From: chrisp@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Chris Pelkie)
Subject: List of Laser Disc Suppliers (Draft 1; 8/14/92)
Keywords: Laserdisc, mail order, suppliers, discounts
Organization: Cornell Theory Center
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 17:21:42 GMT

Laser Disc Suppliers; August 14, 1992
List prepared by Chris Pelkie, Cornell Theory Center
Public Domain information: please distribute.

The first draft of this list is the result of my homework:
writing to all those little ads in the back of Video, etc. and
watching the net. Your input towards an improved second draft is
appreciated.

I've formatted things to 74 cols. or less. Hope this is OK for you.
It started in Excel on a Mac and took hours to munge into the form
below. There are five "pages" of info, prefaced by the same list
of company names. Suggest you print, cut, and paste. Or slosh
into your favorite spreadsheet. Have fun: I had to take out the tabs
for posting.

Don't clutter the net with corrections!
Reply with corrections/additions by email to: chrisp@tc.cornell.edu
Reply with flames to: /dev/null

It would be easiest for me if you copy the line you are changing twice:
show the original line, then the corrected line below. THANKS!
I travel a lot, so don't be upset if I don't acknowledge your mail
right away.

Holes in the table represent lack of my knowledge, not lack of
the particular feature. Sorry to int'l folks about my lack of
info on which companies export.

Note the "personal experience" column designates those companies
that I have bought from to date. Everything else comes from
literature, not experience.

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PAGE 1

NOTES:
May have other phone number for info, not orders. Half-hours are rounded.
May have other hours than will fit in table.

LEGEND:
                            C10-20M-F = Central time    sell        sell
                            10am-8pm, Mon-Fri           mail        new
                            0 = midnight                order       LDs
                            U = sUnday                  y=yes       y=yes
                            S = Saturday                n=no        n=no
                            sum = summer

Company                  ST Phone/Hrs                   Mail        Sales
                                                        Order       New
Audio/Video Plus         TX 800-527-3244                   y         y
Barr Digital             WA 800-274-7002 (any;ans.mach)    y         y
Camelot Music             ? 800-942-9400
CEBA Video               MD 301-292-6670 (E9-18M-F)        y
Columbia House           IN 800-262-2001 (E8-0U-S)         y         y
Critics Choice           IL 800-367-7765 (anytime)         y         y
Dave's Video             CA 800-736-1659
Dr. Video                NY 718-645-0868 (ask for Mike)    y
J&R Frogg                CA 818-342-7886                   y         y
Ken Crane's              CA 800-624-3078 (P9-21M-F;-18S)   y         y
Laser Audio/Video        IL 708-825-2585
Laser Craze              MA 800-888-6086 (E11-19)          y         y
Laser Disc Exchange      CA 415-591-4268                             y
Laser Disc Fan Club      CA 800-322-2285 (P7-18M-F;8-17S)  y         y
Laser Disc Works         MA 800-228-3472 (E9-20M-F)        y         y
Laser Image              IL 312-528-5552                   y         y
Laser Island             NY 718-743-2425 (E11-18M-F)       y         y
Laser Perceptions        CA 415-753-2016                             y
Laser World              FL 800-343-9211                   y         y
Laser's Edge             IN 800-344-0307                   y         y
Laserdisc Enterprises    GA 800-347-1941                   y         y
Laserland (Cupertino)    CA 408-253-3733                             y
LaserWareHouse Inc       MN 800-873-5553 (C10-20M-F;10-18S)y
Mail Box Video           MI 313-442-9360                   y         y
Mikado Laser Japan       CA 415-922-9450                             y
Nikaku Animart (San Jose)CA 408-971-2822                             y
O1 Laser                 CA 800-342-9715                   y         y
SEM Video Products       NY 800-247-6655; 718-645-1663     y
Sight and Sound (S&S)    MA 617-894-8633 (E10-19M-S)       y         y
Starship Industries      VA 703-450-5780                   y         y
Tewksbury (TAV)          NJ 908-832-9064 (E13-20M-F;M-Wsum)y         y
U.S. Video Source        NJ 800-872-3472 (E9-17M-F)        y         y
VDI/C (Videodisc Intl)   CA 408-376-3745                   y
Video Brokers            DC 202-328-0428 (E10-20M-S)       y
Video Wizard             MD 301-666-5511                   y         y
Videorama's Laser's Edge IL 708-862-9880 (C10-21M-S;-18U)  y         y

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PAGE 2

NOTES:
Some companies have additional discounts than fit in table,
or bonus plans. Most companies have frequent sales, cutouts, etc.
Tewksbury offers 25% off on $125 list Criterions.
Ongoing Specials indicate additional discounts for doing something
like buying in quantity, using bonus plans, etc.
One of the nice things about this market is everyone starts at the same
list price. But with so many discounters, all in all, it's pretty silly to pay
list for a laser disc!

LEGEND:             b=buy   rent   15/3+ =   na = not
                    s=sell  LDs    15% on 3  available
                    used    by     or more   same =
                    LDs     mail   pre=pre-  same as
                    n=no    y=yes  orders    std. discount
                            n=no

Company             Used    Rental  Std.     Criterion  Ongoing
                                    Discount Discount   Specials
                                    in %     in %       in %

Audio/Video Plus                    0        same
Barr Digital        no      n       12.5-15  same       to 20
Camelot Music
CEBA Video          bs
Columbia House      no      n       0        na         to 50
Critics Choice      no      n       0        na
Dave's Video
Dr. Video           bs
J&R Frogg           no      n       na       20
Ken Crane's         no              10       same
Laser Audio/Video
Laser Craze                         10       15
Laser Disc Exchange  s
Laser Disc Fan Club                 10       same       to 15
Laser Disc Works            y
Laser Image
Laser Island
Laser Perceptions
Laser World                         15/3+    same
Laser's Edge                        10       same
Laserdisc Enterp.                   10       same       15/3+
Laserland (Cuper)   s
LaserWareHouse Inc
Mail Box Video                      17.5     20         20/3+
Mikado Laser Japan
Nikaku Animart
O1 Laser                            10/12.5pre same     12.5/$150+
SEM Video Products
Sight and Sound     b               10       same       to 20pre
Starship Industries                 10       same       yes
Tewksbury (TAV)                     10       20         25/Crit$125
U.S. Video Source                   10       same       to 25
VDI/C               bs              10/5+    same
Video Brokers       bs
Video Wizard                        10       15
Videorama's LE                       0       same

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PAGE 3

NOTES:
Columbia House gets tax on order and on shipping in many states;
they use US Mail, not UPS. (They definitely tax sales to NY:
please tell me other states they charge for).
Sight & Sound limit is $4.50 per box.

Ship 5 Lo/Hi: best case/worst case shipping for 5 discs ordered
at the same time, but not necessarily shipped at the same time.

Company                    Shipping      Shipping           Ship 5
                           Base          Extra              Lo/Hi
                           in $          in $               in $

Audio/Video Plus           3.50/order    1.00@              7.50
Barr Digital               3.00/order    1.00@              7.00
Camelot Music
CEBA Video                 3.50/order    0.50@              5.50
Columbia House (CH)        3.19/order    1.99@;+tax        12.00
Critics Choice             5.50/order    0.00               5.50
Dave's Video
Dr. Video
J&R Frogg
Ken Crane's                1.50/order                       1.50
Laser Audio/Video
Laser Craze                0.00          0.00               0.00
Laser Disc Exchange
Laser Disc Fan Club        1.50/box                         1.50/7.50
Laser Disc Works
Laser Image
Laser Island
Laser Perceptions
Laser World                UPS
Laser's Edge               0.00/3+
Laserdisc Enterprises      4.50/order    0.80@              7.70
Laserland (Cupertino)
LaserWareHouse Inc
Mail Box Video             3.50/order    1.25@              8.50
Mikado Laser Japan
Nikaku Animart (San Jose)
O1 Laser                   1.50/box                         1.50/7.50
SEM Video Products
Sight and Sound (S&S)      3.00/order    1.50@/4.50box      4.50/9.00
Starship Industries        4.00/order                       4.00
Tewksbury (TAV)            3.00/order    1.50@              9.00
U.S. Video Source          2.00/disc                       10.00
VDI/C (Videodisc Intl)     2.00/order    0.50@              4.00
Video Brokers              0.00          0.00               0.00
Video Wizard               1.50/box                         1.50/7.50
Videorama's Laser's Edge   3.50/order    1.00@              7.50

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PAGE 4

NOTES:
Knowledge: good/excellent means ability to answer questions correctly; add more info;
good catalogs or newsletter.
Accuracy: of answers, catalog listings, billing, etc.

LEGEND:              can get   will ship      M=Mast   I've
                     imports   out of US      V=Visa   dealt
                     y=yes     y=yes          D=Disc   with
                     n=no      n=no           A=AmEx   y=yes
                                                       n=not yet
                                                       nl=newsletter

Company              Imports   Exports        Cards    Pers.   Know-  Accu-
                                                       Exp.    ledge  racy

Audio/Video Plus                                       n
Barr Digital              y                    VMA     y        E      E
Camelot Music                                          n
CEBA Video                                             n
Columbia House            n                    V       y        F      F
Critics Choice            n      n             VMA     n
Dave's Video                                           n
Dr. Video                                              n
J&R Frogg                 y                    no      nl       E      E
Ken Crane's               y                            n
Laser Audio/Video                                      n
Laser Craze                                    V       y
Laser Disc Exchange                                    n
Laser Disc Fan Club                                    n
Laser Disc Works                                       n
Laser Image               y                            n
Laser Island              y                            n
Laser Perceptions         y                            n
Laser World                                            n
Laser's Edge                                           n
Laserdisc Enterprises                                  n
Laserland (Cupertino)     y                            n
LaserWareHouse Inc                                     n
Mail Box Video                                         n
Mikado Laser Japan        y                            n
Nikaku Animart (San Jose) y                            n
O1 Laser                  y                            n
SEM Video Products                                     n
Sight and Sound (S&S)     y                    V       y        E      E
Starship Industries                                    y        G      G
Tewksbury (TAV)                                        n
U.S. Video Source                              V       y               G
VDI/C (Videodisc Intl)                                 n
Video Brokers                                          n
Video Wizard                                           n
Videorama's Laser's Edge                               n

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PAGE 5

NOTES:
Product Quality: gives sense of number of bad disk returns; number of
old issues vs. new remasters on shelves.
Selection: breadth of laser disc market covered by catalog
Timeliness: of initial mailings and of return rectifications
Member #: company uses an id for customer (may imply more organized,
or simply screwing things up faster with a computer).

LEGEND:                   E=excellent                  y=yes
                          G=good                       n=no
                          F=fair
                          P=poor

Company                  Product   Selec-    Time-    Member #
                         Quality   tion      liness

Audio/Video Plus
Barr Digital               E        E         E
Camelot Music
CEBA Video                          G
Columbia House             G        F         P          y
Critics Choice                      P
Dave's Video
Dr. Video
J&R Frogg                  E        F (Criterion/Japanese only)
Ken Crane's                         E
Laser Audio/Video
Laser Craze
Laser Disc Exchange
Laser Disc Fan Club                                      y
Laser Disc Works
Laser Image
Laser Island
Laser Perceptions
Laser World
Laser's Edge
Laserdisc Enterprises
Laserland (Cupertino)
LaserWareHouse Inc
Mail Box Video
Mikado Laser Japan
Nikaku Animart (San Jose)
O1 Laser
SEM Video Products
Sight and Sound (S&S)      E       E         E          y
Starship Industries        F                 F          n
Tewksbury (TAV)
U.S. Video Source          E                 G          y
VDI/C (Videodisc Intl)
Video Brokers
Video Wizard
Videorama's Laser's Edge

-- 
Chris Pelkie
Scientific Visualization Producer
Cornell Theory Center
Ithaca, NY 14853-3801
chrisp@tc.cornell.edu