Re: SM Sountracks


to megami@usagi.jrd.dec.com
from Kenji Shimizu <s991775@yamata.icu.ac.jp>
subject Re: SM Sountracks
date Fri, 03 Apr 1998 01:14:04 -0800
Christopher Jefferson wrote:
> 
> Kenji Shimizu wrote:
> >
> > Les Jenkins wrote:
> > >
> > > Christopher Jefferson wrote:
> 
>  <snip>
> > > > 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.

 ...Poor them... (no decent, warm-hearted dealers exsists in the US...?
Oh dear,,,,)

 ...By the way, the $2-3 US I've mentioned about pirate CD is the price
listing in Hong Kong and Taiwan... not Tokyo... (there no need for
pirated music CDs in Tokyo.... there's plenty of rental shops, etc...
^_^;)

> > > > 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.

 ...If you see the nice booklet in there, it's probably official ^_^;
(along with the usualy Japanese "destroy the enviorment" excessive
packaging of plastic cover over the case, etc... ^_^;;;
 
> >  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.

 ^_^; Well, textile finished products seems to be rather expeisve in
Japan... I've just recently paid 60000yne+ (about $600 US) for a single
pair of suit... (just normal suit...).... Jean, I think I paid 6000yen
($60 US) recently... ;_;
 
> 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 can get 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
> > sell more...  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.

 ....any STORES...? (maybe I should start up......) ....Cons. are
starting to sound like a place where money hungry dealers rips off
faithful anime fans....
 ...maybe Cons. doesn't stand for "Convention", but for "Convicts", or
"Con artists"... ^_^; (Joke LOL) ^_^;
 ...are Cons. the only place where things can be purchased...? (I've got
to try to go to one of these one day...)
 
> 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.

 ...during comiket, we don't eat... some people (NOT ALL) use all the
food-money for shopping ^_^; (penut butter and jelly will be a "luxury"
^_^; (LOL)
 
> >  ...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.

 ...Florida.... Florida... nice place to live, but an inconvenient place
for an otaku to live....

 (SNIP)

> 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.

 ^_^

					Kenji Shimizu

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