MINI-RANT
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows retailing for RM 235. What. The. Hell.
It's almost too much for my fan-based mind to take. Golly, if I weren't such a long-time follower, I'd say JK Rowling was trying to pull her devoted a fast one. How many ways can you say total rip-off without diminishing it?
Granted, I have no idea just how much clout she would have with her publishers in the pricing of her final volume, but Jesus Christ.
This is by far the highest I've ever seen a children's book going for. None of my textbooks compare. Where I come from we don't make these kind of purchases so easily. I've used this comparison before; a Coke can goes for RM 2 or less. I could eat for almost two months on that amount without splurging! What's worse is that the price may be slashed by more than two-thirds before two years are out. It's really too frustrating to think about, so much so that I may actually consider NOT getting this book for the first time since I started collecting it after the fourth edition was out, and that was more than.... I don't know, five-six years ago?
Even considering it briefly would be something for me, since I will be getting it anyway. I like to keep up with my fandoms, and the HP one will just explode once July 31st comes around. It's a shame such a phenomenon would have to be met by more and more capitalisation. Well, of course this shouldn't surprise, but being the direct recipient of it? This makes one want to get involved. Not cool. NOT COOL AT ALL. I join the ranks screaming for blood.
Before this was known to me, I almost let this other incident slide. When I was in Pyramid last week for Provoked I stopped by MPH and nothing other than this was standing there, proudly positioned in the display stand where anyone could view it for themselves.
Well, I certainly could, and under normal circumstances (sans upwards input) this wouldn't have made my blog, but I almost couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me when I glanced at the price tag. In fact, I stood there like the gawker I was, taking pictures with my handphone that I can't upload right now, being without my USB cord.
Why should this make an impression? Surely this wouldn't be the first by-product of HP one would've ever borne witness to, or even the first type? But yes, it's difficult to ignore when right in front of you. I suppose I was amazed at the audaciousness of the fans who were jumping onto the bandwagon by making money off this enterprise, and the hype this final volume is generating. I browsed through the book, such as it was, and it did not impress me by far. I was partially disgusted that they were being opportunistic enough to take advantage of the craze, much as one would admire them for it, just as I was that they could call themselves fans and *still be into making dough out of it*.
I'll come out and say it, I've read better theories for free on the internet, from people who theorise as much if not more than the people who wrote this, who don't expect a penny and have just as much passion as any fan you could find. It irritates me that these individuals will at large go unnoticed by the world, more so that others will be unable to hear/read what _they_ had to say, and for barely more than air. But hey, I'm weird that way, I can't speak for the casual interested who either have no time or lack the fortitude to surf the relevant sites and other freaks who would want to burn money fueling more feverish speculation from such marvelous insights that will die only with the release of the final volume in a few months. This is just one small aspect of the whole. Most of the HP fandom is filled with kids and young teenagers, how they derive their own meaning from their expenses on it is their own business.
Though sometimes you really wish you could just point them in other directions.
It's almost too much for my fan-based mind to take. Golly, if I weren't such a long-time follower, I'd say JK Rowling was trying to pull her devoted a fast one. How many ways can you say total rip-off without diminishing it?
Granted, I have no idea just how much clout she would have with her publishers in the pricing of her final volume, but Jesus Christ.
This is by far the highest I've ever seen a children's book going for. None of my textbooks compare. Where I come from we don't make these kind of purchases so easily. I've used this comparison before; a Coke can goes for RM 2 or less. I could eat for almost two months on that amount without splurging! What's worse is that the price may be slashed by more than two-thirds before two years are out. It's really too frustrating to think about, so much so that I may actually consider NOT getting this book for the first time since I started collecting it after the fourth edition was out, and that was more than.... I don't know, five-six years ago?
Even considering it briefly would be something for me, since I will be getting it anyway. I like to keep up with my fandoms, and the HP one will just explode once July 31st comes around. It's a shame such a phenomenon would have to be met by more and more capitalisation. Well, of course this shouldn't surprise, but being the direct recipient of it? This makes one want to get involved. Not cool. NOT COOL AT ALL. I join the ranks screaming for blood.
Before this was known to me, I almost let this other incident slide. When I was in Pyramid last week for Provoked I stopped by MPH and nothing other than this was standing there, proudly positioned in the display stand where anyone could view it for themselves.
Well, I certainly could, and under normal circumstances (sans upwards input) this wouldn't have made my blog, but I almost couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me when I glanced at the price tag. In fact, I stood there like the gawker I was, taking pictures with my handphone that I can't upload right now, being without my USB cord.
Why should this make an impression? Surely this wouldn't be the first by-product of HP one would've ever borne witness to, or even the first type? But yes, it's difficult to ignore when right in front of you. I suppose I was amazed at the audaciousness of the fans who were jumping onto the bandwagon by making money off this enterprise, and the hype this final volume is generating. I browsed through the book, such as it was, and it did not impress me by far. I was partially disgusted that they were being opportunistic enough to take advantage of the craze, much as one would admire them for it, just as I was that they could call themselves fans and *still be into making dough out of it*.
I'll come out and say it, I've read better theories for free on the internet, from people who theorise as much if not more than the people who wrote this, who don't expect a penny and have just as much passion as any fan you could find. It irritates me that these individuals will at large go unnoticed by the world, more so that others will be unable to hear/read what _they_ had to say, and for barely more than air. But hey, I'm weird that way, I can't speak for the casual interested who either have no time or lack the fortitude to surf the relevant sites and other freaks who would want to burn money fueling more feverish speculation from such marvelous insights that will die only with the release of the final volume in a few months. This is just one small aspect of the whole. Most of the HP fandom is filled with kids and young teenagers, how they derive their own meaning from their expenses on it is their own business.
Though sometimes you really wish you could just point them in other directions.