Camera Obscura: The Walerian Borowczyk Collection

[Charles]

Meanwhile, I specifically asked Amazon through their chat to ensure this "expensive and already sold out product will be properly secured for transportation because if it arrives damaged, getting a replacement will be impossible".

I have no idea if it will be enough, but they told me they have contacted their warehouse to ensure this will be done.

Hopefully, it will also arrives securely.

I've just sent MovieMail a note along these lines, and will post the reply. I would also hope that all of the vendors are hearing from people with this concern.

[chatterjees]

I just got a reply back from Arrow saying that they are anticipating to ship out the box for me next week. Now, I am in USA and a non-kickstarter customer. So, I am going to conclude that they will begin to ship the non-kickstarter sets for US customers next week. Hope this information helps.

[What A Disgrace]

Do Kickstarter projects even get shipping notices? I assume they do, but I've never done a Kickstarter project, so I'm not sure how it works. In any case, I haven't gotten one yet.

[colinr0380]

I don't think that there are shipping notices. I've just received my copy of the set today (567 of 1000!) and the last thing I did was to fill in the survey confirming the shipping address. It did arrive in a sturdy box though!

[Finch]

My Boro set arrived today in excellent condition. I have the spine number 904. My multi-region BD player is permanently stuck on Region A due to some defect and I don't get paid till Sept 26 so won't be able to buy a new player and watch this set for another month. PS.: Looking at the discs I noticed the short films disc is region-free so I'll be able to watch these for now at least. Beautiful set and illustrations by the way.

[GaryC]

My Boro set arrived today in excellent condition. I have the spine number 904. My multi-region BD player is permanently stuck on Region A due to some defect and I don't get paid till Sept 26 so won't be able to buy a new player and watch this set for another month. PS.: Looking at the discs I noticed the short films disc is region-free so I'll be able to watch these for now at least. Beautiful set and illustrations by the way.

Goto is regon-free as well.

Mine has arrived today, number 595.

[MichaelB]

Goto is regon-free as well.

No it isn't - Sony mislabelled the checkdiscs, which I imagine is your source for this misinformation. But the first thing I checked when they arrived was whether that was actually the case, and thankfully it wasn't.

("Thankfully" because region-locking was a contractual condition with regard to the three Argos features.)

[swo17]

Isn't Blanche also region-free?

[MichaelB]

Isn't Blanche also region-free?

Yes, because it doesn't include an Argos-owned feature. Basically, Arrow's policy on region-locking is exactly the same as the BFI's and Eureka's - they don't do it if they don't have to, but usually they have to.

But Goto is definitely Region B, as requested by Argos and as personally tested by me in a Region A player - or rather, tested as far as its refusal to play.

[EddieLarkin]

I received mine also, number 580. A perfect collection in perfect condition, smelling straight out of the factory. I've already flicked through the book, mainly Part 4 (I'll save the essays for after the films), and my eye was caught by the fact that even the minutiae of how the films were encoded optimally is addressed (heh, it's an aspect of film reproduction I find very interesting). Indeed, the whole essay appears to be the be all and end all of "About The Restoration" sections of booklets (it's 25 flippin' pages!). It bodes well that some early commentator's suggestions that this may be the zenith of the Blu-ray format might actually be the case. Can't wait to dig in properly.

[David M.]

and my eye was caught by the fact that even the minutiae of how the films were encoded optimally is addressed (heh, it's an aspect of film reproduction I find very interesting).

Glad to hear this
It'd be kinda silly to do a nice new scan and restoration if the texture of the film gets lost!

[EddieLarkin]

It'd be kinda silly to do a nice new scan and restoration if the texture of the film gets lost!

I was thinking precisely this when I popped in my Blu-ray of Vinegar Syndrome's Graduation Day, which came from a new 4K scan. This is a shot of the master used to advertise the BD on Facebook, this is what the BD actually looks like (they're not exact frames but I've compared the former image to the exact frame on the disc and like the latter image, it's a mess).

I'm glad some labels recognise the importance of proper encoding.

[David M.]

Ow.

[zeroism]

Zavvi still have plenty of copies available, of which I've been assured by them they will definitely receive. £10 cheaper than Moviemail too.

Or perhaps not, as today I received a cancellation notice from Zavvi, stating: "Borowczyk Collection is no longer available. We have tried to source further stock but we have been unsuccessful, sorry to disappoint you." I placed my order on 25th July, well before the above was posted. Was anyone else's order cancelled?

[EddieLarkin]

Arrow posted this June 17th:

***CAMERA OBSCURA UPDATE***

It now looks as if we have completely sold out of this title! What this means is that all stock is allocated to each retailer based on your pre-orders, which means that each will likely have a small amount of stock available. If you have ALREADY pre-ordered this title from us or a retailer such as Amazon your pre-order has been confirmed and you WILL receive a copy of the set. If you have yet to pre-order there is no guarantee you will receive a copy.

If at any point we discover that more stock is available (some retailers may return unsold stock at a later date) this will go back on sale via the Arrow Store.

It sounds like Zavvi were just treating this like any other title when they were giving guarantees that they could source it.

[Dr Amicus]

Mine just arrived, safe and sound, number 484. It looks a lovely set - I haven't dared break the cellophane yet!

But I will - I might treat myself to a couple of shorts tonight, Mrs Amicus is out tonight but her mum is around to help babysitting and to allow me to act as taxi driver. Mind you, I can imagine a couple of the features might appeal to her (she has odd tastes...) but I don't know if I could cope watching them with her!

[RyanGallagher]

My order from Zavvi was just cancelled this morning.

[Drucker]

Has anyone in the USA had theirs arrived yet?

[TMDaines]

Mine was cancelled too from Zavvi without notification; I logged in and saw it.

[criterion10]

Has anyone in the USA had theirs arrived yet?

Mine hasn't arrived yet (the delivery estimate is for the end of the month), but I ordered mine back in May from Amazon, and it shipped a few days ago.

[Drucker]

Mine's from the Kickstarter. I had it sent to my parent's house just in case, as I may set a moving date soon. Just wondering.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Kickstarter no 0076 arrived in France this morning Hope someone is noting all this down.

[Adam X]

Arrow mentioned on Facebook that they're done shipping the Kickstarter copies, and are about to get on with the rest ordered by us slackers and fence sitters. So I imagine it won't be long now, for those pacing in nervous anticipation.

[frankiecrisp]

I pre ordered from moviemail months ago no sign yet not even a dispatch date, looks like ive dropped a huge clanger

[reaky]

I asked Arrow about this on Twitter and was told "All retailers should have their allocation by now. We would suggest that you contact them direct for more info." I'm still waiting on a reply from Zavvi. No cancellation from them yet (I ordered in early May, so fingers crossed they see me right).