L&H DVDs on sale through March 31

[John]

http://nostalgiafamilyvideo.com/index.asp

Nostalgia Family Video has a "BUY 3 GET 1 FREE" promotion through the
end of the month on their website. They have a bunch of Laurel and Hardy
titles on DVD which seem to be unavailable elsewhere in NTSC format,
including 10 volumes of the sound shorts.

I have no connection with this company; just passing along this info for
anyone who may be interested.

John

[Jim Reid]

No thanks. I don't buy bootlegs.

[John]

Post by Jim Reid
No thanks. I don't buy bootlegs.

I believe Nostalgia Family Video is the current name for the company
that used to be called The Nostalgia Merchant. If so, they've been
openly selling Laurel and Hardy titles and other material from that era
for many years. Given the current crackdowns on violations of copyright
of music and video, I seriously doubt they would still be in business if
they were selling bootlegs.

John

[MJ]

Post by John
http://nostalgiafamilyvideo.com/index.asp

They have a bunch of Laurel and Hardy

Post by John
titles on DVD which seem to be unavailable elsewhere in NTSC format,
including 10 volumes of the sound shorts.

Take a closer look. Those are VHS, not DVD. Plus they are boots.

-MJ

[John]

Post by John

Post by John
http://nostalgiafamilyvideo.com/index.asp

They have a bunch of Laurel and Hardy

Post by John
titles on DVD which seem to be unavailable elsewhere in NTSC format,
including 10 volumes of the sound shorts.

Take a closer look. Those are VHS, not DVD. Plus they are boots.
-MJ

No, you take a closer look. Most of them are available on either VHS or
DVD. And as I said earlier, I very much doubt that they are bootlegs.
Please tell me why you think this is so.

John

[Mister Levity]

They are indeed available on DVD format. Quality is excellent. They've
been having this "buy 3 get one free" sale for the past year or so!

[Jim Reid]

They are not Nostalgia Merchant. They have been selling bootlegs of
the Roach films for years. Hallmark did crack down and they removed
some titles a while back, but they seem to be in it for the long haul.

[Kimba W. Lion]

Post by Jim Reid
They are not Nostalgia Merchant. They have been selling bootlegs of
the Roach films for years. Hallmark did crack down and they removed
some titles a while back, but they seem to be in it for the long haul.

They must be pretty rich bootleggers if they decided they can go up against
Hallmark.

Seriously, Mister Levity is right, the quality of NFV's L&H discs is great.
Because of that, and because they're back, and because they're sold by
other retailers (such as Movies Unlimited), I doubt the "bootleg" angle.

[Paul Fitzpatrick]

Post by Kimba W. Lion
Seriously, Mister Levity is right, the quality of NFV's L&H discs is great.
Because of that, and because they're back, and because they're sold by
other retailers (such as Movies Unlimited), I doubt the "bootleg" angle.

I understand that Hallmark sent them a cease and desist notice, and
NFV challenged them. Anyway, these releases seem dubious to me.

[Shark]

Post by Paul Fitzpatrick

Post by Kimba W. Lion
Seriously, Mister Levity is right, the quality of NFV's L&H discs is great.
Because of that, and because they're back, and because they're sold by
other retailers (such as Movies Unlimited), I doubt the "bootleg" angle.

I understand that Hallmark sent them a cease and desist notice, and
NFV challenged them. �Anyway, these releases seem dubious to me.

I just checked that page again...very interesting...particularly this:

Most of these titles have NOT been listed on their site for quite some
time. When they were listed before, the "Laurel & Hardy Classics Vol.
10" contents differed. Vol. 1-9 list the same sound shorts as the Vol.
1-9 "Laurel & Hardy Comedy Classics" released on VHS by The Nostalgia
Merchant (different company) in the 1980s. NFV had added a tenth
volume, which rounded up the four remaining sound shorts:
"Unaccustomed As We Are," "They Go Boom," "The Hoosegow" and "The
Chimp." I notice that now, "Unaccustomed" and "They Go Boom" are
replaced with "On The Wrong Trek" and "The Stolen Jools" (two shorts
in which L&H make brief appearances, but are not "Laurel & Hardy"
shorts). Fantastic coincidence: "Unaccustomed" and "They Go Boom" are
controlled by RICHARD FEINER & CO. (not Hallmark) and were released as
part of the "Lost Films" series.

Hmmmmmmm...

Tell me that again...

[Phil P.]

Post by Shark
"Unaccustomed" and "They Go Boom"

I picked up their Volume 10 a year or two ago on vhs and both were included.

[MJ]

I actually bought one of them many years ago, just as they started
coming out. The shorts (I can't recall which ones were on the disc)
were duped from Nostalgia Merchant VHS tapes. You could clearly see
tape imperfections. They likely had no other (16mm or the like) film
to work with.

I think threre was a matter of the Nostalia Merchant obtaining sales
rights being extended to this company. Turned out that they were wrong
and pulled all but the Public Domain films from the list. They
continued to sell titles like "Bogus Bandits" and "Heroes Of The
Regiment" that had some questionable rights attached.

Looks like they are trying to fly under the radar to get these out of
the inventory. They were hawking them on eBay for a while, but I guess
they decided to see if they can get away with this sale.

They should be avoided. Pristine....or at least nearly pristine prints
can be obtained elsewhere. I have the UK Universal set. There are a
few minor problems, but they are far superior to these bootlegs. The
silents aren't that great in the Universal set, but if that Feiner box
ever comes out, we'll be all set in that department.

In addition, once you get the legic discs, how are you going to get
rid of the boots? The eBay watchdogs are going to pull your listing if
they see it. For your own good, just steer clear of these. The good
and legal DVDs aren't all that expensive.

-MJ

[Mister Levity]

I also have all the European DVDs, Kinowelt, Benelux and the UK box
set as well as the entire Nostalgia Family Video DVD range and I can
tell everyone here their disc's currently for sale are NOT dupes of
the old Nostalgia Merchent VHS tapes, which I also have. NFV DVD's are
excellent picture and sound quality.

There are many fans not wanting the expense of going the multi-region
player and buying the Region 2 PAL DVD's route so this is a great
alternative for them.

[Jim Reid]

Post by Mister Levity
There are many fans not wanting the expense of going the multi-region
player and buying the Region 2 PAL DVD's route so this is a great
alternative for them.

and you get the added enjoyment of helping people break the law.

[Mister Levity]

I could care less.

[Jim Reid]

Post by Mister Levity
I could care less.

Obviously

[MJ]

Post by Mister Levity
There are many fans not wanting the expense of going the multi-region
player

Mine cost me about $50 each. I guess it's a matter of perspective, but
I don't consider that a major expense. Plus, I prefer not to deal in
stolen merchandise, which these discs are in reality.

-MJ

[Super Stupid]

Hey..........!!! howz kumz sum uf deez videeo deelerz dunt bootlegg
dose kolour vershuns uf dem Lawrel an Hawdy filmz on DeeVeeDee'z
kollectshunss zo i kan gets'em????????? now dat wood bee zo
awZummm!!!!!!!!!!

[Jimmy Fin]

I have one of the Nostalgia Family DVDs. They are actually NTSC conversions
from the PAL DVDs.

How do I know? Check out the running times. The Nostalgia Family L&H
movies are sped up and match the PAL DVD running times, which run
unnaturally fast. The films are sped up, which affects the voices and
pacing.

On a related note, the Kino NTSC DVD "Flying Deuces" is also a PAL transfer.
Don't believe me? Check out the *actual * running time on the Kino Flying
Deuces DVD, and you'll see that it is about FIVE MINUTES SHORTER than the
film's real running time due to that slight but annoying PAL speed-up.

Curiously, the Nostalgia Family Video people do have at least one DVD that
is totally unique -- an alternate edit of Chump at Oxford (not just a
shorter version -- it's a "remix" with some alternate and extended takes,
etc.)

Post by Mister Levity
I also have all the European DVDs, Kinowelt, Benelux and the UK box
set as well as the entire Nostalgia Family Video DVD range and I can
tell everyone here their disc's currently for sale are NOT dupes of
the old Nostalgia Merchent VHS tapes, which I also have. NFV DVD's are
excellent picture and sound quality.
There are many fans not wanting the expense of going the multi-region
player and buying the Region 2 PAL DVD's route so this is a great
alternative for them.

[Mister Levity]

Been collecting Region2 PAL DVDs for years, so glad all this is
totally Unnoticable to me. I'm too busy laughing at the gags.

The 42 minute streamliner of A CHUMP AT OXFORD is a unique edit,
pretty much an entirely different film than the longer 63 minute
version.