Collectors pay $60 and more for Academy Awards nominated films but will they win Oscars? (updated)

The Hurt Locker Blu-ray SteelBook (Best Buy USA)
Photo Credit: Annie Chu

Film collectibles have always commandeered a high price regardless of economical challenges. SteelBooks are in higher demand as many popular films get the limited highly sought after premium metal media packaging. Most amaray regular DVDs & Blu-rays drop in price soon after release date. However, SteelBooks maintain their value or go higher when there is a surge in demand and small limited quantities available.

With the Oscars buzz, the prices have skyrocketed for some of the Academy Awards nominees that have the limited SteelBook packaging.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Best Picture *WINNER*
Best Director - Kathryn Bigelow *WINNER*
Film Editing *WINNER*
Sound Mixing (Paul NJ Ottosson and Ray Beckett) *WINNER*
Sound Editing (Paul NJ Ottosson) *WINNER*
Best Original Screenplay *WINNER*
Best Actor - Jeremy Renner
Cinematography
Music (original score)

Right now the most rare and highest in demand is The Hurt Locker Blu-ray SteelBook. It was a Best Buy USA exclusive and includes a collectible photo booklet. Many stores had approximately 10 copies on release day. The SteelBook was quickly sold out within hours in the high-trafficked stores and within a few days at the rest. Release day price was $24.99 and now it is selling for almost triple the price starting at $74.95 for a brand new copy at Amazon.com Marketplace. On eBay.com, used copies have sold for as low as $45 with minor damage and as high as $69.99 for a new copy. If it wins Best Picture, the value will surely go higher.

UPDATE: After winning 6 Oscars including Best Picture and Kathryn Bigelow for Best Director, already the pricing for The Hurt Locker Blu-ray SteelBook has increased by $10! By tomorrow it will surely go even higher. This collector's item may well be one of most rare and expensive in years to come.

Inglourious Basterds Blu-ray
SteelBook (Future Shop Canada)
Photo Credit: Annie Chu

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz *WINNER*
Best Picture
Best Director - Quentin Tarantino
Best Original Screenplay
Cinematography
Film Editing
Sound Editing (Wylie Stateman)
Sound Mixing (Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano)

Inglourious Basterds Blu-ray SteelBook with limited dogtags was released in Canada by Future Shop. Release day price was $29.99 CAD (~$29.50 USD). Now on Amazon.com Marketplace, the starting price is $59.99 for a new copy and the last new copy sold on eBay.com was $44.99.

Photo Credit: boxterduke @ blu-ray.com

Up Blu-ray SteelBook (Best Buy USA)
Photo Credit: Annie Chu

Up (2009)

Best Original Screenplay *WINNER*
Best Animated Feature Film *WINNER*
Best Picture
Music (original score)
Sound Editing (Michael Silvers and Tom Myers)

Up Blu-ray SteelBook Jumbo was released by Best Buy USA and Future Shop Canada. At Best Buy USA, the Up SteelBook Jumbo was empty and free with a $7.50 pre-order deposit for the movie. They were available at most stores until the release day. However, now they are no longer sold at the stores. At Future Shop Canada, the Up SteelBook contained the movie inside and was available on release day. On release day, Future Shop had the 3-Disc Bilingual version (French and English with no digital copy) for $31.99 CAD (~$31.50 USD) and the 4-Disc English version for $33.99 CAD (~$33.50 USD). Now on Amazon.com Marketplace, a new copy with the movie starts at $47.99. On eBay.com, a new empty SteelBook starts at $25 and goes up to $44.99 with the movie included.

District 9 Blu-ray SteelBook
(Future Shop Canada)
Photo Credit: Annie Chu

District 9 (2009)

Best Picture
Best Adapted Screenplay
Film Editing
Visual Effects (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken)

District 9 Blu-ray SteelBook was released by Future Shop in Canada. It was also released at HMV UK as a DVD SteelBook and a Blu-ray SteelBook. The DVD SteelBook is still available for purchase for £9.99 (~$15.50 USD). Both the Canada and UK Blu-ray SteelBooks are no longer available for sale at the stores. Release day price for the Future Shop version was $29.99 CAD (~$29.50 USD) and HMV UK version was £15.99 (~$24.50 USD). Now on Amazon.com Marketplace, the starting price for the UK version is $72.45 and the Canada version is $149.99! On eBay.com both versions start at approximately $50.00 each. There is also a French Blu-ray SteelBook that is available at Amazon.fr for EUR 19,49 (~$27.00 USD).

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Star Trek Blu-ray SteelBook
(Future Shop Canada)
Photo Credit: Annie Chu

Star Trek (2009)

Makeup (Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow) *WINNER*
Sound Editing (Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin)
Sound Mixing (Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J Devlin)
Visual Effects (Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton)

Star Trek had a DVD SteelBook release by FYE USA and a Blu-ray SteelBook release by Future Shop Canada. Asia and Europe had similar releases. Release day price at FYE USA for the DVD SteelBook was $25.99 and at Future Shop Canada for the Blu-ray SteelBook was $29.99 CAD (~$29.50 USD). Now on Amazon.com Marketplace, the FYE USA DVD SteelBook still maintains the original selling price for new copies and starts at $19.99 for used copies. On eBay.com, the Future Shop Canada Blu-ray SteelBook starts at $52.00.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince DVD SteelBook (FYE USA)
Photo Credit: Annie Chu

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Cinematography

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had a DVD SteelBook release by FYE USA. A Blu-ray SteelBook was released in Germany and the Netherlands. On release day, the DVD SteelBook at FYE USA was selling at $26.99. Now on Amazon.com Marketplace, the DVD SteelBook sells for $24.98 and up. Although it is slightly lower than the original selling price, it has not dropped down to the price of a regular 2-Disc DVD amaray edition, which is $14.00 and up. The Blu-ray SteelBook version that was released in Germany and Netherlands starts at $54.99 and up on Amazon.com Marketplace and eBay.com. Good news is you can still purchase the Netherlands release for EUR 19,99 (~$28.00 USD), but the shipping will cost you another $11.00!

Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen DVD SteelBook (FYE USA)
Photo Credit: Annie Chu

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Sound Mixing (Greg P Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson)

Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen had a DVD SteelBook release by FYE USA and a Blu-ray SteelBook release by Future Shop Canada. Asia and Europe also had similar releases. The FYE USA DVD SteelBook was on sale for $25.99 on release day and now is still available on FYE.com for $32.99. You can get it slightly cheaper on Amazon.com Marketplace with the starting price at $21.50. The Future Shop Canada Blu-ray SteelBook sold for $28.00 CAD (~$27.50 USD) on release day. On Amazon.com Marketplace, the starting price is now at $49.85. On eBay.com, the SteelBook case alone sells for $31.00 and the SteelBook case with the movie starts at $65.99! Even winning the Razzies as worst picture and screenplay and Michael Bay as worst director did not impact on the current demand pricing.

Although these prices may be inflated due to its current popularity and demand, in general over time SteelBooks have retained their value better than the regular DVD or Blu-ray amaray case counterpart. Usually on release day, the price for the SteelBook may be the same or a few dollars more than the regular version. However, you will need to get there early in order to obtain one of these limited editions as they do sell out quickly.

You can check here for SteelBooks in your area: Amazon.com, Best Buy (New York and other locations), FYE (New York and other locations) and J&R, NYC. Remember Walmart will have the exclusive Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day DVD SteelBook™ coming out on March 9, 2010!

Check out the slideshow taking a closer look at these SteelBooks!

Learn more about SteelBooks here and check out some contests to win free SteelBooks to start your collection!

Latest SteelBook™ release:

2012 Blu-ray SteelBook™ (Future Shop Canada exclusive) - Released on March 2, 2010

Credit: LHD_DC2

Next upcoming SteelBook™ releases:

Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day DVD SteelBook™ (Walmart exclusive) - March 9, 2010
The Twilight Saga: New Moon DVD & Blu-ray SteelBooks™ (Best Buy USA / Future Shop Canada exclusive) - March 20, 2010 (Pre-order now at Best Buy USA and receive a FREE cell phone skin. Future Shop Canada will have a bonus Twilight SteelBook™ empty with no discs; you can purchase the first Twilight film separately if you want to.)
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Blu-ray SteelBook™ (Theatrical Cut) (Best Buy USA / Future Shop Canada exclusive) - April 6, 2010 (Pre-order started on March 2, 2010 and includes FREE SteelBook™ at Best Buy USA; cover art is a sticker on the front of the SteelBook™.)
Avatar SteelBook™ (Blockbuster Video Danmark A/S Denmark exclusive releasing on April 27, 2010; China exclusive releasing on April 30, 2010, Thailand exclusive releasing on April 29, 2010)

(May not be final artwork)