talkmagic.co.uk

BigShot wrote:It'd probably get refused on the grounds it is to do with their creative output (because some utter moron decided to allow the BBC to refuse almost any request on those grounds) but we could chip in for a Freedom of Information request for how they've arrived at the price and any discussions/emails etc they've had about the show.
Could be interesting to see why they really have it priced so high.

That's a really good idea. FOI requests aren't expensive either are they?

I think the key point to remember is that the BBC have a huge amount of wiggle room to refuse requests in ways other publically funded bodies can not.
I'd be stunned if they gave up any information - thought I'd be happy to chip in a quid if someone wanted to take the time to write up a request and submit it.

I also used to save my pocket money, and buy one trick a month.( sometimes 2, if it was my birthday) I had most of them, but nowadays, i think i only have a couple of the packet tricks.
Santa even bought me the chinese box set.. that too went the way of all things. I still have the box, indeed i have 3 of those mirror boxes, the original, one i was given, and the one in the mint condition set i now have in the collection.
I should start collecting the tricks i suppose.

Incidently i note you have the coin plates there. ( the incredible imprissoned penny) This was never sold. This effect was one that you had to send away for, together with a few pence to cover postage.It was packed in a little grey cardboard box, hence the lack of packaging.

I remember it arriving.. it felt special..

BigShot wrote:It'd probably get refused on the grounds it is to do with their creative output (because some utter moron decided to allow the BBC to refuse almost any request on those grounds) but we could chip in for a Freedom of Information request for how they've arrived at the price and any discussions/emails etc they've had about the show.
Could be interesting to see why they really have it priced so high.

The comedians Stewart Lee and Richard Herring recently bought the master tapes to the BBC series Fist of Fun for an undisclosed but, from the sounds of it, pretty damn large amount as the Beeb and no intention of releasing it as a DVD themselves but Lee and Herring were being constantly badgered by their fans for it. Their intention is to also buy the masters for their other series providing enough people buy the DVD they're putting out this month as there is a good chance that they're going to end up out of pocket if sales are shabby. I would think Paul Daniels would be in a similar situation if he forked over the cash and he might not be willing to take that gamble. He might have a lot of people asking for a DVD to be released but it might not necessarily be enough people for him to risk all that money and also his own time. Just taking the masters and formatting them into DVDs would take a fair bit of cash, especially if he wanted to do a good job- Paul doesn't strike me as the guy to release a half-assed product, especially if his target market is his hardcore fans.

I think the BBC puts such a large price on the masters as they would have invested a lot of money in the shows originally and would want to recoup any possible lost sales if the DVD ends up being an unexpected success. With a lot of these shows languishing in the vaults, they'd be happy for other people to gamble their own money on trying to sell them, but they don't have the spare money to take a chance on releasing them themselves. They get enough stick from other media companys for being publically funded, they really don't want to take the risk of getting any stick for putting out something that only sells a few thousand copies.

I think part of the issue regarding the Daniels shows, may be simply that the BBC makes a small fortune selling stuff to all those clip shows out there across the globe.

any great variety act from the last 40+ years made an apperence, and when ever you see them, its always a clip from the paul daniels magic shows.

I'd have thought it would be trivial to sign an agreement which left the BBC with exclusivity for providing those clip shows and let whoever else flog the DVDs.
I'm probably wrong to suggest there could possibly be such a sensible solution to a problem with BBC involvement though.

daleshrimpton wrote:Incidently i note you have the coin plates there. ( the incredible imprissoned penny) This was never sold. This effect was one that you had to send away for, together with a few pence to cover postage.It was packed in a little grey cardboard box, hence the lack of packaging.

I sent off for that but it was at the time when Magic Marketing went out of business and my letter and money were eventually returned by the Post Office.... boo hoo.....

Mandrake wrote:

daleshrimpton wrote:Incidently i note you have the coin plates there. ( the incredible imprissoned penny) This was never sold. This effect was one that you had to send away for, together with a few pence to cover postage.It was packed in a little grey cardboard box, hence the lack of packaging.

I sent off for that but it was at the time when Magic Marketing went out of business and my letter and money were eventually returned by the Post Office.... boo hoo.....

Yeah - I remember always wanting the Coin Plates, which you had to actually send quite a few tokens, plus money for postage, to get a hold of.

I was absolutely over the moon when I realised they were included in this eBay lot, when it arrived on my doorstep.

(Wonders idly how much they may be worth )