Fellow fans, DON'T accept 2nd rate releases! Make your voices heard! (TMNT DVDs)
 

I've wanted to say this for awhile now, but in the past I've stayed silent because I didn't think I could make a difference, but no more.

To anyone saying we should be happy with what we are getting and forget about the couple missing episodes, messed up set releases, and lack of other extras, let me ask you this:

How would you like it if I gave you a car, the kind you've always wanted, and have dreamed about for years. Unfortunately, you have to wait many years before all of it arrives. When you are close to the end, they then tell you it's missing the key ignition and the red wire to the engine. They lost the parts. So you have a car that you can't even use. Tell me, how would you feel?

People, this is the ONLY time we have to make sure Lionsgate gets their damn act together. Keep in mind TMNT was one of, if not the LONGEST running action cartoon ever. It essentially defined a part of history for children, and made huge amounts of money.

To see how Lionsgate has treated these releases makes me sick.
- Have we forgotten that they originally planned only to release Season 1 in that crappy, cut-up, and edited "The Saga Begins", before some people originally a part of the show and fans bitched them out?
- Did you enjoy having the laughable excuse of the only "Special Features" on the first few releases being "Full Screen” and “2.0 Audio Tracks”? Those aren’t even features, they are Audio/Video presentation. For a series that had countless toy promos, TV commercials, and books; none are being included.
- Do you like the recycled cover-art and bare-bones packaging they created for our beloved series one and only release?
- Can you honestly say that the COMPLETE OMISSION of not one or two, but over TEN EPISODES, which might never be released is fair?

Look, I loved this show. It WAS my childhood, and something I cherish to this very day. It deserves better than this.

So, I am asking all of you, to take a stand with me and tell Lionsgate that you need to get your act together, let the people who will be BUYING these releases be your guide, and put out sets that you have pride in.

Now, are you with me?

oh man...Was the national anthem playing in the background of anyone elses head while they were reading that post?

I kinda felt that way when I was writing it :-)

The car analogy isn't strong enough for me.

Archon, for me it wasn't the national anthem. It was Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American".

I'm happy with the Lionsgates releases. There, I said it. Eff anyone who hates me because of such.

Like I said in the other post, be thankful we've gotten this far with the OT.

Ducktales, The Tick, Darkwing Duck, C.O.P.S., Inspector Gadget, are all shows I own on DVD that can't get finished.

Top that off with the fact Disney is releasing the 90's X-Men, so what does that mean? They get to the last 10 episodes and decide not to put them out?

I'd rather be missing the episode that is my favorite OT episode, then miss out on the European episodes which number more then a scant 2.

How was 10 episodes not included again, because with 27 episodes of season 7, that would have to include the European episodes. My count so far would peg us at 3 missing episodes (pending you break one of them into two ie POTT.)

Uh yeah I don't know where these 10 episodes are coming from.

Also like X said other shows have had worse treatment.

How many of those shows you listed were as popular as TMNT? How many shows spawned a huge merchandise line. How many shows were a staple of TV for over 7 YEARS and spanned almost 200 episodes?

This isn't "just another show"

PS- I like the "Proud To Be An American" best

You've still failed to answer the question about what 10 episodes.

And while on the subject Spider-man and X-men were just as popular as turtles when it was out, at least in my area, and it's had a **** DVD treatment. It wasn't till just recently they announced an X-men DVD set and Spider-man is still no where to be found.

I am mildly irritated that Season Seven will be split up, but whatever the need to do to keep the releases profitable, I suppose. I am a little irritated that three (not ten) episodes may go missing, but it's not like there aren't ways to see them. I could do with some better cover art, but as long as the content's there, it's fine. The extra features have been increasingly great, so no complaints there.

Meanwhile African children continue to starve.

to me these sets are also just a minor annoyance. they could easily remedy this by putting together a smaller, inclusive package...i really just dont want them to take up so much space. also they've still got time to get the 3 missing eps on dvd, so there's still hope. and hooray for european vacation, ive never seen them.

More than likely these single releases are simply leading up to an all inclusive $300.00 "complete series" with more extras than we can imagine and all of the missing episodes anyway, ala Time Life's Real Ghostbusters set. And people will freak out, tho i'm kinda looking forward to it (the set not the freaking out). I got the deluxe Charmed complete series for X-mas in the life size replica of the book of shadows and it's one of the coolest things i've ever owned so if they can make the OT in an awesome box set maybe shaped like the technodrome or whatever it's gonna make these single releases seem obsolete anyway. In my opinion these incomplete, out of order seasons are just placeholders.

Many shows on DVD have been popular during their runs on TV, not just cartoons, but get trashed due to bad sales on DVD.

Take Night Court. Popular show, but since season 1 didn't sell well, they were hesitant on season 2.

X-Men got announced, but since it is Disney, I don't look forward to completing yet another cartoon series, that I truly loved. They've screwed me and countless others on their releases that I am scared, but will buy the volumes in hopes they actually finish something they commit to.

TMNT OT probably sells as well as the current cartoon due in part to the fact there are only so many fans out there.

I'm sure if there were more people supporting TMNT, we wouldn't be worried about each new season, year to year, being made.

Look, I like TMNT as much as the next guy, but Lionsgate hasn't given up on us, despite sales of their DVD's favoring a certain minority. That to me, is impressive.

I'm more worried about the current TMNT on DVD then I am the old toon. Lionsgate seems to keep us in the know, while we twiddle our thumbs, trying to guess when we'll get season 3 and 4 proper, as well as season 8, as well as info on any potential new season of the show, and the DTV movie.

You want to talk about shows that number past 200... Look at Transformers. When has it ever had a break? It went from G1 to BW to BM to Robots in Disguise, followed by Armada, Energon, Cybertron, and now Animated.

TMNT had a 5 year break in between shows.

Transformers is Transformers, just as TMNT is TMNT. TF has TMNT beat in number of episodes, and it won't stop. So you can't say that TMNT is more popular then anything else from the 80's, because their are a few more out there. Oh and look at the TF releases. They only release G1 for a limited time due to Rhino losing the liscense, and we were promised in late 2006 that a re-release of G1 would come and it didn't. Now look at Lionsgate, still releasing the OT, where TF G1 can't even get a re-release for those looking to get their hands on them.

Gotta look at both sides of the street.

I don't have any major complaints, other that season 7... which is just ****ed up.

@ The Ninjinister: Stop whining? Maybe you should start caring more. Once they are done with these, they aren't going to fix them in another release down the road. We either speak up now, or take whatever is shoveled to us.

@ Cipher: Your Africa comment is out of context. Hundreds will die from diseases in developing countries that could have been saved. Paris Hilton was born into fame and can screw up as much as she wants but will never be broke.

I lost my job in December due to the economy. I was downsized simply because my position was eliminated, and I was the person working it at the time. A guy who just started only 2 months ago, who was to take the shift that next month, is still there. Life isn't fair, I know that.

I'm with you man but whats your big plan? I doubt Lionsgates is going to listen to one angry letter or email. :-?

I'm just gonna start looking for Planet of The Turtleoids on VHS. Only problem is, amazon has one copy for like 30 bucks.

If Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman can have a complete series boxset i'm pretty sure TMNT can.

Tell me about it. I'm still waiting to find out if season three of George Lopez (it's my favorite show) is ever going to be available on DVD. It's maddening.

Holy mother of God, caring about what? I grew up with the Turtles cartoon, it shaped my life, and I even see Splinter as a second father or mentor of sorts. So the cartoon isn't being released to your specifications. Do you think Lionsgate gives a poo?

Wow someone mentioned the VHS for Planet of the Turtleoids, and I did some snooping around my house remembering I had one, and sure enough I found it.

Still in top condition too.

Even still, if it meant proving a point, I could give it to someone who really wants it bad enough and live without 2 episodes but still show appreciation for Lionsgate sticking with the program through thick and thin.

I'd feel that the analogy doesn't really fit at all. A car is a necessity in most places, and an expensive one too. People are going to be a lot angrier about that than they would be about not getting a perfect release of a cartoon show.

Send it it to Lionsgate...:P

My point wasn't to emphasis that the world isn't fair, but to point out what a non-issue these DVD releases are. On a global scale, it's a pretty damn petty thing to get that worked up over.

*tries not to laugh* Keep dreaming, friend. It seems to me that the majority is just tired of being continually given the short end of the stick with any Turtle-related releases. Lionsgate would be taking an enormous leap of faith with such a box. Plus, it seems to me that most of the 'casual fans' that they've been pandering to are fully content with YouTube and other illegal methods.
I offered Lionsgate to send them my VHS copies of the missing episodes, and they never even replied. So, aquiring the eps is apparently not the issue.

Funny thing is, a representative came over, talking about recruiting fans for one of the documentaries and basically said, "We have no idea what's going on and where to put them." They HAVE the episodes... they just seem totally confused as to where they're supposed to go. I find that a rediculous excuse, since they managed to put season 10 episodes on the first DVD. They can clearly include these as "Bonus" episodes or something.

I agree... we're lucky to have come this far, as far as TMNT goes. Apparently releasing incomplete series is the hot new thing to do when it comes to releases. X is right... we were screwed by Disney, SHOUT and Fox. (more by Fox than Shout, but still, they could have tried to release more of Gadget).

I sure hope they'll one day make one dvd set with season 7, that they also realese the planet of the turtleoidz two parter and ofcourse make an box set for the entire red sky era, like they did in germany.

nerd! That's right. I said it! <3

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. :p

Wait a minute, I thought nerds weren't into sports, such as throwing. Are you spooging metaphors? o_O

Once again, that guy wasn't working for Lionsgate. he was working for a firm hired by Lionsgate to work on Special features.

THANK YOU! I was about to jump out of my skin about that. It's bad enough that everyone gave him so much crap. We don't need to perpetuate the misunderstandings.

I just want my damn "Planet of the Turtleoids" and "Once upon a Time Machine" eps on the DVDs.

This is so damn stupid. I watched the Turtleoids ep a while ago and it was a GREAT episode, its a damn shame if its not included on the DVDs.

How is it that the execs at Lionsgate are so damn ignorant that they ignore the fact that fans are telling them they're skipping eps?

Its just idiotic. Why can't we do anything about this?

Because that involves work Cyber. Lionsgate isn't about that. They will do the bare minimum to get these sets out so they can make their buck. I think the only reason there are extras of any kind on the sets are that people have wanted to contribute. I'd even be surprised if they did anything in the mastering process like cleaning the source material.

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Since people didn't agree with my previous car example, here's a different analogy which might be closer to our situation:

Imagine as a child, you had this really awesome 3D puzzle of the Statue of Liberty. You loved it, but as time went by, some pieces became discolored and bent/brittle.

Let's say many years later, there is a company who is again putting out this puzzle. It's a one time only deal, and once it's out, it's done. Because it's so big, it comes in sets over time. Part-way through the set releases, you realize that there appears to be some pieces missing, not many, but definitely some not there.

You get to the point where the puzzle is nearly complete, but pieces of the Statue's face is missing. You call the company and ask where the missing pieces are, and they say they're not sure, and don't even get an answer if they will be included in the remaining sets.

So, here sits your great awesome 3D Puzzle, but with parts of it's face missing. According to some people's logic here, we should just be happy that we got the amount of pieces we did and enjoy it.

Now, do you think it's really fair to make excuses for a large company like Lionsgate to make these sloppy mistakes, even after being informed by fans of the show their error and how to fix it?

Dude, we all get what you're trying to say. The really bad analogies are not necessary. It appears that some fans feel the same way you do and some do not. Fancy that.

Well *if and when* Lionsgate decides to do a complete series set it would probably be just like most other complete sets, the same exact discs from the single releases but with one new bonus disc that usually contains something awesome. That's not exactly an enormous leap of faith, or a very costly one. Hell, if Fraggle Rock and Teddy Ruxpin can get complete series sets TMNT certainly can.

Technical rundown can be found here!

6-7 (Leo's 6 the others 7) episode sets.
Different features for each set.
Looks like it's the European Vacation episodes. (Or what the Official Site calls season 7....wait, didn't they leave this list in favor of another a while back?)

Funny you mention Fraggle Rock, since Lionsgate made the choice to release the complete series, but NOT to release season 4 separately, when the other 3 seasons were... and that really honked off a lot of fans. This is NOTHING.

Other than the fact that we have to buy 4 disks for 27 episodes, and they have no freaking idea about what to do with the episode and special, this actually isn't all that bad. Not that bad considering that everything else is left unfinished. The ones that were listed no thanks to Disney and Shout... not to mention the bullcrap that happened to Bullwinkle when Sony Wonder collapsed, and Entertainment rights neglected to get it on the new Genius lable... they even ADVERTISED the fourth season on the third (and last) set. I still say we should contact them about that episode, and to put it on any DVD soon.

Shout did great with Super Mario Bros. :)

Manners? :-?