"Stranger Things" Season 1 Box Set Brings The Old School Cool

One of the keys to a successful streaming video service is a show that acts as a hook to pull in subscribers. Each of the services out there (along with their cable and network counterparts) spends large sums of money acquiring talent in that quest. 

Last year, Netflix found their "hook" with the 1980s sci-fi/horror homage Stranger Things. The show became a key hit for the streaming platform. As a fully financed and owned Netflix production (as opposed to other originals which are produced with/by other studios), the merchandising opportunities are very lucrative. 

I was roughly the same age in 1983 as the show's three young male protagonists, and the series's many pop culture references from the era continually strike a chord. The show has a similar feel to J.J. Abrams's movie Super 8, but is its own living and breathing thing. 

Stranger Things has a funky electronic soundtrack (which feels like something out of a John Carpenter movie), pieces of hit pop music of the era, and subtle (as well as not-so-subtle) nods to movies like E.T. and The Goonies. The show is a wonderful, ridculous and pulpy ride that is a tremendous amount of fun. 

Target brings fans an exclusive box set for the first season of Stranger Things. 

The set features all eight episodes of the first season on Blu-ray and DVD (the DVDs sit in a tray under the Blu-ray discs). The only special features are trailers for Stranger Things 2  (which is currently streaming on Netflix) and Marvel's The Defenders series -- kind of a shame since there is so much wonderful content out there about the show. 

But let's focus on the coolest aspect of this set... the packaging. The Blu-rays and DVDs are ensconsced in a case that looks like an old VHS cassette tape. 

As you unfold the "cassette" inside, one half houses the discs (two Blu-ray discs and two DVDs), and the other includes a limited-edition poster of the Demogorgon (you'll have to watch the show to learn what that is...). 

One of the interesting aspect of this box set is that the discs are held into the trays by a "foam rubber" spindle. I own a number of box sets like this, and it is interesting to see the novel methods employed to house discs. This is a mechanism I'd never seen before. It threw me off a bit at first, but once I figured it out, getting the discs off was just fine. 

If you are a Stranger Things fanboy like me -- or if you want to see the show, but aren't interested in subscribing to Netflix -- the Season 1 box set is a neat way to enjoy the show. 

I didn't realize this set was available until a couple weeks after its initial release, but I'm glad I stumbled upon it. 

It definitely ranks as one of the cooler-looking box sets I've owned, and it is a worthwhile addition to my collection collection. It retails for $24.99... would make a great Christmas gift. 

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The Ill-Fated Fusion of Video and a Record Album

Remember these? 

This ad appeared in the Omaha World-Herald on Oct. 24, 1982 -- I was in 4th grade at the time.

A couple friends of mine had an RCA VideoDisc player back in the early 80s.

I remember watching "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Star Wars" and "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" at their house. All I really recall was that you'd insert a large, square plastic sleeve containing the movie into the machine's slot, then the player would pull the "disc" inside. You'd then remove the empty sleeve.

At the mid-point of the movie, you'd have to "flip" the disc by inserting the empty sleeve and waiting for the disc to eject back into the sleeve, then you'd have to flip it over and repeat the process above.

(That sounds like a pain...and it kinda was...)

Here is a commercial from back then -- and you could get a VideoDisc player for less than $500!!

Until today, I really had no idea how VideoDiscs worked, or the technology behind them. I guess I always assumed they were like a giant floppy disc.

But they weren't. In essence, the VideoDisc -- or Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) -- was an analog video disc with grooves, and a special needle (stylus) that played it. Sort of like a vinyl LP, but with video.

According to various articles on CEDs, RCA started developing the technology in the 1960s. It was apparently a laborious process, and the technology wasn't what they had hoped for (they had intended the discs to be released in jackets like record albums, but the surface material was very sensitive to dust and scratches, and couldn't be directly handled).

There is a good article on the format here.

RCA finally released the VideoDiscs and VideoDisc players in 1981, but the format would never take off and was ultimately discontinued in 1984.

Here is a video about the format's death on CNN Headline News:

I can't recall how VideoDiscs looked or sounded (and TV technology those days left something to be desired). But I thought it was cool that my friends could watch movies anytime they wanted (something I couldn't do until we got our first VCR in 1985).

They would ultimately be supplanted in the home video marketplace by VHS, Betamax and LaserDisc.

The VideoDisc's demise serves as a reminder that not all formats survive.

But it was an interesting idea.

Read yesterday's blog post: Let There Be Light