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Original poster

Why are "Something Special" dvds twice the price of other children's dvds?

26 replies

Saker · 29/05/2008 22:50

Am I being cynical to think that the BBC is joining in the usual exploitation of the special needs market(thinking McClaren buggies, Rompa prices etc)?

Ds2 is really into the Out and About Something Specials at the moment. I have been trying to record them off the tv for him, but I'm always forgetting or missing the start etc so I looked into buying them. They are £18.99 "reduced" from "19.99" . Whereas Tweenies, Fimbles etc are £10.99 or less.

Okay moan over.

OP posts:
cyberseraphim · 30/05/2008 06:15

i know it's more money to spend up front but ift you get a digi box ( i got my parents for 60 pounds) which lets you record the entire series by just clicking on one box. Even my parents can use it !

cyberseraphim · 30/05/2008 06:24

( i got my parents for 60 pounds)

i got my parents a digi box for 60 pounds not them !

geekgirl · 30/05/2008 06:54

Saker, CAT me with your postal address. Something special might find its way to you.

12345678910 · 30/05/2008 07:49

could you try ebay for them?

used2bthin · 30/05/2008 08:34

Hi what is the something special range?Is it something thats on c beebies? I THINK I've seen out and about but not sure?

Cappuccino · 30/05/2008 08:36

I imagine if they are new they will cost more

maybe the Tweenies ones are older

TotalChaos · 30/05/2008 09:10

no brand new DVDs like Night Garden say will usually only be about £10 - £12 so I don't think it's that Capp.

magso · 30/05/2008 09:19

It might be something to do with production numbers. If much of the cost is in setting up to make and distribute them the cost per unit is higher for low production numbers than high.

Flamesparro · 30/05/2008 09:39

that is terrible!

geekgirl · 30/05/2008 12:44

I guess a large chunk goes to Makaton - their resources are v. expensive and they guard them jealously And the BBC knows that quite a few schools will probably invest in SS DVDs, so why not squeeze the most out of that, too ...

I get extremely f#cked off with the premium slapped on SN products
Families who need this kind of stuff are usually worse off by default, anyway.

heartinthecountry · 30/05/2008 13:40

A few mners emailed the bbc about this a while back - I think the response was something to do with making them comercially viable as they are not going to sell as many as Night Garden etc... bollocks though.

I'm still waiting for them to bring out some new ones. We missed most of the latest series and dd1 has seen all the others about a million times.

cyberseraphim · 30/05/2008 15:39

I think anything classed as educational is a rip off. We once asked for a video ( back in the dark ages) of a TV program for educational purposes and the BBC wanted to charge 80 pounds for one video. But why should something useful and fun for SN children be classed as educational? In the Night Garden is educational, it teaches language and the timboboos brush their teeth at night - clearly social skills !

It's not on I Player either

Original poster
Saker · 30/05/2008 17:01

Thanks Geekgirl, I will CAT you.

I guessed the BBC would say that it's because they wouldn't sell as many but when you think it's the only programme for children with SN and it's suitable for schools, I bet they would sell a fair few. Also I bet they are relatively cheap to make in terms of filming - no fancy sets and I don't suppose they are paying the kids to do the signing and be in the programmes .

They are not even available on Amazon/Lovefilm for rental.

12345678910 - I have looked on ebay which is what started my rant since someone is selling them second-hand and they are already bid up to £20 each . Which also suggests there must be quite a bit of demand.

OP posts:
sphil · 30/05/2008 18:48

Saker - are the Out and About ones out on DVD yet? When I last looked on the BBC website they only had the old series - about 5 disks I think.

DS2 is mad about the Pets and Animals one. I'm delighted they have taught him to say 'hello' Unfortunately this is then followed by 'I'm Justin' . As you know this is NOT DS2's name...

Original poster
Saker · 30/05/2008 19:00

Sphil, yes they have the Out and About ones including Pets and Animals. I don't think I've seen that one, but it would definitely suit DS2. He's probably seen it at school.

OP posts:
Flamesparro · 30/05/2008 19:53

Both of mine have loved Something Special (they come out with random hand movements that I am sure are signs, but I haven't taught em )

DD is suddenly aware that the children filmed aren't NT. We were watching yesterday and she wanted to know "Is that little boy ok?" - I couldn't give much info as I had no idea what he had , but we discussed that everyone is different, some more than others etc and in different ways. Handy to be having these convs now as I suspect we will be explaining AS to her in a few years.

Flamesparro · 30/05/2008 19:54

Meant to add that they have loved it and I would be more likely to buy that than ITNG

Sidge · 30/05/2008 22:01

DD2 adores Something Special - we had all of the last "Out and About" series recorded on Sky Plus, but our hard drive went pop the other night so we have lost it all

I shall start recording it again, but it's probably going to take ages! It's such a shame as she loves it, she has no speech so we have both learned lots of new signs from the wonderful Justin. But we really can't afford nearly 20 quid per DVD.

bullet123 · 30/05/2008 22:15

One thing that annoys me about the programme schedule is that it is put on when most school aged children are at school. They claim it's supposed to be for children age 5 to 11, which explains why they put the programme on Cbeebies during the week days then .

geekgirl · 31/05/2008 08:42

Sidge, CAT me, I can post something special to you too

I would be very sad if our hard disk/DVD recorder went pop.

Sidge · 31/05/2008 13:20

I've CATed you, geekgirl, thanks

SixSpotBurnet · 05/06/2008 22:28

are they available on BBC iPlayer?

Taksin · 03/07/2008 19:49

They are slightly cheaper on this website.

chelltune · 08/06/2010 12:32

Something Special DVDS have now come down in price. I just found this thread from my website stats as someone has viewed the link above earlier today.

I'm closing my site so I no longer have stock left. I've reduced the price of most items to clear them.

isw · 08/06/2010 12:45

The new one is much cheaper ( I got it from Play.com) and you can watch them on iplayer - we do most days!