Well, the official announcement came down from BCI Eclipse about the release of the first volume of the Bravestarr cartoon series. They had previously released a small best-of set which, like the Best-Of She-Ra set, came with the theatrical film as well as five of the fan favorite episodes.
This though, is the set that I am really looking forward to as it will contain the first 33 episodes over four discs, and considering the company releasing this, I expect the set to be pretty tight and beautiful. Honestly, for my money BCI really is the tops as far as quality and keeping the fans in mind. Between the amazing job they did (with the help of fans) on the Masters of the Universe series (right through to the New Adventures of He-Man, a show that was practically ignored in it’s first run), and then on the Dungeons and Dragons set, not to mention practically the rest of the Filmation library of action cartoons, I can’t think of another company even coming close to them. There are a lot of other great companies out there, but as far as consistency, price, packaging and extras go there isn’t much to brag about. Shout Factory put out some nice Punky Brewster sets (that have sprinkled the cartoon episodes over the discs), but their DiC titles like Inspector Gadget, Heathcliff and the C.O.P.S. show have been only alright (they have decent MSRP’s, but there are no extras and are packaged in pretty flimsy cases.) Warner Brothers put out some decent Thundercats sets, but they have ridiculous MSRP’s ($60!, which makes one wonder if this is because of the silly lenticular cover enhancements), and have little to no extras. Don’t even get me started on the Rhino’s handling of the Sunbow cartoons, with their extremely high price points, pointless extras, and lazy unfinished release schedule. I know I sound like a walking billboard for BCI, but I can’t help it, I’ve been amazed at every turn. I sort of which they could get a hold of the Sunbow shows and give them the treatment they gave the Filmation library.
Anyway, this rant is so off topic. The first volume of Bravestarr will hit shelves on November 20th, and is priced at around $40 (though if you pre-order it on Amazon now you can snag it for $28.) There’s one more volume, which will wrap up the remainder of the series that is supposed to come out in 2008. I think I might end up hitting this show on my Cartoon Commentary! column after I’ve finished Galaxy High and the remainder of the Dungeons and Dragons episodes…
