Record of Lodoss War soundtrack has shot way up in price

[greg]

Wow. So it seems that I'm not the only one looking to buy the Lodoss War soundtrack volume 1 these days. It seems hard to come by. I'm looking at prices on Amazon Japan and people are price gouging tens of thousands of yen for this CD! I nabbed a new copy on Amazon USA last night for about $44 or so, and I really hope it is the real Victor CD and not some Son May bootleg. I recently found this Lodoss War CD for super cheap at a local used media store where I live, but it was missing the back cover. Once I get the complete CD, I'd be willing to scan the back cover and sell my existing version for a small price if anyone on here is interested. Unless it's sold out by now, there was another one just like the one I bought, so I could possibly have two available for anyone who is interested. I'll have my friend back in Arizona inspect it to make sure it's the real thing before he sends it to me here in Japan.

[danth]

I LOVE the ending song, Fantasia of the Wind.

[usamimi]

I LOVE the ending song, Fantasia of the Wind.

Me, too, that was a favorite of mine in high school!

I've noticed a LOT of officially released older anime soundtracks are super expensive now. I remember at one point in the late 90s, you couldn't even GIVE some of them away...now they're going for a ton. I wish still had the Please Save My Earth and Macross Plus American release soundtracks...now they go for around $40 or more. Edit: Ah, the old Viz re-released OP and END CD collections for Ranma 1/2 seem to be pretty expensive, too, wow. I used to have all of those until someone stole about 90% of my CD collection at a convention one year.

[greg]

Crap. The jerk made me pay $47, after shipping, for a bootleg. My friend received it today in America, and it's made by a company called "Ever Anime" in Taiwan. The seller has solid feedback, too. One dingus left feedback, "I only left four stars because this pressing of the CD is the Taiwanese version instead of the Japanese version as listed by the product description on Amazon. Despite this, the quality of sound seems to be find and the CD plays well. Cheapest one I could find online, so thank you! " Yeah, right. I wouldn't pay more than $10 for a bootleg CD.

Return has been initiated. I've already left "Totoro's Lair 2" a one star feedback. They deserve no more than that.

[usamimi]

wow, that's terrible! I'm sorry they tried to pull a fast one on you. A few months ago on a swap site I'm on, someone listed a bootleg Sailor Moon CD and every time I tried to leave a comment about it, the person would delete it or hide it before anyone else could see it. :/ They didn't get money for it (they basically traded it to whoever would trade the nicest/most expensive item in return for it), but I feel bad that someone out there thinks they have a legitimate Japanese CD now because she wasn't honest.

I remember when most of the CDs you'd see for sale online were either SonMay or Ever Anime bootlegs. I guess they stopped making bootleg CDs now? Because I don't think I ever see them anymore...unless someone's selling old ones on eBay.

[greg]

I bought mine on Amazon Marketplace. At least on eBay, the seller can provide a picture. Amazon has no provision for that, unfortunately. I initiated a complaint and gave them a feedback rating of one star, and this is the response I got:

We would have appreciated your contacting us first before leaving such feedback, as we are always willing to find a solution should you have any problems. Please know that we do not sell bootlegs. We would like to find a solution to where everyone is happy. You are welcome to a refund. Would you consider removing the feedback?
Thank you in advance for your communication,
Totoro

So I wrote,

I demand a complete refund. It is ridiculous that you are claiming innocence in this matter, and I do not believe you. I currently live in Japan, and I know what the real Lodoss War soundtrack looks like. It's by Victor Records, not "Ever Anime." Your item is a bootleg, a Taiwanese knockoff, no better than the infamous Son May record label, and it is incredulous that you are pretending to not even know this. The picture on Amazon is for the true Victor release, and what you mailed me is an imitation. Chinese companies are notorious for giving the finger to international copyright laws, and this Taiwanese company "Ever Anime" did not purchase the licensing rights to release this soundtrack. What you are doing is completely illegal, and you should not even be allowed to sell stuff on Amazon. What you sold me is most likely not even worth $10 in Taiwan, and you sold it to me for the value of what the real thing went for originally. You are a disservice to not only the anime industry itself, but to anime fans everywhere by ripping people off by selling them cheap imitation knockoffs with your bait-and-switch methods.

I had you send this to my friend in Arizona, who was going to send it to me in Japan along with some other stuff. I will have him return this bootleg to you and you will refund my purchase. The only way for me to be completely happy is for your selling account to be revoked, but since that is not up to me to decide, I will settle for a refund. Please tell me the address I need to have my friend return this bootleg to. I have cc'd him on this message, so please reply-to-all when replying so that he will know where to send it, because you have inconvenienced him as well as myself. Thank you.

Then this was the response I got:

Hello Gregory,
I am sorry you feel this way. I maintain that I have not sold any bootleg of any kind. I get all of my items from an authorized vendor. I am not trying to cause any problems for you, and I am not hiding anything. You are welcome to return the item for a refund. Will you please remove the feedback? I have replied to all per your request, and does not appear your friend is copied on this email.

Oh geeze. What a liar. My friend was CC'd on the e-mail, but whatever. So, this was my response:

Incredible. You still feign innocence, even though anybody who knows anything about anime merchandise knows that what you are selling is piracy. Ever Anime, Son May, and the like are all bootleggers. What you are doing is both immoral and illegal.
http://stason.org/TULARC/art/anime-musi ... QzyG2ffRTx

Then again, I cannot expect someone as immoral as yourself to admit your wrongdoing in an e-mail, lest you thereby condemn yourself. But I know that you are aware that the CD you deceived me into buying is not worth the price that I paid. These bootleg companies manufacture a handsome product, but since they do not pay any licensing to the true copyright holders, they are cheap and not worth the price you are selling them for. Since you are in the business of dishonest bait-and-switch deception by selling pirated goods to unexpecting customers, I will need to have my friend return it to you via certified mail. Your qualities are severely lacking, and no dishonest pirate can be trusted. If you were any other Amazon Marketplace seller, I wouldn't have to worry about you claiming that you never received the item.

I will revise the one star rating I gave you once I receive a refund.

By revising my rating, I mean that I will maybe, MAYBE give him a two star rating, but I will not change the fact that the bastard sold me a bootleg.

[usamimi]

WOW. That is ridiculous that he keeps denying that it's a bootleg. Just because you keep repeating to yourself "We don't sell bootlegs" doesn't make it any less of a bootleg, dude.

The fact that he won't even listen to reasoning is pretty crazy...

[greg]

Yeah. If I keep telling myself that Krispy Kreme custard filled donuts are made with an antimatter cream filling that actually makes me lose weight, I'm still not going to get any thinner by eating them.

The clown initiated the refund on good faith, probably because he doesn't want me to report him to Amazon or something. I will still try to report him. Maybe he goes by "Totoro 2" because his first Totoro account was suspended for selling bootlegs?

[Animusubi]

Damn, sorry to hear you received a bootleg after all. At least you got a refund for it, but yeah that's unfortunate that they don't acknowledge it's not an official product, and it would suck for someone else to be in that position. I know I'd be upset if I received a bootleg instead of the official product too!

Hopefully you'll be able to find the real one for a good price.

[_D_]

As I recall, I had some CD Singles from that show, Macross 7 and Wing Gundam. Lost among the clutter...

Did a check and I don't have Lodoss but I have one from Legend of the Galactic Heroes I think. Gad! Those Ebay prices...

Nope. I'm mistaken. No LotGH either. CD singles from:

Rayearth
Dragonquest
Rai
Dragonball Z
Sabre Marionette J
Sakura Taisen
Macross 7
Gundam Wing
Ranma 1/2
G Gundam
Blue Seed

A couple others I can't ID.