By Paul Rudoff on Oct. 15, 2009 at 11:37 PM , Categories: Spook Central, Home Video

I just purchased the newly-released Ghostbusters 1 & 2 DVD Limited Edition Gift Set. It should be noted that I didn't purchase it for the DVDs, which is the 2005 Double Feature Gift Set (complete with movie scrapbook). I bought it for the bundled Stay Puft statue and set of exclusive trading cards. Now this isn't going to be a complete unboxing, per se, but rather a short lead in to a new Limited Edition Gift Set details page I just created. With that in mind, here's the quick unboxing. Oh, yeah, you can click on the thumbnails to view the larger images.

The box, still sealed. There's Stay Puft looking right at us (from behind the camera flash glare). The sticker on the front advertising "a FREE $25 gift card inside" took me by complete surprise as it was never advertised previously that one would be inside. When I first saw this, my mind wandered with anticipation as to what store it would be for. My first thought was the Sony online store, but it would actually be for a different online store...but more on the gift card later.

The top of the box opens from the back, so here we are looking down towards the front. On the left is the sealed 2005 Double Feature Gift Set, which you can see from a window on the outside. Right behind that, taped to the other side of the plastic, is the gift card. Front and center in the middle is Stay Puft. On the right is the sealed tub of slime, which peeks out from a window on that side (seen in the image below). You can't see it in the photo, but wedged in between the slime and the plastic behind it is the sealed set of six trading cards.

And what does everything look like when you take it out of the box? Well, like this:

(click the image to go to the new Limited Edition Gift Set page)

The free $25 gift card included in the box is for use on select items on the Sideshow Collectibles website. The gift card expires on December 31, 2009, which is two and a half months from now. So if you want to make use of it, you shouldn't put off buying the gift set for too much longer. Sadly, the gift card is not as good of a deal as it seems. You can't buy any item on the site with the card; you're limited to a small selection of items. Of those items, most are well over $25. Also, the gift card will not cover shipping, only the item price. On the Sideshow Collectibles website you can check your giftcard value/balance, and see all of the gift card-eligible items (all of the tiny icons on the right). For your benefit, here's a list of every item currently on the list priced under $30:

$04.95 - Sideshow Collectibles 12 inch Figure Stand (might be good with Mattel's 12" GB figs)
$09.95 - Indiana Jones 2-Decks of Playing Cards in Collectors Tin
$10.00 - Sideshow Collectibles' Catalog Volume 10 (Hard Bound Book with $10 Gift Card inside)
$12.99 - The Dead T-Shirt
$12.99 - Indyfans and the Quest for Fortune and Glory DVD
$19.99 - Chucky Plush Doll (available in Europe only)
$29.95 - The Art & Making of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Book)
$29.99 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit Opening Title Porcelain Statue

[UPDATE - 10/20/2009]
I've found that there are a few items not listed on the Gift Card page that are probably eligible for purchase with the gift card:

$10.00 - Black Essential Gear T-Shirt- SSC.com Arched
$10.00 - Black Essential Gear T-Shirt - Collect for Life
$10.00 - Black Essential Gear T-Shirt - SSC.com Seal
$10.00 - Black Essential Gear T-Shirt - Skull and Crossbones [PERSONALLY CONFIRMED AS GIFT CARD ELIGIBLE]
$10.00 - Black Essential Gear T-Shirt - Robot Logo: Black
$10.00 - Youth Robot Logo Shirt: Blue
$10.00 - Youth Robot Logo Shirt: Red
$10.00 - Black Essentials Gear T-Shirt - Distressed Logo
$20.00 - Storm Sideline Polar Zip - SSC.com 'Skull' Logo
$25.00 - Black Ultimate Flex Polo - SSC.com Logo

It should also be noted that you're forced to create an account in order to make a purchase, and you're forced to give them your credit card number (they only accept credit cards) in order to get far enough in the checkout process to see your shipping fee. However, the shipping cost you see when you check out is just an estimate and is NOT A COMPLETELY ACCURATE AMOUNT. You won't know the actual shipping amount until you get the "final invoice" e-mail a day or two later. Even after you get the "final invoice" e-mail, the order details listed in your account on the website won't have been updated to reflect the new amount. I've been told by Sideshow customer support that the "shipping amount you are charged are exactly what it costs to ship the package, we can not offer an exact cost until a final invoice is generated."

Besides not being given the correct shipping amount until AFTER you've placed your order, there's something else that you need to be aware of. When they process your order, they will submit a pre-authorization to your credit card in the amount of the order and a shipping estimate which is generally higher than what the shipping will actually cost you. In my case, the pre-auth amount was $15.00, and the actual shipping cost I was charged was $8.56 (I paid nothing for the two items as the gift card covered them), even though during checkout I was quoted $7.86 for shipping ($0.70 less). I was enraged when I saw the $15 pre-auth, since that's double the amount I was quoted during checkout. As it is, I'm a little miffed that they billed me for more than I was quoted during checkout, but it's not worth making a big deal out of a mere seventy cents.

Now that I've used my gift card and went through all this trouble, you have the knowledge that I didn't have, which should help you decide (should you buy the set), if it's worth the hassle for you to use the gift card.

5 comments

Comment from: Jonathan [Visitor]

Wow, now I’m actually considering buying this! I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have two versions of GHOSTBUSTERS, although GHOSTBUSTERS II I haven’t re-obtained since the last time I pawned it, so, since that film isn’t even deserving of the same kind of respect, and I’m not really picky about video quality, I guess that can be my source of GBII…thanx for posting this!

Oct. 16, 2009 @ 00:43

Comment from: Lanny D. Crepit [aka "Ectofiend"] [Visitor]

Utterly not impressed…Cards use the same stock imagery seen over and over [and some I believe used on the previous “Fright Flicks” cards as well], the Dvd’s are the 2005 inferior versions, the giftcard is a cop-out, and Mr. Stay Puft looks abominable…The only thing that looks even remotely appealing is the Ectoplasm, and honestly that can be had out of a vending machine for .25…

That being said, I might get this off eBay in like a year or so when the price plummets, as I’m just that much of a completist…

Oct. 17, 2009 @ 02:59

Comment from: G. [Visitor]

sooo with a sideshow gift card included…does this mean Sideshow has the [licensing] rights for Ghostbusters??? that would be awesome!! I checked their newsletter and from Oct22-31st they will be revealing new products, could GB be one? i friggin Hope!

Oct. 18, 2009 @ 16:10

Comment from: Jonathan [Visitor]

Overall, I don’t think the stay puft statuette looks that bad. looks like he could use some sleep and his legs are a bit too straight and narrow, but overall, for $30, it’s not bad considering what all else you get with it. Of course SONY is making a killing off the set at that price, considering how easy it was to make most of the stuff, but, ya know, that’s their job, right?

Oct. 19, 2009 @ 08:12

Comment from: [Member]

Lanny, I feel pretty much the same as you. I can only hope that Sony is truly going to make this a LIMITED edition, like the item name says, so the statue might be worth something many years from now.

Yes, the cards use the same stock imagery we’ve seen over and over, and yes, three of the six were used on Topps’ “Fright Flicks” cards. This wouldn’t be so bad if Sony made a whole set of 88 or 100 cards for the entire movie - surely the cards must be really cheap to produce - but since they made the same amount of cards as Topps, it makes the re-use of the imagery that much more worse.

G., I don’t think Sideshow has the licensing rights for Ghostbusters, or we surely would have heard about it by now. They were probably commissioned by Sony just to do the Stay Puft statue.

Jonathan, yeah Stay Puft isn’t exactly movie accurate, but I suppose he could look worse.

Oct. 28, 2009 @ 03:54