Do people still buy HK Bootlegs?

[Black Ranger RX]

Just out of curiosity, are there still people who buy HK Bootlegs from EBay?

It has been a long time since I last brought a Japanese import Tokusatsu DVD from YesAsia, and the problem is they are WAAAAY too expensive for what they are.

Kamen Rider Stronger for example..

http://www.yesasia.com/global/kamen-rider-masked-rider-stronger-vol-1/1002852513-0-0-0-en/info.html

What the FECK!! US$149.49 / £97.17 for Vollume 1 of Kamen Rider Stronger?

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Kamen Rider Stronger could be a good series (not that I'm that desperate to watch it) but this is crazy. Surely Kamen Rider Stronger isn't worth so much monney!!

I mean, we're paying nearly £100 to watch something that looks like THIS!!!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIMVZEVUWGs"]YouTube - Kamen Rider Stronger Henshin[/ame]

We have higher budget movies from Hollywood that cost so much less to buy on DVD. Heck you could even buy bloody Spiderman (Tobey McGuire) on VHS for 99p at a charity shop!!!

So yeah... do some of you still buy HK Bootlegs, or download from the internet and keep the files without caring to buy the DVDs?

 

[Dark Kabuto]

So yeah... do some of you still buy HK Bootlegs, or download from the internet and keep the files without caring to buy the DVDs?

Most Kamen Rider related DVDs I can find at shops usually don't include english sub titles, just Chinese only. I don't really buy them, since I'll just DL the TVNihon releases anyway.

 

[Mr G]

Well, I mostly download. However, I have began importing some stuff though (some new movies and boxsets pre-ordered). The thing is...if Toei would sub their stuff I would buy it. I mean I'm going to buy some stuff anyway, subbed or not, but I don't want to watch every single thing RAW and not have a clue as to what's going on.

As far as domestic releases (Generation Kikaida releases for example), I will buy regardless of price and won't download.

 

[Black Ranger RX]

Most Kamen Rider related DVDs I can find at shops usually don't include english sub titles, just Chinese only. I don't really buy them, since I'll just DL the TVNihon releases anyway.

The cool thing about official Chinese import Tokusatsu DVDs is they a whole lot cheaper than the Japanese releases. For example, I can remember buying Kamen Rider Faiz from Hong Kong for as little as £5-ish. You can even buy Box Sets cheaper than you can buy a single vollume.

I wonder why Japanese DVDs can't be this cheap?

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

Well the price for that DVD might be due to the fact that it contains the first 8 episodes or so, and Japanese DVDs are generally expensive, no matter what the product is.

Anyway, I imagine that a Hollywood film can be sold for a lot less simply because they have a much larger market. Releases of older tokusatsu are generally aimed at hardcore fans. (and sometimes they do go the extra mile and get you neat extras like interviews with the cast and stuff)

I mean, we're paying nearly £100 to watch something that looks like THIS!!!

...if you like tokusatsu, that probably won't be a big deal. I think a 30 year old Stronger episode is better than a lot of stuff Hollywood pumps out any day.

And I'm pretty sure I lost what the focal point of this post was, but in short, people don't even need to buy HKs anymore. Just about every series that is subbed through an HK has also been subbed by a fansub group (pretty sure that clip you posted is from one as well) except for like, Hurricanger and Abaranger. Heck, the original Kamen Rider series is being subbed at this point, that's more than we ever got from HKs outside of those movie boxsets.

So, yeah, if you have any kind of halfway decent connection, downloading is the easiest thing in the world. I'd buy DVDs if they were released with English subs more often. I was trying to collect Hibiki, but a full series is incredibly expensive and I had some major difficulties understanding the language the time, so I dropped it.

 

[sgtkira]

So yeah... do some of you still buy HK Bootlegs, or download from the internet and keep the files without caring to buy the DVDs?

I know some still buy bootlegs, but I don't. If I'm going to get the movie without giving money to Toei either way, then I'd rather do it without giving money to a random person who has nothing to do with Toei. Recently, I have been trying to get the movies (I got one legit one from ebay), but the series can be a ***** :disappoin

Well, I mostly download. However, I have began importing some stuff though (some new movies and boxsets pre-ordered). The thing is...if Toei would sub their stuff I would buy it. I mean I'm going to buy some stuff anyway, subbed or not, but I don't want to watch every single thing RAW and not have a clue as to what's going on.

As far as domestic releases (Generation Kikaida releases for example), I will buy regardless of price and won't download.

Well, how about you do what I've been doing.

Let's use Double as an example. Buy the DVD, then rip it. Take Over-Time's subs and burn them onto the DVD, and now you have DVDs with subs :thumbs: It will definitely work best with the first 8 eps (they have DVD versions of those).

 

[Dark Kabuto]

The cool thing about official Chinese import Tokusatsu DVDs is they a whole lot cheaper than the Japanese releases. For example, I can remember buying Kamen Rider Faiz from Hong Kong for as little as £5-ish. You can even buy Box Sets cheaper than you can buy a single vollume.

That's the reason why I went for HK Subs back in the day...I hate buying individual volumes(And yes, I know someone will probably give me flak for this:redface2

There's a hilarious Shinkenger HK DVD actually, which for whatever reason has a cameo of Rising Ultimate Kuuga in it. :laugh:

 

[KingRanger]

I don't care if people buy hk's, more power to them. But if a toku is licensed in a persons home country, and they STILL bootleg it.. IMO that is lame.

 

[Igadevil]

I mean, we're paying nearly £100 to watch something that looks like THIS!!!

Which is why I'm glad I bought it. :thumbs:

If you like it enough, and you're able and willing to spend the money on it... why not?

 

[Shoichi]

I made it a 'compulsory' thing for me to get all the Ultraman movie memorial boxes. the series versions are just way too expensive.

I will also be getting the Blu-Ray versions of Let's Go Kamen Rider and the Gokaiger movies, because these are anniversary movies.

I don't have the financial capacity to buy series though. I used to buy HK bootlegs but now I don't anymore, more likely due to the sudden scarcity of bootlegs in my country.