Why did we never got a Dragon box reprint?

[Jord]

Not bragging but I have them all. Watched some of ot today.Guess I bought them just at the right time.

That being said, I looked at the prices online and they're insane. No one should have to pay that much for watching DBZ.

Since we got the boxes in the first place, the files are obviously there so repackaging them in a cheaper packaging could have been an option.

Was it a licensing thing with TOEI?

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

TOEI apparently wanted to keep the Dragon Boxes as a Japan-only release, so we can only speculate Funimation had to try for many years to get them.

While Adam Sheehan did say during the Dragon Boxes official announcement during Funimation's industry panel at Otakon 2009 the Dragon Boxes were for not for casual fans, it was only following the fourth Boxes release at an ANNcast segment in October 2010 that it was officially confirmed they'd be limited.

During that panel Sheehan did stress that Funimation didn't want to change a thing because TOEI handled their Dragon Box release perfectly, so it's possible the contract included a clause it could only be produced as a collector's item. In any case I highly doubt Funimation expected there to be a market for a bare bones standard edition of the Dragon Boxes or even the Rock the Dragon set.

From what I've heard though, if there's clearly no more stock of a collector's item (which has been the case with the Dragon Boxes for a long time now) it's a sign it sold at least what it was expected to, although it likely would have sold out even faster if the orange bricks were never a thing and Kai wasn't out at the time.

But yes the fact the Dragon Box video was streamed in Japanese would indicate Crunchyroll (previously Funimation) still had legal rights to the files, so maybe the actual DVDs themselves could only be produced in limited quantities.

[Hellspawn28]

They were design to be a limited edition thing. Once they are gone, they are gone! The more "hardcore" side of the fandom is view more of a niche thing in Funimation's eyes. The people who got the brick sets won't care to buy the Dragon Boxes because they own the series to watch.

[TheGreatness25]

I think it's primarily because the universe doesn't want us to have nice things when it comes to Dragon Ball.

[MasenkoHA]

Same reason we never got a Rock the Dragon reprint it was a limited Collector's Edition meant for hardcore fans, albeit RTD and Dragon Box Z were targeted at complete opposite ends of the hardcore fan spectrum.

But also apparently the Dragon Boxes didn't sell very well. Which like, it came directly out after the Orange Bricks (which had the appeal of being super cheap), it came out during a economic recession, and it was like $80 a pop. I doubt Funimation would have done a re-release unless it did super well but that probably also prevented a Dragon Box release of the Z movies (we know Funi doesn't care about og Dragon Ball and only barely likes GT better)

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

But also apparently the Dragon Boxes didn't sell very well.

This pops up now and again, but has there ever been a source for this?

The Dragon Boxes were a Collector's Edition so by definition there was a limit to how many copies could be produced. As I've said, the fact there is not one brand new copy left in circulation means sales were at least what Funimation expected from the market it was aimed at (hardcore fans, Japanese enthusiasts, customers unhappy with orange bricks, etc).

I'd also suspect we wouldn't have got the level sets if the Dragon Boxes didn't sell well enough to justify yet another release of Dragon Ball Z while Kai was ongoing, which again likely sold fine given the circumstances.

Funimation also probably thought after launching the level sets there would be no reason to re-release the Dragon Boxes as they were done with the DVD format for Dragon Ball Z, aside from Rock the Dragon, which was likely ruled out for Blu-Ray as they only had tape masters for the Saban era material.

[MasenkoHA]

But also apparently the Dragon Boxes didn't sell very well.

This pops up now and again, but has there ever been a source for this?

https://youtu.be/YyqjJ-oeFO0?si=j0LBplBg-V89H_7z

Around the 22 minute mark former Funimation marketing director Lance Heiskell said they didn't perform.

I'd also suspect we wouldn't have got the level sets if the Dragon Boxes didn't sell well enough to justify yet another release of Dragon Ball Z while Kai was ongoing, which again likely sold fine given the circumstances.

The level sets existed to bring Dragon Ball Z to blu-ray format before they got dumped in favor of the season sets. It had nothing to do with the Dragon Boxes.

Funimation also probably thought after launching the level sets there would be no reason to re-release the Dragon Boxes as they were done with the DVD format for Dragon Ball Z, aside from Rock the Dragon, which was likely ruled out for Blu-Ray as they only had tape masters for the Saban era material.

They continued to reprint the Orange Bricks for years only recently letting them go out of print. Obviously the Bricks were for the mass market and Dragon Boxes were for the purist but I at least think if the Dragon Boxes sold well they would have eventually got a reprint or at least made way for a Dragon Box release of the Z movies.

And as much as we talk about it being a limited edition (including myself) I can't find anything stating that was the intent. Just that it was for hardcore fans. Given Lance's comment it seems like underperforming played a part (which again is understandable given the circumstances of when and how it was released Funimation all but set it up to not do so well)

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/2009/07/18/f ... at-otakon/

https://youtu.be/JWZ5uWY4ERM?si=eFbdoNInqKw6fja9

[TheGreatness25]

But also apparently the Dragon Boxes didn't sell very well.

This pops up now and again, but has there ever been a source for this?

Kombat
https://youtu.be/YyqjJ-oeFO0?si=j0LBplBg-V89H_7z

Around the 22 minute mark former Funimation marketing director Lance Heiskell said they didn't perform.

I'd also suspect we wouldn't have got the level sets if the Dragon Boxes didn't sell well enough to justify yet another release of Dragon Ball Z while Kai was ongoing, which again likely sold fine given the circumstances.

The level sets existed to bring Dragon Ball Z to blu-ray format before they got dumped in favor of the season sets. It had nothing to do with the Dragon Boxes.

Funimation also probably thought after launching the level sets there would be no reason to re-release the Dragon Boxes as they were done with the DVD format for Dragon Ball Z, aside from Rock the Dragon, which was likely ruled out for Blu-Ray as they only had tape masters for the Saban era material.

They continued to reprint the Orange Bricks for years only recently letting them go out of print. Obviously the Bricks were for the mass market and Dragon Boxes were for the purist but I at least think if the Dragon Boxes sold well they would have eventually got a reprint or at least made way for a Dragon Box release of the Z movies.

And as much as we talk about it being a limited edition (including myself) I can't find anything stating that was the intent. Just that it was for hardcore fans. Given Lance's comment it seems like underperforming played a part (which again is understandable given the circumstances of when and how it was released Funimation all but set it up to not do so well)

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/2009/07/18/f ... at-otakon/

https://youtu.be/JWZ5uWY4ERM?si=eFbdoNInqKw6fja9

Your post makes me wish we had like buttons on here. Great post!

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

https://youtu.be/YyqjJ-oeFO0?si=j0LBplBg-V89H_7z

Ah yes, I do remember that interview.

It's quite perplexing the Dragon Boxes weren't advertised as short supply, doing so probably would have made sense considering how little confidence Funimation clearly had in them (we know this since the dub, which would also have been a huge selling point was only a last minute addition).

[Jord]

Do current streaming services (outside of Japan) use the Dragon box masters then? Or do they use the weird, cropped later releases?

[Inkei9001]

Toei probably blocking them reusing the "Dragon Box" branding and like someone said above only allowed it for a limited set.

But why CR/Funi never do a re-release using the 4:3 DBox video masters isn't something I'd think Toei would be behind. Practically every other country uses DBox video masters. Maybe someone at funi just decided those masters won't work well for a standard release because they make the show look more dated than their remasters

Maybe hot take but I'd personally rather see a (limited edition) re-release of the old funimation singles as SD-BD so we can watch that original English broadcast master without the ugly compression of the original DVDs. Similar to the RTD set but SD-BD and whole show

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

FunimationNow did stream the Dragon Box masters, but only for the Japanese version and without NEPs.

Much like the 4:3 aspect ratio itself its like they treat the Dragon Box video as something of a premium product for the purists rather than a baseline or bare minimum.

Either way clearly there has been nothing stopping them from legally reproducing them. Whether there was a clause against how many discs Funimation could print with those video tracks is anyone's guess however.

Hell Funimation has always had the GT Dragon Box masters, the singles look basically identical and the green bricks only have slight DNR on top.

I'd love to see Crunchyroll experiment with SD-BD, it would be perfect for stuff like the Saban era content or any of the Canadian dubs but it probably won't happen, and only Discotek can do it well anyways.

[MasenkoHA]

Toei probably blocking them reusing the "Dragon Box" branding and like someone said above only allowed it for a limited set.

But didn't stop them from using the Dragon Box masters for the FuniNow and later the Crunchyroll stream. *shrug*

Toei likes money y'all. They probably didn't block them as much as likely charged a really expensive licensing fee.

Maybe hot take but I'd personally rather see a (limited edition) re-release of the old funimation singles as SD-BD so we can watch that original English broadcast master without the ugly compression of the original DVDs. Similar to the RTD set but SD-BD and whole show

Iirc thar was the original intent of Lance Heiskell (I think it's somewhere in that video linked earlier) or at the very least the edited version of those episodes. He wanted the show releasedas it aired on Cartoon Network with the Toonami bumpers and everything. Cartoon Network couldn't find the stuff in their archives and Funimation just did the Ocean era only (I guess so people don't start thinking the Saban/Ocean era and their in-house dub was one and the same dub just with a cast and composer change)

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Lance Heiskell's original plan was to have barebones volumes for Walmart with the original 276 episode version of Dragon Ball Z, as fans remembered from Toonami, but it was to be on DVD.

SD-BD is more of an enthusiast's product, hence you only see companies like Discotek avail of it.

[Inkei9001]

Iirc thar was the original intent of Lance Heiskell (I think it's somewhere in that video linked earlier) or at the very least the edited version of those episodes. He wanted the show releasedas it aired on Cartoon Network with the Toonami bumpers and everything. Cartoon Network couldn't find the stuff in their archives and Funimation just did the Ocean era only (I guess so people don't start thinking the Saban/Ocean era and their in-house dub was one and the same dub just with a cast and composer change)

A shame that didn't come to fruition.

Though I think even just the uncut version of ep 54-276 in Funi's old 4:3 after RTD set would've been cool. But I wonder if that also wasn't possible because of Funimation no longer having the masters or something. Some fans possess the original 1-inch type c master tapes Funimation made for their first 4:3 telecine (each ep having two tapes, uncut and broadcast edit), so would be a shame if Funi didn't have them losslessly digitized before losing them.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

It always came down to product saturation for me. Licensing costs, yes, but Funiroll is presently streaming the DBox masters so that must be something they're willing to eat. Japanese reverse-importing, particularly of nice foreign boxed sets, is always a fear, but that was mostly cut off by explicitly not makes the discs Region 2 coded. But a budget reprint of the Dragon Box discs? That would compete with the Orange Bricks, spurn all of the people who had just bought the Orange Bricks, require Funi to acknowledge why a second DVD release of the show so soon had any merit (which they cannot do, the Orange Bricks are the company's play money), and then there was that little Toei-made spanner in the works called Kai. It's a miracle we got them at all.