Shout Factory releasing Transformers & G.I. Joe

[Nirvana]

Shout Factory are going to re-release Transformers and G.I. Joe back into the market after the Rhino releases disappeared years ago (starting some of the most insane prices on eBay for each set.) I managed to grab all of Transformers before they vanished, but missed G.I. Joe because I was waiting for Rhino to finish releasing the sets before I started. Little did anyone know that Rhino would lose the license for both series before G.I. Joe was finished.

Transformers news.

We reported a week ago that word had begun to leak out to retailers about a June 16th street date for The Transformers - The Complete 1st Season: 25th Anniversary Edition on DVD, bringing a long-awaited re-release of the first 16 half-hours of the original (and legendary) "G1" series. Retailers knew the title of this 3-disc set, and the pricing ($29.98 SRP), but there was some confusion as to which studio would be releasing it. Walmart.com said "UMVD" (Universal Music Video Distribution), which is another name for Vivendi Entertainment...a distribution company best known for getting DVDs into the retail channel on behalf of Shout! Factory. But Shout! would neither confirm or deny anything regarding this title, when asked. Or ANY titles related to Hasbro or the Sunbow library, for that matter.

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G.I. Joe news.

This morning Shout!'s distributor, Vivendi Entertainment, made info available to retailers that G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero: Season 1, Part 1 is going to be available as a 4-DVD set, running approximately 700 minutes, starting on July 21st. That's a wee bit after the 4th of July celebration, but a better schedule for tying it in with the new film. Video will be full frame, and audio in English, but no other specs or pricing info is available yet. Nor is package art, but stay tuned for that.

As for bonus material: well, let's just say that the info provided to retailers makes it look like Shout! has some VERY ambitious plans for the extras on this collection (as they do for Transformers, of course). However, it's very clear that nothing mentioned there is actually set in stone thus far. So, rather than get fans' hopes up, we would rather hold off discussing it here, and let the studio continue to work on finalizing their plans for the supplements on these DVDs. We doubt anyone will be disappointed, though! Stay tuned for updates.

[YellerDog]

This on "Hulu" yet?

[bbobb]

How bout putting this stuff on Blu-Ray with more eps on a disc?

[YellerDog]

Remastering costs $$$$, just throwing the pre-existing video files on DVDs that say "SHOUT" at boot up does not.

[Melf]

Finally! I've been wanting Transformers forever, and now it will be mine.

[Timber]

I'm glad I sold off my G.I. Joe DVDs recently. I had a feeling these were going to get re-released around whenever the movie comes out.

[edit]

And in ever bigger news Shout Factory released Mr. Belvedere: Seasons 1 & 2 this week!

[JM]

The capacity you guys have for nostalgia is fucking amazing. This stuff is trash better left in my fond memories. I cannot help but apply a critical eye to it when I see it now and I see it for what it always was. Poop. I'd rather remember it through the eyes of a child and have it stay amazing.

[CouryC]

We are doing the audio remastering and the lay back to digi-beta for this where I work. If I have some downtime, I like to pop in and watch a few episodes here and there.

[Fe 26]

awesome to hear Mezz. thats sounds like a fun job.

JM, quit being a fag. it was just a cartoon then, and just a cartoon now. Some of it was ok, some of it was crap. get over it.

[Dolemite]

Here's an exclusive clip from the new G.I. Joe DVD set. Looks good, but the audio seems weird...