$1 cartoon DVDs at supermarket - Are these worth buying?

[Chris Wood]

I was shopping today and saw a display of $1 cartoon DVDs from some company called East West. I didn't pay much attention at first because these releases are usually total garbage, but I noticed a few interesting titles.

http://www.eastwestdvd.com/TitImages/m/asterixcleopatra.jpg

I'm a huge Asterix fan.

http://www.eastwestdvd.com/TitImages/m/supermanvol.jpg

Which cartoons do you suppose these are? The 40s shorts?

http://www.eastwestdvd.com/TitImages/m/starbirds.jpg

This one really got my interest. It's apparently an adaptation of Daimos.

I've heard these $1 DVDs have terrible transfers, but are they still worth a buck? As far as I know the Asterix and Starbirds DVDs have not been released otherwise in the U.S. It's tempting.

[sdp]

yea, those are the 40s superman shorts.


I made a topic about them a while ago:
http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=141365

as you can see you can find some very good stuff on those 1$ movies, hidden gems with all those other stinkers :anime:

they are definately worth it and the transfers can vary but they are usually not too bad, they are decent,not perfect dvd transfer but vhs or better, you do have to take into account they are old public domain shows.

[Jimbo]

I picked up the Starbirds (I remembered playing with the toy when I was little), and Daffy Duck DVDs from my local Supermarket.

I would say that the Starbirds DVD, while having a transfer that appears to be a direct transfer from a video tape with nothing done to clean the prints, is definitely worth the $1.00 I paid for it!

I would say the video/audio are in the same league as Rhino's Battle of the Planets DVDs or Robotech Legacy collections released a few years ago.

Now the DVD calls this a "Feature Film", but was this truly a Feature Film originally or was it a TV show that they took a handful of episodes and spliced them together to form one movie?

On the other hand, the Daffy Duck DVD was in awful shape, and only had three shorts, the backs of the DVDs tells you little or nothing about the content. Compare that to the hour or so of footage on the Starbirds DVD.

The Superman DVDs are more than likely the Fleischer shorts. As I already have the Diamond Anniversary Collection I saw no reason to buy these.

[Style]

I believe the Fleischer Superman cartoons are the only ones currently in the public domain. But can anyone point me to good, high-quality disc collections of those?

[Chris Wood]

I picked up the Starbirds (I remembered playing with the toy when I was little), and Daffy Duck DVDs from my local Supermarket.

I would say that the Starbirds DVD, while having a transfer that appears to be a direct transfer from a video tape with nothing done to clean the prints, is definitely worth the $1.00 I paid for it!

I would say the video/audio are in the same league as Rhino's Battle of the Planets DVDs or Robotech Legacy collections released a few years ago.

Now the DVD calls this a "Feature Film", but was this truly a Feature Film originally or was it a TV show that they took a handful of episodes and spliced them together to form one movie?

On the other hand, the Daffy Duck DVD was in awful shape, and only had three shorts, the backs of the DVDs tells you little or nothing about the content. Compare that to the hour or so of footage on the Starbirds DVD.

The Superman DVDs are more than likely the Fleischer shorts. As I already have the Diamond Anniversary Collection I saw no reason to buy these.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to pick up at least Starbirds. From what I've read online it's a heavily edited version of the original Daimos series.

Oddly I noticed on EBay someone was selling one of those Asterix DVDs for $15. What idiot would pay 15 times the price?

[Nin-Nin69]

Sweet I might have to get that Asterix DVD. :)

[Brettfern]

I don't normally buy these but I have bought the $1 3 Stooges Cartoon DVD before.. Worth buying since my dad and I love the Stooges..

[Jimbo]

I believe the Fleischer Superman cartoons are the only ones currently in the public domain. But can anyone point me to good, high-quality disc collections of those?
I own the The Complete Superman Cartoons - Diamond Anniversary Edition All 17 cartoons are uncut and presented in the order of their original theatrical release from 1941-1942.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6305943389/qid=1133405667/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-9791402-3296950?s=dvd&v=glance&n=130

[Dark Fact]

Does the Superman set have the infamous "Japoteurs" short?

[Jimbo]

Does the Superman set have the infamous "Japoteurs" short?
Yes, the Diamond Anniversary DVD has all 17 Superman Shorts including "Japoteurs".

[sdp]

japoteurs isn't really that rare, just in one of the editions they labeled it as "the banned japoteurs" episode or something like that but you can find it as easily as the othe repisodes. out of the $1 releases there are a lot of different versions, never owned any of them but i'm guessing its around the same quality, that way you can own the entie series for about 4$, i bought mine from Best Buy when they used to have their 5.50 shelf, it came in a box set (with horrible artwork) and two dvds all 17 episodes just called "Superman Adventures" it was a good deal. I think they open up saying the quality is not their fault, but its not that bad quality, not perfect dvd but nothing to complain about, specially when compared to the other public domain cartoons out there.