On Blu-ray Collecting: A Glimmer of Hope in the Continuing Saga of Late Pre-Orders

For those of you who are following the continuing saga of Perpetually Delayed Pre-Ordered Blu-rays, I have an optimistic update regarding the ship-out date of The Stand (2020).

If you recall, July was a busy month for pre-orders on Amazon, at least for me. Some were of books that will be published between early October and late November, but others were of Blu-ray discs in either of the two current formats – 2K HD and 4K UHD.

The books, of course, have not been published, but both of the Blu-ray sets (Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection and The Stand) are from the same studio – ViacomCBS-owned Paramount.

And due to a confluence of pitfalls that affect the global supply chain – the COVID-19 pandemic, higher-than-expected demand for physical media at a time where disc replicating capacity is limited, and a strained logistic system – Paramount Home Media Distribution has had trouble sending merchandise from the factory to the consumer.

For instance, Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection had a “street date” of Tuesday, September 7. Paramount chose that day because the next day, September 8, marked the 55^th Anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series’ debut on NBC (Thursday, September 8, 1966, when the network aired The Man Trap).

Alas, although some retailers got lucky and received some shipments (manufactured, I imagine, in the North American disc replication facility) in time for Star Trek’s Emerald Anniversary, many consumers did not. Amazon, Best Buy, Deep Discount, Walmart, and other big retailers simply could not fulfill pre-orders or stock store shelves in a way that met demand. I ended up getting my Star Trek box set on September 19 – 12 days after its original release day.

The case of The Stand is a bit different in that Paramount’s original “drop date” for the three-disc set was originally in November, then moved up – perhaps over-optimistically – to Tuesday, October 5.

You know that old saying about “the best-laid schemes of mice and men” often going astray?

Well, once again, those supply-chain issues struck again, and I received an email a day or two ago telling me what I already suspected:

Order Received
We will email you when we have an estimated delivery date.

Sigh. Here we go again, right?

Happily, Amazon – true to its word – emailed me this morning:

Hello,

We have an updated delivery estimate for your Amazon order. As soon as your items ship, we’ll send you an email confirmation. To view the status of your order or make changes, please go to Your Orders

New estimated delivery date:
Wednesday, October 20, 2021 – Sunday, October 24, 2021

Hey, at least Amazon knows that it is going to be receiving shipments with The Stand soon, right?

In the meantime, I have Stephen King’s novel in its Complete and Unabridged Edition, and I have the first adaptation – made for ABC for a 1994 broadcast – on DVD and 2K Blu-ray. So even if this set is delayed, I can get my fix of post-apocalyptic good-vs-evil through the book or the ’94 mini.