Message-ID: <3523A1CF.5C4@yamata.icu.ac.jp> Date: Thu, 02 Apr 1998 06:33:51 -0800 From: Kenji Shimizu To: megami@usagi.jrd.dec.com Subject: Re: SM Sountracks Reply-To: megami Les Jenkins wrote: > > Christopher Jefferson wrote: > > > Fellas, > > > > The funny thing was, I went up to a mini-convention in Daytona Beach, FL > > this past weekend ("AnimeExpress '98") and one of the folks travelling > > with me had almost nothing in his portable CD collection save Son May > > CD's. That leads me to believe that he picked up most of them at various > > cons for bargain prices. ...I've heard about prices of Pirated CDs at Conns... but you can buy the official version here (used, though... -_-;) for some CDs here (TKO), cheaper, at times... -_-; (poor him...) > > Then came the shocker: even at the con we attended, the other three guys I was with > > were able to purchase CD's for fifteen bucks a piece! Who made these CD's you ask? > > Son May. $15 US!?!??!?! What a rip off!!!! (I thought they sold those things for $2.50 -3.00 US ... -_-;) ...and you can buy the official version (used...?) around that price... -_-; > > The contrast with Anime Weekend Atlanta couldn't have been more pronounced. > > There, for instance, one couldn't purchase a GFC CD for under 35 dollars > > U.S.. I suspect that those CD's were the real deal. I didn't look, but I > > think that in Daytona they were unloading their SM stock.8-) As for me, > > I stuck with an Urd key ring and a "Ghost In the Shell" t-shirt. ...$35 US for the originla (offical) CD...? (brand new...?)... that sounds reasonable... (very reasonable in the US....) As for T-shirts... aren't those things expensive...? (they costs around 6800yen around here... ($65 US?) > Cons have been, indeed, one of the major places to find SonMay CDs and not just at > anime conventions, but a lot of Sci-Fi conventions that have a dealer with some anime > wares. Fortunately, many of the bigger cons these days are banning the sale of SonMay > CDs. I wrote an editorial about this whole issue once for Animecca in which I chided > the dealers for being greedy (cause they can sell more SonMay CDs which have a higher > profit margin despite the lower price). Wrote an editorial about it? ...May the goddess be with you... ^_- (but why would people pay a rip-off price for pirated version CDs...? they canget the official one for about the same or similar price, can't they? (If they knew where to look for...) ...beside, why pay dealers profit margin...? it's promoting them to sellmore... might as well share the CD with friends instead (cheaper, etc...) ^_^;;; (It's not a good thing, but better then buying pirate... -_-;) ...Some bookstores in Japan (actually, a good deal of them...) started to sell CDs, LDs, etc. as well, at retail price... maybe Kinokuniya, in the US might be doing it... (selling at acceptable price...?) anyone checked on this one...? > > Still and all, Son May succeeds because of the financial imperative of > > cheap CD's. I have not bought one because I accept the arguments of Les, > > et al, that the original manufacturer and the seiyuu artist (for > > example) should get the fruits of their labors, not some pirate in > > Taiwan, Macao, or Shanghai. > > I have a couple of SonMay CDs myself which were, like someone else mentioned earlier, > gifts from people who didn't know any better as well as two that I bought myself back > when I didn't know any better. Since having learned better I've gone out and bought > the original CDs in order to make up for the error. ...(don't buy the original stuff at rip off price... all (or most) CDs are selling at 3000yen or so (about $29 US...?) in Japan... paying anything excessive is unreasonable... might as well find a better dealer, if the current dealer is ripping you off... ...buying the official has it's merit... (nice booklet... ^_^;) Nice pictures printed on the CD... etc... ^_- [noise below...] ...The game software is a very good example... they often have nice lables on the CD, nice thick color booklet, extra CD (music CD), special data, poster, etc... (sometimes, I buy the games for the gifts, not the game ^_^;;;) Doukoku was a good example... (I bought it, but haven't played that game yet ^_^;) ...Yukyu Gensou kyoku... I bought that sucker for the nice CD (nice picture on the CD), the the teleca, and the MPEG opening ^_^;;; (and the poster...)... some of these posters that comes along with the games are SOLD around 500-1500 yen ^_^; (that already in itself has value ^_^;) The teleca is around 1000-2000yen... Kenji Shimizu