Shopper's FAQ

Keyframe says this item is available but I can't seem to find it at my local mall. Why??
The icons in the profiles indicate that that piece of animation has at some point been released to video, DVD, soundtrack, etc. however this doesn't necessarily mean that your local store will have it to purchase. Most stores have a tendency to stock only the newest releases plus a selection of what is essentially 'leftover' stock. What the icons do mean however is that you might be able to find that item to rent or online in any of those listed formats.

I could buy this video before, why can't I buy it now?
Sometimes a video will go out of production simply because it's old. For example an animated movie made in the 70s or 80s by a relatively unknown studio may get a brief video run but once those videos are sold the distributor may chose not to produce more or the distribution company may have just died since then.

Sometimes though, studios will manipulate video runs on purpose to boost sales. Disney is the most notorious for this practice, releasing a film on to video for a limited amount of time (ie. they released 101 Dalmatians for 101 days) and then that's it. When the local video store sells out of the copies they have, Disney will not ship more. Disney will then wait two years, five years, ten years, whatever, until demand for that movie is back up again and then they will ship out another batch of videos.

If a video is no longer being produced, where can I find it?
Buying out of production videos is not a totally lost cause and there's a number of ways to go about it.

Looking Online - Amazon.com and eBay - Generally between these two sites I find you can track down most releases--which of course is why they are the two main video/DVD affiliates for this site.

Looking Offline - Used Videos - If you're not a fan of online shopping, there are some other alternatives for tracking down videos. If you live in an urban centre, you might want to look into those stores with signs out front saying they'll buy previously-viewed videos. These places are good for picking up large-run, popular videos no longer being released (ie. Disney) and you'll probably be able to pick up the video for a lot cheaper than buying it new. Make sure when you go in though that the store provides a guarantee that the video will play back at a reasonable quality.

Also, a lot of video rental places are trying to get rid of their video stock in favour of DVDs and you'll often see bins of previously-viewed rental videos in their stores. Again, be mindful of quality--these videos may have been on the shelf for ten years or more--but occasionally you may come across a strange gem.

Good hunting to you!