As much as I try to not get involved in this whole "Christmas rush" nowadays, I couldn't help it. I had some purchases to make -- and damn it! I was going to get out there and take care of it! So, Jen and I hit the densely packed freeways and hit that big box store that steals my heart and wallet away every time: Best Buy.When I lived in Alaska, Best Buy was about 15 minutes away on the bus, and my friends often went there as well, so I practically lived in the place. Here in OrCo, there are Best Buys around, but I have to go a little bit further and work harder to get to them. As a result, I rarely get over to Best Buy, so a trip there leaves me a little flabbergasted when I walk through the doors. In its way, due to the rarity of my appearances, every time I go to Best Buy, the moment almost become like a second Christmas for me. The prices are better than most places, and the selection is excellent, if a little confusing at times. And everything shines and glistens with that New Technology Glow, practically shouting "Purchase me! Me! Me!", whether I am interested in picking it up or not.
My intentional purchases for the evening were done in mere seconds, but then I started to look around to satisfy my own curiosity. Scanning the Science-Fiction section, I saw a cover with cheesy "monster-ific" lettering that shouted these words at me: "The Classic SCI-FI ULTIMATE COLLECTION"!!!
What the hell? I hadn't heard about this set. Just a couple months ago, I went onto Amazon to look up the status of one of my favorite sci-fi flicks, The Incredible Shrinking Man, because I had been set to wondering why it had not been released yet on DVD. The Mole People, a far inferior but still schlockily fun flick which also sprang from Universal's 50s run, was another one that I looked up, and the results for both were zip, zero, nada. Nothing at all except some VHS copies that I could purchase from yokels across the country, but absolutely zero in the way of a disc format. And yet, HERE on this collection that I was suddenly gripping with shock and awe in my cold, little hands (Hey, it actually hit 35 degrees here the other night! Go ahead and write in, Alaskan pals, and call me a whiner... heh, heh...), both of those movies were lodged onto a trio of discs with three other films, two of which I quite like: Tarantula (which is pretty fun and which also has Clint Eastwood in a very early uncredited role), The Monolith Monsters and Monster On the Campus, which I must admit I have never actually seen. All of the films are short -- the longest two being only 81 minutes each -- so Universal crammed two each on the first two discs, but then inexplicably left Campus plenty of room on the third disc. Why, when there are still other old sci-fi/horror films in Universal's possession that could be placed on there?
Of course, I don't know if this was entirely a decision on the part of Universal, because there is another partner at play here, which is also the reason why I couldn't find word of this in the locales that I searched on the net. The set was released as a "Best Buy Exclusive", and there is even a fourth disc inside the set called Battlestar Galactica: The Story So Far. So, the set is not just designed to drive the monster-loving public from Amazon and its brethren and over through the doors or webportal of Best Buy, but is also made to launch a little marketing action to the captive audience. Clever... don't know if this type of advertising works, because the audience that is going to purchase this set is fairly select, and I would warrant that many of them already frequent the Sci-Fi Channel and have more than a nodding acquaintance with Galactica. But, what the heck, hey? Do what you've gotta do, marketers -- as for me, I'm going to toss the extra disc out because I don't want to know much about what has happened on the show until I actually get caught up on watching it. But nice try...
Looking back, especially after checking on Amazon again and noticing that there is indeed an entry for this set on the site, though sans cover photo (because you can only buy it secondhand on Amazon), I probably had pulled this title up when I looked before, only I didn't pay it any attention because of the lack of that photo. It will teach me to pay a little closer attention when researching titles in the future. And it is also going to teach me that I need to make my constitutionals to Best Buy a little more frequent than every six months or so.
Now excuse me, I've got some old pals to catch up with...
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