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The ‘Buddies’ Bring the Love

Walmart's 'Treasure Buddies' Gift Set

Several retailers offered the same promotion related to the new direct-to-video Treasure Buddies movie from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

Consumers who picked up the Blu-ray of Treasure Buddies along with the Blu-ray of an earlier “Buddies” movie, Snow Buddies, could save $8 off the total purchase price. The Snow Buddies Blu-ray was offered at $19.99 at both Best Buy and Target.

Walmart offered the Treasure Buddies Blu-ray combo as part of a travel journal adventure kit with a map, stickers and more.

Otherwise, promotional opportunities were relatively light. Best Buy promoted several deals in its weekly ad circular, such as a selection of Blu-rays at $19.99 each or two for $30, and a “Blu-ray on a Budget” selection at $9.99 each. Best Buy also had a selection of TV DVD season sets at $9.99 each, and 30% to 40% off TV DVD gift sets and complete series.

In time for Valentine’s Day, Best Buy offers select Disney films at $12.99 each, in pink sleeves with a special Valentine’s Day kit.

Real Deals for ‘Real Steel’

Shoppers looking to pick up Disney’s new robot boxing flick, Real Steel, had a few options once it hit shelves Jan. 24.

Best Buy advertised a $5 coupon that could be used on the three-disc Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo pack, bringing the price down the $22.99. The coupon was available at RealSteelCoupon.com/BestBuy through Jan. 29.

Target had a different kind of Real Steel deal, offering a $5 discount off the joint purchase of any Real Steel Blu-ray and a $7.49 Real Steel action figure.

Other promotions focused on Paramount’s Paranormal Activity 3. Best Buy offered the first two films on DVD for $4.99 each and on Blu-ray for $9.99 each.

Target offered a $5 instant savings with the joint purchase of Paranormal Activity 3 with either of the first two films.

Giving Disney a 3D Bounce

As the 3D version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast hits theaters, Best Buy is reminding customers that the film is already available on disc.

The chain’s weekly ad circular touts the 3D Blu-ray version of Beauty and the Beast, as well as other Disney 3D Blu-rays, such as Cars 2, The Lion King and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, all for $29.99 each. Consumers taking advantage of Best Buy’s Upgrade & Save DVD trade-in program can use their $5 coupon to bring the price down to $24.99 each.

Otherwise, the new-release week of Jan. 17 was relatively light. The only notable retailer exclusives came with Sony Picture’s new faith-based film Courageous. Target’s Blu-ray offered three exclusive song downloads from the soundtrack, while Walmart offered a DVD of the film packed with the book The Resolution for Men.

Curiously, the Best Buy circular advertised Summit’s 50/50 as being available, even though it comes out a week later, on Jan. 24.
 

Deals on the ‘Boardwalk’

Best Buy once again is touting its “Upgrade and Save” program that lets customers trade a used DVD in its original case for a $5 coupon that can be applied toward the purchase of any Blu-ray priced at $9.99 or more.

The program was heavily promoted in Best Buy’s weekly ad circular, with the coupon-discounted price printed next to all the new-release Blu-rays for Jan. 10. In some cases, this brought the Blu-ray price below that of the DVD version of the same film.

Best Buy’s other big promotion for the week focused on season one discs of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.” The chain has an exclusive bonus disc with two historical featurettes and the first episode of the second season, and all purchases of HBO series include a “Game of Thrones” sampler disc. Best Buy also has a “Boardwalk Empire” deck of playing cards for $3.99.

Target’s version of the “Boardwalk Empire” set includes an exclusive set of six postcards featuring imagery from the show.

Target also offered $5 instant savings when the Blu-rays of Killer Elite and Scorpion King 3 were bought together.

Walmart offered a Blu-ray copy of Moneyball with an exclusive bonus disc featuring an episode of MLB Network's "Studio 42 With Bob Costas" devoted to the movie.

Plenty of New-Year Savings

The arrival of the new year means retailers are clearing out their shelves with bargains on DVDs and Blu-rays, and some good news for those looking to shed the holiday pounds.

Target offered a selection of fitness DVDs at $9 each, while Best Buy had fitness DVDs at $7.99 each.

Best Buy offered a one-day sale on New Year’s Day, with Blu-ray combo packs of Transformers: Dark of the Moon and X-Men: First Class at $9.99 each, and Smallville: The Complete Series at $189.99.

Fans of “Justified” could get a free T-shirt with the show’s logo at Best Buy with the purchase of the season two DVD ($19.99) or Blu-ray ($24.99), and a $10 savings when both seasons of the show are purchased together.

Target’s big sale focused on a $15 price point for TV DVD sets or a selection of recent Blu-ray releases Marley & Me: The Puppy Years expanded beyond a Walmart exclusive, with Best Buy offering the direct-to-video spinoff at $4.99 for the DVD and $7.99 for the Blu-ray, while Target had the DVD at $9.

Christmas Discounts Galore

Shoppers looking for DVDs and Blu-rays as late Christmas gift ideas were given plenty of discount options at the major retailers.

At Best Buy shoppers could get a $10 discount with the purchase of the new Futurama Vol. 6 (DVD $19.99, BD $27.99) with any previous “Futurama” volume. Best Buy also offered a $10 movie coupon for Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol with Blu-ray copies of the earlier movies, $9.99 each or $19.99 for a trilogy pack. TV DVD buyers could get 50% off any HBO series or miniseries and a $10 gift card with the purchase of three or more, as well as 10% to 50% off movie and TV gift sets. Best Buy offered free shipping on everything at its BestBuy.com online store.

Target offered a $5 savings when new releases Colombiana and Straw Dogs, both from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, were purchased together ($14.99 DVD, $19.99 BD each).

In addition, Target had DVD and Blu-ray singles for as low as $4.75 each, a selection of holiday DVDs (Shrek the Halls, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, etc.) for $7.99 each, and movie DVD four-packs for $8.99 each.

Pumping Up the 'Panda'

As is typical for a new animated family film, Kung Fu Panda 2 received the bulk of the retail-exclusive tie-ins.

Best Buy offered free Po panda plush dolls with the purchase of the Kung Fu Panda 2 double-DVD pack, Blu-ray or 3D Blu-ray. The 3D version is exclusive to Best Buy, which offers a $5 coupon for it at www.BestBuy.com/KungFuPanda2.

Walmart has an exclusive single-disc Blu-ray edition of Kung Fu Panda 2, which it was selling for $19.96.

Another curiosity popped up in Target’s weekly ad circular, which didn’t bother to list the DVD-only price for Fright Night, focusing instead on the Blu-ray and 3D combo pack versions.

Best Buy also has a variety of holiday shopping specials related to disc, such two Blu-ray combo packs of select recently released films for $40; “Blu-ray on a Budget” catalog titles at $7.99 each; and $10 in movie cash to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked included in $14.99 copies of earlier “Chipmunks” Blu-rays or Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Smurfing With Benefits

Target's Smurfette packaging

Target used its weekly ad circular to tout the Friday, Dec. 2, arrivals of The Smurfs and Friends With Benefits, and even has the Smurfs Blu-ray/DVD combo in exclusive Smurfette packaging at $19.99. The DVD is offered at $16.99, and the 3D version is $24.99. Friends With Benefits is offered at $16.99 on DVD, $19.99 on Blu-ray and $24.99 for a Blu-ray/DVD combo with an exclusive bonus disc.

Best Buy didn’t advertise any exclusives with the Friday titles, but offered Smurfs at  $16.99 for the DVD, $22.99 for the combo pack and $27.99 for the 3D version, and had Friends With Benefits at $17.99 on DVD and $24.99 on Blu-ray.

The big promotion at Best Buy centered on the finale of “Smallville,” with a Daily Planet T-shirt offered with copies of the season 10 DVD and Blu-ray sets, and a Clark Kent action figure with the complete-series DVD boxed set.

Best Buy also offers a $10 gift card with $50 in Blu-ray purchases or a $20 gift card with $100 in Blu-ray purchases, $12 movie cash for the new The Muppets movie with select Muppet-brand DVDs, as well as 20% to 50% off select TV DVD complete-series sets.

‘Potter,’ ‘Twilight’ Enchant Retailers

Walmart’s “Potter” exclusive involved $13 Blu-ray two-packs of the earlier films.

Target offered DVD deals in $5 and $13 categories, select Blu-rays with $10 gift cards, and a “Twilight” endcap centered on an $11.99 “Vampire’s Fiancée” T-shirt.

Also new this week are the DVD-only versions of The Lion King: Diamond Edition and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, offered at $16.99 each at Best Buy, $14.96 each at Walmart and $17.99 each at Target.

Vivendi Celebrates Laurel & Hardy

Vivendi Entertainment and RHI Entertainment have released Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection, a 10-DVD set of 58 of the comedy duo’s talking shorts and feature films produced under movie mogul Hal Roach from 1929 through 1940.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy first appeared together in 1921, but did not form their legendary partnership until joining the Roach studio in 1926. They would perform together until 1955.

The $99.98 set includes such favorites as Helpmates, Hog Wild, Another Fine Mess, Sons of the Desert, Way Out West and Academy Award winner The Music Box. Though presented on DVD, the films have been remastered in high-definition. This is the first time many of these films have been collected into a single set.

The discs come in book-style packaging with a detailed film guide and more than two hours of extras, including never-before-seen interviews with comedy legends Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Lewis, Tim Conway and more, who discuss the impact and influence of Laurel & Hardy. Additional extras include commentaries by Laurel & Hardy aficionados and a map of Los Angeles locations where the duo filmed their movies.

“Boasting a staggering amount of films and over two hours of bonus features, Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection is not only a must-have for classic film aficionados, but also enables the duo’s comedic legacy to be shared with a whole new generation of fans,” said Mitch Budin, EVP and GM of Vivendi Entertainment. “We are thrilled to be the distributor of these films, and offer the best viewing experience available to date on DVD and digital, debuting a set that brings these amazing films together for the first time in the U.S. in one magnificent collection.”