Best Buy's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" Steelbook Shortage is Worse than You Could Have Imagined!

I managed to get a copy of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" on BluRay 3D at Best Buy.

I need to be upfront about that so that you understand that my frustration with the situation of getting the disk is real, I am passionate about it, and even though I managed to get a copy, I am still very upset with how Best Buy managed to screw virtually every fan of BluRay 3D in releasing this product onto the world.  You'd think we wouldn't be talking like this.  You'd think that since they went through the trouble to get the exclusive rights to the 3D version of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" they would have plenty of copies in stock to go around.  You'd think - since they thought this was a big enough deal to lure customers into their store - they would be well prepared to take care of those customers when the day came to purchase the item.  This is not the case, and I'm sorry to say the situation was much, MUCH worse than I could have possibly imagined!

For those who are new to the situation, it might be a good idea to read my previous post on the situation, but to summarize, Best Buy got the exclusive rights to the 3D version of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."  The problem is, they decided to package in one of their limited steelbook editions, which are known for selling out very quickly and never seeing a second pressing.  I had hoped that since this would be the only way to get a 3D copy of the movie, Best Buy would make plenty of these to go around.  That, even though 3D TV's aren't really being sold anymore, they see enough value in the disks to have enough copies made available.  That turned out to not be the case.  In fact, Best Buy has actually gone out of their way to NOT meet what was very clearly a huge demand for this movie on BluRay 3D!  They put the steelbook edition up for pre-order months ago.  It wasn't long before the sets were sold out online.

Despite the heavy demand to make more pre-orders available, no additional sets were put into production.  The remaining sets would be shipped to stores.  Sadly, unless you were waiting in line early at most stores, you wouldn't receive it.  I went to a store in Huntington Beach.  I got there fifteen minutes early.  There were five people in front of me and assumed I would manage to get a copy.  I was dead wrong.  Turns out, the store received a measly TWO copies!  The first in line grabbed both copies and headed straight to the register.  He did a slick walk around the store, going to every spot the sets would potentially be.  It was pretty obvious he was buying as many of them as he could to sell on eBay.  He bought both copies...the stores ENTIRE inventory!  Most of us stood around baffled at the situation.  It was a complete waste of time for us to go there.  It was a complete waste of time for the store to even sell it.  One customer pointed out to an employee "You have this advertised in your ad and you only have two copies?!"

I felt sorry for the man who just wanted his movie and for the employees who were likely going to spend the ENTIRE day having to explain to people why things were handled this way!  I exited the store and called Best Buy at Long Beach.  When I inquired they told me they had gotten two copies and were sold out.  I called Costa Mesa and they only received one.  Irvine got five, but they were already gone.  The store at Orange claimed to still have some.  I got in my car and drove fifteen minutes to the store, hoping and praying that they wouldn't be sold old.  I got to the store and went to the movie display.  No disks.  New Releases?  Nope.  I went to every spot a new release would appear and there was none to be found.  I almost left in frustration but decided I'd ask customer service how many they have received.  Turns out, they had two copies left.  I asked for one and happily bought it.  Apparently, they had gotten closer to nineteen copies, but kept them behind the counter to not only inspire detectives who REALLY wanted it to look closer, but to also insure no one came in and bought all of them off the shelf!

I was partially happy that this form of quick thinking ensured that I got a copy, but I also cringed knowing a few people probably didn't get one of these because they simply didn't think to ask.  For that matter, the fact the employees were aware that this could happen, shows that the scalping market for steelbooks are HUGE (and with the only way to legally buy the 3D version in physical for, the value only goes up)!  Now...for me, the issue is not the casing.  I could honestly care less about it.  It's nice, but nothing to get too excited about.  My big issue was that the BluRay 3D was packaged in this case - and ONLY this case - which would make it almost impossible to find after the first day!  I never thought that we would be in a situation where this version of the movie was limited to so few copies.  Right now, this item has become a popular item to sell on eBay in two ways: The compete set, and just the 3D disk.

That goes to show that not only is the scarcity of the set related primarily to the steelbook casing, but it shows that most people who wanted the case didn't want the 3D disk.  Most fans of the movie would want a case to go with their movie, but if they have to buy it on the third hand market, they will do so.  That means Best Buy not only screwed their customers, they screwed THEMSELVES in the process!  By packaging the 3D version with a limited edition item that had a high demand separate from the disk itself, Best Buy released a product that most people only half wanted.  A good chunk of people who bought the set didn't care about the 3D, and people who want the 3D can no longer get the set.  This is...so messed up I can barely think of words.  Something tells me that someone at Best Buy saw how well the set was selling, assumed it was because of the casing, and decided to keep it rare because these items are more of a bait and switch then they are actual money makers.

In chaining the 3D version as this limited edition item they have pleased no one, and all but insured they have sent whoever might have bought a copy of this movie on BluRay 3D legitimately to the black market to get the disks from the steelbook collectors who didn't care about the disks so much as they cared about having really cool cases to display on their shelves.  Sadly, I don't expect Best Buy to understand what they did or the amount of damage they have done to their reputation by doing things this way, and I fear that they will get more 3D movies exclusively, only to package them in rare steelbook editions that will be gone before the real customers even realize they were there to begin with.  Oh, but on a positive note, you CAN buy the movie digitally in 3D on Vudu!  Um...good for us?  So, while I did end up getting my copy of the movie, I am still very upset by this and it gives me pause to buy from them again if this is how they want to screw with their customers.

For those interested, here is my full review of the movie.