New Blu-ray Pickups! (Battle Royale highlight)

So recently I picked up a few new blu-ray movies at some decent prices that I thought I’d share. Said blu-rays are the new Scarface blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy and Ultraviolet Steelbook from Target at a good sale price of $12; second is the fairly old blu-ray release of the Japanese spaghetti-western modern classic Battle Royale UK limited edition box set off an ebay auction for a total of $34 shipping included (an absolutely beautiful package that is highlighted with more detailed pics at the bottom of this article); third is the also fairly old Back to the Future trilogy blu-ray release but withOUT the digital copies included, for the sale price of $19.99 at Target.

So there they are, and one may be asking why I didn’t own a couple of these earlier. Well, currently I already own the Back to the Future trilogy on DVD, and have for a number of years already, but have always avoided the blu-ray package because of price. Typically before a Target sale purchase I make sure to check what the same product is going for online, my usual route being Amazon, as checking ebay prices tends to get too hairy, what with all the auctions and Buy-It-Now prices have all kinds of ranges.

Besides this, I have never actually seen Scarface in its entirety before (yes I know, ridiculous!) A while back there was a digibook copy being sold at Target for about $20 – $30, and I never picked it up being as naive as I was, thinking it would eventually go down in price. It didn’t, hence I missed the opportunity. I never just wanted the 1-disc blu-ray version in that cheapo recycle-friendly blu-ray case only containing the one disc, so this new steelbook release was the best option. It began being sold for $14.99 at Target, so I figured I’d wait to see if there was a sale. Then the price went down to exactly $13 last week, and this week down to $12. I didn’t want to wait any longer being as how the local Target only had 3 copies left, and I didn’t really want to come back and see that they had all run out, especially at that price. Amazon prices begin at $13.99 plus shipping and tax. Being as how I hold a Target redcard credit card, my purchase takes off 5%, which is still something! Anyway, there are actually various versions of Scarface on blu-ray, as can be seen on Amazon, all going to various values, the most expensive being the limited “humidor” edition, beginning at $700 brand new, and only one used at $1000. Yea, crazy.

Anyway, here are a few more shots:

Yup, some pics of the fronts and backs. Pretty nice lil’ packages. At Target they were also selling the Target-exclusive Django Unchained steelbook for $13. Granted that these are selling for about $25 online, I purchased the 3 they had left and am currently selling them on Amazon. I figure I can make about a $6 profit on each one, essentially lowering my cost of Scarface and Back to the Future to a total of $18 (yes, I actually did all the math, adding the State tax, as well as counting the cost with the 5% Target redcard reduction), and what I estimate the shipping cost will be once they sell. So my note to self was to see if another town’s Target also had any of these steelbooks left and if they were also selling them for that sale price.

Anyway, as promised, here are some detailed shots of the Battle Royal box set, which as I said was purchased from an ebay auction for a total of $34. The item as of now on Amazon sells for about $60 for used copies and beginning at $300 for brand new ones. The box set I got here was listed as ‘like-new’ condition, and despite a few superficial package flaws (so little in fact that you probably won’t be able to find them in these pictures) is still in fantastic shape overall.

The package comes with two versions of the film – the theatrical cut running at 117 minutes and the director’s cut running at about 222 minutes. Those are both on blu-ray discs. There is also a special features disc on DVD, and in terms of extra goodies, there is an awesome lot, as listed here:

• 117-minute Theatrical cut blu-ray disc
• 122-minute Director’s cut blu-ray disc
• Special Features DVD
• Artwork and Concepts booklet
• Essays and Commentary booklet – features behind-the-scenes facts, character/actor bios, director’s statement, producers interview, and full color stills from the movie
• “Parent’s Day” full color comic book
• One classroom ‘photo-day’ shot on post card paper with authentic certification information and number
• 8 full color 5×7 post card film stills
• One double-sided poster

Here are some more detailed photos of the package so you can see for yourselves:

I’m very fortunate to have gotten this one off ebay for such a cheap price, yet can only credit it to this package not being entirely the most popular thing in the world, despite it being desired by more hardcore fans or despite its Amazon value. Off a last minute bid I got the package for that price beating out one other person to last second put up $30.

Anyway so there ya go, some if not popular then at least valuable blu-rays, and god forbid I’d be able to find these at a local pawn shop for a good price. Lately pawn shops and garage sales have just been getting way to clever and expensive…. but of course you don’t want to deal with that.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and look for more of these updates, as long as I pick up more than 3 blu-rays 🙂