Kenji Shimizu wrote:
> 
> Les Jenkins wrote:
> >
> > Christopher Jefferson wrote:

 <snip>

> 
>  ...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...)

But of course, you're in TKO. I have to accept the inflated cost here in
the U.S..
> 
> > > 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...
> -_-;

Ah, but you're using Tokyo prices as an example, where SM must be a dime
a dozen. Cross the Pacific and it becomes far more dear. Thus, the
average con dealer looking to make a buck can easily convince the
average con attendee that he's getting the bargain of the century by
purchasing the Holy Soundtrack for fifteen bucks each. The average Joe
doesn't know about SonMay: he just sees the Bell-chan on the cover and
goes for broke. Silly gaijin thus gets his butt ripped both ways. He
pays way over the original TKO profit margin, and he gets no shiny
booklets or cards with B-chan's face on them. But he walks away thinking
that he's a hero.
> 
> > > 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....)

They just seemed to be the right thing. I'm pretty sure they were
Kodansha licensced.

>  As for T-shirts... aren't those things expensive...? (they costs around
> 6800yen around here... ($65 US?)

Now it's my turn to laugh. The Ghost In the Shell Movie Poster tee shirt
with the picture of the Major doing that sunglasses and pistol action
cost me all of $17.00. And I probably could have got it cheaper by
waiting to get back home and buy it at Tate's Comics. Sixty five
smackers for a silkscreen shirt in TKO? I hope that a t-shirt with that
price on it has ALL the megami on it PLUS a teleca card AND a movie
ticket AND is designed by Donna Karan.

Of course, if Sam had to pay this price, I could understand, him being
down in the land of kiwis. ("Too close to Australia, too far from God.")
> 
> > 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...
> -_-;)

Simple, Kenji. Remember that American anime fans who go to these cons
look at one dealer selling legit CD's (you know, megami on cover,
Kodansha label (Pony Canyon?), booklet inside and cards with smiling
beatific Belldandy, and of course, legit CD) and look at that 35 dollar
price tag. POW! They realize that if they buy THAT, then they can't get
the Wall Scroll with Major Kusanagi on it, and the Sailor Moon mug for
their little sister has to go. Forget the hard earned cash going to get
some low grade fake cel that the smiling dealer on the other side of the
ballroom was showing you as an authentic Belldandy in Dress Blues cel.

So of course they throw principle out the window and buy the SM CD. Face
it, when they're faced with convention survival techniques and a limited
budget, for a lot of these guys it's either buy the cheap stuff AND get
the rest of what you want OR buy the LEGIT stuff and eat peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches up in your hotel room.
 
>  ...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...?

Can't say that I have. Closest big store to me, other than Tate's, is
Anime Nation in Clearwater, Florida. That's on the other side of the
state.
> 
> > > 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

Paying $35.00 for the Soundtrack CD's doesn't seem like a ripoff to me.
Remember, these ARE the megami we're talking about here.

Be Seeing You,

Chris
PO`!1a