happened across this fairly cool Blog, rife with scans of vintage Western Anime fanzines;
http://animeofyesteryear.blogspot.com/2 ... sue-4.html
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| Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... https://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=5841 |
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| Author: | tasuke [ 02 Dec 2015, 03:12 ] |
| Post subject: | Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
happened across this fairly cool Blog, rife with scans of vintage Western Anime fanzines; http://animeofyesteryear.blogspot.com/2 ... sue-4.html
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| Author: | signofzeta [ 02 Dec 2015, 09:59 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
I bought my copy of Flashback 2012 from Laser Perceptions. Like $86 or something. |
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| Author: | elahrairrah [ 05 Dec 2015, 00:30 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
I have some issues of Animag--most notably the "Wings of Honneamise" cover. Should probably throw them up on Ebay and see if anyone wants them. |
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| Author: | harlock [ 05 Dec 2015, 01:29 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
Yeah, those old mags are great and the ads are a real time warp. Especially interesting are the lists of import anime laserdiscs along with prices, as they cost incredible amounts:   The Urusei Yatsura LD50 can be yours for just $3500  Oldschool otaku were not kidding about having to take out a mortgage to afford that behemoth. Single disks average like $100.
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| Author: | tasuke [ 05 Dec 2015, 03:53 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
elahrairrah wrote: I have some issues of Animag--most notably the "Wings of Honneamise" cover. Should probably throw them up on Ebay and see if anyone wants them. how many do you have? how much would you want for them all? |
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| Author: | samaron [ 05 Dec 2015, 12:19 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
harlock wrote: ... The Urusei Yatsura LD50 can be yours for just $3500 Oldschool otaku were not kidding about having to take out a mortgage to afford that behemoth. Single disks average like $100.Wow, that is just crazy! The original price was 330.000 yen in the early 90s. Using the exchange rate that was in 1995, that's 2279 USD. They really slapped on a good amount on that price. Luckily I got my box set for just a fraction of that price, still sealed. The other discs, like OVAs, movies, etc, I paid 5 bucks each for.  Thanks for sharing those pages, fun to see the prices. This is a good example for the phrase "buying today what we couldn't afford yesterday". 
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| Author: | tasuke [ 05 Dec 2015, 18:05 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
being an OTAKU was indeed a rarefied, privileged hobby for the Old Gold's kids before the mid/late-90's or so. being the son of middle class parents that took an unfortunate dive bomb into something resembling lower class squalor in the 90's, i missed out on some fine things, but i consider myself fortunate that by the time my family began crawling back up the social stratum again, Anime began to hit the prime time, and i could become an OTAKU in relatively unbridled earnest. indeed, though i very much appreciate the efforts of the well heeled trailblazing early western OTAKU, and enjoy collecting artifacts from that era, i fear the period in which Anime was wholly democratized, the term of virtual mainstream appeal in the U.S. that pretty well seemed to had alienated the majority of old guard western Anime fans, was my personal all too brief golden age... |
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| Author: | signofzeta [ 05 Dec 2015, 20:42 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
If you've ever bought a JP DVD or BR you'd know that prices haven't dropped all that much since back in the day. I'm still paying $100 an episode for Gundam: The Origin. The typical "half box" from Bandai still costs hundreds of dollars. Btw, if you think LDs were a fleecing, check out VHS prices!
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| Author: | samaron [ 05 Dec 2015, 21:23 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
Well, the japanese usually put more effort into the releases. Look a lot nicer and can include extras. I happily pay more for that. What we get is sometimes really bad. Especially hate covers that is missing 60% of the plastic and can't hold the disc in place. Grab it the wrong way and you could damage the paper cover. Shake it and you could cratch the disc. Some even have fingerprints on the data side of the disc from the factory. The japanese DVD/BDs may cost more, but I'm sure they have much better quality too. |
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| Author: | signofzeta [ 06 Dec 2015, 07:08 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
Everything I've gotten on BR from Bandai Visual has loaded either straight to a static launch menu or, even better, straight to the feature. No logos or warnings or anything most of the time. Basically an LD. That alone is honestly worthing paying double for, IMO. These Disney DVD/BRs...geez...I have to babysit the dumb Bluray player through the startup sequence and choose a bunch of crap, why? None of it makes any difference. The FBI warnings just get cut from the pirate version (meaning that ONLY people who actually paid for the thing are being hassled) and the promos are all basically just one big wank fest about how great Disney is, even if the movie you are watching was made entirely by Jim Henson or Ghibli. Tacky animated menues are bad enough, but, honestly, the *nerve* of utilizing the unskipable menu for anything is just appalling. Think of the trillions of man hours that have been wasted waiting for an unskipable menu to play so that you can hit Play All once the menu loads when the dumb thing could just play as soon as spun the disc. Truly there is some psychopathy here somewhere. BTW, I've been meaning to make a post about it, but they are selling Gundam: The Origin in 12x12 boxes with an obi and everything. It looks just like an LD, although the paper is thinner everywhere. I'll post pictures...probably. |
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| Author: | samaron [ 06 Dec 2015, 13:27 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
The worst part is when you get that "Thank you for buying this movie!!!!!" animation that can't be skipped. I've ripped movies more than once to remove all the junk... Got a bunch of laserdisc magazines from Japan. I can see some prices are doubled almost. They cost new something around 33 dollars, while those in that import catalog are closer to 100 dollars. And you guys barely have any tax at all, so I guess it is mostly profit. Yes, shipping probably cost a little bit, but sell 10-20 discs that cost 100 bucks and they've most likely gone even with that cost. I'm sure they've sold more than that. Still think they made a decent profit. Would love to see some pictures of that box, signofzeta. I'm going to Japan the 14th this month. Going to pick up some Blu-Rays. I know they're most likely without subtitles, but trying to learn some language. Good for listening practice. Plus I'd like to check out those Bandai BDs now. Would be neat to have one that goes straight to the main feature. Show it off to my friends and say "this is how it were promised to be 15 years ago!" |
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| Author: | lons_vex [ 06 Dec 2015, 23:50 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
I still have a german price list with the last japan releases from 2001. The prices are in german mark (DM) and not yet Euro, so it is a bit harder to convert, but they are very outrageous. OK, shipping and import tax from japan always were a pain in the a**, even for commercial import shops. But then on the other hand, thinking what some of these titles are worth these days... When I started buying LD's around 1994ish, the rule of thumb for U.S. LD's was: U.S. $ price x2 +10 DM = german retail price. So a $33 LD would have been 76 german bucks. Some shops were more expensive, and japan imports were more expensive everywhere. |
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| Author: | signofzeta [ 07 Dec 2015, 01:32 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Western OTAKU Blast from tthe Past... |
Yeah, I'd assume double these prices for Europe. |
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