Ten Legacy Ed, a rip off? aka letter to the band

mandarine65

First, i'm really sorry to lower all the excitement provided by these beautiful news, but...
for the first time i'm getting angry at the band.
I've bought, like you all, many many stuff on this site and spent a lot of money. The Ten special edition seems awesome and i will probably buy it, but come on, 140 bucks!!! It's a hell lot of cash and i'm in Europe so it is a 50$ more, it is awfully expensive.
If i remember well, we had heard som "big bold and free" announcement a while a go, and i think it is the moment for Pearl Jam to show their fans they do not consider them as "vaches à laits" (french for milked cows!).
I know the band gives a lot of money for good causes but all this merchandising feels like the band is gettting away from its ethics toward its fans: for example:
Don't you think the battle against ticketmaster feels odd now when you see the ticket prices sold on this site,
Don't you think the Body of War movie should have been a free download instead of a paying DVD,
Don't you think a free download of the MTV Unplugged could have lowered the price of the Ten new edition?
Don't you think socks, onesies and all that stuff is really crapppppy for a band whose singer used to praise Fugazi, a band who never sold any Merchandising???
So, yeah i have the choice to buy or not, but i don't think it is the point, i think that if the band still have its ethics (i am sure they do), they should give us some love. After all, even Metallica finally gave a lot of live music for free.
Peal Jam, we love you, give us some love!

not for me

You don't have to buy it.

Vedderman51

when is everybody going to get over "big bold and free"? Sounds like all you want is free stuff. If you don't like it, don't buy the merch it's that simple. It isn't 1992 anymore buddy the times have changed

mandarine65

Have you both read my post?
I said buying or not, is obviously my personnal choice.
My point is that the band is drifting from its former ethics. Yes its not 1992, everything is more expensive and its harder, for any hardcore fan, to buy everything!!! A lot of major bands have gave albums or music for free, if radiohead can do it, pearl Jam can do it, not necessarally the same way, but they can! 140$ is worth twelve different albums worth of new music, therefore, asking for some live music or a dvd for free download, is not asking a lot!

tvismyfriend

Don't think it was the bands decision to set the price at $140. This is being released by Epic. So I'm guessing it's their marketing team gauging us for every penny we got.

Vedderman51

I will agree with you that the $50 shipping is pretty steep . But why do they have to give anything away for free? Do you feel like they owe you something because your "hardcore" fan? I am stoked on the re-release and I would pay $250 for this set. If you don't like the price or the item don't buy it. Quit being a Debbie Downer

PABLINHO

I would like to say that I´d probably buy the edition but I agree the price is quite high. I am living in Europe as well so it means a lot of money. But I have to say that it looks amaaaaazing!!!!

mandarine65

For free: because its internet, its free, it could be restricted to the tenclub members and it would be a great move towards the fans saying "hey we know you spend a lot for us, let us, for once, give you something you will not have to pay for".

A satellite forever orbiting

seems like a lot of people just don't even comprehend the costs required to put a box set like this together. if we saw their profit margin, i'm sure a lot of you would just stfu.

mandarine65

For free: because its internet, its easy, it could be restricted to the tenclub members and it would be a great move towards the fans saying "hey we know you spend a lot for us, let us, for once, give you something you will not have to pay for".

Julien

Looking at the price of a CD, DVD, or vinyl, I don't think $140 is too much, seeing what will be in the box

No_ones_rival

The Vote For Change movie was pretty big, not sure how bold, that would be up to the individual, but it was indeed FREE... so there ya have it. No more talk about not getting something big, bold, and free.

Vedderman51

mandarine65 wrote:

For free: because its internet, its easy, it could be restricted to the tenclub members and it would be a great move towards the fans saying "hey we know you spend a lot for us, let us, for once, give you something you will not have to pay for".

They just did this with the 2004 VFC documentary

mandarine65

mmh mmh, it was a streaming... but, if you guys are willing to spend another, lets say, 840$ for the other albums (minus avocado), without asking yourself: "hey maybe its a bit too much?" go on, i gotta eat first! What's wrong with getting something for free??

Vedderman51

your right it was streaming but it was still free. With all the extras your getting it is worth it to me. If you don't like it or can't afford it, don't buy it.

SomethingCreative

$140 FOR THIS PACKAGE IS NOT THAT MUCH MONEY. ITS NOT CHEAP, BUT ITS NOT OVER PRICED. SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

YOU PEOPLE WILL GLADLY DROP $140 BUCKS TO ENJOY A SHOW FOR 2 HRS BUT NOT FOR A BOX SET YOU CAN ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR LIFE? THIS BAND DOES NOT OWE YOU SHIT. STOP ACTING LIKE IT.

Vedderman51

SomethingCreative wrote:

$140 FOR THIS PACKAGE IS NOT THAT MUCH MONEY. ITS NOT CHEAP, BUT ITS NOT OVER PRICED. SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

YOU PEOPLE WILL GLADLY DROP $140 BUCKS TO ENJOY A SHOW FOR 2 HRS BUT NOT FOR A BOX SET YOU CAN ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR LIFE? THIS BAND DOES NOT OWE YOU SHIT. STOP ACTING LIKE IT.

AMEN BROTHA!

SolarWorld

mandarine65 wrote:

mmh mmh, it was a streaming... but, if you guys are willing to spend another, lets say, 840$ for the other albums (minus avocado), without asking yourself: "hey maybe its a bit too much?" go on, i gotta eat first! What's wrong with getting something for free??

Just because you want something doesn't mean you are entitled to it. Pearl Jam / Ten Club LLC is a business and everyone involved with this entity needs to eat and feed THEIR families. What's wrong with supporting the people that make "Pearl Jam" happen?

The cost of putting this together was brought up above. I'm going to guess you have never tried to build something and sell it at "retail". Their are a a lot of resources that are needed to put something like this together. Even if there was NO overhead whatsoever and everyone on the project worked for free to produce this mountain of product, you split $140 by 5 and don't exactly end up with a lot to go around.

Stop and think, you are not entitled to this and no matter how much you want it Pearl Jam LLC is not required to charge what would fit into your personal budget. But wait they did actually do that, aren't there 3 other options beside this one? Just saying.

mandarine65

Ok i will stop replying after that because some of you are becoming insulting and because you haven't read my posts or didn't even try to understand it (as a proof, most of you said "you are not forced to buy" even if i did already try to prevent these lines in my first post).
I never said 140 wasn't for the package i say it's a lot of money, and i've paid a lot of cash for pearl jam and will continue, but, besides WWS mp3 and few gifts from fan club contests, Pearl Jam have never gave free shows or videos for download, and i think they should do it, it would be a nice reward for the fans and a positive vibe. If "former" anti-napster" metallica did, they obviously can.
During the last year Pearl Jam.com/goods has become a music/shirts and shows only to a music/shirts/shows/expansive deluxe items and "whatever the hell i can put Pearl Jam name on it i will sell it" store... as you said, i'm not forced to buy and i don't want pearl jam socks or underwear (i may want a leather vitalogy G-string though) but i personnaly think it has become a bit ridiculous. Come on guys, if pearl Jam had sold Onesies or socks back in 1993 you would have bashed the band for being sell- outs!

Pinstrps

Well I think 140 is a pretty good price for what that special edition contains. I just saw how Motley Crue was selling a box set of 6 vinyl discs all boxed up nice for a whopping 500 bucks!
I'll gladly pay 140 for this set and hopefully I will be one of the lucky fans to get an autographed set!

Vedderman51

Go to the Metallica board then and praise them. Like the poster said above he band doesn't owe you shit. Get over yourself. There is a positive vibe around here with the excitement of the re-release. It's people like you being a troll that brings the negative vibe around the band. That's it for now..I'm off to buy some socks and perhaps a onesie for my first born

JaneNY

This is a nice collector's item for the hardcore. The writeup also said there would be 4 different releases and that this was the highest level super deluxe one. I'm trying to decide if I'll wait for one of the others. I am excited, but at the same time I don't do vinyl, and don't want that, so I might wait for one of the slightly lesser packages that hopefully would have most of the other things without the vinyl. What I'm most interested in is the good quality DVD of the 92 unplugged show.

Pearl Jam is a socially involved/active band; I'm sure their ability to donate plays in their mind when they run the operation as a business. Nothing wrong with that. No one has a 'right' to free stuff.

LoveBoatAdmiral

$140 isn't a rip off considering what you're getting, but think of how much money we will have spent on PJ in the next two years with a similar release of every studio album, plus what I can only guess will be a new album and at least 1 tour. Yea, I'll probably buy all that shit too, but damn thats a lot of money I could use to help my family or, gasp, charity. I can't believe, however, that some of you blindly side giant corporations re-releasing an album after 18 years and saying that they need to feed their families and they're not gonna make that much money. When did everyone become a corporate yes man when it comes to PJ? Is $140 a fair price? Probably. Is Epic gonna make a killing off of this (and every other album's) release? Oh Hell Yea.

mandarine65

Well, i thought evolution transformed the former "fan" into a more civilized form able to use his brain... guess i was wrong. WE CANNOT CRITICIZE THE BAND WE LIKE, DUH!!
I never said the band was forced to give us stuff for free i said it would be cool to do so from time to time and would prove us they do not consider us as milking cows!
enough said
PS
you can get some Pearl Jam baby talc, extra-size so you'll have enough for your butt too!

3crookedhearts

I like the fact that I can buy a PJ onesy for my daughter. Eddie has a daughter and she's probably wearing/wore a Fugazi onsesy. This band has been around nearly 20 years and what was cool to them in 1991 might not be so cool now. They still do more for their fans than 99% of other acts do. I'm sorry that shipping to Europe is so expensive, but it works the other way too. I think I've spent more than $1000 just on having precious UK/EU albums shipped to me from overseas, so understand that this frustration works both ways. I think in 2000, when Radiohead re-released OK Computer on vinyl, I spent 25 pounds on it ($50) plus 7 pounds for shipping ($14). That was for ONE RECORD!!!! You're getting four LPS 2 CDs and a DVD for $190! Also, looking back a Benaroya, I can almost guarantee that the DITP record alone will be selling for $200 + in a couple of years. In that sense to me, this package was a no-brainer. If they keep doing it, though, I will probably NOT buy the vs. one.

NeilJam

mandarine65 wrote:

First, i'm really sorry to lower all the excitement provided by these beautiful news, but...
for the first time i'm getting angry at the band.
I've bought, like you all, many many stuff on this site and spent a lot of money. The Ten special edition seems awesome and i will probably buy it, but come on, 140 bucks!!! It's a hell lot of cash and i'm in Europe so it is a 50$ more, it is awfully expensive.

It's too bad you have such a big shipping charge for this, otherwise I don't think $140 is too much for everything they are including with the Super Deluxe edition. If anyone who thinks it is too expensive can get one of the other versions of the re-release.

If i remember well, we had heard som "big bold and free" announcement a while a go, and i think it is the moment for Pearl Jam to show their fans they do not consider them as "vaches à laits" (french for milked cows!).
I know the band gives a lot of money for good causes but all this merchandising feels like the band is gettting away from its ethics toward its fans: for example:
Don't you think the battle against ticketmaster feels odd now when you see the ticket prices sold on this site,

Unfortunately they lost the fight with Ticketbastard years ago. They had to deal with them again starting with the 98 tour otherwise they could not find enough venues that didn't have exclusive deals with TB. They will have a chance to use someone else if they prefer once Live Nation and Ticketbastard split.

Don't you think the Body of War movie should have been a free download instead of a paying DVD,

Pearl Jam did not write or produce Body of War. They contributed a song to the soundtrack and did support it, but it is not their movie. If you wanted to see it for free you could have watched it on cable.

Don't you think a free download of the MTV Unplugged could have lowered the price of the Ten new edition?

I prefer having it as a DVD. I wouldn't want to have to download that. You'd also be forgetting about those who would not be able to download or burn it to DVD themselves. I will want to watch it on my TV, not my PC.

Don't you think socks, onesies and all that stuff is really crapppppy for a band whose singer used to praise Fugazi, a band who never sold any Merchandising???

I thought the socks were silly at first when I bought a pair on the Binaural tour. The first time I wore them I realized they were nice socks on their own. They never used cheap material for those.

As for the onesies, I think they are cool and plan to get one or two for my child on the way. Many people were asking for them to make onesies long before they finally did.

So, yeah i have the choice to buy or not, but i don't think it is the point, i think that if the band still have its ethics (i am sure they do), they should give us some love. After all, even Metallica finally gave a lot of live music for free.
Peal Jam, we love you, give us some love!

I think we get plenty of love from the band. And even though they aren't perfect the 10 Club is still the fan club that all other artists' official fan clubs are compared to. Nearly every article I've read on the subject mentions the 10 Club and says how great they are to us Pearl Jam fans.

surforia

This box set is not exactly going to be cheap to make either... Vinyl is expensive nowadays, and I'm sure the notebook is not going to be easy to recreate... As for shipping, this thing is going to be heavy, and they have to ship it across the fucking ocean... think about the gasoline expenses, alone... I actually think it's a reasonable deal...

EchosNobodyHears

the band needs to put out merchandise because people are always going to want material possessions that represent their band. You have the option not too buy and they need to cover costs of production but 55 dollars for a hoddie? they're made out of the same material as American Eagle and theirs are about 30 bux and their making a profit off that. Pearl Jam's profit margin, if they are who they say they are, should be very small making their products affordable. not many of them on here are when you look at what your getting. am i still going to buy the super delux? yes. but it would be nicer if prices were lower. if they show me they have to sell shirts for 35 dollars to make a profit i will never argue for cheaper prices, but my guess is they have a very high gross margin at the end of the year.

Bulldog88

mandarine65 wrote:

So, yeah i have the choice to buy or not, but i don't think it is the point, i think that if the band still have its ethics (i am sure they do), they should give us some love. After all, even Metallica finally gave a lot of live music for free.
Peal Jam, we love you, give us some love!

I, for one, think we get plenty of love from the band..totally satisfied here.

IAmMyself

I am so grateful for PJ, 10c, and the amazing set they are putting out. I can't wait for the next couple of years, it's going to be so exciting! Thank you X's 1 million.

mhterrapin

Buy it or not, I don't see the point in attacking every person who is hesitant about the price, merchandise in general or the direction of the re-releases. There have been a few threads like this already and every single poster has had to listen to the same responses instead of just a conversation of ideas. We're all fans here.