointed, although I could have kicked myself that I didn't buy one from the MPI catalogue just two years previously for $36 or whatever the price was -- I thought that was too much money.  I also blithely assumed that it would "always be available."

I hadn't heard about some of them being cracked - fortunately mine is perfect and had never been assembled, and the box was also "mint."

I have mine on my bookcase now, whereas my Barnabas ring sits in its small box in an "armoire" (a word I learned from DS!).

When you play yours, does the melody sound faster (and in a higher register) than it sounded on the show?

I wish I could also hear the original Josette's theme again (yes, there were two different versions of the music issuing forth from Josette's music box!).  I've completely forgotten what it sounds like, but remember it as quite lovely, too.

As for the original DS DVDs, Set 1 begins with a compliation of Episodes 1-209 just like the video tapes and then it jumps right into 210 and ends at 250.

OK, now that I've read the description* of Collection 1 on MPI's website about three times, I figure that this "compilation" you mention is what they're referring to when, at the end of the description, they say:

"Bonus: Special introductory Dark Shadows featurette and exclusive interviews with the actors"

Seems to me they could explain a bit more what this "featurette" consists of!

As far as I'm aware, they did not edit any of the bloopers and played the episodes from 210 onwards in full without cuts.

Hmmm, I'm not so sure about that.  There has been quite a bit of discussion here about bloopers being cut, perhaps the most egregious being the Bathia Mapes appearance when a stagehand or someone shouted out her line when she paused too long -- that part is supposed to have been edited out.

..........

*MPI's description of Collection 1 DVD set:

"40 complete, spine-tingling episodes on 4-discs
Dark Shadows DVD Set 1 contains original series episodes 210 - 250"

..........................

Hope you had a good holiday in NYC, VW!

Didn't get a chance to post this before the holidays ...

The week before Christmas I was at Barnes & Noble and was quite surprised to see the book on display along with about a dozen new biographies.

Paged through it and had to chuckle at JB's comment about RD.

The author's description of Bennett's performance in "Suspiria" as "robotic" is probably accurate ...

Would be interested in reading the sections on her collaborations with Lang and Ophuls.

Interesting, everyone! 

And Gerard, in your case, very funny!  

Maybellique, though you don't mention her age, I'd probably put money on the woman you knew having been named after DS's Angelique.

Again, if anyone knows how DS's Angelique was named, it would be interesting to know.

The first DVD is 40 complete episodes, not edited like the first 8 (I think) VHS releases were.

I, too, was glad to have this point clarified.  As I had mentioned in a thread started Dec. 12 and found in Current Talk X, "Dark Shadows on DVD," a recent catalogue I received from MPI did not even show any DVDs for the pre-Barnabas episodes.

But this new information still raises the question of whether or how long the pre-Barnabas DVDs will even be available, if they aren't even listed in MPI's catalogue!

PennyDreadful, you might want to check out the earlier thread for comments people made about pricing, picture quality, and so on.

Last night I was at my local BestBuy store and spontaneouly purchased my first two DS DVD sets (and probably my last two for the foreseeable future, if I pay any attention to my finances).

The ones I got were Collection 12 & 15.  So far I've watched about the first two hours of Collection 12, and I must say it really got me into the show.  It's just so well done and well written - a great story, good acting, incredibly atmospheric.  Also, the story is nicely paced so you get a real sense of the characters and their relationships.  I feel skeptical that any revival series would take the time to do this since today's younger audience seems to prefer fast paced shocks.

I thought the picture quality was surprisingly somewhat blurred on what I've seen on the DVD, though.

I think MB has recommended BestBuy as a place to buy the DVDs, so I decided to go ahead and make the purchase without having checked online prices; having checked now, I'd say their prices are comparable to ordering online.

Not so, unfortunately, for two other purchases I made on the spot:  The second year of "Forever Knight" was $5 more than I would have found at amazon, and the recent Hallmark "Frankenstein" was about $4 more.  Factoring in tax, I basically paid more than $10 more for these two items than I would have ordering online.

Naomi (1795), Judith (1897), and Flora (1840).

I guess the period characterizations just did it for me!  And each of these characters was SO different, they really showed Joan Bennett's talent: Naomi, tragic; Judith, tough as nails in petticoats; Flora, flightly and delightful.  I probably am overlooking her performance as "present day" Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.  Although I love the character and acknowledge that Elizabeth is the anchor of the family, I think that at times over the stretch of five years Bennett didn't always sustain the acting level that she seemed to in the somewhat briefer period roles.

(Confidential to Luciaphil:  I finally saw "Scarlet Street" - don't remember if there was a separate thread on that.  Yes, Bennett WAS good, really creating that low-life femme fatale.  I could see her doing Scarlett O'Hara now more than ever after seeing her in this part.  Her looks would have been a perfect match for Margaret Mitchell's description, and Bennett was certainly capable of portraying a self-centered attitude ... though I must say Vivien Leigh was excellent.)