On Ordering Indicator Releases

Discuss releases by Indicator and the films on them.

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KJones77
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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#201 Post by KJones77 » Fri Aug 23, 2019 9:12 pm

Cronenfly wrote:
Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:55 pm
Is The Odessa File still available anywhere? I doubt it is OOP but I can’t find it for sale anywhere.
Just out of stock is all. People probably made a run on it after it went out of stock today, so that would be why you can't find it elsewhere.

If it were OOP, Indicator would mention that it was. The same out of stock thing happened with Fat City during the last sale, but that one obviously came back in stock with the limited edition. The Odessa File seems to be in the same position.

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Timec
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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#202 Post by Timec » Sat Aug 24, 2019 6:43 am

According to their Twitter feed, Harryhausen Vol. 2 is now out of print.

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Florinaldo
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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#203 Post by Florinaldo » Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:29 am

So the remaining Harryhausen sets are selling out in reverse chronological order. No surprise that Vol. 3 sold out first as the Sinbad films are probably his most iconic work.

Vol. 1 wil eventually sell out of course, but it shows that a giant "sixtopus", an alien rampaging through Rome and Gulliver are not as appealing as the other titles. Although in the case of Vol. 2 I would guess that Jason and the Argonauts was a major calling card, even though it had had a previous Region A BD release, since it is in his popular mythology/Oriental fantasy vein. The Wells adaptation is also very enjoyable, with the Verne lagging a little behind.
Last edited by Florinaldo on Sat Aug 24, 2019 4:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Adam X
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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#204 Post by Adam X » Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:31 am

KJones77 wrote:
Fri Aug 23, 2019 9:12 pm
The Odessa File seems to be in the same position.
Yeah, they've said it's just out of stock, though I suspect that won't change til after the sale, as it sounds like they're drowning in orders and emailed queries.

Also, they've updated the status of a couple more titles:
  • The Stone Killer - UPDATED: 15 copies left
  • Mickey One - less than 200 copies left.
& Happy Birthday to Me has now been discounted.
Last edited by Adam X on Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:21 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#205 Post by chatterjees » Sat Aug 24, 2019 3:11 pm

Not complaining, but I am just feeling numb after paying £30.32 for shipping. This is no doubt the highest I have ever paid for an international shipping. I have 13 items including 1 box set. The shipping cost is I guess probably justified then.

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#206 Post by swo17 » Sat Aug 24, 2019 3:38 pm

I was close enough to the £200 threshold for free shipping that it was a no-brainer to just take a chance on another £10 title instead of paying over £30 for shipping

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#207 Post by stevewhamola » Sat Aug 24, 2019 4:47 pm

I spent £300 so luckily I didn’t face this problem...

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#208 Post by chatterjees » Sat Aug 24, 2019 4:53 pm

Wow! I had no idea that there would have been a free shipping option. Even 88 Films gives free shipping for an order over 60 GBP. Anyways, thanks for the information, will keep that in mind for next year.

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Finch
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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#209 Post by Finch » Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:53 pm

On their website they did have an announcement that they were going to ship everything tracked going forward after evidently too many reports of untracked orders having gone missing.

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#210 Post by nitin » Sun Aug 25, 2019 1:38 am

chatterjees wrote:
Sat Aug 24, 2019 4:53 pm
Wow! I had no idea that there would have been a free shipping option. Even 88 Films gives free shipping for an order over 60 GBP. Anyways, thanks for the information, will keep that in mind for next year.
Free shipping over 200 GBP, as Finch said above they upped this limit from the 100GBP that it used to be as they were getting too many lost parcels via non-tracked international shipping.

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rapta
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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#211 Post by rapta » Sun Aug 25, 2019 7:25 am

Florinaldo wrote:
Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:29 am
So the remaining Harryhausen sets are selling out in reverse chronological order. No surprise that Vol. 3 sold out first as the Sinbad films are probably his most iconic work.

Vol. 1 wil eventually sell out of course, but it shows that a giant "sixtopus", an alien rampaging through Rome and Gulliver are not as appealing as the other titles. Although in the case of Vol. 2 I would guess that Jason and the Argonauts was a major calling card, even though it had had a previous Region A BD release, since it is in his popular mythology/Oriental fantasy vein. The Wells adaptation is also very enjoyable, with the Verne lagging a little behind.
Not quite accurate: The Sinbad Trilogy was the first Harryhausen set they released (June 2017) followed by the Volume 1 (October 2017) and the Volume 2 (November 2017) compilation sets of other Harryhausen features.

Interesting that the Volume 2 set sold out before Volume 1 considering Jason and the Argonauts is the only Indicator disc not to have been produced by Powerhouse - it's actually just a direct replication of of the Sony catalogue disc originally produced in 2010 (available separately in the UK as part of the HMV Premium Collection. I guess the second set had the stronger selection of titles and that drew people to it.

Anyway, buying the box set in this sale would have only been a couple of pounds more than waiting for Mysterious Island and First Men in the Moon to be released as standard editions. Makes sense!

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#212 Post by MichaelB » Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:03 am

Florinaldo wrote:
Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:29 am
So the remaining Harryhausen sets are selling out in reverse chronological order. No surprise that Vol. 3 sold out first as the Sinbad films are probably his most iconic work.
There isn't a volume three. The Sinbad Trilogy came out in June 2017, followed by the two volumes bearing Harryhausen's name in September and November. The Sinbad box sold out some time ago, and Harryhausen Volume 2 has just joined it.
Vol. 1 wil eventually sell out of course, but it shows that a giant "sixtopus", an alien rampaging through Rome and Gulliver are not as appealing as the other titles.
Obviously a box with the Sinbad films and one containing Jason and the Argonauts are going to be more popular than a box mostly consisting of early black-and-white monster movies and an atypical film like The 3 Worlds of Gulliver. In fact, Powerhouse was so aware of this upfront (how could they not be?) that they even briefly considered a smaller print run, before deciding that that might cause more trouble than it was worth.

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#213 Post by Florinaldo » Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:55 am

I goofed in calling the Sinbad box Vol. 3; the perils of revising your posts too quickly.
MichaelB wrote:
Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:03 am

Obviously a box with the Sinbad films and one containing Jason and the Argonauts are going to be more popular than a box mostly consisting of early black-and-white monster movies and an atypical film like The 3 Worlds of Gulliver. In fact, Powerhouse was so aware of this upfront (how could they not be?) that they even briefly considered a smaller print run, before deciding that that might cause more trouble than it was worth.
It is indeed obvious about the Sinbad films and I said so in an earlier post. A little less so perhaps about Vol. 2 since Jason and the Argonauts had an earlier BD release that was almost completely identical in contents; you can never be sure how many people will double-dip just for the other two titles. I eventually did when Powehouse had their Harryhausen birthday special offer 2 years ago (and gave the earlier Jason to my nephews).

I would have thought that Vol. 1 would have generated more interest since the two B&W titles never got, as far as I know, a decent release as stacked as the PW one. As for Gulliver, it does have a reputation for being a lesser Harryhausen effort and not as spectacular, with no real creatures as I recall from long ago (I have yet to watch the PW disc).

By "trouble" , do you mean fans asking repeatedly why the unfair treatment for the Vol. 1 set if the publisher had chosen a lower print run, and never being content with a business considerations answer?

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#214 Post by MichaelB » Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:02 am

Florinaldo wrote:
Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:55 am

It is indeed obvious about the Sinbad films and I said so in an earlier post. A little less so perhaps about Vol. 2 since Jason and the Argonauts had an earlier BD release that was almost completely identical in contents; you can never be sure how many people will double-dip just for the other two titles. I eventually did when Powehouse had their Harryhausen birthday special offer 2 years ago (and gave the earlier Jason to my nephews).
I don't know if you're based in the UK, but Indicator is a British label and prior to the release of volume 2 the Sony BD of Jason had only been available in the UK via an exclusive promotion through the HMV chain.

Yes, I know it was region-free, but in my experience people who import make up a pretty negligible proportion of the overall customer base: these forums really aren't a very good guide.

(And this is especially true now, with a dire exchange rate between the pound and the dollar that's been the case for over three years now. I myself have barely imported a single thing from the US over that period: my memory of that wonderful time in the mid-2000s when the pound bought nearly two dollars is just too vivid!))
I would have thought that Vol. 1 would have generated more interest since the two B&W titles never got, as far as I know, a decent release as stacked as the PW one.
Black and white monster movies are intrinsically less popular than gaudily coloured fantasy epics with tons of special-effects action. Unless of course the monster movies have a genuinely iconic reputation in their own right (like Night of the Demon), but not even the most contrarian revisionist is going to claim that It Came from Beneath the Sea and 20 Million Miles to Earth are at that level (great fun though they undoubtedly are).

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#215 Post by Florinaldo » Sun Aug 25, 2019 10:24 am

MichaelB wrote:
Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:02 am
I don't know if you're based in the UK, but Indicator is a British label and prior to the release of volume 2 the Sony BD of Jason had only been available in the UK via an exclusive promotion through the HMV chain.

Yes, I know it was region-free, but in my experience people who import make up a pretty negligible proportion of the overall customer base: these forums really aren't a very good guide.
My location is listed under my avatar. I did not know if there had been a UK BD of Jason.

So Indicator's main market is the UK, with little export customer base? Except for the dedicated movie fans like those we find on these boards. Thanks for that info.

There is indeed a prejudice against B&W movies in a section of the paying audience; I know someone who says he just can't watch movies or shows that are not in colour because they are "not realistic". And the two creature flicks are still RH in his formative phase, before his great period of maturity which coincided with a switch to colour; less spectacle as you say, coupled with even more simplistic plots than the later ones. I would also add that these are expensive releases for many regular buyers as compared to the prices they are used to on the market (physical discs or Web-based); so even within the RH fan base not everyone will be willing to shell out what they would consider to be a hefty sum for those titles.

Exceptions like Night of the Demon are probably few and far between in such a specialised market. Or like the now OOP The Last Movie, in colour but with a smaller print run than the Tourneur.

So perhaps when the remaining RH box set does sell out, Indicator might decide not to reissue the titles individually considering the reservations previously expressed.

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#216 Post by alacal2 » Sun Aug 25, 2019 11:39 am

Not sure that I agree with Florinaldo about the B/W creature features being part of Harryhausen's 'immature' phase. I was struck by how - in the featured RH interviews - ahead of his time he was and it was the studios that were trying to catch up with him in terms of ideas etc! I think he's doing Indicator a real injustice by suggesting their sets are pricey when you look at content. packaging etc. In particular, their copious extras put Criterion in the shade on occasion. I would also say Indicator deserves respect for not 'racing to the bottom' when it comes to reducing prices on a regular basis in, I guess, an attempt to reflect the true value and cost of producing Blu rays of quality. I also think Florinaldo fails to appreciate the work going into bringing new audiences and perspectives to undervalued British films. Long may it exist.

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#217 Post by Florinaldo » Sun Aug 25, 2019 12:25 pm

alacal2 wrote:
Sun Aug 25, 2019 11:39 am
Not sure that I agree with Florinaldo about the B/W creature features being part of Harryhausen's 'immature' phase. I was struck by how - in the featured RH interviews - ahead of his time he was and it was the studios that were trying to catch up with him in terms of ideas etc! I think he's doing Indicator a real injustice by suggesting their sets are pricey when you look at content. packaging etc. In particular, their copious extras put Criterion in the shade on occasion. I would also say Indicator deserves respect for not 'racing to the bottom' when it comes to reducing prices on a regular basis in, I guess, an attempt to reflect the true value and cost of producing Blu rays of quality. I also think Florinaldo fails to appreciate the work going into bringing new audiences and perspectives to undervalued British films. Long may it exist.
I did not call the earlier films "immature"; however, they were still in the mold of the stereotypical scenario "monster appears from elsewhere, goes on a rampage in a famous city, and gets destroyed by not entirely credible means". He was still, in my view in his formative phase in terms of animation techniques however advanced they were compared to other people's, and they got better in the following films. His later titles can validly be described as a "great period or maturity", as I did, in great part because he and Schneer broke out, mostly, of the monster-on-an-urban-rampage cliché and explored more exotic locales or stories.

I have often praised on these boards the work done by Indicator and their courage in bringing out, in extensive packages, neglected titles for which there is probably little market demand and which will take a long time to sell out. I am always glad when they have commercial successes like Night of the Demon or The Last Movie that can help bankroll such projects and make it worthwhile to keep the other products in inventory. So I do not feel that I fail to appreciate their work in any way, as evidenced by the number of titles I have bought from their catalogue.

Which makes sales as this one a bit frustrating because most of the titles that would interest me I already possess, purchased at the regular price. But that is the cost of ensuring further interesting reissues or discoveries and one cannot always predict which title might still be available come the next sale (The Last Movie for example sold out much fasater than I would have supposed).

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#218 Post by MichaelB » Sun Aug 25, 2019 12:27 pm

Florinaldo wrote:
Sun Aug 25, 2019 12:25 pm
I did not call the earlier films "immature";
Your exact words were:
And the two creature flicks are still RH in his formative phase, before his great period of maturity which coincided with a switch to colour.
Surely something "in his formative phase, before his great period of maturity" is by definition immature?

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#219 Post by Florinaldo » Sun Aug 25, 2019 12:36 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Sun Aug 25, 2019 12:27 pm

Your exact words were:
And the two creature flicks are still RH in his formative phase, before his great period of maturity which coincided with a switch to colour.
Surely something "in his formative phase, before his great period of maturity" is by definition immature?
No. A formative phase is not synonym with "immature", which carries a much more negative connotation. Perhaps I should have called them "less mature", to avoid this potential confusion.

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#220 Post by swo17 » Sun Aug 25, 2019 6:09 pm

Stone Killer is sold out and presumably OOP

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#221 Post by rawlinson » Sun Aug 25, 2019 7:08 pm

swo17 wrote:
Sun Aug 25, 2019 6:09 pm
Stone Killer is sold out and presumably OOP
They said on Twitter earlier that there were only 13 copies left.

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#222 Post by colinr0380 » Mon Aug 26, 2019 3:42 am

It feels strange and scary to live in a post-Stone Killer selling out era. If something like this can happen, nothing is safe! :)

(And I know its not in any of the boxes but it was a little disheartening to read the above conversation about 50s black and white Harryhausen when Earth Vs The Flying Saucers may be my favourite thing that he did! I remember especially being introduced to a lot of the classic black and white sci-fi horrors as a kid in the 80s through other films. I think Joe Dante always had a couple of clips from B-movies playing on televisions in the background of a scene, though I do not specifically remember if it included It Came From Beneath The Sea or 20 Million Miles To Earth)

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#223 Post by swo17 » Mon Aug 26, 2019 10:28 am

I got a response from Indicator this morning to a question I'd had that suggested they could combine multiple orders and refund any extra shipping costs you were charged for. So for instance, if you weren't aware of the £200 shipping threshold when you placed your order, you could place a second order to make up the difference and then email them to combine the two and refund your shipping costs.

Here's the actual text of the email in case you don't believe me (my first order met the threshold but I wanted to add to it, so it was a slightly different situation):
We think its best for you to order again, we will make sure they will come together and we will refund your postage on the second order. This is because the sale ends tonight and you may not read this email before then. I do hope this helps...

Deborah
They also said they could personally include a doctor's note to DarkImbecile's wife explaining that he needed to participate in this sale for medical reasons

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#224 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Mon Aug 26, 2019 10:43 am

Speaking of shipping, I ended up adding Scum to my order - cancelling my plans to just order it separately at some point or with the Dietrich box next month - as it was cheaper to get it now with the other few titles I ordered.

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Re: On Ordering Indicator Releases

#225 Post by chatterjees » Fri Aug 30, 2019 6:05 pm

It's been long since I bought something directly from them. So, when do they start shipping?

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