This email has been received by several people:
Dear MSTies:
We regret to tell you that the source material for the KTMA host segments we had planned to use for the Volume XXXVIII bonus disc is not of good enough quality to create a DVD that’s up to our — or your — standards.
We’re as disappointed as you must be. We were so excited about the prospect of sharing the beginnings of MST3K with you and while we haven’t given up on the releasing KTMA host segments completely, we have run out of production time to get them ready for this release.
In light of that, we have decided to move up production on a bonus DVD that was planned for later in 2017: a limited-edition reissue of the Play MSTie For Me Triple Decker DVD, the long out-of-print collection of MST3K musical performances that would put Broadway to shame.
If that sounds OK to you, there’s nothing you need to do — you’ll get that bonus DVD with your order. But if you would rather cancel your order, we understand and apologize for the inconvenience. Please email info@shoutfactory.com with your order number and we will take care of it.
Thanks for understanding. We really appreciate your support!
Best,
Team Shout! Factory
Thanks to several of you who shared this.
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Thanks Shout for the heads up..For future box sets,could you guys consider the following: This is MST3K,Making of MST3K,Turkey Day Promo,Joel Hodgson’s Tv Wheel and Statical Planets and last but not least,the Turkey Day special with Adam West,Mamie van Doren,Beverly Garland and Robert Vaughn..Keep up the great work guys!!
They’ve updated the product listing to reflect the change.
Does the Play MSTie For Me Triple Decker DVD have any new segments or content, or is it purely a compilation of the musical skits edited together? Don’t have the original DVD or any of the VHS. Didn’t know if they made some new segments in between the clips.
So wait. Back up…
Shout Factory’s got DVDs planned all the way until the *later* part of 2017? I was seriously concerned that *this* set would be the last one for a while.
Basically, Rhino said the same thing when they had acquired Mr. B’s Lost Shorts and found out it was fan-distributed VHS copy.
Which is why Rhino had to delay theirs until they could find real sources.
I’m guessing third-party VHS is all that exists of the KTMA’s, so they need a lot more work in the lab before they can be considered “source masters”.
I have a copy of the Triple Decker DVD I got from BBI. It’s pretty much like a video version of the “Clowns in the Sky” CDs, but with material not included on the latter.
While I’m disappointed, at least Shout let everyone know the situation and the reason behind it, as well as giving consumers a chance to reconsider. I’m not sure if I’ll let the order stand or not. Have they announced the other extras on the set?
The old DVD is as bare bones as it gets. It didn’t even have a menu or chapter breaks between the songs, so was very frustrating to navigate. So even without new content, I’m sure the Shout version will be a definite step up in functionality.
It’s okay with me. I like getting these sets early anyway, no need to cancel my preorder.
With the exception of the two lost KTMA episodes Joel released over Thanksgiving weekend. ;)
After Shout released that chewed up tape of Lost Continent, and used fifth generation copies of Turkey Day bumpers, the KTMA host segments aren’t up to snuff? Something else is going on here.
I emailed Shout asking “Is the proposed “Play MSTie For Me” DVD a pure reissue of the old Best Brains DVD that I already have, with no new content?”
The reply: “I believe so, yes.”
:-P
Well, we know they haven’t found episode 3 yet, but as you say, Joel *just* found the original tapes for the first two, and I certainly won’t rule out the possibility that they’ve also stumbled on much higher-quality reference material than what they were using — maybe not just for those episodes, either. I can see how, if they’ve got a DVD ready to roll out and just now found better-quality versions of (at least some of) the same material, they’d hold off and give it a do-over. Especially if they’re still going through the tapes and don’t know everything they have yet.
I just want to point out how Shout continues to be a great company. We’re talking about a quality issue over bonus material; not the main product. They could just produce the DVDs and send them out with no care in the world. Instead they’re holding off until it’s better. Even though I pre-ordered the set and already have the original Best Brains DVD, I’m not cancelling my order because Shout always does right with the fans. This only proves what they’ve shown many times in the past. 8-)
I smell a rat…a big fat commie rat…
As opposed to sending out the aforementioned Lost Continent and the time they just hoped really hard that it was cool if they put out Godzilla movies?
What I was trying to ask was if they filmed new/unique transitions for in between the clips back when it was originally edited together and released? Or is it purely just one song going into the other?
@14, asdfsd, you wanna watch at whom you’re slinging your poop . . . it was Rhino that had the Godzilla screw-up, not Shout.
@4 Sean, that was the same thing that jumped out at me. We’re getting so close to the point at which it seems impossible to guarantee that Shout can come up with four available episodes, that it was encouraging to read that.
I was always under the impression that Jim Mallon had tapes of everything, even the KTMA episodes. Is this erroneous info on my part? Frankly dubs from the best available fan copies wouldn’t irritate me whatsoever in this regard. I’d rather have at least some record of the history of the show rather than nothing.
I am not going to cancel, but I am disappointed. Clearly we would take this stuff with any quality they could get it so this doesn’t feel like a real “reason” to me. But I forgive. :-)
Official MST3K facebook page just posted about the new Play MSTie For Me bonus disc, including this quote: “our new version comes with vast improvements in navigation and menu design from the original”. Looking forward to that – the old one was practically useless, I felt.