We all know about the Buena Vista
DVD releases of the 1994
Spider-Man series: 4 of them so far, and
The Venom Saga is coming in Winter 2004.
Now there seems to be a wider selection, for anyone who is near a Media Play, Suncoast, or Sam Goody Music store. These three branded chains, all part of the
Musicland Group, are all reported by shoppers to be carrying six new selections of the 1994 animated
Spider-Man series. We haven't found them, or heard of them being found, at any other stores. These sell for $6.99 each (some readers report a $6.29 price at Media Play).
These six releases don't seem to be from Buena Vista, though. In fact, the only logo found on these discs and cases is that of Marvel Films. I purchased my copies at Suncoast, who mentioned that they've had these titles for 2-3 weeks (around the time
Spider-Man 2 hit theaters). Their in-store lookup system had no record of any particular studio being behind the releases. The staff at this location declined further comment about them, referring me to their main headquarters. I was unable to reach their offices, however, before the end of business on Friday. There seems to be no listing, either, at the online websites of these three chains (nor at any other online retailer). Nor is any major studio claiming these at their press sites. At the moment, the origins of these DVDs remain a mystery. If it wasn't sold to me by a major retail chain, with widespread availability reported by readers across the country, then I would be very suspicious of them. Here is the list of titles:
- Spider-Man - Blade the Vampire Hunter
- Episode #209: "Neogenic Nightmare Chapter 9: Blade the Vampire Hunter"
- PLUS! Episode #210: "Neogenic Nightmare Chapter 10: The Immortal Vampire"
- Spider-Man - The Cat
- Episode #402: "Partners In Danger Chapter 2: The Cat"
- PLUS! Episode #403: "Partners In Danger Chapter 3: The Black Cat "
- Spider-Man - Enter the Green Goblin
- Episode #304: "Sins of the Fathers Chapter 4: Enter the Green Goblin"
- PLUS! Episode #408: "Partners In Danger Chapter 8: The Return Of The Green Goblin"
- Spider-Man - The Hobgoblin
- Episode #110: "The Hobgoblin, Part 1"
- PLUS! Episode #111: "The Hobgoblin, Part 2"
- Spider-Man - Kraven the Hunter
- Episode #109: "Kraven The Hunter"
- PLUS! Episode #405: "Partners In Danger Chapter 4: Return Of Kraven"
- Spider-Man - I Really Hate Clones
- Episode #512: "Spider Wars Chapter 1: I Really, Really Hate Clones"
- PLUS! Episode #513: "Spider Wars Chapter 2: Farewell, Spider-Man"
Note that the last two on that list are the final episodes of the 1994 animated series. Each of these six DVDs contain 2 episodes, has a running time of 40 minutes, and no extras. There is no menu: the disc auto-plays, and pressing the menu button brings you to a black screen. There are chapter stops, but don't expect to necessarily find one exactly between the first and second episodes on the disc.
All of the boxes are low-cost keepcases, with no inserts on the inside, and with the exterior artwork I've scanned below. Each cover has the words "The Adventure Continues" across the bottom. I've scanned the discs as well, and you can see that they are very plain-looking.
Looking at that list of episodes, you may have noticed that there are episodes which have already been released on the Buena Vista DVDs. Comparing some of these, it's notable that the video on these are softer than on the Buena Vista releases. However, they are still better than VHS quality. But on better-quality sets, the difference in video sharpness will be more obvious.
We'll try to find out more information about these, of course, so stay tuned. Thanks to the long list of people who wrote in about these. Here are my scans of the boxes and discs that I purchased:
