So do people still dislike Wade Williams? in '50s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

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So do people still dislike Wade Williams?

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Rakshasa	Re: So do people still dislike Wade Williams?	#101	[-]
Jul 1 06 4:13 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* Those were the days when you went into a video store and everything was in glass display cases, locked, like it was a jewelry store or something. When you wanted something, the guy went and got the key. Absolutely! I totally remember the videos being encased like bricks of gold.
Renfield	Re: So do people still dislike Wade Williams?	#102	[-]
Jul 2 06 3:52 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	In terms of weight, they weren't too far from the price of gold back then. Joe "Renfield" Meadows HORROR-WOOD Webzine http://www.horror-wood.com
Carl Eyesnheart	video	#103	[-]
Jul 3 06 9:34 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I remember one of the first videos I wanted to buy was DAWN OF THE DEAD. There used to be a video rental place in the middle of our mall. It was just a square booth that had the movies in a the cases, kind of like how you see the cell phone sellers set up now days. But they had DOTD there. They were rental flicks, and when I told them I wanted to actually buy DOTD I really threw them for a loop. They checked on it, and told me it would cost me around $110, all things considering tax included. I walked away. My parents bought my sister the video for The Police. I think it was called AROUND THE WORLD or something. It was for the "Syncronicity" tour. It cost them $80 I think. Then one day, I decided I want to buy some Godzilla flicks. This was around '86 or '87. So I went into Montogomery Wards, and there were a ton of them...all priced at $10. I have no idea when it all changed, or how it all changed. I didn't argue. I just pulled out a check book and bught them up.
TomWeaver999	Re: video	#104	[-]
Jul 3 06 9:46 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	$110 a tape, $80 a tape -- Lordy, Wade's stuff was cheap!
The Drunken Severed Head	Williams and licensing	#105	[-]
Jul 3 06 10:43 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wanted to add a bit of trivia here: I was in the cast of the first (I believe) stage production of GLEN OR GLENDA (I played Lugosi, though I look nothing like him.) It was done in St. Louis, MO, where I lived at the time, by an arm of the St. Louis Shakespeare Company called "The Magic Smoking Theater Company". Anyway, the play had to be licensed from Wade Williams, (or at least the director and producer thought it did) though I don't believe he even provided a script; the producer and director created one based on watching the film over and over again. I've always wondered if Mr. Williams really had a legit claim on the film. Max
Gary Rhodes	wade and prices	#106	[-]
Jul 3 06 3:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wade's stuff was definitely cheaper than most of those releases at the time. DRACULA was retailing for 79.95 in 1985. A pal of mine tried to copy a rental version, because at 12 years old I definitely couldn't afford that kind of price. The damn thing had an early form of copyguard, and my pal, may he rest in peace, was so cool that he set up a Beta camcorder and filmed it off the TV. I remember that people in THE BIG REEL were selling crappy dupes of Lugosi films for $45 apiece. When I got one for Christmas of 85, the film had the occasional call letters of a station in either Tennessee or Kentucky. And then there was a pseudo-legit company in Tulsa called United that was pushing THE APE MAN and other public domain horrors for $60 apiece. Judged by all of that, Wade's stuff wasn't outta line at all price-wise. All of it was far too expensive for me at that point as a pre-teen, though, which made me quickly learn the value of dubbing cables.
Renfield	Re: wade and prices	#107	[-]
Jul 3 06 3:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* I was in the cast of the first (I believe) stage production of GLEN OR GLENDA (I played Lugosi, though I look nothing like him.) In that case, you'd be eminently qualified to play the part of Lugosi in the stage production of Plan Nine from Outer Space. Joe "Renfield" Meadows HORROR-WOOD Webzine http://www.horror-wood.com
rvoyttbots	Re: Video Tapes	#108	[-]
Jul 4 06 10:57 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* I think the Republic serials were $129 each (on two tapes) Wow, and I thought paying $40 for a two tape set of THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL was expensive. This was around 1990. Hmm, I wonder if WW is related to Howard Rogofsky? Entertaining thread, BTW.
BijouBob8mm	Re: Video Tapes	#109	[-]
Jul 5 06 9:24 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wow--I thought I was only paying around $24 for a two tape serial from Republic by 1990. (Although I seem to recall Waner Bros. had a hefty price on each of the Superman serials for several years.)
CAPTAINCOMPANY	Re: Video Tapes	#110	[-]
Jul 5 06 1:44 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hey guys! I know it sounds heartless now, but back in the mid to late '80's I used to troll around my neighboring towns hoping to stumble upon "Mom n' Pop" video rental stores that were in the process of going "belly-up" so I could buy the inventories they were looking to liquidate before the final day of business. I was actually quite successful, picking up many titles that would have cost $59.95 to 99.95 retail for only $10-15 dollars a tape. I guess I was a "Vhs vulture"...
SAM33	Re: Video Tapes	#111	[-]
Jul 6 06 1:39 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* Hmm, I wonder if WW is related to Howard Rogofsky? I don't have any firsthand knowledge of Mr. Williams, I've heard some secondhand stories is all, but knowing more than a few film collectors from the "old" days, I'd say some would wonder if he's related to Raymond Rohauer! SAM33
Rakshasa	Re: Video Tapes	#112	[-]
Jul 30 07 2:54 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thought this might help with the Invaders From Mars question. BUMP
TomWeaver999	Re: Video Tapes	#113	[-]
Jul 30 07 3:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks, Rak -- it was great re-living this "Wade Williams -- Beloved Pioneer" thread. "Wade -- you arrrre ... av-VENGED!!!"
pinkfloyd95209	Re: Video Tapes	#114	[-]
Jul 30 07 4:11 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks Rak! It brought back memories. In 1985, I bought the cheapest VCR that "The Federated Group"(remember them?) had which was a no brand 2 head VCR with "WIRED REMOTE" for $199.99 plus tax. Yes, you read that right, It was a wired vcr remote control, not wireless. My first vhs video that i bought was a used copy of "Dawn Of The Dead" (Thorn-EMI) for $69.95 plus tax at the "Video Concepts" store at the mall. At that time, prerecorded vhs tapes cost between $39.95 to a little over $100 depending on the title. In 1985, there were the cheap public domain vhs tapes (Goodtimes, Congress, Video Treasures) that were only $19.95 but were recorded in SLP. I bought both "Night Of The Living Dead" and "Alice Sweet Alice" but they were unwatchable due to the tracking problems. Wow, those were the days. Now you can get a complete Dawn Of The Dead Box Set from Anchor Bay for around $30.
LCranston	Re: Video Tapes	#115	[-]
Jul 30 07 4:34 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wow. I just read through this entire thread--so much for being productive at work--and there's some interesting debate going on here. I reaaaaallllllllyyyyyy shouldn't ask this, for fear of stirring up the beehive, but here goes: Were Wade's prices at the time based on the fact that his titles were, in fact, public domain (although he claimed ownership)? The other titles people have mentioned ('Police' concerts, Dracula, Superman II) were studio-owned, and therefore subject to rights clearances, which might have increased those prices? If, in fact, Wade was a "pioneer", did he set the bar as far as prices were concerned? Did the other companies base their prices off this early run of titles? If he had not been the first, would he have released his titles at the same prices the other companies were? The first VCR my family got back in the day was a BetaMax. My dad had read all the magazines and decided that it was technologically superior to VHS. Our first computer was a Commodore 64, so my dad had an impeccable track record. Our first two movies (rented when there was a yearly membership fee) were Star Trek II and The Life of Brian. "I live the unknown, I love the unknown... I AM the unknown."
TomWeaver999	Re: Video Tapes	#116	[-]
Jul 30 07 4:54 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<< If, in fact, Wade was a "pioneer", did he set the bar as far as prices were concerned? << I don't know if his releases were early enough, or "influential" enough, to help set the bar. But at 50-something bucks, they were in line with what other places, like Blackhawk and Nostalgia Merchant, were charging for old movies. My memory tells me that Allied Artists movies, like FRANKENSTEIN 1970 and CRAB MONSTERS, were $70 at that same time; and, as we've discussed, newish movies from major studios were $80-ish. And Wade's VHSes had extras (lots of trailers) -- bless his pioneering, altruistic heart! ; )
BijouBob8mm	Re: Video Tapes	#117	[-]
Aug 2 07 8:29 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Posted this in the DVD section, but thought it might bear repeating here: Legend has just released a colorized DVD of MISSLE TO THE MOON (although Amazon still only lists the Wade Williams/Image disk). It has the usual B&W and colorized versions, with vintage toy commercials and sci-fi trailers, etc. among the bonus features. But, given the disappointing prints used in Legend's KILLER SHREWS/GIANT GILA MONSTER release of a couple of weeks back, I held off getting this until I hear more about it. Anyone seen this and care to share a review?
Rakshasa		#118	[-]
Nov 18 09 10:13 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Bringing up this thread for a Wade Williams question posted in another thread. Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758
Chesterbelloc		#119	[-]
Nov 19 09 1:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Looking back over this thread, I have to laugh when I see people talking about how expensive home video was back in its infancy. My family was very middle class; both my parents worked, and neither made very much money. They had to pay the mortgage on their house, paid tuition for two kids going to Catholic school, and other expenses. And yet they were able to afford a VHS recorder/player in 1981, and we had several video stores in the area where you could rent any type or genre of movie(it helped that we had Movies Unlimited in Philly, but Video Village and Sound Odyssey also rented older classic films, including serials). Also, the oldies were constantly being broadcast on local television, and I was able to have a nice little collection that included the Universal horrors and other classic films, just for the price of a blank tape. My first job out of high school in '84 only paid 4 bucks an hour, but I was able to scrape enough money together to buy the occasional film like SUPERMAN THE MOVIE for something like 70 bucks. As Tom said earlier in this thread, if you love this stuff, you made sure you were able to afford it. EDIT: I didn't mean this post to be insensitive to those with financial troubles today in our current economy. It was just a commentary on the "we couldn't afford to rent movies" and "few people had VCR's in those days" that I found amusing. Check out my movie collection at: http://www.dvdaf.com/search.html?where=larryw7&init_form=where_0_larryw7*mode_more Last Edited By: Chesterbelloc Nov 19 09 5:05 PM. Edited 2 times.
TomWeaver999		#120	[-]
Nov 19 09 6:56 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	>> My first job out of high school in '84 only paid 4 bucks an hour << At Audio Brandon (a 16mm film rental place) in the late '70s, when I was 19 or 20 years old, I betcha I was making even less an hour than that. And still I found a way to buy Wade Williams movies, Nostalgia Merchant serials, etc. "If you loved this stuff, you found a way" -- indeed. Last Edited By: TomWeaver999 Nov 19 09 7:27 PM. Edited 1 times.

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So do people still dislike Wade Williams?