Season 1 DVD Release.

[Foster's Geek 287]

Originally Posted by hedgemaniac

Thanks for the review Foster's Geek 287. I just got it yesterday, and just finished disc 2. It's cool!!

Sure thing. I can't wait for season 2!!!
Also, I'm taking screenshots. Any requests?

[Ditchy McAbandonpants]

OK, I'm starting to come to accept that it's unlikely that this DVD is going to get a proper UK Region 2 release, and that I might have to just bite the bullet and import one from the US. That being so, I would like to ask those of you who own the DVD a logistical question; what's the deal with the packaging?

Let me explain what I mean; from the description that Foster's Geek gave, and from the picture on the NF homepage, it seems like the DVD comes in a standard plastic Amaray keep case, with Store Wars-inspired artwork on the outside, which is then placed inside a slip-on cardboard sleeve, which features images of characters in portraits, a synopsis on the back cover and a large portrait hole on the front for the Bloo on the keep case artwork to peek through.

However, on a lot of other pictures, such as this one from Amazon, a different version is shown, one without a slip-on cardboard sleeve that instead prints the slip-on's artwork directly onto the keep case insert (with Bloo printed flat in the portrait hole), and forgoing the Store Wars artwork altogether.

Therefore, my question is: are there two versions of this disc, one with cardboard sleeve and one without? See, I'm a real sucker for nice, artwork-heavy packaging, and I would feel a little cheated if I got a copy without the interior artwork or fancy sleeve, so I need to know if this is an issue or not before I think about ordering anything. I've seen it happen before that a DVD's packaging gets downgraded later on in their production run - the first two Harry Potter movies, for example, were intially released in beautifully-designed gatefold digipacks, but later editions were simply in bog-standard keep cases.

I would really like my Foster's discs to look as good as possible, so can somebody please clarify this for me?

[Sparky]

I've never seen one like the one in your link in stores, they are always like the one I have, with the slip-on thingie. So if the ones without even exist, I've never seen one. So. I'd guess that maybe the one on the Amazon site was just some sort of promo - I've caught other promo-only versions of Foster's stuff (such as books) pictured on Amazon. It's not like if you ordered that item, that you'd get the promo item as pictured. If you know what I mean. So, if I had to guess, I'd say that you'd get the one with the sleeve.

[Ditchy McAbandonpants]

Aha, cheers, Sparky.

That's what I was hoping, really...I suspected that if there were differences in the packaging, someone would have mentioned it by now. My guess is that the picture on Amazon could just be a mock-up they made when the DVD artwork was first released...

Well, that concern dealt with, I've just placed my Amazon order. Yay for me! I was hoping to buy it through the Never Forgotten Amazon Store, until I realised that, naturally, it works through Amazon.com, not Amazon.co.uk, so I couldn't use it. Sorry, Sparky!

[Sparky]

Well, I gotta update the store anyways, I'll look and see if one can have multiple Amazons linked to in a store. I didn't even think of that.

[jekylljuice]

Despite the lack of indication, I'm not ruling out the chances of a Region 2 release just yet - if I cast my mind back, I remember not too long ago when European releases of Frasier DVDs had come to abrupt halt whilst continuing on course in Region 1. A great sense of doom and gloom filled Frasier fans all over the UK. For a while, the general consensus seemed to be that, "they obviously didn't sell well enough over here, if you want to complete your collection, then importing will be the only way to go from now on". For a while, my Season 5-nostaligic self was tempted to follow this advice. Then suddenly, the R2 release of Season 5 was announced, and things were once again back on track as quickly as they'd departed. ???

If the worst comes to the worst I can import - my personal computer handles multiple DVD regions easily enough - it's just that I'd prefer not to. I do own a couple of Region 1 DVDs, but I'd rather have discs which I know will play on any DVD player around me, so that I don't have to sit squinting at my PC screen every time I want to watch them, and I can easily share them with my friends. As far as Foster's goes, I'm willing to wait until the summer before I take any further action. With the amount of work I currently have to get through, I wouldn't really have time to watch them much until then, anyhow.

Of course, this whole messy process could have been easily avoided if they'd never felt the need to impose these galling, kick-in-the-knickers DVD regions in the first place. Damn you, you mercenary major film studios. I never have any of this trouble when I want to import CDs.

[Ditchy McAbandonpants]

jekylljuice: I totally agree with everything you just said (right down to the too much work thing - I just figure by the time the DVD ships from the US to the UK, and then again for my family to send it out to me here in China, the bulk of my work will be done. ) It is a real pain having to import Region 1 DVDs in a house mostly filled with region-locked players. I'm lucky in that the DVD players that count, ie. the ones in my living room and on my laptop, are multi-region, but the limitation still sucks.

Nevertheless, I personally wouldn't hold your breath for a Region 2 release; apart from those worthless CN compilation discs (with one arbitrarily selected episode each from, like, five different shows), I've noticed that UK releases of Cartoon Network shows are really thin on the ground, particularly season boxsets; we didn't get any of the Samurai Jack sets, none of the Adult Swim releases, and we got one out of the four Powerpuff Girls discs the US got (and it had fewer episodes on it ). These aren't just delays we're talking about here, either - these sets came out literally years ago in the US, so I think it's fair to say that if we haven't got them by now, we're not ever going to. The only CN show I can recall getting a proper DVD showing in the UK was Clone Wars, and I'm guessing we ought to thank Lucasfilm for that rather than CN.

Fact is, we've heard nothing on a Region 2 release for either the Foster's set or the upcoming Powerpuff Season One set, and I'm not expecting to. I'm perfectly happy to be proven wrong here; if they do hook us up with a UK release, then I'll happily sell off my US copy and buy the proper R2 version to show my support. For now though, I do think the best bet is importing; I got mine brand new and sealed from an Amazon Marketplace seller and it came to less than ten quid, including postage, which seems pretty reasonable...

[jekylljuice]

You're probably right. I believe that Season One of Ed, Edd and Eddy was released in Region 2, which is what gave me hope for the prospects of Foster's also seeing the light of day our side of the Atlantic - but even then, just from looking at it on the shelves at WH Smiths, I'm not sure if it actually is the complete season or just the first disc released as Season One, Part 1 (cheapskates - 20th Century Fox did exactly that with the R2 release of Garfield and Friends and then never even finished what they started ). I agree that Cartoon Network, among other studios, has not been kind to us Brits.

(The only instance I can think of when Region 2 had one up on other regional releases is with Twin Peaks. Certain ownership disputes prevented them from including the pilot episode in the Nothern American release, which strikes me as somewhat inane given how crucial a role it plays in setting the scene, but due to some loophole or whatnot it still made it over here. )

As you say, importing may well be the only option here. If, come June, we still haven't heard anything, then I'll probably have to bite the bullet and do it. I was really hoping that I could use the DVDs as a way of introducing some of my friends to Foster's - but unless their dvd players are region-free, I guess we'll all have to stand crowded around my PC.

[FeDeReR]

that's nice but i live in georgia( not in america) an if i order The DVD can they bring it to me?

[zoton2]

Originally Posted by jekylljuice

You're probably right. I believe that Season One of Ed, Edd and Eddy was released in Region 2

From what I know, it wasn't. The only EEnE DVD released here is Volume 1, and Volume 2 was due but has been on hold for ages... since Christmas...