martin wrote:

<big snip>

>     Just so no one gets the wrong idea, I agree completely about avoiding SM CDs

> whenever possible.  The SM CDs that I do have (some Ys stuff) were bought at a
> local Japanese/manga store, and only because I had been unable to find the
> original versions.  Please note that I bought the original versions as soon as I

> was able to find them.  Never let it be said that I'm not willing to part with
> money in search of a clear conscience  ^_^
>                                                     -Martin Dugan
>                                                 martin@microdsi.net


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. 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. 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.

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.

Be Seeing You,

Chris