Tweet Slapstick Encyclopedia (Videobook) Sept 25, 2012

Don't know exactly what this "collectable videobook" release is, if it's a reissue of the earlier five disk set repackaged or something new. No information is provided on the Amazon sales page as to content. What's a videobook?

Any one know what this release is?

http://www.amazon.com/Slapstick-Encyclo ... cyclopedia

I think "videobook" just means there is a brochure. This is an exact reprint of the set I produced for laserdisc in 1998 as reissued with a few additional films on five Image DVDs. It has been long out of print and has gone for scalper prices. This is a licensed reprint by Madacy that will sell for dirt cheap, but there have been no corners cut on the content.

David Shepard

Thank you David. Were you involved in this new edition?

All "videobook" means in this case is that the package opens up like a book, judging from the picture at Amazon.

Luckily I have the old Image DVD set, but I'm concerned for those who don't and might be picking this up in that these budget sets that contain lots of films for a low price often have tons of films crammed onto a couple of DVDs, compressing the hell out of them and seriously degrading the picture quality with compression artifacts/pixelization/etc. Will this set contain the same number of DVDs as the old set? Will the picture quality be just as good? Will the bitrate be just as high?

Oops! Realized I forgot to add the Amazon link to my post. It's there now. Sorry about that folks.

The budget SLAPSTICK ENCYCLOPEDIA is five DVDs just like the original issue.

This is an experiment to see whether the market for decent editions of silent cinema is elastic; that is, whether we can enlarge the audience for silent films if we can make them relatively inexpensive.

When I was buying LP records of classical music (many) years ago, all the major labels had budget lines, and as the recordings aged, they moved from, say, RCA Red Seal to Bluebird to Victrola and the retail prices gradually dropped (in those days) from $8 to $2 or $3. At those low prices I was willing to buy recordings of works by composers I'd then never heard of, like Bruch, Spohr and Amy Beach, to see whether I liked them; as a result my tastes in music became much broader until I became a modest connoisseur of the recorded repertoire.

It will be interesting to see whether the model has validity two generations later.

Make no mistake, the very large production costs of, say, our Albatros set will still necessarily be reflected in high selling prices.

David Shepard

Excellent idea. Hope this does well.

I've just pre-ordered it. I've had the older version on my wishlist, just in case it would pop up sometime.

Thanks Gloria, and of course, David.

Rick

WOW - I nearly fell off my chair when I saw this reissue has a list price of just $16.99!! The original as I recall was around $69.99. I bought it several years ago when it was on sale big time on Amazon.com for around $35.99 and a few years ago sold it on ebay after it went out of print for a final bid of about $95.00. Hated to sell it but money was tight at the time and knew there would be a demand for this awesome set. Needless to say (A) I'm happy now that I sold that set and (B) I'm thrilled I can now get this great set again. I had suspected it might be reissued at some point but not this quickly and certainly not at this incredibly low price. Anyone who has the slightest interest in silent films absolutely should buy it, it's got to be the bargain of the year.

Re "videobook" it appears SLAPSTICK ENCYCLOPEDIA is being reissued in a "foldout" cardboard case, like many television show seasons or GONE WITH THE WIND multi-disc set. The original was a standard "box set" with each dvd in it's own plastic case.

The budget SLAPSTICK ENCYCLOPEDIA is five DVDs just like the original issue.

This is an experiment to see whether the market for decent editions of silent cinema is elastic; that is, whether we can enlarge the audience for silent films if we can make them relatively inexpensive.

When I was buying LP records of classical music (many) years ago, all the major labels had budget lines, and as the recordings aged, they moved from, say, RCA Red Seal to Bluebird to Victrola and the retail prices gradually dropped (in those days) from $8 to $2 or $3. At those low prices I was willing to buy recordings of works by composers I'd then never heard of, like Bruch, Spohr and Amy Beach, to see whether I liked them; as a result my tastes in music became much broader until I became a modest connoisseur of the recorded repertoire.

It will be interesting to see whether the model has validity two generations later.

Make no mistake, the very large production costs of, say, our Albatros set will still necessarily be reflected in high selling prices.

David Shepard

What a wonderful marketing idea and hopefully we'll be seeing some of the other out-of-print titles return in similar fashion. I remember the budget albums of the 1970's by RCA Camden, Pickwick, Harmony, etc. (actually wrote a bit about them on the wikipedia page for budget albums) and they were terrific bargains.

Whoa, just preordered it for $11.99 from Amazon.ca. Whatta steal!

The budget SLAPSTICK ENCYCLOPEDIA is five DVDs just like the original issue.

This is an experiment to see whether the market for decent editions of silent cinema is elastic; that is, whether we can enlarge the audience for silent films if we can make them relatively inexpensive.

David Shepard

Wonderful news, thanks for the clarification sir. Indeed an astonishing value for those who have yet to purchase this fabulous set. Love the new cover art, by the way!

I'm all for lower prices on reissue versions of old releases, as long as there's no A/V quality compromise. I just picked up the new dirt-cheap reissue of the 2nd season of 3rd Rock From The Sun, and instead of 5 discs, the episodes are all squeezed onto 3 discs, and are riddled with digital artifacts and motion problems. Glad to know this Slapstick reissue won't suffer the same fate!

I'm on the waiting list at Amazon, too! I bought the original Kino set on VHS; never got around to getting the DVD version (which included several additional shorts, if I recall correctly). When I realized this new set is a lower-priced reissue, I jumped right on it!

Whoa, just preordered it for $11.99 from Amazon.ca. Whatta steal!

Me too

I don't know for you but my order from Amazon.ca has been delayed, the estimated ship date is now November 13, 2012

I don't know for you but my order from Amazon.ca has been delayed, the estimated ship date is now November 13, 2012

Same here.

Oh well, it's not like I don't have other things to watch until then.

Received my copy in the mail today.

Other than some minor issues releasing the discs from their slots,
it plays just fine and it is an excellent value for the money.

I remember the Camden, Pickwick and Vox reissues on LP and think that this is a wonderful concept.

Thank You David Shepard....!!!!

I got mine at a very high quality WalMart establishment.

Excellent content is just the same as my well worn originals, and in fact will replace them in almost daily use...

DBP

Has anyone watched their set? There's a reviewer on Amazon commenting three discs in his set are defective.

Picked up this new set last week but haven't opened it yet.

Has anyone watched their set? There's a reviewer on Amazon commenting three discs in his set are defective.

Picked up this new set last week but haven't opened it yet.

I put in each of my DVDs to do a quick quality check and everything seemed to work fine. I watched a few films on the first disc and everything looked good. While the packaging is impressive to look at, I'm not a fan of the slots for the DVDs. They don't slide in and out very well. It's a rather tight fit and the DVDs stick to the packaging. This could certainly lead to scratching or damaging of the discs.

I received mine today. Popped 'em into my Mac and, sure enough – discs 3, 4 and 5 have trouble playing (disc 3, in particular would barely mount).

I guess Image is determined to keep up Madacy's reputation for fine quality.

Anyway... surprisingly enough, the discs seem to play FINE on my stand-alone Sony blu-ray player - so maybe some of the reports of bad discs are because other people are trying to play them on their computers and having problems.

Anyway, great set. Amazing price. Maybe I should sell my copy of "Cinema Europe" before it pops up in the dollar bin somewhere...

Update: Uh, oh. Never mind. They ARE defective, after all. I got to the end of one of the discs, and my standalone absolutely refused to play the Larry Semon short. Maybe it was just trying to protect me... but, nah. Disc is bad.

I took this off the shelf at a local store last week and when I saw the number of discs and the very reasonable price, immediately put it back thinking it must be a bargain basement release. Is my face red....

I'll be returning this week to pick it up.

Got mine in a few days ago. Spot checked, and they all seem fine on my Sony Blu-Ray, but I nearly ripped the case trying to get some of the dvd's out.

Got mine in a few days ago. Spot checked, and they all seem fine on my Sony Blu-Ray, but I nearly ripped the case trying to get some of the dvd's out.

The packaging is attractive to the eyes but dangerous to the DVDs. I bought some DVD sleeves to put the DVDs in. I trimmed the corners of the sleeves so they fit back into the case.

I got to the end of one of the discs, and my standalone absolutely refused to play the Larry Semon short. Maybe it was just trying to protect me..

The Larry Semon movie is awesome!

I just picked up a copy of this at my local Costco for $11.99. Looking forward to sitting down and watching some fine comedy.

Just to follow up, this is a wonderful set, as we all know. I haven't had any problems with mine, and it was delivered tightly shrink-wrapped. I also trimmed the paper sleeves a bit, and that's the only (minor) issue I had. I was especially glad that the introductory comments were in black type/gray background. The yellow background in the VHS version was a bit hard on the eyes. All in all, good job, and thanks for bringing this back in a "Camden" version.