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Ryan writes...
Hi Greg,
I recently bought four copies of the Gargoyles DVD on Amazon. I've encouraged other people I know to buy it as well. I've posted to various cartoon-related bulletin boards informing people about the release of the DVD. I wrote a glowing review at Amazon (one of about 140- the overwhelming majority of which are 5/5 and say something along the lines of "best series of all time"). I even wrote an e-mail to Harry Knowles at Aint It Cool News asking him to plug the DVD's release or have one of his editors review it, no response from him but oh well I tried. Anyway... I know this won't be answered for another year at least but I wish it was sooner, I just wish we had some idea of how good this thing has to sell to get us any attention at all. I was watching the DVD's performance at Amazon, I think it peaked at about 130 on the best-selling DVDs list unless I wasn't paying attention when it went higher than that. Right now it is down around 200. Not bad... but I wonder if that's anywhere near good enough. Have been checking in hourly to hear from you any thoughts about how well the disc is selling at this point, I know nothing about the economics of home video sales so I'm in the dark, just want to know if we should all be excited or depressed.
Anyway, thanks so much for the series, and now for the DVD, have watched the commentary track already and plan on sharing the whole first season with my nephews and a few friends whenever I can lure them over to the house. Maybe win a few converts that way. My nephews will be getting a copy for XMas. Hope you are well. By the time you read this we'll probably know for sure if the disc was a smashing success or total failure or something in between so, in any case, stay in high spirits. You made something great.
Greg responds...
Season One was not a smashing success, but it did well enough. Unfortunately, Season Two, Volume One was something less than a success -- a fact which has discouraged BVHE from putting Volume Two on their schedule.
Having said that, BVHE is reluctant to give me hard numbers on either release, let alone a threshold of success in any concrete terms. The short answer is always that the first release (Season One) did well enough and that the second release (Season Two, Volume One) did not.
I do appreciate all the effort you put into both purchasing and promoting the first release. I am curious as to whether or not you did the same for the second? My sense is that on the whole, the fandom initially took for granted that everyone who bought Season One would both know about and purchase Season Two. And so less effort was made initially to SPREAD THE WORD. That may have been rectified in some degree, since. But whatever the old threshold was, we have to surpass that now to get Disney's attention all over again, since they now believe the property is a disappointment. That attitude, and BVHE's lack of marketing on either disk is of course disappointing, but this is the reality this fandom has always lived with. We have to do it ourselves!