Boxed Sets as Fan Heirlooms Are Boxed Set Collector's Editions Worth It?
A promotional photo on the canister holidng the 3 DVDs for the Girl's Generational video collection.
Boxed Sets as Special Collector's Items
Girls Generation are among the most popular Asian girl group favorites in Kpop, and recently they released a boxed set, complete video collection. A re-issue of their most popular music videos running up to 3 DVDs that includes some collectible merchandise inside a specially designed storage container that looks like a film-reel canister. If you are a dyed-in-the-wool SNSD music fan, would you still buy this boxed set for your own collection? Of course!
Anyone worth their salt as hardcore music and movie collectors would buy every release from their favorite artist or if a book collector, from their writer idols to complete their vanity collection. No matter how small that personal stash may be. Hardcopy will always be a personal treasure more valuable than the stored content on any electronic mobile devices. If your mobile bricks or gets malware, your media collection there is toast too. Hardcopy guarantees a safer back-up for precious media entertainment favorites.
The pseudo-film cannister storage container specially made for this boxed set.
Boxed sets are often special edition collections of any media content, from book series by a popular author, to a complete music discography of your favorite musician, or a re-issued movie collection print run with special merchandise included. They are the cash-cow for modern media entertainment marketing who sell the reprinted material as numbered and limited edition products dressed up in different packaging and additional fan merchandise to sweeten the pot. Like this writer's fave True Norwegian Black Metal band, Emperor which came out with 666 copies of a full discography re-issue on special vinyl boxed set plus merchandise via Blood Music, a boxed set specialist for extreme music fans. The question for fans and all of us who have our fetish favorites, do we need them? And are they worth the extra quid?
For completists, special edition boxed sets become their hoard-display keepsakes, while they use a different beat-up CD for day-to-day listening. Owning a complete run of your favorites in a more valuable form factor--a limited edition boxed set is like a heirloom you buy for yourself--that may increase in value over time.
A limited set boxed collection of three Napalm Death albums from the past.
Devoted fans buy boxed sets to enjoy watching their favorite TV series all over again, or catch up on movies they missed. Marathon style movie watching or marathon TV series viewing is a guilty pleasure and may be the cheapest yet most valuable entertainment compared to a holiday trip overseas or tickets to a local sporting event. Book boxed sets on the other hand are a collector's fetish with almost the same kick as collecting music, movies and video, but can be more valuable over time compared to electronic media entertainment.
Most regular boxed sets are fairly affordable, while limited edition boxed sets (
which feature special storage containers and rare merchandise ) may cost quite a bundle but are still prized for their rarity as the best and coolest version of a collector's favorite stuff. Being a special version of any off-shelf product also makes boxed sets some of the best presents for loved ones.
The compulsion to hoard every single copy of your favorite artist's work might seem absurd to
minimalist lifestyle pundits who urge people to sell their old stuff for
the extra cash (are you nuts?!) given that not many can stand clutter or shell out a lot to buy what is essentially a re-issue of something peopel already own. Having too many boxed sets
around might not really be ideal if you can't enjoy them when you want to. Except for books, for those who value huge libraries and reading clutter (another story of its own).
From Amazon.com is a special boxed set version of Harry Potter Blu-Ray and DVD Wizard's Collectionfor hardcore, boxed-set collectors.
The most compelling reason to own a boxed set version of your favorite
stuff may be this—if the web conked out, and even if you had the
sweetest mobile device this side of town—what is it worth if your portable media player gets
bricked or loses access to the web?
With affordable HD mobile technology and fast streaming, everything we enjoy in
media entertainment is just a click away for kids of this generation.
But for true devoted fans of artists, writers or movies, collectible box sets provide one with the satisfaction that that no mobile media player can provide. Your Stuff is yours. One-of-a-kind that only you and a few own. And safe and sound in your hoard.
You can always buy the next wave of Nu-Tech media players, but you might not find another copy of that album or song or book anywhere if SHTF.
