Question about 'All Region' Godzilla DVDs?

[gvamp]

I remember getting a little promo poster for Biollante from my local video shop back in the day the asking price for the VHS back when it first came out was $79.99 then in 1996 or 1997 I bought it for $20 I think at my local Suncoast.

[wataru]

Rental shops use to ask assloads of money for films so they could make their money back on rentals. When Terminator 2 came out, I was DYING to get it on VHS. Blockbuster said theyd sell it to me for $109.99. Luckily Columbia House got it a couple weeks later.

[gvamp]

I think that was HBO/Miramax's asking price for rental companies not the actual stores doing because the poster I had was like a advert of sorts. It was basically the artwork poster and had some info about the movie on the back and how to order it.

I was content with my Skinamax recorded copy until I got it for $20 at Suncoast like I said.

[Crazy Jim Films]

In the VHS days, pricing was different. You had a handful of major films that were released as "sell-through" meaning they would retail at anywhere from 14.99 to 24.99. These would generally be more family-oriented films and some of the bigger budget PG-13 movies. Basically movies that were doing 100 million at the box office. All of the WB Batman films, Titanic, Jurassic Park, Twister, The X-Files movie, and Godzilla were a few that I can think of. Speed was one of the rare R-rated films to be put out as a sellthrough during its time. T2 wasn't. Anything that wasn't sell through would not be available at retail price for about 90 days, around the same time that it hit HBO. This gave pay-per-view and video rental outlets a chance to make their money as the video stores had to pay like $100 a piece for the tapes.

[JoshK]

I believe you are talking about the Rental Only Phase that was quite annoying in the 90s. You could still buy many of them at the Suggested Retail Price of An Arm and a Leg. The first movie I remember noticing skipping this phase was Batman. Jurassic Park also did so when it was a bit more rare. I'm also pretty sure the Disney movies skipped the Rental Only period. I remember it felt like forever before the commercial releases ended up on shelves.

[Crazy Jim Films]

Yes, that was an interesting period to say the least. Being a video collector, I was always waiting for them to pop up on either retail through Columbia House or in the previously-viewed bin at my local video store. I will say this though... it made looking for movies a little more interesting. Today, I can honestly say that about 90% of the time I just don't give a shit because you can watch any film you want with relative ease and for little money.