Sorry to take a few days to post this, especially considering the tons of readers who e-mailed us with this info. But we should pass on to you that the AUTHORIZED early releases of
Voltron at Best Buy and Wal-Mart are different, in that Best Buy has the Collector's Edition version which comes in the tin and contains extras on the discs, but Wal-Mart's version (which has actually been a higher-price than Best Buy's, strangely enough) does NOT have the tin, and does NOT have the extras. It is not the "Collector's Edition" version, but is a plain version in just the regular plastic boxes.
In fact, Media Blasters told us here at TVShowsOnDVD that they would do this, when we
held our Q&A session with them over a month ago. Here's that portion of that article:
Next up, we asked about the special collector "tin" packaging, and how long those will be available, would they ever be reprinted on down the road, etc? In other words, just how "limited" are these? Media Blasters responds that they haven't made any decisions about whether they would ever reprint the tins, but not to count on it: make sure you get your copy before they're gone! And it goes beyond the special packaging, too. If they DO put it out in "cheapie" packaging at all, either down the road after the tins are gone, or perhaps even sooner if high-end mass market chains request them to, they'll certainly consider doing it, but only as a "non-special" edition, with the extras stripped off! Why? To quote the folks at Media Blasters: "We want to make sure the true fan is happy with his special edition release, and doesn't feel cheated because (a mass market chain shopper) got something almost as good for a cheaper price."
So head to Best Buy for the tin, if they have any left. We hear that many of those stores have sold out (one Best Buy employee told us that it was selling much better than
Star Wars was, although that's very hard to believe). You may also have some luck with other stores, expecially those that are part of the "TWEC" organization (FYE, Coconuts, etc., and also holding since March the remaining Suncoast and Sam Goody stores, which for a time were owned by Best Buy). Tons of readers have told us that these stores are selling the tin version right now. It apparently seems that TWEC (Trans World Entertainment Company) decided that if Best Buy and Wal-Mart could "break the street date", they could sell
Voltron prior to Sept. 26th as well. So, there you go.
